We all know the Catwoman code has been causing a bit of an uproar since it was announced yesterday. In a move that will certainly be of interest to many, it seems that anyone who buys a pre-owned copy of Batman Arkham City from U.S. retailer Gamestop will find a code to download the full Catwoman content pack printed on the customer’s receipt.
Gamestop has a similar deal with Warner Brothers for pre-owned copies of Mortal Kombat.
Perhaps Gamestop has struck a deal with Warner that gives them a percentage of the pre-owned sales, a deal that should have happened years ago. This way consumers get what they want and developers are given the cut of pre-owned sales they clearly want.
If you have your own thoughts on the Catwoman issue why not take part in our Massive Poll? We’ll be collating the results on Monday, so make sure to check back then.
Source: Kotaku
Jumping Monks
I think we have a winner, in terms of how to deal with pre-owned games. I like this, and really hope other companies adopt it, rather than using the online pass system. Provided that is, that the DLC gained via pre-owned games is available to everyone else anyway.
hazelam
i have had a worrying thought about this.
what if this pass was instigated by gamestop.
everybody knows how influential they are with some publishers.
warner get a bit of bunce and it also fits with the anti preowned agenda these publishers are pushing.
that would mean two very worrying trends instead of just one.
The Lone Steven
Interesting. Hmm, i wonder if Gamestop have reached a deal with Warn Bros or if they are just giving out the codes just to annoy them? This is the same company that had a go at the Publisher of Deus Ex for daring to include free onlive vouchers.
If it is a deal, then i hope more publishers will work with more retailers instead of punishing those without a net, buying a single player game preowned, lending it to a mate etc..
CdmanJak
good on them
hazelam
the thing is, this is not a solution as far as i’m concerned.
they’re still rendering large sections of the content unusable for subsequent players of this title.
what if it’s a private sale?
what if you give it away or lend it to somebody?
what if you donate it to a charity shop?
the only solution is for these things to stop.
bunimomike
With you all of the way on this one. My initial reaction was “yay, problem sorted” but quickly realised it’s THIS problem and no other. There’s still a portion of the game missing.
It’s still a disgraceful tactic and one the publishers and industry at large needs to address now as the backlash will be quite damaging in the long-run.
fattyuk
Seriously hazel could you just please make you point in one sentence, I dunno what’s worse trolls or all you’re essay comments, of course you’re allowed your opinion but it’s in every single thread now over and over and over.
Everyone gets it, you don’t agree with this business practice
That’s what I like about TSA you don’t ever find any of the same old arguementa and constant ramblings(pot kettle black lol) well until now!
Personally although it doesn’t effect me a guess it’s a good practice as GameStop will surely have to pay a small fee for the codes themselves, hence the devs getting money,the shop making money, and people can still buy pre owned…… everyones a winner!!
hazelam
i’m not going to get into an argument with you, i let my anger get the better of me before, i’m not going to do it again.
i don’t know if you’re trying to provoke me or what but why is it you always have to turn this into a personal comment about me.
for the record, i was going to buy the game new, so it wouldn’t have affected me either, but i’m not just concerned my own self interest.
this affects anybody who want to play in future, it affect everybody who has no net connection and it affects private sellers.
the only ones who benefit from this are gamestop and warner.
fattyuk
I don’t mean to make it a personal comment or even provoke you, but I’ve made my point and I’ll leave it at that.