Yes folks, it's that time again! Just when you thought I ran out of stuff to rant about I swoop in with a new one. What's gone out of it's way to burn my toast today? What's got my panties... I mean nickers in a twist? Well today it's 2 things... well really just 1 but the 2 things are linked to it. So sit back, relax, maybe make some coffee or popcorn and get ready to read another of my rants. Chances are no body's reading things on my blog for the most part. I feel so lonely... nah just kidding!First I'll explain my reasoning for my rant. The reason I'm ranting about these things is because or the fact that a lot of good games are only available to download via XBLA and PSN and as a consumer I feel like digital distribution is robbery of the consumers money. I'll go into details about that later. Also Used games while convenient for some gamers are a who are on a budget have a lot of bad stuff tagged to it that needs to be addressed from someone who actually cares about gaming and isn't just a game player. Now on with the bile!
1) Digital Distribution.
Digital Distribution is really pissing me off these days because of the fact that all the highly recommended and sometimes even the best game are hovering around in the download space. Now sure there are advantages to this way of buying games but does the average consumer really know the truth... NO! Digital Distribution is a convenient method of getting games but here's the thing... YOU DON'T HAVE THE GAME! Sure it's on your HDD but think about this... what happens if your console dies? Sure you can remove that HDD and put it into another console but what happens? XBL needs to be signed in at all times so you can play the damn thing and as for the PS3? I'm not sure but I bet they have some garbage waiting to happen... oh wait... remember the snafu where you couldn't do anything with the damn thing? On top of that there's the problem of how many times you can download the product before you need to repurchase it. PS3 has a register to 5 consoles thing as well as Steam and if you run through 5 you've got to repurchase it, no questions asked! It's it fair? HELL NO! This is why I want various things done to make things better for all. First I'd like the game companies to sell their games via their websites on discs as well as via digital distribution so WE get a choice on how we want to own it. Also I'd like the option to got to PlayStation or Xbox's websites to buy compilation disc that are made to order with the content you want on it. Sell the content as the same price and charge like a $AU5 Disc fee and offer free postage for more then one disc. As for letting people choose their content, simply set up a click and drag system and a disc capacity limit thing so people can set it up like burning a data disc. This way we can install the content on our consoles and have the disc just in case of a snafu. Now I know the game companies may not like this idea but think about it, if you sell your games via your websites, Game Stop/EB Games and other game retailers can't resell it because it won't be in their system! As for the compilation discs the same thing applies and if your worried about people using the discs on other peoples console then I can't help you there and besides most gamers aren't going to bother with that for the most part. I sympathize with game companies and want what's best for them and gamers and being a TRUE gamer I believe I am qualified to give the best helpful opinion possible... ok that's an over-exaggeration but you kinda get my point... I hope.
2) Used Games
Now here's a big issue I have when going to any video game retailer (except GAME) I go to buy a "new" game and it's never in it's shrink wrap. Why? some bull crap reason they NEVER explain, then on top of that they sell used games at near new prices! That really pisses me off!!! I honestly have been wondering if they sell you used games in the "new" boxes. I know it's speculation but why do they need to remove the game from the shrink wrap in the first place? Is it for display boxes? NO! They always print display boxes for pre order so they can do it for every game and leave them in the shrink wrap... look I'm getting off topic so let be just say, never shop for a new game at a store that doesn't sell shrink wrapped games! As for used games I hate the prices of them to start with. It's a second hand game! That means CHEAP! But it never is! Now game companies hate the used game market because they aren't seeing a cent. I sympathize with them but I bet they would complain half as much if the games were cheap for one and if they actually got a small profit from them. Now here's how second hand games work, they are only slightly cheaper then buying new and all the profit goes to the retailer and this is bad, why? Well the publishers and makers of the games don't get any money out of it. Why is this bad? Because a used copy can see many owners and all the money spent on buying that game over and over again goes to the retailers and if the publishers don't make a profit, they go out of business or make crappy sequels to spite gamers... you know the games I'm talking about. For this reason alone DLC was created to fight the second hand market and get some money back from the consumers. You know that Project $10 thing EA is doing? It's our fault as cheapskates that's brought about this. If we didn't buy so much used games they wouldn't be doing this... ok they still would have but it'd be cheaper. I honestly wish every retailer would drop their prices for used games so they are like 40% of the price of a new game and give 20% of what they make back to the publisher but I think it'll rain Coke(the drink, not the drug) long before then. What's even worse is you trade in games to save a few bucks, which isn't a bad thing but what EVERY retailer does IS a bad thing. You trade in a copy of Halo Reach and only get like AU$40 for it, and the next day the store sells it for AU$109.95 and new it's AU$119.95. That is unfair to the consumers and the game company because you lost money through the trade in and the game companies lose money on the resale and stores like Game Stop/EB Games make a boat load of cash! Logic dictates that it's not fair. We lose, the game companies lose and video game retailer win twice at the same time! This is why digital distribution is favoured by game companies! They don't need to worry about used games there and they get more profits out of it but we lose in the end because we don't really own what we buy digitally. See how it's now one and the same?
Here's a couple of videos to watch that will back up my argument and one more just to go with my anger at the "new" games.
!Warning the Foamy videos contain explicit language!
The Escapist Extra Credits: Project Ten Dollars
Foamy: New Used rant
Foamy: Game Trade-Ins
I'm a passionate gamer and just want what's best for the consumer and the game companies. Sure most of you don't care now but someday you will care and remember this blog post on that day. Gamers are people too and we need to be treated better and our first step is to stop buying used games. So you have to wait for a price drop, big deal! It's better to buy new and get better games in the future instead of buying used and getting generic and bland games in the future from the game companies you used to love. Think before you buy people for your sake as well as gaming's sake.
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