Used Games do NOT kill the videogame industry, and How Game Developers try to Justify Game Restrictions

Do Used Games kill the Videogame Industry?

A disgruntled Microsoft employee allegedly complained about the reversal of used game restrictions on the X Box One complaining that the reversal was a bad idea because selling used games is killing the videogame industry. Secondly this alleged employee claimed modern games require huge budgets and that decreased revenues will make it unprofitable to produce movie-quality games. Is he right? Are used games killing the industry? Never mind that used games have been sold since videogames have been around, and the industry has only gone up in profits. Never mind that some people would not even buy games if they had to pay full price.

No. Intellectual Property Reproduction Rights shouldn't Trump Individual Ownership Rights

Basically, no one likes being “owned” by someone else. It’s just unfair. Think about the situation with intellectual property and other works of arts. Videogames, like artwork take a lot of energy up-front in the initial design and expression. After that it is easy to reproduce and anyone could come in and profit off the originator’s hard work. Hence we have copyright, to protect an artist’s reproduction rights. They get exclusive reproduction rights. But wait, that’s not the end of it, there’s stuff like The First Sale Doctrine in the United States. Once you’ve sold your produced work, it’s out of your hands and someone else owns it. They can enjoy it, use it, resell it etc. That’s fair and meets our expectations. Unfortunately in the electronic world developers increasingly want to give customers something short of ownership in a product. They want to turn everything into a license. You’re limited to how many computers you can install a product on, and how long you can use a product and you have no resale ability. Nevertheless that business model just doesn’t work when a competitor (let’s call them Sony) swoops in and retails an actual ownable product. Boom goes the business model of the greedy corporate exploiter. And frankly, that’s the way it should be. 

Videogame Developers Shouldn't work With Movie Budgets

Used game resale rights are a valuable incident of property rights in the bought game. But even if profits are limited in the videogame industry – that’s a good thing. We don’t want videogame developers to work with unlimited budgets. There have to be incentives for developers to be cost-effective in their development. Developers should look to outsourcing, limiting graphic improvements that do nothing (read Final Fantasy) or not purchasing unnecessary song rights (once again see Final Fantasy) as long as their budget is channeled into quality gameplay. The fact is, videogames shouldn’t be about delivering movie like experiences. No one is interested in shovelling their hard earned money into shareholder pockets when they could be using it on their own lives.

Game Developers are Trying to Sell What the Public Doesn't Need 

When you break it down, game developers are trying to sell you something you don’t need. To justify a bigger share of the profit pie, developers are appealing to the costs of blockbuster, movie-quality rendered games. But who wants movie-quality videogames? This reminds me of a time I showed up at an aggressive coffee store. The cashier told me, “we have breakfast special, $2.99”. I tell her I just want a coffee and I’m not hungry. She replies, “There’s a sale on breakfast just $2.99 dollars.” But I’m not hungry. I don’t just hand over money because you’ve come up with a deal or invented some new widget; I spend my money based on my needs and my wants. Some retailers just don’t get the message. They want to create over-the-top consumer desires in the videogame industry that don’t exist. I don’t need or want movie-like games and bloated studios and budgets – and I’m not going to pay for it. 

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Why I Won't be buying the Xbox One and other Videogame Ripoffs

Videogame Ripoffs Decrease Trust and Consumer Loyalty

Trust. It’s the ultimate commodity in business. Trust once lost has to be earned. Consumers place some trust in businesses when buying products. Gamers trust that developers will make good games in exchange for long-term earnings through customers purchasing repeatedly. But what happens when developers get greedy and water down their product, cut costs or repeatedly overcharge through multiple DLC? Well consumers start to look elsewhere for more cost-effective products that are less disrespectful to them. Consumers stop coming back for the next product after being ripped off the first time. When you kill the cow, you can’t keep on milking it. That’s the reason I refuse to buy DLC even for games I like, such as Dark Souls or Assassin’s Creed.

How Bioware went down the RPG Ripoff route

Let’s take a look at a few of the once innovative companies that now seem to churn out garbage, like Bioware. Bioware started as an innovative computer RPG company producing hits like the enormous Baldur’s Gate II. Now it churns out turds like Dragon Age II where I don’t get to choose my race, whether I have a family or even my last name. Despite all these roleplaying limitations I get put on the rails of a sleep-inducing story (with one exceptional part dealing with the Qunari) often playing through the exact same maps reused. Then I find out more pay-to-play DLC is being offered. I won’t be buying the next Bioware Game unless it comes out on clearance and reviews show Bioware has done a 180 degree turn.

How Blizzard went down the RTS Ripoff Route

Next, onto Blizzard. I’ve followed Blizzard since Warcraft I, a real time computer strategy game. I liked the gritty realism, voice acting, improved cinematics and increasingly competitive multiplayer as Blizzard moved from Warcraft II to Starcraft I. I was impressed with the transition to multi-player, the use of multiple races and attempts at balancing in Starcraft. Now Blizzard just treats consumers like garbage. I refused to buy Diablo III after the dry and grossly imbalanced (did anyone use the Necromancer?) Diablo II. I wasn’t impressed with World of Moneycraft and its endless expansions and kill-x-many-wolves quests. What really angers me though is the lack of innovation in Starcraft 2. After ten years in development, Blizzard knows it can have a cheap singleplayer and churn out THREE games at full price rather than just one. That takes chutzpah. That is some serious Microsoft-level ripping off right there.

Microsoft's XboxOne Takes Videogame Rippingoff to a Whole New Level

Which brings me to the Grand-Mufta of sleazy overcharging and consumer ripping off – Microsoft. This is the same company that wants to license your word processing software instead of just letting you own the software product. Now they’ve taken their slit-your-mother’s-throat-for-a-nickel ways to console gaming. Xbox One’s initial specs involved play-only-when-connected-to-the-internet and limits on buying and trading used games. Essentially they wanted to limit property rights consumers had in their products while still having to pay full price. Now Microsoft backed down but only after risking annihilation by their main competitor – the PS4. However it would be a mistake to buy the Xbox One anyways. I’d be supporting a company that sees nothing wrong with savagely raping consumers except when it can’t get away with it. I’d be passing up hard earned cash so teams of lawyers and accountants could figure out new ways to screw over gamers and extract as much cash as possible. Oh but Sony does the same thing you say? Yes every company has to make a profit, but only some companies push beyond the lines of decency and end up in the land of crookery, haberdashery, nay villainy. And that is why I won’t be buying the Xbox One, because I just don’t trust Microsoft not to screw me over ten times a day if I use their products. 

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