THQ have stated, rather bluntly, their thoughts on pre-owned games. If you have purchased one of their titles second hand then they ‘don’t care’ about you.
“I don’t think we really care whether used game buyers are upset because new game buyers get everything. So if used game buyers are upset they don’t get the online feature set I don’t really have much sympathy for them.” said THQÂ Creative Director for wrestling games Cory Ledesma.
“That’s a little blunt but we hope it doesn’t disappoint people. We hope people understand that when the game’s bought used we get cheated.”
We’ve had many disussions here at TSA on the subject of pre-owned games and Mr. Ledesma’s comments come just days after the largest supermarket group on the UK, Tesco, rolled out a nationwide trade-in scheme.
Source: CVG
kivi95
i always buy new games so that i no that i support the devoleper.
Apnomis
Me too, if the game is worth playing it’s worth giving your hard earned to the people that made it, not to a supermarket that bought it from someone for £20 to sell to you for £30 (for the sake of an extra £5-10 why not support the industry?). I don’t even trade games in when I finish them.
Granted I don’t buy a huge amount of games but I buy most of the big releases at launch, and if in hindsight a game I overlooked at launch turns out to be good, such as Dead Space, I buy it new online at a heavily discounted price some months later – usually it’s not a great deal more than the pre-owned prices anyway.
When someone as big as Tesco starts trading in preowned games publishers are going to sit up and take notice and these sort of usage restrictions are going to get more and more prevalent…
The thing is it’s a vicious circle – prices can’t come down because there is not a big enough economy of scale meaning people save themselves a few quid by buying preowned meaning the prices can’t come down because there is not a big enough economy of scale! Eventually legitimate buyers of new products get penalised with measures to break the circle…
minerwilly
Out of 40 games (just counted) only 6 of mine where bought brand new and only 2 of them did I pay £39.99 for (both Battlefields)!! The other 4 new games where picked up from Zavvi for £10-£20 a year or so after release (Valkyria Chronicles, PES10,Ferrari Challenge, Everybodys Golf) .
So in the entire time i have owned my PS3 I have only ever paid full price for 2 games .
Incidentally i checked and I do own 2 THQ games Red Faction Guerilla and Saints Row 2 which where about £10 each used from Blockbusters . Its no wonder they hate used market so much but it allows me to play so many more games .
If i had to pay £39.99 for every game id probably purchase just 3-4 per year .
PoorPaddy89
I buy new games because of general distrust of other people. Plus it’s all nice and new and unscratched :)
Mason_Mk
New games – Brand New
Older games – hard to find or much cheaper 2nd hand, so i buy second hand. At that point, online usually dies down so it’s not worth worrying about.
bunimomike
“we get cheated.”?
T**t. What a stupid comment. If you’re not making the right money from your product then address that. You’re not being cheated out of anything. If you need to rectify online gaming (as part of a title) then go do it.
monkeyspoon
Of course they are being cheated. If someone buys 2nd hand nothing goes to the people who spent time and money making it.
BrendanCalls
So when you buy a book 2nd hand, are you gonna send the author £5 so that you’re allowed to read the last chapter.
heedbaw
But if someone buys 2nd hand then there’s a problem that needs addressed, in this case the problem is why are people not buying the game when new.
Klart
So when you sell your house, you cheat the contractors that built it? Riiight…
Ever heard a car building company complain they’re getting “cheated” because of the huge second hand market in cars?
Tw*ts. The lot of them.
3shirts
That is not ‘being cheated’. They (and you monkeyspoon) need to look up the word cheat
3shirts
Agreed. This is exactly the kind of comment that turns people against you. If you are not making enough money out of the initial sale, raise the price. If that causes a stall in sales, make better games!
Welcome to the harsh reality of the market place THQ
Apnomis
Wait a second, you are actually suggesting the developer raises game prices to punish their ‘genuine’ customers in order to suppor the customers of 3rd party stores trading in second hand copies of their games? Unless your name is Bobby Kotick and your game is Modern Warfare 2 that is crazy talk!
The only way they could reduce this is to reduce prices but the only way to to that would be to have a much bigger install base – games simply don’t sell enough compared to how much they cost to make, unlike films for example…
Also if the price of new games increase the 2nd hand value would increase so eventually people that buy preowned would be paying what a new release game used to cost new – meaning everybody loses!
Online elements are not a product they are a service, so if the provider of that service states that the service is none-transferable then they are perfectly in their right to do that – you don’t buy their online servers for £40 you buy the disc that gives you access to that service. It’s completely different to a book or a film (or even a single-player game), in fact I can’t think of a similar example… perhaps it’s like buying a cinema ticket watching the film and then expecting to be allowed to sell the ticket on for someone else to enter the cinema and watch the film?
Why are people on here so opposed to supporting the industry that provides them with hours of enjoyment? Why would they prefer to help Tesco make a quick buck rather than ensure the continued survival and expansion of gaming as an entertainment medium?
bunimomike
With you all the way, 3shirts. That comment alone has helped alienate me a touch.
Always talk like you care about the consumer. Even if they are indirect.
iAvernus
Apnomis with you 100% there. I live on a island, and I go out of my way to buy the games new. I won’t even trade my games, neither lend, as I tell my friends that I still play all my games =)
Origami Killer
there are pre owned games coz they make crap games and short games whcih we hand back in to get our money back and we dnt want to pay full price as their cheating us
ruinereraser
Now support English language too.
Gaztee
I don’t own own any THQ titles that I know to, so I don’t really care about him either!! :oD
gurglesletch
Same here. I couldn’t stand Red Faction: Guerilla yet i beat it for a gold trophy.
bigdon_23
Same here also, i guess that says something about the hash that they are releasing, i did own saints row for about 2 days before trading it in
heedbaw
If they don’t care, why are they making such a fuss about it. They’ve seen a big juicy pie and they want a bit, coming out with comments like that won’t help them any.
TSBonyman
THQ Who?
MrTwP
Exactly
BrendanCalls
Bunimomike and Origami Killer are right. THQ are not making money because the games they make are not worth the £40 price-point. I absolutely guarantee they’re revenue will not increase with the implementation of this 2nd hand online code. People just wont buy they’re games 2nd hand and will buy something else instead
monkeyspoon
Darksiders and Red Faction were good games.
BrendanCalls
Disagree, both were decent games but nothing spectacular. Not the type of game that my 16 yr old nephew is going to get excited about and save money from his measly first job wage packet to buy.
TSBonyman
Ah yes, i knew there was a reason i didn’t like them anymore – turning RedFaction into a blow-em-up party game.. tsk tsk..:)
STILLCANTTHINKOFAGOODPSNNAME
yes THWHO ruined redfaction so it is US that are cheated
fps_d0minat0r
normally i give rubbish games a second chance by buying them pre-owned but why would i pay full price for a rubbish game?
paying full price for a rubbish game would be cheating the gamers.
Shakugan
Well i kinda agree… rubbish game= no buy, good game= buy