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"Second hand games: as bad as piracy?"

If you think about it the amount of money that the games industry lose from second hand games must be a great in comparison to piracy.
If you walked in to an Electronics boutique or GAME store and saw the new game and a second hand alternative, no idiot would think twice about getting the second hand one unless they're loaded.
Who profits? Only the shop does and the money that the games industry could have made from that game goes to the shop.
Second hand games hurt the industry.
Do computer game shops need to draw out some kind of contract with the companies so they can profit from the sales? Has this been done already?

I don't think that games companies lose too much *noticeable* money to secondhand games. I mean obviously if everyone that owns a game had bought it brank spanking new, they would make more money than they are currently, but it's not as if everyone has suddenly starting buying games secondhand instead of new and there's been a huge drop in sales. It's a market that always has and always will exist.

I think games companies acknowledge this and are aware that this will happen. Thats why it's up to the games companies to give gamers a reason to buy new or on launch. It is their job via previews, etc to make you want the game before it is even released, so that you can't wait for a secondhand copy to surface and instead buy it new.

You also have to consider the time scale. Most secondhand games are made available by gamers getting fed up with their games and wanting cash for new ones. First of all theres the time it takes for a gamer to get bored with their game. Chances are by this time the game itself is no longer making alot of money anyway, as newer games are taking the limelight. Secondly.. what does little ol' Mr. Gamer buy with the money he gets from his games? He buys a new game of course. Whenever i have sold games it has been to afford a long awaited new release. So in that way it can help people afford games, which has to be good for games companies.

I also think that the sheer availability of 2nd hand merchandise raises awareness of the product, and if something is more affordable secondhand, you are more likely to buy it.. so if more people are buying games duer to 2nd hand trade, then more people are being introduced to what games have to offer. Which means that games companies have a larger audience to sell to. Also, when buying a game secondhand, chances are this will lead to a host of new purchases.. ie - you buy point blank 2 secondhand.. you love it. Then, while browsing through special reserve's catalogue you notice a new release - point blank 3. You think.. well, no. 2 was great, so i'll get no. 3 aswell.

Another thing.. secondhand stores are all someone's business. Each one of those shops is helping someone pay their rent, etc..

I think games companies accept the existence of 2nd hand trade and really don't care too much about it. I mean, Special Reserve do alright don't they? :)

You could argue the same about renting. Even worse.

I am not saying that second hand games are as bad as pirate games in terms of legality. I am saying that companies are loosing money off second hand games being sold and that the companies are loosing money from the money they could have made by shop i.e eb selling the new game.

Second hand games cost the industry a considerable amount of money considering that the amount of second hand games being sold is ever increasing.

No, piracy is where you waltz around the 7 sees in a rickety wooden ship that by all accounts should have hit the bottom long ago.

Basically, you go around with a long curvy sword called a cutlass. This must be in very bad condition with bits chopped out of it. Then, you find a very rich and posh bloke with a luurrvely daughter, nick all his money, and kidnap the daughter.

Then, you ransom the daughter, but fall in love with eachother and bog off to another continent.

Monkeys must be involved somewhere.

<---HERE ENDS TODAY'S CRASH COURSE IN PIRACY--->

Piracy is when you make a copy of a game and use it for purposes other than your own - such as selling to make a profit.

By selling a second hand game, you are unlikely to make a profit, and in turn that means that the game's producers don't lose any money.

Second hand games like piracy? I dont think so.

I dont think that 2nd hand games is as bad as piracy, for one it's not illegal. Soemtimes i might buy a 2nd hand game if it's cheap enough and i cant afford a new one. But a like the idea of getting a brand new game that no-one has played on.

When i wnet to peterbourgh with my cousin there was this brilliant shop called Game Station, it sold loads of cheap Games for all formats including the SNES and Megadrive. Even the Atari i think! But as well as selling cheap games it sold cheap 2nd hand games. My cousin bought two, Kessen and Theme Park World. Both for the PS2.

I thoguht this was ok as the person that owned the game before bought the game and gave £30 something to the two companys.

So i think 2nd hand is nothing like Piracy!

They didn't pay much, I think it was something like: well under half the price over here.

My cousins were saving quite happily as well. Also, as far as I know, the English was purely readable.

Also was it possible for them to trade. If it was I suppose it wasn't that bad a deal as long as it trades and saves.

(;o|

To be hones with you, I don't really remember. I only really remember playing on PKmon G/S.

Ahhhhhh, yeah, there was a few games that I'd never heard of before. And they were pure sh*te.

Hmmmmm.........