According to a recent poll hosted by MyVoucherCodes, 34% of British gamers will only buy second hand games, more than half of which have said that new releases are simply too expensive. 1,336 people were polled, another 14% only purchasing new games with 11% solely relying on gifts as their main source for video games. It was also reported that those who exclusively buy pre-owned titles spend around £210 on average every year, first hand buyers forking out £480.
As usual we advise taking a pinch of salt with these findings. It’s unclear how the study was carried out, though we assume it was an open poll available directly from the researcher’s website or issued via e-mail to newsletter subscribers. In either case it has to be mentioned that MyVoucherCodes is a website centred around providing visitors with discount codes for numerous online retailers, therefore the poll audience may not be entirely representative.
Source: Press Release
KillFelix
I work for a company that sells 2nd hand games (and they are always the cheapest on Amazon).
I buy all my games from work, and get 25% off the price before postage.
Last lot I bought I got 10 games for £42.
I’ll only buy must haves on day one (BF3, Uncharted, God of War, CoD etc) and usually go for the cheap supermarket deals, also go for pre order misprices (Got F1 2011 pre ordered for £18!)
The Lone Steven
If i can afford it, i try to buy new but most of the time, i buy preowned. I’m glad that blu rays don’t scratch easily. :D I have brought some DLC for my preowned games, techinally, i’m giving them some cash. Plus the last game i did buy new was a slap in the face. :(
hazelam
most of the games i have are preowned, but then i also got most of them after they were a year or two old.
for newer games i’ll buy them new, unless they include any kind of online pass in which case i won’t buy them new on general principal.
i’ll buy older games new if they’re cheap enough, like borderlands and bioshock 2.
but i rarely buy new games when they’re new out.
they’re just too damn expensive.
it has to be a title i’ve been waiting a hell of a long time for for me to buy a new game at it’s launch, or it has to be bloody amazing.
otherwise i’ll wait for a sale or preowned version.
i have absolutely no guilt about buying preowned.
i know the publisher got what they were rightly owed for the game, and i know the original owner got something in return when he sold it, either to me or to the store, if the store didn’t give him enough that’s between him and the store, publishers using the store’s making a profit as an excuse to force these passes is just bullshit.
hazelam
just want to add, skyrim is likely to be my next full price new purchase.
fattyuk
So you’re a kinda of I’ll play that game in 2 years time when ita cheap kinda gamer.
And a if its a top notch game but has an online pass I won’t buy and enjoy the game out of principle for the online pass even if you bought it new and got you’re online pass kinda gamer?
Mike
Thing is, if you shop around, often you can buy brand new games cheaper than second hand.
hazelam
thing is, i doubt you’d find a copy of something like pokemon colleseum new.
true it’s rarely worth buying preowned for new titles.
but for older titles they’re likely to be the only way to get them.
that’s one of the reasons i hate this chopping bits of the games out and tying them to single use codes to devalue preowned games, there’s also the rights violations.
20 years from now you wont be able to go back and play the old games, because they’ll all be riddled with drm and won’t work any more.
and even if you did find an unused copy it’ll need authentication from servers that are long gone.
because it won’t just be the multiplayer that’s locked off, it’ll be whole games like the pc market.
did i say 20 years?
make it five.
fattyuk
Think its a shame Hazelam as you come across quite safe really but because of your “principles” you won’t be gaming in 5 years time
Seems a shame when a “gamer” has to quit there chosen hobby because they don’t think the people who produce the Games or earns there living from there job that they should be able to cash In on there own product.
minerwilly
In the last 2-3 years i have bought well over 50 disc based games and of them only 3 where new and at full price , BFBC , BFBC2 , GT5 . All my 2nd hand games have been in excellent condition and iv’e never had any that didn’t work. I often buy things like Uncharted 2 about 5 months after release for about £15 i see absolutely no point in buying a game particularly Single player games at full hit .
Also i NEVER trade any games in because as i pick them up so cheap i cant see the point of getting £3-£5 for a game , thats a disgrace !
This year i have yet to buy a new game ! My last 2 purchases where MGS4 and Assasins Creed 2 for £9.99 for Both !! You cant beat deals like that .
Battlefield 3 has been pre-ordered before i saw a single screenshot and as i will get literally months of gameplay out of it and the Karkand pack im very willing to buy new (though i used some vouchers to get it for about £30 from Zavvi.)
xdarkmagician
I personally have about a 50/50 split between new and used games, but then again I’m not from the UK- but I’d imagine that most regions are about the same with the new/used stats. I will say this though If I’m unsure about a the quality of a game that uses an online pass I rent it now instead of buying it new because in the old days if I didn’t like the game I bought I would just trade it back in for another. Now since the value drop I feel renting it is a more financially responsible thing. But games like BF3 I would never buy used because there’s alot of added value from buying it new from the preorder bonuses. Online passes for me just means I’m buying alot less games and renting alot more. I whent from buying on average 30 new and 30 used games a year to about 8 new games and 8 used games and I whent 7 years without renting a game, to 27 games rented just this year alone, and I’m actually on my way now to rent 28. The only way to reduce pre owned is to add more value to the new, not subtract from the used
hazelam
i just discovered that i have a copy of full auto 2 that i bought, god knows how long ago.
that i’ve never even played.
it’s still got the security sticker on it they use in game, you know the ones you can’t take off without ripping them.
i only bought it because it was 2 quid and i didn’t have many games at the time.
i’m gonna have to play it one day, if only for the sake of being able to say i’ve played it. (^_^)
Sympozium Pawa
I played it. Worth a try but TOO short as a Hobbit.
Sitorimon
I buy mixed. It depends really, I cant keep up as all my money I can spend freely goes on games and music. until recently I hadnt really bought download only titles but Steam and PSN have absolutely turned me around on that front and I love the idea now. I’d also say that because all the shops push 2nd hand so much, half the games I want arent even on the shelves and I’d have to buy them new online so no wonder random shoppers just get preowned
fattyuk
Brand new and special editions for me only, i do understand that some people need to buy pre owned due to finicial reasons which is fine in my book, I just dont like when people moan that computer games are too expensive as If there ment to be £9.99 brand new!?
CdmanJak
only buy single player games preowned and only from game they check the discs