Buying it used? EA still wants you to pay up to the publisher.
Along with piracy, another huge concern of game publishers these days is that they are missing out on the profits to be had from that sale of used games. While shifting more content to straight digital download sales is one option, EA devised a plan called "Project Ten Dollar" that hopes to squeeze 10 bucks from a gamer picking up an EA title second-hand.
The concept was the result of a brain storming session held by EA CEO John Riccitiello where he gathered in New York 160 of his workers to come up with ways to ensure the game company's future success.
One such approved concept was "Project Ten Dollar," which aims to cash in on the estimated $2 billion annually spent on used games. In fact, estimates now are that used games account for a third of all games sold in the U.S., according to BusinessWeek.
EA's "Project Ten Dollar" first appeared in last year's Dragon Age and, more recently, in Mass Effect 2. While gamers buying those games used will still have a good experience, they'll have to fork over ten dollars to get access to all the same things that the original owners had.
Remind me next time I go looking for a second-hand car; I don't fancy spending more than I should - to the manufacturer - in order to make sure it has 4 wheels and a chassis..
Did the British Government have anything to do with this idea? (joke).
Remind me next time I go looking for a second-hand car; I don't fancy spending more than I should - to the manufacturer - in order to make sure it has 4 wheels and a chassis..
Did the British Government have anything to do with this idea? (joke).
Oh wait, the Autodesk decision essentially said such. While I own Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, I will no longer purchase anything that EA sells again. It is sad I have to take this stance, as BioWare makes good products, but I will not support a company that tries to extort customers.
Since part of the purchase price for the original game is access to all portions of the current game, then the sell of the game should transfer all aspects of the game in question. Such issues were handled in the aforementioned court case.
Developers arnt getting their money twice over this. Its actually more like 3 times.
The original person buys a game, Trades it in, chances are BUYS ANOTHER GAME.
Somebody buys this pre-owned game, and once again EA cash in from this sorry man.
I didnt know this was used in some of EA games already, I wont be buying any of their games now. Thats simple.
I've not liked EA for a long time, churning out the same bollocks year after year, but this, this really is the final straw
I promise you this! not only will i never buy an EA game i will ALWAYS torrent there stuff.
Also, the used game trade does wonders for game stores. You might not care about your local Gamestop. But i sure as hell support the shops in my own town, and that includes buying my games when i can from my local GAME store. I know for a fact that pre-owned sales account for a massive ammount of their sales, take that away you may well lose your local game stores completly.
Agree 100%. Not to mention used games aren't really heavily discounted. So you might end up paying a new game price for a used game. That's just lunacy.
Actually this is Capitalism at its best ... honestly what does this have to do with Capitalism, Socialism or Politics in general? ... here's a hint, "Nothing"
I gave you a thumbs up but...
EA creates a game and sells it for whatever profit (too much already).
the purchaser then plays it and throws it away, sells it, recycles it, craps on it... doesn't matter because they OWN it. EA got their profit and no longer owns that specific disk, no one owes EA anything after that initial sale.
Seriously this is like Mcdonalds charging me $1 for puking a big mac up... second use, not as good as the first chew, but $2 less.
While Gamestop does rip everyone off they are no different then Ebay... they charge for the service of selling your old stuff. I for one sell all my old games on kijiji to local buyers and get twice the price Gamestop (eb-games here) charges. Thus cutting "the middle man" out of the loop. Buyer gets game for less and I regain more money.
Us gamers need to unite and stop this before it spreads to all publishers!