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Used market cost Heavy Rain 1m sales

Jinfash

needs 2 extra inches
I borrowed a friend's copy, and guess what? I'd probably do it again for your next game.

Whatever, whatever, I do what I want.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Castor Krieg said:
You for real? Perfect consumer right there.

I'm going to play devil's advocate with this. By buying used games, you're encouraging the used sales market(in which the developer's don't get anything) while with piracy it doesn't benefit any sort of corporation.
 
ThoseDeafMutes said:
Increased share, definitely. Lower prices, very unlikely. With Steam it works because there's competition and aggressive sales but on the closed ecosystem of consoles, DD is probably going to be 50/60USD for new releases for a long time.
it was sarcasm, sorry.
 
Zaptruder said:
ITT: Neogaffers claw wildly at the proverbial face of another developer who speaks out against the used game market.


My take: Whether the developers are right or wrong on the subject, you're already seeing economic pressure towards developers to shaft the used games market, be it the use of single use codes or an increased emphasis on digital distribution. This pressure will simply continue to grow, until we reach the point where the physical games market is deprecated and the issue of used games and the brick and mortar stores that carry them, brushed aside into niches - as the market's ability to economically support the large gaming chains of today continue to dry up.

The moment gaming goes all digital will be the moment I quit it for good. Unless consumer rights get completely revamped for such a shift, I won't spend money to rent licenses.
 

c2morg

Member
I would buy all my console games digitally if a) they didnt put the price at £59.99 (looking at you halo reach, STILL on marketplace for that outlandish price) and b) they came out on launch.

No physical disk = no second hand market.

But no way would they devs get the market reach they do without the physical copies, so what you gonna do.

Personally I didnt mind the Battlefield "purchase this code to unlock multiplayer" thing, I got the game second hand but the devs still got something. Not really something they could of done with Heavy Rain.
 

dwu8991

Banned
All publishers should with hold stock and create demand like Nintendo has done with Xenoblade. Creates an incentive to buy now.
 

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
Jarmel said:
I'm going to play devil's advocate with this. By buying used games, you're encouraging the used sales market(in which the developer's don't get anything) while with piracy it doesn't benefit any sort of corporation.
No, you're just making hundreds of copies of one game instead of just one.
 

G_Berry

Banned
Meisadragon said:


Press X for...

Waaaambulance.jpg
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
I had a lot of fun with HR, and I hope this type of game is made more often and better. Just think about a Uncharted game in this type of genre. Frame Scully, kill Elena, and be a bad guy one run. Would be interesting, not to mention all of the OMGosh action and graphics.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
"Dev's Gotta Eat Yo'"

Rather than be, 2 million people enjoyed our game and bought it, and another million gave it a try, we will work harder to bring a better product to the market, so from those extra million that took a risk/chance thanks, hopefully next time we can create sales/purchases off them from future products

Not

Waaaahhhhhh, look @ DAT monies I haz no moarz. People playing free, I'm entitled, no I demand to be compensated. Why should those pricks who borrowed/rented/traded/used sale get to play my masterpiece. Don't they know we achieved 2 million sales, if they spent $60 and hated it LOL @ You, I got paid, so it's the users fault, not ours.
 
Jarmel said:
I'm going to play devil's advocate with this. By buying used games, you're encouraging the used sales market(in which the developer's don't get anything) while with piracy it doesn't benefit any sort of corporation.

Developers need to understand games are commodity as any other. They can think of themselves as second coming of Jesus, gift to masses, but for majority of people games are a product, not Holy Grail. Developers feel as entitled in this industry as gamers do.

In the end developers have a right to limit used games sales any way they want. EA made 10-15 million EUR on Online Passes. I would argue loss of goodwill has been many times that.
 

Jarmel

Banned
zoner said:
No, you're just making hundreds of copies of one game instead of just one.

Actually I revise my point, they're both equally as bad for the developer. Although a person buying a used game is probably more likely to buy a game new so it might hurt them(developers) a bit more.
 

Dunan

Member
I'll never understand this ridiculous argument. So if a game disc stays in the same home and is played over and over again, that's fine, but if the first owner is bored with it and passes it on to someone else, and the total time that the game spends inside consoles is identical, that's a big problem because different people were holding the controllers at different times?

Coming around 2013: game developers calculate the average game length and then call anyone spending more time than that playing it a "thief".

"We designed a 60-hour game and priced it at $60, but I'm looking at trophy data and seeing people putting 200, 300 hours into it. They should have been paying $200-300 for that entertainment."

Coming in 2014: "anti-trophies" that secretly bill your PS Store account when you play the game for more hours than the developer feels $60 is worth
 

Zaptruder

Banned
boris feinbrand said:
The moment gaming goes all digital will be the moment I quit it for good. Unless consumer rights get completely revamped for such a shift, I won't spend money to rent licenses.

Have you not bought any digital games at all? If not, then I can believe you, maybe.

If so... then you've kinda already stepped into it.
 

Massa

Member
PC digital model is the best model. Direct channel between developer and consumer; developer makes more money per copy sold, consumer pays less.

A market where retailers who fund the development of 0 new games make so much money is not viable in the long run.
 

Replicant

Member
The Praiseworthy said:
Heavy Rain was pure epic... I don't understand why it's so cool to hate it now?
This is GAF. Hyperbole rules here. With enough time you can find hatred for any popular game from Mass Effect to - it's not there yet but we're gettng there - Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Plus, as usual the haters will be 10x louder than those who like the game.

Proud to be part of the 2 million buyers. :p to haters.
 

DiscoJer

Member
Zaptruder said:
ITT: Neogaffers claw wildly at the proverbial face of another developer who speaks out against the used game market.


My take: Whether the developers are right or wrong on the subject, you're already seeing economic pressure towards developers to shaft the used games market, be it the use of single use codes or an increased emphasis on digital distribution. This pressure will simply continue to grow, until we reach the point where the physical games market is deprecated and the issue of used games and the brick and mortar stores that carry them, brushed aside into niches - as the market's ability to economically support the large gaming chains of today continue to dry up.

I don't think DD is going to be all rosy for console publishers either.

It's likely going to drive more and more people to PC gaming, where the competition keeps prices fairly low, and you don't really have to worry about your games suddenly not working in a few years because a platform jump with no BC. You also have just a huge selection, even if you are one of those people that is Steam only. But beyond that, one of the nice things about PC gaming is that old games can look at good as new when you get new hardware. So older titles you've missed can compete with brand new titles (that you might have to run on lower settings).

Beyond that, used game sales helps drive new game sells. People take a lot of the money they get from selling games and sink it into new games. After all, the used game sellers are the ones that are new game buyers.
 

Kum0

Member
cvxfreak said:
I lent my copy of john tv. Guess that makes us evil. :)

Oh no you didn't!

We love Fondaumiere, he speaks his mind. Up front, non edited, without PR consent!

Although he is going a bit overboard (Justifiably in my opinion) the industry needs to take notice of the amount lost by second hand trade and and the HUGH cost to the consumer per title.

Before the economic collapse and an increased VAT rate (in UK) I would frown at those who kept lending copies because each copy sold does make a difference especially to a smaller developer.

However today with the cost of games, the amount of titles that come out within the same period the only way to help promote and experience titles we love is via the second hand market and lending games.

This month alone has:

Deus Ex (40)
Driver San Fran (40)
Resistance 3 (40)
Dead Island (40)
El Shaddai (40)
Gears of War 3 (40)

Total: 240 JUST on games! I cant afford that along with life costs! The only way for me to do it, is trading in games and lending titles.

Plus it's only September! Let's not forget how costly November will be, along with whatever DLC is in the pipeline.
 

SmokyDave

Member
Dunan said:
I'll never understand this ridiculous argument. So if a game disc stays in the same home and is played over and over again, that's fine...
It's not fine if they use different PSN accounts. That would lead to the situation described in the OP.

Single-use codes next gen to lock games to a single account?
 

The_Monk

Member
I really liked Heavy Rain and the voice acting (I'm not talking but english voice acting, but my own country voice acting).

Play it from start to finish in two days but I'm very angry about them for one reason:

Where is my DLC?! I bought the Limited Edition that came with one DLC they told us they would bring more DLC but nothing...then they told us they were waiting for PS MOVE so they could apply the PS Move to the upcoming DLC then... nothing.

So, let them cry all they want about second hand market, while I cry about second hand devs who can't make a promisse count.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
I fail to see anything wrong with the quoted comments.

For those people saying "he doesn't get it", I'd say to them: You don't understand the economics of the business. Bottom line is games are high-risk ventures, and if the return on investment isn't enticing enough to attract the money they will simply stop being made.

The thin end of the wedge is what we're seeing now, extreme risk aversion in publisher commissioning, making any title that isn't aimed at the bullseye of the mass market extremely hard to get funded. The thick-end is a situation where outside of massive franchises like Madden/Fifa/CoD/Halo etc. there is nothing else worthy of a retail release.
 
Massa said:
PC digital model is the best model. Direct channel between developer and consumer; developer makes more money per copy sold, consumer pays less.

Except it doesn't work - Steam prices are the same as at retail, and you do not have retail chain dominance as you have on PS360. The only games that sell for lower than 59.99MSRP are indie games.

Clear said:
For those people saying "he doesn't get it", I'd say to them: You don't understand the economics of the business. Bottom line is games are high-risk ventures, and if the return on investment isn't enticing enough to attract the money they will simply stop being made.

Make a game in a timely fashion, with robust multiplayer to keep people interested, have clear DLC schedule to add features and earn money. 6 hour SP game, with no multiplayer, costing 20/30/40/50 million USD to make because of OMFG AMAZING TECH is not going to cut it anymore. A lot of "high-risk ventures" are high risk because the developers were too stupid to leverage those risks.
 

Adamm

Member
The hate for heavy rain seems to increase in every new thread its mentioned in.

At the start it was a good game with a slightly flawed story line.

Now it is the worst game ever made & its creators do not deserve any money
 

Aaron

Member
Nugg said:
One million people believe your game isn't worth keeping? Seems about right.
No matter what you think of the quality of Heavy Rain, if you didn't trade it in, sell it, or give it away after finishing it you are an idiot. It's a fairly short game where the creator demands you don't play it through a second time. Once you're done it's just an expensive coaster.
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
Shocked at the Heavy Rain hate. Skimmed and read hyperboles of "piss poor voice acting" (USA version?) and "terrible story". Everyone has their own opinion . But jeez. I thought it was a great experience.
 

Noshino

Member
Air Zombie Meat said:
Because they don't factor this kind of thing into the steep rrp already. It's your industries business model dude, deal with it.

It is likely to have been factored in.

Even then, regardless of whether it was or not, its still a loss.

Castor Krieg said:
Developers need to understand games are commodity as any other. They can think of themselves as second coming of Jesus, gift to masses, but for majority of people games are a product, not Holy Grail. Developers feel as entitled in this industry as gamers do.

In the end developers have a right to limit used games sales any way they want. EA made 10-15 million EUR on Online Passes. I would argue loss of goodwill has been many times that.

I think they understand it, hence why lately we have all these new programs in place to try to make money aside from first hand sales.

IMO its the gamers that don't seem to want to understand that.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
Jarmel said:
I'm going to play devil's advocate with this. By buying used games, you're encouraging the used sales market(in which the developer's don't get anything) while with piracy it doesn't benefit any sort of corporation.

I'm going to play angel's advocate with this. By buying used games, you're encouraging the used sales market (in which the developer's have already have been paid for the 1st sale of the copy) while with piracy it doesn't benefit anybody due to no monetary exchange will ever take place. That copy belongs to me. I own the disc, box, pamphlet (used to be instruction manual, ah the good days). I can burn it, smash it, destroy it. There is no law that states I can't second hand sell this, trade, give away (goodwill...go see a Free to a Good Home thread...those bastards!)
How about that B/S/T community thread, Damn those commies paying $60 then playing said $60 game, once filled up, no reason to hold on, sell it @ decent low price for others to enjoy....shocking
 

kafiend

Member
Make a game that people will want to keep or make a game where those "lost" customers would by the game new.

I hate all this second hand crying. What makes it any different from any other second hand market where the initial vendor sees nothing from future sales.

When I read this stuff you never see the hard to calculate figures such as a second hand buyer of game A will be so impressed with it that they will buy game B by the same developer brand new.

How about thinking about this in a different way. Pick a timescale for new game prices and then at the point where second hand games are entering the market heavily, discount the brand new game to that price point on DD networks.

I'd buy new over second hand at a similar price point every time.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
The fact that the game was a terrible turd will cost the follow-up millions in sales as well. The people who think the game is good must be mentally ill because that's like saying The Room is a good film. Heavy Rain has some neat ideas but the actual game is just a disaster. At best the game is so bad that it becomes funny.
 

sTeLioSco

Banned
i liked the game...
dlc would have offset copies sold in used market a bit i think...

(someone that got it used and liked it could buy dlc...........................)
 

Massa

Member
Castor Krieg said:
Except it doesn't work - Steam prices are the same as at retail, and you do not have retail chain dominance as you have on PS360. The only games that sell for lower than 59.99MSRP are indie games.

At launch, sure, but games often make more money post-launch when they go on sale. Left 4 Dead, for instance, made more money during a weekend sale than at launch.

With games like Heavy Rain a lot of people don't think it's worth $60. With the digital model these people would wait for a sale and buy it for much less than that; with the current retail model, these people would either buy it used or rent it. In either case it's not the people who funded the game that make money and that's bad for the industry.

Portal 2 for example is now $30 on Steam. It will be sold for much less than that by the end of the year and Valve will continue to make money from it. In the console space people are just playing the same copies EA sold at launch.
 
Clear said:
I fail to see anything wrong with the quoted comments.

For those people saying "he doesn't get it", I'd say to them: You don't understand the economics of the business. Bottom line is games are high-risk ventures, and if the return on investment isn't enticing enough to attract the money they will simply stop being made.

The thin end of the wedge is what we're seeing now, extreme risk aversion in publisher commissioning, making any title that isn't aimed at the bullseye of the mass market extremely hard to get funded. The thick-end is a situation where outside of massive franchises like Madden/Fifa/CoD/Halo etc. there is nothing else worthy of a retail release.

Publishers need to:

1) Reign in their budgets. Every game doesn't need to be "AAA" in every single way. Higher budgets mean more games need to be sold to recoup the dev/publishing costs and turn a profit.
2) Be more realistic when targeting/projecting sales. Not every game is going to be the next Modern Warfare, no matter how good it is or how well it is advertised. Go for lower print runs targeting smaller segments of the install base.
3) Develop for platforms with lower dev costs. A no-brainer.
4) Go DD-only if they think they can afford to do it. That should give them more of the draconian control of their customers they desire.
5) Have a good, long cry that they can't stop people from re-selling their own fucking property.
 
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