Phoenix Down Under: The Games Industry

Are second-hand games the bane of the industry? Is the system itself broken?

Companies like EA have been crusading against the sale of second-hand games for awhile now, because in theory second-hand games hurt their bottom line. Indeed, if consumers buy games used from places like EB Games (with all their trade-in deals and whatnot), the developers aren't getting your dirty, dirty money.

Game developers not getting money may be looked on as a bad thing.

To combat this, then, games like The Saboteur feature single-use downloadable content codes (for added nudity in this case) to discourage consumers, nay... punish them, for not buying games new. And God knows there would be an abundance of used copies of that particular game. Some companies have debated only allowing access to multiplayer on new games, not second-hand ones.

But are second-hand games all bad for the industry?

Companies like GameStop run on very small profit margins, often resorting to selling insurance to people who don't take care of their games or are prone to losing little receipts. Also, Activision franchises keep them afloat, as well as the most important thing of all - trade-ins.

Surely the stores (as lousy as they are great) should stay open? The answer is a resounding "maybe" and I don't particularly wish to solve it at this point in time. I haven't consumed enough alcohol nor am I crazy enough at the moment - I think I ought not to do it, only to present the argument.

Yet the above grouping of sentences raise an interesting question. If the only way that these chains of stores can stay in business is by reselling a product no longer desired by a given consumer, is that business model not flawed? Especially given the desires of some companies to combat the phenomenon.

Let's look at Steam - despite my unpleasant experience and therefore unreasonable hatred for the thing, Steam is rather revolutionary, as it distributes games digitally. The way of the future. And Valve, subsequently, rake in copious amounts of cash money. Most PC game sales take place over Steam, not in stores.

Considering the price of games (especially in Australia, though I've bitched about that before), perhaps this digital distribution is a superior way to move this particular product. I suspect it will catch on and take over traditional means in the games industry faster than in the film industry. But that won't be for a while. I'm interested to see how things turn out.