New-Game Incentives: Make 'Em Matter

agree, the Gears 2 and RB2 solution seems the way forward.  I hate the 'used' section in my local games stores.  It makes me feel dirty just looking at them.  Someone elses soiled hands have been molesting those games!

Several reasons this is bilge.

1. What happens when you can no longer get the game new?  That's patently unfair to those who are late to the party.

2. Why would anyone bother to set something like this up? It would probably cost more than you lose to second hand games in the first place.

3. People who actually give a toss about achievements buy second hand mostly anyway, because it means they can get all last years games cheaper and get more
achievements. So this won't encourage those people to buy new, it will just piss them off. And anyone who doesnt care about them isn't going to give  ahoot to begin with.

Seriously, if you want people to buy your game new, achievements are NOT the way to go. Download codes for multiplayer maps, new costumes, etc are the way forward. Stuff that doesnt affect the gameplay or gamerpoints system in ANY way whatsoever, but still gives an incentive. Like the free songs with RB2.

I buy mostly new games.  I only buy used games when they are noticeably cheaper, or hard to find.  If the publishers want me to get their game new, though, I don't have any problem with that. 

yeah, i really dont care abuot acheivements, noone i play with does either

I don't buy used games because I refuse to walk into a Gamestop and I want to give financial support to my favorite publishers and developers who make great games. The very last time I went to Gamestop, it was on a release day for some game (I don't remember what game it was...) I asked the clerk if they had a copy and, of course, he asked me, "Did you preorder it?" I said no, so he told me if I didn't preorder it, they wouldn't have a spare copy. I thanked him for removing the last possible reason I would ever go to a GameStop again. No spare new copies of a hot new release? Why would I ever go to a Gamestop when I could go to a Best buy, Wal-Mart, Target, etc., and not get hassled - do I have used games to sell, do I want to preorder game X, Y or Z, do I want a magazine description, et al, ad nauseum? It's laughable.

If publishers want to encourage people to buy new, sell new games ONLINE for $10 less than retail copies. Or, make them available online a week earlier than the retail releases! They could offer the online game at full price a week prior to the retail release and then drop the price $10 after retail release. Of course, retailers will howl bloody murder, but maybe you could allow retailers to offer a few substantial tchotkes that are exclusive to a new game at retail for the completionists and collectors out there that you wouldn't get if you purchased online. That way, the value of buying new at retail would be getting the extra stuff. Retailing of games is going to die eventually (or, at least will become a smaller and smaller  share of game purchases) as all of the consoles move to a digital model like Steam. It may not be for another 5 or 10 years, but Sony has done a good job at testing the waters. Manuals have become so useless anyway, and I've got more than enough plastic cases around the house that I have to hide when females come over.

I think a move to online will make it more important that each new console is FULLY backward compatible, but I would LOVE to just be able to re-download any game I've ever purchased and play it again whenever I want, rather than dig out old consoles every time. I have no problem with a Steam-type model, as long as I can go to a friend's house, download the game on his/her machine and play the game locally with them. An even better model would be for a friend to download an entire game that I bought. Then, if I logged in or recovered my gamertag on their machine, we could instantly play. I know that represents DRM issues, but it could be figured out. The sooner all of this happens, the better.

I can definitely see why that's a problem.  I think digital distribution of games is very good solution.  Of course it will be a while before that's prevalent enough to replace in-store sales.

I think the primary reason that people buy used games is because $60 is just WAY too much money for a video game. $40 is the absolute maximum I have ever spent on a video game, new or used, and I usually keep it down around $20, which will still get you a good selection of new games even in the current generation (Overlord, Katamari, Bioshock, etc.). I would rather pay $20 new for a game than $10 used for the same game with scratches and missing manual, but if it's a difference between $60 new and $20-30 used, then I'm going to feel taken to the cleaners if I'm stupid enough to pay $60 for that game.

So, game publishers, quit gouging your customers with ludicrously high prices, and your customers will quit gouging you by buying games used.

I understand why the game devs are upset about this..And I think both Epic and Harmonix have gone the right path in terms of offering content to 1st time buyers.. But then also the "used" market has existed for ages.....so it's a divided opinion.

If someone wants my dough for a new game at retail, just give me a damn good game.  I don't buy that many new games a year, and whatever used games that I do buy are relatively old.  I picked up Dead Space day one...worth every fucking penny.  Picked up Fallout 3 on day one too, and I wasn't even looking forward to the game...but it was worth every fucking penny too.

I only buy used games if they aren't sold new anymore. >_>  I like that new game box smell. xD

I avoid new games because they're so freakin' expensive. If they lowered the prices back down to something more reasonable, then I'd buy new more often. For sure.

WHAT????? I love used games!!!!

I almost never get used games.  Even if they're really old, I like getting them as new, unopened boxes.

I only buy used once every three months when I get my free $5 gamefly gift card and then it is ussually some game I'd never buy if I wasn't getting it for next to nothing.  Like last time I got Sege Superstars Tennis for $4.25 not bad, but I wouldn't have boughten it if it had been $30 or even $20 or probably even $10.  Any game I'm really interested in though I'll buy new, have been that way since I started working full time four or five years ago...I feel childish buying games from the used racks anyway.

To the point about getting people to buy new, I think the downloadables is a lot more logical and effective incentive.  I don't think anybody would care about 20g with $10 or more is on the line.  I know if I could get new games with only 500g at 50% off I'd buy them like that.  I buy new though because of moral issues not because of money or incentives.

If I can find it new, then I'll buy it new. I only buy used copies of older games anyway.

I personally only buy new games (and quite a few per year, as well), but then again I make enough money to make that viable.  I totally understand that there are people out there that are still in school or enjoy a career that doesn't pay enough to allow them to spend all that money, and to them the used games market offers a way to enjoy more of the goodness.  One thing that a lot of people don't realize is that the used games market is effectively the same as piracy for a developer/publisher.  I don't mean from a legal standpoint, but from the monetary side.  They do not get a single dime on a used game sale.  This may seem like no concern of ours, but at the same time we'd like to enjoy more of these high quality games, and the only way we're going to do that is by having the developer/publisher make enough money on their current game to want to pursue the next.  I think both the additional content with each new copy sold and digital download are both good avenues for ensuring that more of the money comes back into the game companies.  I do think it's a bit too early to tell us whether these solutions alone are going to cut it in terms of reducing the used game sales market.

gears 2 did it the right way, if there can be a right way, the achievement idea is lame as hell

Heres an idea, dont charge so much money for games, more people would buy new games if they werent NZD$120, i even saw Fallout for $140 like what the hell movies cost way more to make yet there way cheaper to own.

p.s. I dont care about my overall gamerscore, i just like to get near the 1000 on all games i buy. I think achievements are the best thing to happen to games this generation, just for the sense of accomplishment and replay value and more importantly bragging rights. That Mtv idea is dumb as fcuk. And people like jeff who would leave his console on for days on end to get an achievement is cheating, theres no other word why even have that achievement if you dont care enough to actually play the game.

*Raises Hand*

Count me as one of those who don't give a sh!t about achievements.  It does diddly to make me want to buy a game new.  Hell I'm also one of those guys who doesn't beat games, just plays them until he's had his fill and moves on.

I agree though that Gears 2 and Rock Band 2 both have good incentives in them to make me want to get new vs. used.  But buy and large I buy new anyway so no skin off my nose.

I never buy used games, I don't trust other people...

Oh Fuck off MTV, do you seriously expect anyone to buy a game new JUST for an achievement! Gears had it right, free content as a little bonus. Maybe a developer makes 12 maps, withholds two of them for people with a code, or there are 20 guns unlockable, 3 unlocked with a code, or something of that ilk.

Just drove to my local EB to pick up GoW2.  Guess what?  They ALREADY have used copies.  With my discount card it was $10 cheaper, so I said "Meh, what the hell."  I dont care for GoWs competitive multiplayer (getting it mostly to co-op with a coworker) so not getting the extra maps is no big deal to me.