Pre-Owned Gaming: When You Really Need a Scapegoat
It’s easy to get the feeling that publishers hate the very bones of the pre-owned gamer; that you, as a purchaser of second hand software, are one of the filthy millions that are cannibalising the industry. Don't worry, you're not.
As an ex CeX staff member, Ive bought in thousands of games over the counter. Being the chatty sort of fellow that I am, when anyone brought in a relatively new game to sell, I always tended to ask why they were getting rid. You know the most common answer? It wasnt very good. And that look of disappointment and sourness theyd get on their face when Id tell them how much theyd get for it was never pleasant. But Id give the same reason every time. Weve had thousands of copies in across the country because of that very reason. The value has plummeted. Oh, theyd say I paid £40 for that. What a ultra-maroon 
Over the last year or so, Ive been hearing more and more on the issue that pre-owned video game sales may be damaging to the gaming industry as a whole. There have even been whispered rumours that next-gen consoles wont play second hand software (and lets face, if thats so, the next logical step for the industry is to attempt to resurrect Hitler). If you read through some publisher responses to the issue, its easy to get the feeling they hate the very bones of the pre-owned gamer; that you, as a purchaser of second hand software, are one of the filthy millions that are cannibalising the industry. Don't worry, you're not. Apparently pre-owned software sales are pretty much responsible for all of the gaming industrys sins: overpricing; homogenisation; death of the single-player; weak DLC. If were to listen to these industry doomsayers, this cut-corners-for-profit mentality is in direct response to the attack of the second hand game market. Im sorry Gaming Industry, youve brought me several thousand hours of sheer joy over the last twenty odd years, but heres one instance where Im going to have to call bullshit. Why do we buy pre-owned games? Its very simple: many of us (myself included) cant just pull £40 - £50 out of thin air every time an A-list game hits shelves. Statistically, most gamers shell out on around 9 full price titles per year but said gamers also pad out the spaces in between with pre-owned software. And if you ask me thats fair play this amounts to approximately £360, per year, per gamer, thats going directly into the industrys pocket. Im not going to attempt to figure out how much that means in total (thatd mean knowing how many gamers there are in the world). But its a lot. Its enough. Im not saying there isnt an issue at hand; the games industry is struggling to a certain degree. But its an internal struggle that I argue has very little to do with second hand software sales. With huge leaps in technology and hardware leading to ballooning production budgets (with triple A titles costing in the realms of the hundreds of millions to make), gaming really is a risky business. Its a rather hostile economy for publishers large and small, where a hit can ensure huge profit margins while a miss can really hurt. But did you know that video game sales have also doubled since 2000, the point where the industry is currently worth somewhere between 8 and 10 billion dollars per year (nearly 12 billion at its highest point in 2008, likely thanks to the Wii)? Source. That doesnt sound like an industry thats struggling too much. So Im expected to feel guilty when I buy a second hand game because Im just too skint to afford it on day one? Gaming Industry, you can kindly kiss my arse. 
To put it into perspective lets look at high concept film. Hollywoods budgets have ballooned of late too and movies can often cost upwards of $200m to make, but I can get still buy a DVD for £12.99. And itll have a slew of bonus content that I wont have to spend yet more money on either. Yet if I were to live up to publishers expectations of what a gamer should be, Id spend £40 on their game on day one, sit playing it online for months on end after Id clocked the five hour campaign mode. Id also be happy to pay £5 a pop on every piece of shitty DLC they release later in order to prevent the dreaded game churn while simultaneously wringing every last penny out of my Batman wallet. Heres my stance: I happily paid full price for Batman: Arkham City; for Skyrim; for Call of Duty on day one. They were un-missable experiences for me and ones that fully justified their £40 price tag. But would I have happily paid full price for, lets say the Ghostbusters Game? Not on your life. It was fun, sure, I had a decent enough time, but it was over in 8 hours I didnt really have any desire to replay it. I bought it pre-owned for around £15 and thats fine, but if Id have paid full whack at £40, Id have been outraged and ultimately, I'd have been ripped off. Publishers argue that pre-owned software sales are responsible for the death of mid-tier publishing. I argue that its death is in fact due to the top-tier pricing of mid-tier products. No other industry does this and gets away with it. A low budget movie costs much less relatively to buy on Blu-ray and DVD, despite similar production budget ranges. Yet a title like Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will cost the same as lets say Naughty Dogs mighty Uncharted. The logic is fundamentally flawed. 
Publishers often believe (and this has been applied to piracy too, and again its an entirely flawed argument) that every pre-owned software sale is a sale thats been stolen from them. Let me pose a question: that game you bought pre-owned with that last £5 of store credit, would you have bought it full-price? I didnt think so. More often than not, their shitty game wouldnt have been sold at all if it wasnt on the shelf for £5. Why? Because its a shitty game and nobody wants to buy it at full price. So the argument that second hand software steals sales from publishers is an illogical, sensationalist claim that attempts, without any real substance, to scapegoat an otherwise innocent party. If I recall correctly, theres been a growing pre-owned game industry for at least the last three console generations, and Im certain that those little independent video shops we see so little of these days were playing the trade-in game long before, albeit on a much smaller scale. Yet Ive heard little complaint from publishers until recently. It almost seems as though, upon feeling the pinch of this global credit crunch were in, publishers are choosing to lay blame for diminishing revenue on some other party, instead of looking inward and adapting accordingly to this new financial climate. Arent we all in this recession together? If theres been a death to mid-tier publishing, surely the fault sits with the industry that wont move on price point, even in this time of economic downturn. If a mid-tier game cost £20 or £25 I guarantee that way more people would be way more inclined to buy it on day one. Instead were expected to pay full whack £40 and like it, and if we choose to go pre-owned then guess what: apparently were part of the problem. 
Instead of attacking the pre-owned software sales and by extension those who choose to support them, maybe the gaming industry needs to take a look at itself. Ask yourself; should we be charged for pointless DLC that should have been included in the main game? Should we be expected to fork out top-tier dollar for meaningless titles like Fable Heroes, when theres a cheaper option right next door? Isnt it just cringe-worthy to hear such loathsome please-feel-sorry-for-me doomsaying from and industry that generates literally billions per annum? In this writers humble opinion, the pre-owned games industry has been made an unwitting scapegoat of by greedy men in suits; I for one will continue to purchase second software until the day its either outlawed (1984 style), or said suit bearers make some drastic changes to their unfair and unrealistic pricing models. What do you think on my pre-owned gaming stance? Am I right on the money or is my naiveté laughable? This is a spicy hot-potato for the gaming world, so please do let us hear your thoughts!