Used Games and You

With all of the online passes and their equivalents, it seems as if publishers view the sale or trade of used games somewhere between an illicit activity and a slap in the face. It got me thinking about how I purchase games and I am curious about how others do as well. It seems to me that used games serve as very effective marketing for those publishers, and that restricting their sale much more will result in fewer new game sales, and fewer games in gamers' systems throughout the year.

I don't think there is a mystical reason why certain franchises see growth in sales between their iterations; the reason is not solely due to word of mouth or slick marketing campaigns, I believe used games create fans who go out and buy new. I doubt a game like Dark Souls would have experienced the kind of new sales it experienced without skeptical players (myself included) going out and buying Demon's Souls used and giving it a go. Enough rambling, how do you all purchase games? All new? A mix of new and used? Buy new and trade it in a week later?

I don't buy used games. I don't like the fact that they have been opened before by someone other than me.

@mac_n_nina said:

I don't buy used games. I don't like the fact that they have been opened before by someone other than me.

I'll go with this, plus, I want to support developers and buying new games are more and effective way to do just that.

I don't do used games.

@AwesomeAquaman: I don't do used wom-..OH, I mean games either.

That joke was lame.

@mac_n_nina said:

I don't buy used games. I don't like the fact that they have been opened before by someone other than me.

I'll go with this, plus, I want to support developers and buying new games are more and effective way to do just that.

I absolutely don't have a problem with it. Some outlets handle this business more poorly than others, but the practice itself is ethically sound. I buy very few new games as they are expensive and usually lacking in content I'm interested in.

@usgrovers: I live near a small rare and vintage video game store called "A & C Games", so I don't feel bad when I buy used games from there. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I support a store that allows me to buy games like "Ikaruga" for Gamecube or "Ducktales" for NES in 2011. However, I don't buy used games from any other store (Gamestop), because the price reduction is so small. It's usually only 5 dollars or so. I'd rather pay the five extra dollars and get a sealed copy.

What really puts me off are the gamers who are mindless fucking sheep and buy into the "if you buy used games, you are evil" thing. By their logic, you are also a bad person if you buy or sell  used books, movies, albums, cars, appliances, furniture, or shop at garage sales or use the public library. All of these things deprive the makers and creators of these things from the income that would be generated by you purchasing only new things.
 
Commercial entities thrive on exploiting public domain while copyrighting the shit out of their own creations and then lobbying for more stringent copyright laws so that nobody can ever benefit from their creations the way they benefit from others that came before them. People need to think more critically about copyright and intellectual property before we lose all rights to everything and find ourselves as the owners of nothing and licensees of everything.
 
That said, I rarely buy anything used, but there's no philosophy or cause behind purchasing things new. That's just how it works out.

I bought a ton of used games when I worked at best buy and got a massive discount on used games, but I haven't bought one since.  Thankfully that was all mostly pre online pass era games (amazing to think about gaming like that).
 
I would never buy a new game used, saving $5 is not worth it. Even though I haven't lately I am not opposed to buying older games used as in many cases it is much cheaper or even the only method of buying the game. I dont really even worry about the apparent loss to the devs or publishers.  I know this is an unpopular opinion but I think they should be budgeting for used game sales, and not whine about it being the reason they didn't make money.  99% of the time if a game is good it will sell enough to be profitable, used game sales included.

If I love the franchise, I buy it new. If I am curious or somewhat indifferent, then I buy a cheap used version. Why pay big dollars for a game you may not like? Screw the developers and the publishers. They aren't charitable organisations. If they want my money, they have to earn it. For probably 60 of my games, they do earn it. Plus, sometimes I discover a real gem used that turns me into a fan and then I start buying them new - like Shin Megami.

I have to buy most games used, because it is getting increasingly harder to find unopened copies of PS2 games that I need for my collection, and those make up the bulk of my video game purchases.  And sometimes the same game used is sometimes cheaper at Gamestop than it is on Amazon or Ebay.

Depends on the game, I've bought all the assassin's Creed, Mass Effect games Day 1. I bought Arkham City day 1 after I found out Arkham Asylum was such a great game. I purchase games that I feel developers and Publishers deserve my money because they made a great product. I shop at Gamestop and I have no problem with it, the games that I buy used from there are games that are quite older and very cheap. For instance I went and bought Fable 2 from my local Gamestop for 5 dollars. I was never a huge Fable fan, the first one was very meh to me. Had, I not have been able to purchase the game that cheap I would have never purchased it at all. I bought Fallout 3 from games on demand for 30 dollars, but bought New Vegas for 12 dollars from Gamestop.

Though sometimes I wonder what someone who worked on New Vegas would feel, if they went into their local Gamestop and saw New Vegas for sale for 12 dollars used, and right next to it is Fallout 3 for sale used for 28.

I've always bought new, but I've recently started picking up older used games at rock bottom prices when new ones are impossible to find (Prey, Condemned, Kameo). Plus my work sells preowned games now, so decent discount on them.

5 years. Anything before that is new. Anything after is used.

@Enigma777 said:

5 years. Anything before that is new. Anything after is used.

thats a sound rule. ill use that

Next year, any game that has an online pass that I don't like is not getting a purchase from me. I tried the full release gauntlet this year, and I simply can't devote that much time to games. Next year, there are only two I need to buy, and they're Mass Effect 3 and BioShock Infinite. And, if I'm lucky, I might not even be the one who BUYS Mass Effect 3, as I know for a fact my roommate will buy a copy.

If I can't find it new I get it used.

i will only buy used if i cant find new, snes games are always used now obviously ,

I used to buy a bunch of used games before I had a job.

I like my games new, haven't bought a used game in like 10 years. 

i buy used if i can't find it new. i bought dead island used because gamestop didn't have it new.

People that buy used games are hurting the industry. Plus they are cheap

If it's available new, that's how I buy it. I want these companies to keep making games more than I want GameStop to keep selling games. I have nothing against GameStop, I just care more about the people making my favorite past time, and I'd like to see them continue to do so.

People that buy used games hurt the industry. The industry hurts people. Blah blah blah.

I don't always have the money to buy games new, so if I'm either going to buy it used, or not at all, I don't see how I'm hurting the industry.

Plus, my minimal respect for the industry stops my heart from bleeding for their sake.

I used to always buy used games and trade them in. Then I decided to buy only new games (used if that was the only condition possible), and trade them in. Now, I keep all the games that I buy without trading them in.

roughly half the games I buy are pre-owned.

especially if I don't know if I'll like the series. If i do I usually by the next iteration new, because I'll want to play it as soon as it's out.

I buy them used sometimes.
 
You best run, I is the devil!

@clumsyninja1 said:

People that buy used games are hurting the industry. Plus they are cheap

This is the point I'm trying to challenge. I would have never bought Dark Souls new had I not picked up Demon's Souls used for $15 and given it a try. I ended up liking the game a lot and picking up Dark Souls new. Although I buy most of my games new, when I do buy used I buy the next iteration of the franchise/series new every time.

Unless I'm alone in how I approach my purchases, used games sales aren't a drain on publisher/developer money, they're an effective form of marketing for the next product.

i buy used if i can save 10-15 bucks...im a college kid..if the devs or publishers wanna pick up my $20,000 dollar debt ill buy more new...

Depends on the game, and how much money I got available.

I couldn't find demons souls not used in my city, but only used.

So I bought it.

I buy everything digitally. "Used" doesn't apply anymore.

That's not to say I don't wait until online retailers have ridiculous sales, however ;)

The majority of my game purchases so far have been used.

As an old head from the cartidge days. I just can't bring myself to buy something used.

i honestly will never understand why people buy used games. in my local GAME the pre-owned (i hate that term, its second-fucking-hand) games are usually about £5 cheaper than the new copy. which is still more expensive than if you buy off amazon.

but as a PC gamer now it isn't even an issue as there is no second hand PC games market.

Would people be happier if we just pirate the games? In aus the used game prices can be good if it's not a new game anyone expecting mw3 to be cheaper 3 days after it comes out it crazy anyway. I got la noire for 40 bucks new was 80 in-between sykrim batman mw3 and bf3 I don't see how saving 40bucks it's a crime and I'll some how single handedly bring the game industry down. Pull your heads out

About one third of the games I'm playing are pre-owned.

And I only buy used games via gaming forums or I directly trade my old games for other games.

Gamestop prices for used games are ridiculous... I'd never buy anything there.

@jetsetwillie said:

i honestly will never understand why people buy used games. in my local GAME the pre-owned (i hate that term, its second-fucking-hand) games are usually about £5 cheaper than the new copy. which is still more expensive than if you buy off amazon.

but as a PC gamer now it isn't even an issue as there is no second hand PC games market.

For your 1st point: I will accept for new releases, no reason you should buy used just to save some £5. However, I would have a hell of a time trying to find a sealed copy of Streets of Rage for my Mega Drive these days, or even some older 360/PS3 games. By your logic, if for some reason I missed a game when it first came out, then I should never play it at all, cos you don't understand why people buy used games.

2nd Point: Really? Do you live on the moon? I have a load of games in my PC collection that I bought used because they are not available through gog/steam yet and/or are very hard to find new, even with budget re-released through sold out/xplosive etc. Old games aside, I'm pretty sure that even new PC games go through the thing where they become available used at a discount days after release, so I have no idea where you are coming from.

@axlrose15 said:

Old games aside, I'm pretty sure that even new PC games go through the thing where they become available used at a discount days after release, so I have no idea where you are coming from.

No, they don't. I don't know how that would be possible (aside from fringe cases).

No one accepts PC games back after they're used because of how CDkeys and DRM works now.

@ikilledthedj said:

Would people be happier if we just pirate the games? In aus the used game prices can be good if it's not a new game anyone expecting mw3 to be cheaper 3 days after it comes out it crazy anyway. I got la noire for 40 bucks new was 80 in-between sykrim batman mw3 and bf3 I don't see how saving 40bucks it's a crime and I'll some how single handedly bring the game industry down. Pull your heads out

to a publisher there is not difference really. someone is still playing there game and they did not see a penny from you.

neither pirate or second hand buyers are customers of the publisher. of course with piracy there is the legal issue. but its the same net result for the publisher.

i know this does sound like i have my head up the arse of the publisher. but them's the facts boyo

@Koshka said:

@axlrose15 said:

Old games aside, I'm pretty sure that even new PC games go through the thing where they become available used at a discount days after release, so I have no idea where you are coming from.

No, they don't. I don't know how that would be possible (aside from fringe cases).

No one accepts PC games back after they're used because of how CDkeys and DRM works now.

OhDearMe. Guess all those guys must be crazy, selling recently-released, used PC games that don't work.

Yes, with modern DRM, steam especially, its difficult to impossible to get recent used games to run properly. However, don't say silly things like the market does not exist when it does.

@DylanGW said:

I live near a small rare and vintage video game store called "A & C Games", so I don't feel bad when I buy used games from there. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I support a store that allows me to buy games like "Ikaruga" for Gamecube or "Ducktales" for NES in 2011. However, I don't buy used games from any other store (Gamestop), because the price reduction is so small. It's usually only 5 dollars or so. I'd rather pay the five extra dollars and get a sealed copy.

I love A & C Games! All the people who work there are awesome and they know what they're talking about. They have a vast variety of rare and vintage games. Haha except for Earthbound the collectors edition. The box is there but the game seems to be gone. Other than that, almost any game you can think of is there.

I support used games. With no physical place to rent video games (I dislike renting online because I enjoy socializing and conversing with people who are physically there), I purchase used games to try them out. If I don't like it, I'll trade it. The only time I'll purchase a new game is if it was a highly anticipated title that I know I want to play and knowing that a used copy costs nearly as much as buying it new.

60-70% of what I buy, I go for it has to be bellow X dollars. I only have so much I can afford in games each year, and only so many games I think is worth $60 or more. So that means a chunk of what I get is used. Even though there are cases where I wish I could pay more because I think a game is really cool and want the company to keep it up, I just can't afford to pay more then what I do.

But on the other hand a few games I really like each year, I go for pre-order and in some cases go for collector's edition. I also have certain game companies that I want to support whenever I can, so I will try to buy it someway that gets money back to them.

And sometimes both supporting the people I want and getting a game at a price I can afford can go hand in hand, which I find great. Both 999 and the two ps3 BlazBlue games I got from Aksys when they were having a sale. Also planning on when I have time for Fallout: New Vegas to get the game cheep but buy the DLC vs waiting for the GOTY edition with all the DLC. That gets something to them, but is a bit more manageable to me.

I do like to by direct when I can, but end up going to Gamestop a lot because it does have the used selection and they tend to have the pre-order bonus I want. After that Steam is the second most often place I shop, because of the crazy sales they have. Even if Steam has a way of fighting with my PC >.o

@SanjK said:

@DylanGW said:

I live near a small rare and vintage video game store called "A & C Games", so I don't feel bad when I buy used games from there. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I support a store that allows me to buy games like "Ikaruga" for Gamecube or "Ducktales" for NES in 2011. However, I don't buy used games from any other store (Gamestop), because the price reduction is so small. It's usually only 5 dollars or so. I'd rather pay the five extra dollars and get a sealed copy.

I love A & C Games! All the people who work there are awesome and they know what they're talking about. They have a vast variety of rare and vintage games. Haha except for Earthbound the collectors edition. The box is there but the game seems to be gone. Other than that, almost any game you can think of is there.

Nice to know there's another Toronto-nian on Giantbomb. A & C Games is wicked cool.

I play 99.999% of my games on PC so it's always new for me. The other .0001% of games I play are usually the one or two console only games that look halfway decent, and by the time they drop to a price point that I'm willing to buy them my only option is usually used because I can never find new copies in stock anywhere that isn't over charging for such an old game; like in the case of the The Simpsons Game that I bought a few weeks back. I don't recall the last time I ever wanted to play a new console game enough that I had to choose between used/new, but unless it was something significant, like $20-$30 cheaper, I will always buy new to support the developers. Most of the time it's just $2-$3 cheaper and that much off is not worth getting a used/damaged case with those annoying fucking stickers all over them.

If I want the game I'm going to find it at the cheapest price possible. I have nothing against the developers or studio, just their publisher and marketing.

@Buzzkill said:

If I want the game I'm going to find it at the cheapest price possible. I have nothing against the developers or studio, just their publisher and marketing.

qft

@DylanGW said:

Nice to know there's another Toronto-nian on Giantbomb. A & C Games is wicked cool.

Awesome! Are there very few of us on here? A & C is way better than all the other pre-played game stores you'll find in Toronto, like the one in the Atrium, small selection, fun to browse for a hidden under priced gem, possibly toy with the idea of buying Beatles Monopoly (I find the whole concept full of irony).

@SanjK said:

@DylanGW said:

Nice to know there's another Toronto-nian on Giantbomb. A & C Games is wicked cool.

Awesome! Are there very few of us on here? A & C is way better than all the other pre-played game stores you'll find in Toronto, like the one in the Atrium, small selection, fun to browse for a hidden under priced gem, possibly toy with the idea of buying Beatles Monopoly (I find the whole concept full of irony).

Like you I just recently started posting on the boards, so I'm not sure how many of us there are. Where is the Atrium?

@jetsetwillie said:

@ikilledthedj said:

Would people be happier if we just pirate the games? In aus the used game prices can be good if it's not a new game anyone expecting mw3 to be cheaper 3 days after it comes out it crazy anyway. I got la noire for 40 bucks new was 80 in-between sykrim batman mw3 and bf3 I don't see how saving 40bucks it's a crime and I'll some how single handedly bring the game industry down. Pull your heads out

to a publisher there is not difference really. someone is still playing there game and they did not see a penny from you.

neither pirate or second hand buyers are customers of the publisher. of course with piracy there is the legal issue. but its the same net result for the publisher.

i know this does sound like i have my head up the arse of the publisher. but them's the facts boyo

What if I buy a game used, then convince 2 of my friends to buy the game new?

Buy a used game then champion it on a message board?

That's advertising.

I used to buy all my games new, then years ago stores in the US stopped letting me return games that sucked.

They preemptively decided all gamers (as well as movie watchers and music listeners) are pirates.

Fuck 'em, I will absolutely pay $5 less for the "luxury" (when it's a right in every other industry) of being able to say "This sucks, I want my money back."