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Preventing Consoles from Playing Used Games – the Good and the Bad

The next Xbox could eliminate used games, but is it a good idea?

Jan 28, 2012 14:11 GMT  ·  By
GameStop makes profit out of used games
   GameStop makes profit out of used games

The gaming industry has quite a few problems, from the negative image that’s still being portrayed by the media, to the piracy that is still affecting a variety of platforms, not just the PC. Another big issue, especially on consoles nowadays, is used gaming.

For those not familiar with the problem, gamers go to retail stores, buy new copies of a title, play it for a certain time, and are then motivated by a variety of retailers, like GameStop, to trade it in and receive store credit for their next purchase.

So far, so good, as this system can help plenty of gamers fund their hobby. The difficult part is when GameStop sells the used copies of those games at a complete profit for itself. As such, instead of people buying new titles and benefitting the publisher, developer and the actual retailer, most customers would get the used game, and put money into the pockets of the retailer.

We’ve already seen quite a few methods of countering this second hand gaming trend, with more and more games using Online Passes, which force used gamers to pay for a $10/€10 downloadable key that gives them access to the multiplayer mode of that particular title. Other developers or publishers have started offering lots of DLC after the release of the game, so that players won’t be tempted to trade in a game.

Now, at least according to the latest rumor concerning the next Xbox console, it seems that Microsoft wants to completely stop the used gaming phenomenon by making the oft-rumored Xbox 720 incompatible with second hand copies of a game.

While the rumor should be taken with a large grain of salt, it’s not unfeasible, as games for the next console could simply use a serial number method, like PC titles, or just tie the copies to a single device.

Either way, this method of stomping out the used game market seems a bit harsh, so let’s look at it from both sides of the barricade.

The Good

Video game developers and publishers are losing money every time a gamer decides to get a cheaper, used copy, instead of a more expensive, new one. The money he or she is paying for it goes straight to the store, instead of the companies that actually made that game. As such, you can see great titles that don’t rely on multiplayer modes or cheap online passes fail in terms of sales only because people decide to save some money and get a second hand version.

The various methods used nowadays to “secure” games, like online or season passes might finally be discarded and gamers will actually get more free content. As you can imagine, this might not happen all the time, as making video games is still a business and companies want bigger profits, but it could lead to some more free stuff for players.

The Bad

Gaming, especially on consoles nowadays, is an expensive hobby. As such, used copies allow quite a lot of people to experience more titles than they could actually afford, if they had bought them new. In the end, it’s your money, so you should get to decide what to do with it and your console.

What’s more, this high price would result in fewer people taking risks on new properties, forcing them to spend their money on tried-and-true sequels, like Call of Duty. As such, developers would be forced to keep on churning out games with bigger and bigger numbers at the end of them, instead of making all-new things.

The Conclusion

The used game debate is a lengthy and tedious one. There’s no word yet on whether the next Xbox would use such a system to prevent second hand games, but who knows what Microsoft could do once large game publishers like Activision, EA and others start demanding it take action in regards to this phenomenon.

What do you think? Should the next generation of consoles use safeguards to prevent used gaming?