If you don’t want to pre-order a new copy of Crysis 2 and don’t want to have to head into GAME on a whim, hoping that there’ll be a second-hand copy waiting for you, you can now pre-order pre-owned games.
Yes, really.
For what amounts to between a fiver and up to around fifteen quid off the cost of the game brand new, you can now put your name down to get a pre-owned copy of certain big titles any time after a week past the release date.
Such ‘big’ titles will include Fight Night Champion, Dragon Age II, Crysis 2, Homefront and Virtua Tennis 4, effectively saving yourself a few quid but meaning the publishers (and developers) won’t see a cut of the cash.
In addition, you’ll miss out on any Online Passes or content you’d normally only get with a brand new copy. Here’s an example of Crysis 2 for 360, pre-owned and ready for pre-order, but not even released yet.
MCV have stated that the campaign is running on a ‘trial basis’ at the moment.
Source: Gamerzines.
Nauraph
Are they backstabbing puslishers or what?
Nauraph
Make that ‘publishers’
Grey_Ghost13
This will just pis of the publishers even more, how long before Game loose their distrubution rights and end up being a pre-owned store ownly?
Smallville2106
Let’s hope that will happen
hazelam
how would that help the publishers?
if game become a preowned only store that would mean that there wouldn’t be any trade ins going towards new titles.
and as much as the industry complains about trade ins i would hope they’re smart enough to realise trade ins are usually done to fund new purchases.
game won’t suffer too much for it i’d wager, they make far more on trade ins than new titles so switching to preowned only might even benefit them.
cex seem to have been expanding the last few years, one opened up near me last year, and they’re preowned only.
tonycawley
Cex aren’t pre-owned only, they most definitely sell new. I bought move and sports champions off them brand new on release day
hazelam
if they do sell new, they don’t sell much.
certainly most of what they sell is preowned.
anyway, my point is, it’s the publishers who would lose out the most if they stopped supplying a chain like game.
online4ntagonist
I don’t get what all the fuss is about. I buy a lot of pre-owned games. Just bought Vanquish for 15 euro. I would’nt mind a pre-order list for per-owned games, think it’s a pretty good idea actually. Offcourse developers don’t earn anything on it, just as bicycle brands don’t earn anything on a secondhand bicycle, you don’t hear them about it. Same with all other secondhand stuff, movies, music, you name it. I don’t see what’s wrong with it. I’m glad if I can get a few Euro’s for some crap game I incidentally bought and ‘ll never play again.
It also has the advantage for some people to get familliar with certain developers, at a low price, and maybe get them excited enough to buy the next title new.
rainydays458
What’s the point of doing this? Sure you may save a few pounds on purchase, but you’ll end up spending that money on a online pass. It’s insane!!!
E8_BALL_
online pass, new purchase dlc.
i did buy pre-owned in my younger days, before i thought about all the knock on effects, also now prefer a nice clean, perfect condition, box & disk. you dont know if pre-owned has been in dirty hands & homes.
ocd, virgo & sanitation ftw
E8_BALL_
above comment @online4ntagonist
i do think pre-owned is good for older titles, for example i purchased unreal tournament 3 for £5, whidh i had regretfully previously traded in.
Games that are no longer newly stocked, deserve a good home, to be played & enjoyed, not sitting on a shelf, thinking nobody wants them anymore.
bigdon23
It is my opinion that gaming is only what it is today because of the pre-owned market, If people were unable to buy the games that interested them for a reasonable price, alot wouldn’t bother.
And I also beleive that if it wasnt for the accesibility that pre-owned gives us, gaming and the technology would not be nearly as advanced as it is today.
In my opinion, Game and other such companys are doing a service, offering people the chance to play games at more reasonable prices. With the recent tactics employed by publishers to squeese more money out of people, I think gaming will be in decline. I only speak for myself when I say; gaming is alot less fun nowadays and the ps3 will be my last console.
cam the man
My nearest Game store is over 30 miles away. It would cost me more in fuel than I would save. I’ll think I’ll stick with ShopTo.
Foxhound_Solid
It makes complete sense. If you want a game and cant afford to pay full price, its a way of getting the heads up as soon as a game you want becomes affordable.
Its work upon work as gamers are savvy and know where the best prices are, but it GAME popping their heads above everyone elses and saying – BUY FROM US AS WE WILL DO MORE THEN THEM.
Its GAME trying and you cant fault them for trying to be the best.
stonyk
A month or so ago Gamestation were selling a load of pre-owned games for about £4 quid. They were mainly out of stock, but I put my name down for an email alert once back in stock.
From doing so I managed to buy Resistance 1, Resistance 2, Killzone 2, Tiger Woods 2010, Final Fantasy XIII, Lost Planet 2, MAG all for total £28.
Think Argos do it also. Although it’s not pre-order pre-owned, it’s still similar.
I personally do not buy games at full price as I think they are over priced, but if I did and someone offered me the game for £5-10 less then I would obviously get the cheaper version.
In all honesty why would you pay more for the same thing, although why anyone would buy a game from Game is beyond me. There will always be an on-line store/supermarket selling for far cheaper than 2nd hand at Game.
E8_BALL_
hmm i must admit, mag & xiii alone for £28 is a great deal
(may purchase mag someday at a reasonable price, would have been new, but with so many great games around nowadays, it was lower on my eve present list)
E8_BALL_
eve – ever.
ok tsa, its about time the edit feature wasn’t restricted to staff only.
the tool is already present, unless there’s a technical reason it be widely implented, why not.
this is an old school forum feature.
E8_BALL_
it *cant be implented
that wasn’t on purpose, think how tidier the place would be.
i know i should triple check my text, but i bet every writer has used edit feature b4,
there’s a thought, a ps3 browser spell checker.
tonycawley
Spell checker wouldn’t have picked up your mistake though since eve is a word. I’m with you on the edit function though, there has to be a good reason why we can’t use it.
stonyk
To further what I was saying http://www.argos.co.uk currently have the following games for £3.99:
Little Big Planet,
GTA4,
Fallout 3,
Resistance 2
(others but don’t know if they’re any good)
Get them before they go :-)
stonyk
oops. Am I allowed to post to external sites? – just edit above to argos if needs be
Youles
Let’s face it – games are quite expensive. Therefore I would rather spend £40 than £35 to ensure any DLC, online pass etc.
And more importantly to me the condition of the game. You can guarantee that the mail order copies will be the worst (ripped manual, cracked case) as there is no face-to-face selling. And GAME slap these stupid Pre-Owned stickers on everything which also leave marks. Sure I might be being “picky”, but if I spend £35 or £40 I want it to be in fairly reasonable condition!! It’s my money, I earnt it.
Perhaps more worryingly, GAME will try to increase their margins further by forcing the value of your trade-in games down. “Certainly sir, I’ll give you £0.50 for your copy of Gran Turismo 5″ – then sell it for just £2 cheaper than a new copy at £37.99. Shame they have a lot of exclusive DLC on pre-orders.
hol
Daft really but not surprising considering how much margin they make on 2nd hand! As for sticker marks, easily solved, buy psn cards & keep the bluray cases they come in ;)
Youles
I guess, it’s just a bit thoughtless on their part.