New XBox might not allow used games

Avestan · Post by **Avestan** » January 26, 2012, 12:27 am

http://www.gamespot.com/news/next-xbox- ... rt-6349165

This would pretty much ensure that I would not buy this console despite my general preference to xbox over ps.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 26, 2012, 12:32 am

Yeah saw that on Kotaku. I don't really have a problem with the online pass thing aome companies are doing but something that ties a physical copy to a single console? Pass.

Avestan · Post by **Avestan** » January 26, 2012, 12:41 am

Would suck to be Gamefly if this happens.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 26, 2012, 12:46 am

hack it!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 26, 2012, 12:54 am

Let's be honest here though... Games are depreciating faster than ever these days. It's not uncommon to be able to buy a game at 50% or down to even 20$ 6 months after it's original release unless you're Call of Duty or any 1st party Nintendo game. If anything, once this gray market is gone, the price of new titles could go down a bit. (I'm surprised I managed to get that out with a straight face..)

I personally very rarely, if ever buy used games or rent (hell, just finding a place that rents games these days is a challenge). I don't particularly myself being adversely affected by this.

You can be sure that if(big if) MS is going to be doing this, then the big publishers are going to be pushing Sony to do the same in some attempt to shore up their bottom lines.

Also, how are the retailers like Gamestop (and to a lesser extent Best Buy and Amazon) going to take an attack like this to their business models. There was already retailers boycotting the PSP Go because of the lack of physical media.. Could they do the same to a new Xbox?

It's an interesting topic.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » January 26, 2012, 12:58 am

Rental enterprise software

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 26, 2012, 1:03 am

Animalor wrote:If anything, once this gray market is gone, the price of new titles could go down a bit.

That will never happen.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 26, 2012, 3:52 am

I don't give a shit about used game sales. I hate walking into gamestop and having to sort my way passed all their shitty used games like I'm in a fucking pawn shop.

I won't financially support a console that won't let me lend/borrow games with my friends though. I hate digital distribution and all these ridiculous trappings that come with it. When I buy something, I own it. If I want to share with my friends I am going to.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 26, 2012, 9:00 am

Honest question - Can you lend a copy of a Steam-enabled retail-bought game (Civ5 comes to mind)?

miir · Post by **miir** » January 26, 2012, 11:24 am

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 26, 2012, 11:52 am

I'm playing devil's advocate here but here's a thought... What if, when you first put in a specific disk, that copy is associated to the console and the gamertag(or all gamertags on that console), very similarly to how it is with XBLA games..

If a disk is put into a console that has neither, that person has to buy an unlock token to use some of the game's features or the entire game outright (let's say 5-15$, like the online pass system implemented in a few games currently.). This gives that gamertag the right to play that copy of the game for a set period(or indefinitely).

Seems like something that would be completely reasonable to be, the publishers/devs get some cash back on every gray market sale anyways. The consumer still gets the short end of the stick but we always do anyways.

Avestan · Post by **Avestan** » January 26, 2012, 2:16 pm

I also dont give a shit about used games, but used games drive down prices of new games.

Why do you think prices fall so quickly 1 month after releases these days? It is because they are competing against used games. If the used game market goes away, you could expect those discounts to go away as well.

I am a new game discount shopper almost exclusively these days. I will not support this platform.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » January 26, 2012, 2:58 pm

I hate walking into gamestop and having to sort my way passed all their shitty used games like I'm in a fucking pawn shop.

I thought I was the only one that felt this way. Granted, I rarely visit game stores, but when I do, I'd prefer not to have to wade through the second hand stuff. Aesthetics!

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 26, 2012, 3:05 pm

Avestan wrote:I also dont give a shit about used games, but used games drive down prices of new games.

Why do you think prices fall so quickly 1 month after releases these days? It is because they are competing against used games. If the used game market goes away, you could expect those discounts to go away as well.

I am a new game discount shopper almost exclusively these days. I will not support this platform.

Used game sales fall linearly with new game sales. They are always $5 cheaper than a new game at gamestop or best buy, so your argument has no merit.

I buy games on steam and PSN store knowing full well I'm not going to be able to share them. It is a decision I make when I buy from there. I also buy new boxed copies of games, which are mine. I own them. If I want to share it I will. It is the same reason I don't buy or use ebooks. If Microsoft does this then they are taking the decision out of my hands and I am relinquishing my ownership rights to my property.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » January 26, 2012, 3:14 pm

Correct. And, not unexpected. I purchase SQL Server licensing weekly (for IBM teehee) and that's fine and dandy, but when I purchase a product for myself, that shit is mine.

Avestan · Post by **Avestan** » January 26, 2012, 3:44 pm

kyoukan wrote:
Avestan wrote:I also dont give a shit about used games, but used games drive down prices of new games.

Why do you think prices fall so quickly 1 month after releases these days? It is because they are competing against used games. If the used game market goes away, you could expect those discounts to go away as well.

I am a new game discount shopper almost exclusively these days. I will not support this platform.
Used game sales fall linearly with new game sales. They are always $5 cheaper than a new game at gamestop or best buy, so your argument has no merit.

I buy games on steam and PSN store knowing full well I'm not going to be able to share them. It is a decision I make when I buy from there. I also buy new boxed copies of games, which are mine. I own them. If I want to share it I will. It is the same reason I don't buy or use ebooks. If Microsoft does this then they are taking the decision out of my hands and I am relinquishing my ownership rights to my property.

You could be right, but one of my best friends is the lead producer of the Tomb Raider series and we had this exact conversation last week. They see used games as the primary driver to quickly discounted titles. The used game industry is surging and many used games will transact 3-4 times before they die off. Those 3-4 transactions are not recognized at all by the developer or the original distributor.

They would rather heavily discount their titles in an effort to kneecap the used game industry than recognize less and less of the post launch revenue.

I think it is a bit of a strong statement to say that this line of argument has no merit, but whenever you buy that 50% game on steam, you are feeling the impact of the rise of the used game industry in a positive way even if you personally never buy used games.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » January 26, 2012, 8:59 pm

This would shit up game rentals as well. I think it's just a rumor, but if it's true I'll wait and see how it pans out in the real world before making a decision one way or another. On the surface, it does not look good for the consumer at all. I can easily go back to straight PC gaming and shrug off comsloes. I love video games, but I will walk from the hobby if I feel like I'm getting fucked. I have plenty of other things to do! Actually, at this time I do not plan on buying any of the next gen consoles day 1.

Tyek · Post by **Tyek** » January 27, 2012, 2:00 am

We have multiple 360's in the house. One in our room, one in son's and one downstairs. So I would have to buy 3 copies to play in my house? I just don't see this happening.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » January 27, 2012, 6:29 am

I've bought maybe 5 of my 100+ Xbox games used, but I still wouldn't buy this console if yet did that just on principle.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 27, 2012, 10:37 am

Tyek wrote:We have multiple 360's in the house. One in our room, one in son's and one downstairs. So I would have to buy 3 copies to play in my house? I just don't see this happening.

I highly doubt it. It would probably be something like how iTunes works. You'd be able to do something like authorize the disk on five consoles or LIVE accounts.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 27, 2012, 1:14 pm

Why would you doubt it? That's how it works now with the 'Online Pass' thing. While that only really applies to online multiplayer functionality there's no reason they couldn't expand it.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 27, 2012, 1:58 pm

Aslanna wrote:Why would you doubt it? That's how it works now with the 'Online Pass' thing. While that only really applies to online multiplayer functionality there's no reason they couldn't expand it.

Online functionality might be restricted but not the stand alone part of the game playable offline. That's what I'm doubting and would imagine they'd be smart enough to allow the DVD/Blu Ray to be registered with multiple consoles (5 in the case of iTunes for example)

What you're referring to already exists with Batman Arkham City with the Catwomen code that must be registered to unlock on the original DVD.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 27, 2012, 2:59 pm

Avestan wrote:
kyoukan wrote:
Avestan wrote:I also dont give a shit about used games, but used games drive down prices of new games.

Why do you think prices fall so quickly 1 month after releases these days? It is because they are competing against used games. If the used game market goes away, you could expect those discounts to go away as well.

I am a new game discount shopper almost exclusively these days. I will not support this platform.
Used game sales fall linearly with new game sales. They are always $5 cheaper than a new game at gamestop or best buy, so your argument has no merit.

I buy games on steam and PSN store knowing full well I'm not going to be able to share them. It is a decision I make when I buy from there. I also buy new boxed copies of games, which are mine. I own them. If I want to share it I will. It is the same reason I don't buy or use ebooks. If Microsoft does this then they are taking the decision out of my hands and I am relinquishing my ownership rights to my property.
You could be right, but one of my best friends is the lead producer of the Tomb Raider series and we had this exact conversation last week. They see used games as the primary driver to quickly discounted titles. The used game industry is surging and many used games will transact 3-4 times before they die off. Those 3-4 transactions are not recognized at all by the developer or the original distributor.

They would rather heavily discount their titles in an effort to kneecap the used game industry than recognize less and less of the post launch revenue.

I think it is a bit of a strong statement to say that this line of argument has no merit, but whenever you buy that 50% game on steam, you are feeling the impact of the rise of the used game industry in a positive way even if you personally never buy used games.

Used game prices react accordingly to adjustments to new game prices. That is why your argument doesn't carry any water.

I won't even bother trying to point out the logical inconsistencies of you trying to compare the price of used console games at brick and mortar stores with games going on sale on Steam.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » January 27, 2012, 3:10 pm

Canelek wrote:
I hate walking into gamestop and having to sort my way passed all their shitty used games like I'm in a fucking pawn shop.
I thought I was the only one that felt this way. Granted, I rarely visit game stores, but when I do, I'd prefer not to have to wade through the second hand stuff. Aesthetics!

Add another to the list. Last game I got was Forza 4 and the schmoe behind the counter was pushing his used wares (and the stupid frequent buyer card nonsense). I'm to deal with some scumfuck's hands all over my game just to save 5 lousy dollars?
As far as the overall impact of MS's console if this decision is made goes, I really don't care one way or another. I do know that this is the first gen of console hardware I'm really not going to be interested in early adopting. I think the game companies are having a hard time predicting the shape console gaming is going to take and morph into during the next 5-10 years. They're going to have to sort that nonsense out before I throw more cash anyone's way.

Avestan · Post by **Avestan** » January 27, 2012, 5:20 pm

kyoukan wrote:
Avestan wrote:
kyoukan wrote:
Avestan wrote:I also dont give a shit about used games, but used games drive down prices of new games.

Why do you think prices fall so quickly 1 month after releases these days? It is because they are competing against used games. If the used game market goes away, you could expect those discounts to go away as well.

I am a new game discount shopper almost exclusively these days. I will not support this platform.
Used game sales fall linearly with new game sales. They are always $5 cheaper than a new game at gamestop or best buy, so your argument has no merit.

I buy games on steam and PSN store knowing full well I'm not going to be able to share them. It is a decision I make when I buy from there. I also buy new boxed copies of games, which are mine. I own them. If I want to share it I will. It is the same reason I don't buy or use ebooks. If Microsoft does this then they are taking the decision out of my hands and I am relinquishing my ownership rights to my property.
You could be right, but one of my best friends is the lead producer of the Tomb Raider series and we had this exact conversation last week. They see used games as the primary driver to quickly discounted titles. The used game industry is surging and many used games will transact 3-4 times before they die off. Those 3-4 transactions are not recognized at all by the developer or the original distributor.

They would rather heavily discount their titles in an effort to kneecap the used game industry than recognize less and less of the post launch revenue.

I think it is a bit of a strong statement to say that this line of argument has no merit, but whenever you buy that 50% game on steam, you are feeling the impact of the rise of the used game industry in a positive way even if you personally never buy used games.
Used game prices react accordingly to adjustments to new game prices. That is why your argument doesn't carry any water.

I won't even bother trying to point out the logical inconsistencies of you trying to compare the price of used console games at brick and mortar stores with games going on sale on Steam.

Ky - it is completely logically consistent. If I am shopping for a game, I don't care if I get it on Steam, Origin, or at Best Buy. I know some of you do, but I don't - and most are like me.

That means that these channels are competitive. If - for example - Skyrim goes on sale on Steam, do you honestly believe that does not impact the velocity of used Skyrims being sold at Gamestop? THAT stance is what makes no sense. Used game prices can not change as quickly as daily deal promos through digital distribution.

When Steam offers $10 off on Skyrim for the weekend, that is taking money out of the hands of used game dealers. It is 100% illogical to argue anything different.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 28, 2012, 1:46 am

Avestan wrote:
kyoukan wrote:
Avestan wrote:
kyoukan wrote:
Avestan wrote:I also dont give a shit about used games, but used games drive down prices of new games.

Why do you think prices fall so quickly 1 month after releases these days? It is because they are competing against used games. If the used game market goes away, you could expect those discounts to go away as well.

I am a new game discount shopper almost exclusively these days. I will not support this platform.
Used game sales fall linearly with new game sales. They are always $5 cheaper than a new game at gamestop or best buy, so your argument has no merit.

I buy games on steam and PSN store knowing full well I'm not going to be able to share them. It is a decision I make when I buy from there. I also buy new boxed copies of games, which are mine. I own them. If I want to share it I will. It is the same reason I don't buy or use ebooks. If Microsoft does this then they are taking the decision out of my hands and I am relinquishing my ownership rights to my property.
You could be right, but one of my best friends is the lead producer of the Tomb Raider series and we had this exact conversation last week. They see used games as the primary driver to quickly discounted titles. The used game industry is surging and many used games will transact 3-4 times before they die off. Those 3-4 transactions are not recognized at all by the developer or the original distributor.

They would rather heavily discount their titles in an effort to kneecap the used game industry than recognize less and less of the post launch revenue.

I think it is a bit of a strong statement to say that this line of argument has no merit, but whenever you buy that 50% game on steam, you are feeling the impact of the rise of the used game industry in a positive way even if you personally never buy used games.
Used game prices react accordingly to adjustments to new game prices. That is why your argument doesn't carry any water.

I won't even bother trying to point out the logical inconsistencies of you trying to compare the price of used console games at brick and mortar stores with games going on sale on Steam.

Ky - it is completely logically consistent. If I am shopping for a game, I don't care if I get it on Steam, Origin, or at Best Buy. I know some of you do, but I don't - and most are like me.

That means that these channels are competitive. If - for example - Skyrim goes on sale on Steam, do you honestly believe that does not impact the velocity of used Skyrims being sold at Gamestop? THAT stance is what makes no sense. Used game prices can not change as quickly as daily deal promos through digital distribution.

When Steam offers $10 off on Skyrim for the weekend, that is taking money out of the hands of used game dealers. It is 100% illogical to argue anything different.

QUOTESTORMMMM!!1

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 28, 2012, 9:06 am

kyoukan wrote:
QUOTESTORMMMM!!1

Translation: kyoukan's been owned, left dazed and confused, and will now attempt to troll the thread

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » January 28, 2012, 1:49 pm

Winnow wrote:
kyoukan wrote:
QUOTESTORMMMM!!1
Translation: kyoukan's been owned, left dazed and confused, and will now attempt to troll the thread

How so?

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 28, 2012, 2:27 pm

Winnow's just having trouble following the argument and lost interest when there were no 1024x768's of 13 year old looking anime girls flashing their panties and whispering in his ear to murder them and stuff their little corpses in a trash bin.

I also clearly stated I wasn't going to waste my time debating retarded shit like games going on sale on Steam effecting used game prices at gamestop. If I want to debate chaos theory with people who don't understand causality, I'll go post on reddit.

miir · Post by **miir** » January 28, 2012, 11:30 pm

kyoukan wrote: If I want to debate chaos theory with people who don't understand causality, I'll go post on reddit.

Spang · Post by **Spang** » January 29, 2012, 11:36 pm

What happens when you play the shit out of your new game and it becomes used?

Jice Virago · Post by **Jice Virago** » February 1, 2012, 1:46 pm

Yeah, fuck the XBox. The last game I played on a 360 was the Xbox 1 port of Jade Empire. Any serious gamer does not want to get fucked out of their games every time their console dies, which is often with the 360.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 1, 2012, 2:52 pm

Jice Virago wrote:Yeah, fuck the XBox. The last game I played on a 360 was the Xbox 1 port of Jade Empire. Any serious gamer does not want to get fucked out of their games every time their console dies, which is often with the 360.

Err, there are tons of ways you can keep your data safe. The harddrive is removable and can be moved between consoles. The licenses can be transfered from xbox.com, they have cloud saves and you can alsu use external USB sticks as storage.

Jice Virago · Post by **Jice Virago** » February 1, 2012, 3:55 pm

Except.... the disks are tied to a console that no longer exists so unless MS has a plan for this you are hosed? Also, after the whole nuking people's personal shit on Megauploads or whoever that was, I do not consider clouds to be anything resembling a reliable form of data backup.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » February 2, 2012, 9:13 pm

Cloud storage still has a ways to go, as far as how companies leverage the technology.

I'd personally wait until MS SQL Server 2012 Azure is stable. It is in RC0 now, so expect commercial release in Q2 with a stable service pack in August or so....at least that is the usual trend.

That said, it is not necessarily the database engine that would be the problem--usually shitty security policy and sloppy exposure of SPI data (SSN, CC#, address, etc.).

Siji · Post by **Siji** » February 4, 2012, 1:58 pm

Until consumers stop, stand up and say 'no, i do not want your dick in my ass balls deep without lube' they will continue to go ass to mouth and accept it.

And wow, what a group of prima fucking donnas.. If you don't like the store, knowing ahead of time what it's business is, fucking go somewhere else. If your skin crawls in the 5 minutes it takes to pick up your game and walk out, perhaps your 5 minutes is worth more than the $5-$10 you saved or the new lincoln log of shit dlc you got by pre-ordering it at that particular establishment. Or better yet, have it shipped to you. Quit your fucking whining.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 23, 2012, 1:11 am

Who cares about used games? What cheap ass buys used games? Wait till they are on discount or pirate them. Buy high quality blank DVDs to support the tech industry, preferably made in Singapore.

BTW, you will all buy the next Xbox unless you want to be laughed at holding that ridiculous looking Wii U controller or keep destroying your hands thinking that Sony is still a player.

Plan your future:

Xbox 720
iPad 3
iPhone 5
Games with upskirt camera angles

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » February 23, 2012, 1:37 am

Who cares about used games? What cheap ass buys used games? Wait till they are on discount

What incentive is there to lower the price of a title if there is no used market to compete with?

or pirate

no

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » February 23, 2012, 3:10 am

Winnow wrote:Who cares about used games? What cheap ass buys used games?

I've never bought a used game. But I have borrowed games from friends so as far as game makers go that falls into the 'used' category. It will be lame if you can't do that on next generation consoles. I get the Online Pass thing publishers are doing and I don't really have a problem with it as usually that's just to get you into MP and I don't really care about multi-player and if I were I'd pony up the $10 for the online pass.

BTW, you will all buy the next Xbox unless you want to be laughed at holding that ridiculous looking Wii U controller or keep destroying your hands thinking that Sony is still a player.

Not if they do crap like these rumors are suggesting. And if any console ever goes medialess (ala PSP-Go) I will not be purchasing it. Let's face it that will be coming eventually so that will render the whole used games issue moot anyway. I'm old fashioned and want a physical copy of things I purchase that I can hold onto not some cloud bullshit or whatever. Yeah I've bought PSN and XBLA arcade games in the past and I can't hold onto them but those are cheaper and it's easier to take a chance on those so I guess maybe it's mostly a price thing. There's no way I'll be paying $60 for a digital download of any game.

Nintendo isn't on my radar for the next generation. I got a Wii but I really got tired of every game forcing the gimmicky motion controls on me when sometimes all I want to do is push some buttons. They do have the classic controller but hardly any game supported that. The Wii-U, besides have a really stupid name, looks to continue the motion control trend and supposedly they think all it takes to get people buying their shit again is to make the graphics HD. As I've said before the graphics aren't why I haven't turned on the Wii in over a year or two now.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 23, 2012, 3:47 am

Yeah, I got the wii because of my desire to play nintendos first party titles. I used it to play old school games more than disc based games, and games like the newest Zelda where the entire game is motion controlled with no option to just use a classic controller have even driven the last bit of desire to play them. I won't be buying wii u.

I also won't buy the next gen xbox if this, and other rumors pan out. I honestly have plenty of other hobbies, none of which involve me paying to get shafted, do I don't need a new console. Backwards compatibility is going to be an issue for me too. I have over 100 360 games,any of which I will play again down the road.

If the new Xbox ends up to be shit I'll look at the ps4. If they can put together a better online infrastructure akin to live, I'd have no problem making it my only console. Or I'll just say fuck em all.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 23, 2012, 11:15 am

Aslanna wrote: I've never bought a used game. But I have borrowed games from friends so as far as game makers go that falls into the 'used' category. It will be lame if you can't do that on next generation consoles..

I'm just speculating like everyone else, but I'd assume you'd be able to install the game on a certain number of devices sort of like iTunes (5). So, if you share with friends (unless they are super strict and lock the game to your LIVE ID), you still would be able to if that turned out to be the case but you couldn't give it to a ton of people (I think Funk is the one that had a large network of friends sharing games) Microsoft isn't the heartless company they used to be. I doubt they'd position the company as the harshest of the three gaming console companies. They did piss me off with their LIVE cancellation policy which required you to call to cancel unless you figured out the workaround so who knows.

First party developers should get as much of the money off games as possible to promote development of more games. Used sales don't help nearly as much with that. They're about as good as piracy for getting people to try out games that they might eventually buy a sequel release or from the same publisher at a later date. I really don't care if Gamestop stays in business and am happy with a mail order/digital download world. I appreciate the old school feelings for physical media but it's clearly dying out in all areas (books, games, CDs, etc)

Best to wait and see what their strategy actually turns out to be. I can't blame them (or the developers) for wanting to get a larger chunk of the money that's being thrown around for the games they develop. Initial prices of games won't go down but I can still see games dropping in price at the same rate as they do today. The difference would be that they would sell more copies at a discounted price since there would be no used market. There's always a balance. Companies know there's a plenty of people that won't pay or can't pay 60.00 for a game. It's all about figuring out the best strategy for price cuts to maximize profit. The odd man out is the used game sellers which don't matter. Game stores will die out just like comic book stores have. I've set foot in a dedicated PC/Console Game shop one time in the last 10 years and that was to try and find Demons Souls. Fry's and Best Buy exist if you want to walk into a store and buy something (or Wal Mart/Target, etc)

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 30, 2012, 11:04 am

Rumors about "Orbis" (aka PS4) have made their way out:

The most intriguing bit of rumor-mongering, though, has to do with the Orbis's reported system-wide protections against used games, which will tie each new retail game disc to a PlayStation Network account that must be actively signed in when the game starts up. Preowned game discs would supposedly still work in a secondary console, but would only play in a limited "trial" mode unless the new customer pays a fee to unlock the full game.

That bit of the rumor lines up with earlier unconfirmed reports that Microsoft is looking to prevent used games from being played on the successor to the Xbox 360. Still, the Orbis system as described would seem to completely lock out any potential customer that doesn't have a broadband Internet connection in their home. A 2010 study found that 22 percent of PS3 users in the US had not connected their system to the Internet, though that proportion may shrink by the time the Orbis is ready to be released.

Awesome ideas, MS and Sony! Also not sure how that works "must be actively signed in when the game starts up". What if your network is down or something? You can't play the game? Lots of times I don't log in I just play offline. Unless they just mean the first time you run the game you have to be signed in.

Either way I don't see myself jumping on the next-gen bandwagon anytime soon. If at all. And that's coming from someone who has never even bought a used game. It will probably take me 5 years to get through all the current games I have or want to play. After that I'll probably just stick with the occasional PC game.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 30, 2012, 4:23 pm

Yeah, it's bad enough now that you have to be connected
To live to play dlc for games. I can definitely see this being a deterrent to me buying the new consoles, even though I've probably bought less than five used games from this generation.

I read an article on game informer where the CEO of GameStop stated he didn't think they would lock out used games. I'm not sure why he thinks Microsoft/Sony give a shit about his business, but apparently he does. Even if they do something like this it's going to cut deeply into gamestops sales, why would you buy a used game for 10-15 dollars less than new price if you had to pay that difference or more to be able to play it.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 30, 2012, 4:40 pm

If you've been reading the news, Best Buy is in financial trouble. Game Stores are next. Just deal with PC/Console stuff being mail order/digital only in a couple years and you'll look like a genius when it happens!

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » March 30, 2012, 4:48 pm

Winnow wrote:If you've been reading the news, Best Buy is in financial trouble.

Some food for thought:

Best Buy opened additional stores close to Circuit City (remember them?) whenever possible, in order to squeeze them out. This means that there would naturally be too many stores in the end...

Also, Best Buy is adding 100 "mobile" locations.

Sure, buying online makes more sense than buying Best Buy, but there's a good chance that closing 50 stores boils down to little more than a smart business decision.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 30, 2012, 4:54 pm

I'll most likely continue buying from best buy for as long as they are around. Being reward zone silver saves me a good chunk of money considering how much I buy there. Plus it gives me a 45 day return policy for everything.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 30, 2012, 4:58 pm

Leonaerd wrote:
Winnow wrote:If you've been reading the news, Best Buy is in financial trouble.
Some food for thought:

Best Buy opened additional stores close to Circuit City (remember them?) whenever possible, in order to squeeze them out. This means that there would naturally be too many stores in the end...

Also, Best Buy is adding 100 "mobile" locations.

Sure, buying online makes more sense than buying Best Buy, but there's a good chance that closing 50 stores boils down to little more than a smart business decision.

noted.

For the quarter ended March 3, Best Buy reported a loss of $1.7 billion

I know they've had some restructuring costs as well recently. I'm rooting for Best Buy to stay relevant. I'd hate to see the last non mega store (Fry's) Electronics Store franchise go under.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 30, 2012, 5:06 pm

On second thought, it isn't going to matter. Going to be the sole winner of the $640 million mega millions jackpot tonight, and video games will be the last thing on my mind afterwards.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » March 30, 2012, 5:07 pm

The rumor is showing up too often to not have at least a hint of truth to it. If they did a code, and you own it for life via a downloadable file, then I'm fine with that. It would be like Steam or what Blizzard does. If I could have a digital version of every Xbox/PS3/Wii game I own, stored in a cloud for me somewhere, then I think that would be kind of awesome.

I'll likely take a look and see approach for next gen consoles. Lie Aslanna, I could play my current gen games for years and be content. Just look at the 2012 thread for beaten games. I have barely played anything this year other than WoW. I also haven't bought anything. The big 3 have to give me a reason to jump over this time. If the cons start to infringe on the pros, then fuck em all. I'll go back to PC gaming and play my backlog on the various consoles I already own. The first thing to make me turn my back on them is if they ditch backward compatibility and start fucking with the XBL, PSN, and Wiiware games I already own. They will lose a lot of good faith with me by doing that.

I used to buy at BB all the time. As soon as Circuit City closed, they stopped having insane movie deals every week, which was a major motivator for me to go there. They still have them from time to time now, but nothing like they used to. I'm pretty much an Amazon customer because BB points don't really hold a candle to Amazon credit for the wife and I. I would be sad to see them go though. It's fun to pop in and do impulse buys there.