Basically if the industry wants more money, then they have the power themselves to adjust their prices to the point where they sell the most copies. If they really didn’t like used game sales, they’d have done this already.

I let this ride for awhile because I wanted to see what others thought… From my point of view, you’re being ridiculous. Used games != piracy nor theft. It just doesn’t make sense. Used games expand the video game market dramatically. Just because Gamestop has figured out how to game the system doesn’t mean the used games market is bad. It means as your biggest retailer, and hence really dependent on you guys, the developers, you need to talk to them about it. Quit punishing the end user because they don’t want to shell out $60 for a new game.

This is the same short sighted mentality that Epic, Microsoft and EA are taking. Listen to this… The video game market is BETTER and BIGGER because of used games. It’s a simple fact that the more you get people playing games, the more games they will be on a general basis.

So, continue to think the used game market is thievery if you want, but if you do, that leaves most of your potential market wondering if you guys even remember what it’s like to buy games….

That assumes that everyone has the same price sensitivities, assumes that everyone who buys Fallout 3 from a guy on Craigslist would have – had the used market been rendered impossible – spent $60 on a retail copy. Absolutely untrue and ridiculous to expect. Everybody’s got their own “acceptable” price for a game they haven’t played yet. Mine happens to usually be somewhere south of $60, which explains why in the year I’ve owned my 360, I’ve bought 10 games, only 2 of them new (Mass Effect & Force Unleashed). Spending ~$450 got me 10 games, where the same $450 spent on new titles would have only got me 7 and change. The difference between new and used, for me, was essentially 2 free games.

Would my “acceptable” price point go down if the “new” retail price were magically made $50? Maybe – who’s to say?

I am willing to pay $50, one time, and hey, that should cover any initial AND ancilliary ‘profits’ for the company. They shouldn’t need second hand sales, that’s covered already.

Back to devalue, they can cripple the second hand market instantly. Sell their games for $25. That drops the used value to $5, and heck, hard to keep a store open on $5 sales. I would reckon the demand would increase significantly at $25 – you bought GTA for 50 knowing you could sell it for 25-30. Look at the magic difference there.

I do bet that they will push retailers for ‘royalties’ – IE – you sell my game used, I get X% of the sale, or you won’t get my new games. Or worse, threaten to make all their games online authenitcated with a one time keysweep giving that used game zero value.

Games are moving from commoddities to services, but what ‘service’ are we paying for? And for the record, I buy 75% of my games through digital distribution. Saves me $10 a title.