Rant Most important news of the day! :(

[Scouse]

EA to charge $10 tax for second-hand games...

...the fuckers.


I've not bought any EA games for quite some time now because I've seen this coming. It's hardly as "sneaky" as El Reg puts it. In fact it's been fucking obvious for a while now.

Vote with your feet people - the bottom line is the only thing that matters

 

[chipper]

tbh was only a matter of time till something like this happened. games developers/publishers dont see a penny past an initial sale of the unit and it could be resold over and over again. someone was eventually gonna say why arent we gettin a piece of this pie.

 

[Scouse]

They don't deserve a piece of the pie.

Do you think booksellers get a slice of second hand books?

 

[Lollie]

They don't deserve a piece of the pie.

Do you think booksellers get a slice of second hand books?

exactly, same can be said of car manufactures infact anything you sell on as second hand tbh

 

[TdC]

what. the. hell? you have GOT to be kidding!

 

[Ch3tan]

Boycott those titles, simple.

 

[ST^]

exactly, same can be said of car manufactures infact anything you sell on as second hand tbh

2nd hand cars are inferior.

Now 2nd hand EA games are inferior, so there is actually an equality now that didn't exist before.

 

[Tom]

Fuck em, I'll just pirate the games instead.

I don't care, just look at Valve and how they sell games. That's how it should be done. They're even allowing people who've bought a PC game, and then connected a MAC, to own the MAC port for nothing.

 

[Chilly]

I doubt this would stand up in court TBH. You'd have an argument that things like bugfixes are "standard" and have been for years so suddenly trying to use them to swindle second hand sellers is obviously a bit dodgy.

 

[ST^]

Fuck em, I'll just pirate the games instead.

I don't care, just look at Valve and how they sell games. That's how it should be done. They're even allowing people who've bought a PC game, and then connected a MAC, to own the MAC port for nothing.

This post is funny, considering:

1) EA actually publish (sell) Valve's retail copies.
2) Valve sells digital content that cannot possibly be sold 2nd hand in the first place.

As usual, Valve get credit for absolutely nothing. Somehow, they also became the best PC game developer of all time, without really developing a proper game for the last 5 years.

 

[Tom]

I couldn't care less. Their service is fantastic, its light years ahead of anything else. No shitty copy protection, just pay, download, play. Done. Forever. On multiple platforms.

Oh and I thought that L4D and L4D2 were pretty good games, and they're certainly less than five years old. As is Portal. And TF2.

 

[Scouse]

Yup. The convenience, ease of purchase, portability and promise of a lifetime game library, not to mention their agressive sales pricing makes Steam my preferred supplier.

It's so much more convenient that I wouldn't even consider the inability to sell the games on a problem. Plus, if I really want I can give my closest mates my password if they really must play a game of mine

And L4D2 is still making me laugh my zombie killing ass off!

 

[throdgrain]

Yeah, Steam is great.

 

[Sharkith]

I have to agree - spotted Steam recommendation on here and got Napoleon Total war through it. Steam is a very good platform.

As for EA - they won't make it stick, unless they start using some weird kind of licence. In such case the second hand element of the game would become worthless and their games will simply not be sold second hand.

I honestly think they are going to fail on this one.

 

[DaGaffer]

I doubt this would stand up in court TBH. You'd have an argument that things like bugfixes are "standard" and have been for years so suddenly trying to use them to swindle second hand sellers is obviously a bit dodgy.

Since its a fee to get access to online content it will probably be quite easy for EA to demonstrate there's an on-cost to supporting second hand (which of course, there is). I really don't think a legal challenge is likely or would be successful.

Yup. The convenience, ease of purchase, portability and promise of a lifetime game library, not to mention their agressive sales pricing makes Steam my preferred supplier.

It's so much more convenient that I wouldn't even consider the inability to sell the games on a problem. Plus, if I really want I can give my closest mates my password if they really must play a game of mine

And L4D2 is still making me laugh my zombie killing ass off!

Maybe in the UK, but Steam's euro pricing is a fucking joke. Fortunately their geolocation is easily spoofed so I can use my UK bank details to pay in sterling, but if I couldn't, I wouldn't touch Steam with a bargepole.

As for the whole EA idea, meh. If people want to pay for online access and EA can make it work, good luck to them. If you don't like it, buy new (if you value the online experience) or go elsewhere. No-one's holding a gun to your head.

 

[Embattle]

Steam is goo, although it is a little expensive on most games.

As for this move by EA, I don't agree with it but then it doesn't affect me much any way.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

I wonder if this will push even more game shops out of the high street.

 

[DaGaffer]

I wonder if this will push even more game shops out of the high street.

Well, Gamestop are backing the idea, so its difficult to say. In the long run highstreet retailing of all media products is doomed anyway (oh you'll still be able to buy some physical media but specialists won't be able to make it pay). Its actually the bookshops I'm going to miss most, but they'll probably be the last to go.

 

[Ctuchik]

Steam is goo, although it is a little expensive on most games.

a little?

25 - 40% higher price then any other digital retailer is a little?

 

[old.Tohtori]

This is nothing new though, MMOs can be sold second hand, but require a larger payment at start(not just monthly).

It's also not a developer thing, developers 9 out of 10 times(otuside mobile/net games) know they won't see a penny frm the game and if it DOES succeed in breaking through(gta style), biggest pile of that goes into the new game and the old title is just a plaque on the wall.

I think steam works, but they also need an option for store bought games to tell steam to f*ck off. Same with games live.

 

[Scouse]

I bet Gamestop gets a nice deal on EA games

As for steam stuff being more expensive (I've never compared really) but:

1) It's not just the cost, it's the convenience of a single digital download that I can never lose and will always be available to me.

2) I never buy anything apart from stuff on specials

 

[old.Tohtori]

1) It's not just the cost, it's the convenience of a single digital download that I can never lose and will always be available to me.

Except if steam stops the service.

Then you lose all your games.

 

[DaGaffer]

I bet Gamestop gets a nice deal on EA games

As for steam stuff being more expensive (I've never compared really) but:

1) It's not just the cost, it's the convenience of a single digital download that I can never lose and will always be available to me.

2) I never buy anything apart from stuff on specials

I'm actually surprised Gamestop are backing it tbh. GS does get good margin from EA, but no more than say, Activision, and they get a shitload more margin on second-hand. Question is, does the second-hand buyer care about online content? I'd definitely say "not as much as a new buyer" (online is still an early adopter thing), so the impact may be less on GS than people think. Plus, unless GS are forced to actively tell customers about this, the first most users will know is when they try to access content, at which point they'll probably blame EA, not the retailer.

As for your other points:
1. I don't really care about that as most games have a fixed life anyway (although this EA veteran thing in BF is making me hunt out my old BF1942 and BFVietnam discs, so maybe that will be more important in future.)

2. Specials are fine, but you have to judge any store by its retail prices, because ultimately that's what they default to, and Steam are expensive. I've actually found D2D to be better value in the download market.

Having said all that, at least in the PC market there are publisher-independent DLC services like Steam and D2D. Where's the competition in the console space? Where are independent rivals to XBL Market and PSN? Once retail is gone, there will be no customer choice other than between consoles themselves unless their locked-down infrastructure is opened up.

 

[Ctuchik]

As for steam stuff being more expensive (I've never compared really) but:

1) It's not just the cost, it's the convenience of a single digital download that I can never lose and will always be available to me.

for ppl that have to deal with euro's its steams idea that $1 = €1 and nothing else.

d2d.eu charge in euro aswell but i have yet to find a game that are as expensive as they are on steam...

so the only time i buy a game on steam is if its a heavily downpriced weekend deal. otherwise i only get my games from d2d or gamersgate.

 

[Scouse]

2. Specials are fine, but you have to judge any store by its retail prices

I'm shocked at your intolerance of my buying habits old bean