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Livingstone: Used Games "No Benefit"

[Aug 20, 2009, 11:16 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

$40 For That Old Thing? How Used Games Are Priced on Kotaku.AU looks at how used games are priced, talking with several used game vendors, though industry leader GameStop was not willing to comment for their article. The simple economics of supply and demand are still in play, of course, and they examine how this is determined. On a related note, Retailers 'limit UK games market' on the BBC is a GamesCom conversation with a couple of publishers about games at retail and the secondary market (thanks GamesIndustry.biz). Koch Media's Georg Larch tells them digital distribution will help publishers deal with used game sales, while Eidos' Ian Livingstone says they still want to work with retailers because: "These aren't just shops, they are a marketing tool, a window into our world where software houses can display their wares." Of course some gamers buy games at full price only because they know they can later recoup some of that cost by selling games, and many gamers use the proceeds from selling their old games to buy new ones, but apparently Livingstone sees no value in this, saying: "The pre-owned market is a serious problem, because there is no benefit to developers or publishers."

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32.

Re: Livingstone: Used Games

Aug 20, 2009, 13:15

Beamer

Here, I'll do a quick comparison, choosing games at random from Best Buy and GameStop.

1: Saints Row 2 for the 360.
GameStop: $26.99
Best Buy: $29.99
Are you really arguing that people that bought a $300 system, plus accessories, can't afford that extra $3 for new?

2: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition for the 360.
GameStop: $26.99
Best Buy: $29.99

3: Thrillville for the Wii
GameStop: $17.99
Best Buy: $19.99

4: Condemned 2 for the 360
GameStop: $17.99
Best Buy: $23.99

So in one of those cases you get a significantly better deal, although GameStop has Condemned 2 new listed at $19.99, and neither new nor used are available online yet both new and used are available at the 3 GameStops nearest me.

But it's typically a $2-$3 savings on an old game, $5 on a new. People are arguing this isn't affordable in order to support the people that slaved over it instead of the zit-faced geek at GameStop?




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