Used games

[Signe]

I have four games on pre-order at this very moment.  RIGHT NOW!

[schild]

I'll be honest. I very well may have 20 games on preorder. It covers May and June.

[Signe]

Well, I have more money friends boobies luggage than you!

I have a lot of luggage.

[Yoru]

And it's annoying as fuck to pimped on by some slackjawed scrote sliming over me to preorder games I've not even heard of everytime I want to buy something. Shut up, ring up my used copy of whatever I'm buying and did I mention SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Seriously, stop patronizing the stores that employ these fuckers and have these policies. I stopped using the nearby EB when I was in LA because of this, and I hadn't used the local SF ones either until I found a store that doesn't do that shit.

Order online if you have to. They'll ship used.

[Baldrake]

I think most people hate EB's used games thing because they sell a used copy of a new game for $5 off, when they bought it for half that price.

So according to Forbes, retailers get about a 25% markup over wholesale on new games. So the 100% markup you're claiming for used games is a big difference.

I'm guessing, though, that retailers get to return new stock they don't sell to the publishers, whereas they're stuck with used games they can't shift. I'm also guessing that the $5 below new price is a small part of the whole picture -- certainly the used games I've seen for sale are usually enormously less than new price.

But I'm sure Schild will set me straight.

[schild]

Retailers almost never get to return stock.

That's why EBStop has switched to this preorder system and Best Buy and other big box stores have started doing that. Especially with PC Games. I could explain why, but it's not worth the time, I'm tired.

Suffice it to say, the preorder system makes sense. Why publishers and developers put up with EBStop letting people trade in stolen merch from walmart so they have used items the first week is unacceptable. NPD #s would be a whole lot different if EBStop weren't a bunch of penny pinching sons of bitches.

Edit: Oh, I think Walmart might get to ship non-PC items back. They never tend to have old games that long. Of course, they might just ship them out to stores in middle america where dumb hicks by 3 year old copies of Tak 2 for $10.

[Strazos]

I can't find it at the moment, but there was a post awhile back about some internet company discontinuing their game sales division. The inability to return stuff that doesn't sell was one reason cited that the company couldn't profit from games.

Also, another reason that these places are ordering in less and less new merch has something to do with when big price drops occur, the retailers who bought the stuff at the original price don't get any money back. Apparently, this is something that does actually happen in other areas of retail, but not video games. Basically, if you order in a lot of copies of something, and it doesn't sell, the publisher/distributor just says "fuck you." Solution: only order in enough to cover reserves + (a small number), in order to minimize risk.



As an aside, I reserved Odin Sphere today. I wouldn't trust my store to get more than a single copy if there were no reserves.

[Velorath]

It's not like a preorder costs you anything; it's not an extra charge or something. And besides, if you end up getting the game somewhere else, you can always migrate the reserve next time you happen to go to the store, whether that's 2 weeks later, or 6 months.

Plus, it saves you from having to run around when the game comes out.

I get nothing out of a preorder, plain and simple.  TRU, Best Buy, Target... all within a reasonable distance to me, and unlike Gamestop and EB, they all tend to stock most of the games I'm looking forward to.  Schild wants to call something clownshoes?  Go ahead and call the Gamestop near me which didn't get ANY copies of God of War II  in on the release day other than what was preordered clownshoes.

[Azazel]

Strazos - I think that was DVD Empire.

As for the GoW2 pre-order bullshit, that sounds like they're trying to "train" their local customers to pre-order. Luckily there's enough competition in my area that that shit doesn't fly around here.

[Yegolev]

Getting it on day 1 for someone who posts on an internet forum should be important.

It should be, but I have been failing at Internet lately.  If there is something I really should be preordering, I'm OK with that but I need to be told what that is.

[schild]

What I'm using for upcoming games.

[Signe]

That gave me four more preorders!

[Ironwood]

Careful, you might Ding.

[Yegolev]

I will try to put down a preorder for Etrian Odyssey on the 16th when I go to get... wait, did Atelier Iris 3 move?  Anyway, I need something for the DS.  Children of Mana is dildos.  Time to go get Portrait of Ruin, I can drop by to get that on the 16th or 17th and maybe Etrian Odyssey will be there, too.

[Sky]

I only visit the EB store when I absolutely have to (like returning LotRO when online CS is hassling me). I've also had enough bad experiences pre-ordering online that I just wait until a game comes out and order it online normally, with ground shipping. I'm definitely not a 'gotta have it on release day' type.

I don't undestand why pc gamers don't just buy online...you have a pc! I get delivery to the office, it's like mini-christmas.

[Yegolev]

Why don't PC gamers just download their games?  LOLZ?

[Furiously]

Why don't PC gamers just download their games?  LOLZ?

It's a lot harder to sell it used then... :-D

[HaemishM]

What the hell are you talking about?

Why are you preordering games that are going to be shit in a box?

The chance for pretty much any game I haven't beta'ed to be shit in a box with the standards of Video Game Industry QA these days are pretty fucking good, especially if that game is an MMOG. Barring MMOG's that are made by Blizzard, finding a copy of a new MMOG at an EB on release day are next to nil if you haven't pre-ordered, and again I won't preorder if I haven't beta'ed. Not that I'm in the market for new MOG's anyway, as nothing has been worth playing on release day since WoW. But it's the principle which sands my labia in this case.

Also, the $5 off used games are only for those released in the last say month or two (or the really popular ones). Most are a decent amount off, especially as the games get older. There's nothing I love more than getting X-Box games that I missed on release for $3.

[Sky]

Why don't PC gamers just download their games?  LOLZ?

If they did it as ISO downloads or something, I probably would. Heck, as long as it would fit on a DVD I would still probably do it.

Thing is, not everyone has broadband, but most pc gamers have some kind of dial-up, or you can use the online capabilities at the library. And not all broadband is created equal. I was jamming with a certain download last weekend 775K/s. Blam.

[Miasma]

I was jamming with a certain download last weekend 775K/s. Blam.

I'm signed up for a 1Mbps service but I can never seem to get more than 128Kbps.  When I try my ISP's speed tester or any other independent download test they always come back saying 1Mbps though.  I don't know what's wrong, I've even tried bypassing my router and plugging my computer right into the intarweb.

Pisses me off.

[Yegolev]

I have the same actual speed, too, and I have the 3Mbps service.  Well, maybe it is 8Mbps now.  Doesn't really matter, it's all theory anyway.

[Sky]

Move to a ghetto where you're the only one who can afford a cable modem. It's like having my own private subnet.

[schild]

Final Fantasy 4 is getting a remake for the DS. With teh FF3 3d engine. I demand you all buy that NEW. Got it? Good.

[Sky]

I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.

[Strazos]

Jesus would play Odin Sphere. And love it.

[Sky]

True. Jesus is just a dirty console hippy kid. Odin wouldn't play Odin Sphere, though. Odin's a pc gamer, I have it on good authority. Thor does a great overclocking job by jumping up the voltage. Just don't use Loki's OS.

[Azazel]

I don't undestand why pc gamers don't just buy online...you have a pc! I get delivery to the office, it's like mini-christmas.

That would be because I don't like paying shipping for no reason, and I like to shop around. The wife or I go through/past the various places that sell them often enough that stopping past a place is a casual thing. Also, unlike many other things I buy, shopping online doesn't actually save me any money.

Why don't PC gamers just download their games?  LOLZ?

For all the reasons people have said - varying broadband speeds, etc, but also I have a monthly download limit that I need to use for quality television programming that may never reach my shores. I also like the physical package - If I'm paying retail, then I want the whole retail package, even if that's only the original disc in a DVD case with a token insert and printed colour cover. (If I'm just playng a download/burnt download, I may as well just play warez).

Final Fantasy 4 is getting a remake for the DS. With teh FF3 3d engine. I demand you all buy that NEW. Got it? Good.

I don't have a DS. But I'm willing to consider buying one if you pre-order, purchase and ship me a copy of FF4 to play on it. New, of course.

The chance for pretty much any game I haven't beta'ed to be shit in a box with the standards of Video Game Industry QA these days are pretty fucking good, especially if that game is an MMOG. Barring MMOG's that are made by Blizzard, finding a copy of a new MMOG at an EB on release day are next to nil if you haven't pre-ordered, and again I won't preorder if I haven't beta'ed. Not that I'm in the market for new MOG's anyway, as nothing has been worth playing on release day since WoW. But it's the principle which sands my labia in this case.

Also, the $5 off used games are only for those released in the last say month or two (or the really popular ones). Most are a decent amount off, especially as the games get older. There's nothing I love more than getting X-Box games that I missed on release for $3.

That's pretty messed up, and luckily isn't the case over here where even EB seems to have near-adequate stock of most new releases. At the same time, I've never seen a used title that cheap, even allowing for a currency conversion. For $5, yeah, I could see myself buying some stuff as long as it wasn't scratched to shit...

[Strazos]

Yeah, some of the PS2/Xbox/GC stuff can drop pretty darn low if it's old and/or there are tons of copies around.

[Signe]

Used things make me nervous.  I always want to smell them but have a fear that they might smell.

[Strazos]

Only if it's from NIS.