Wich one is the most fair business model?

you do research before buying it like every person with a shred of intelligence would? we live in the age of internet, hundreds of reviews, gameplay videos, walktroughs to watch before you buy. I was tempted to buy AC unity but after doing the research and reading forums i ignored it.

i had more fun with a lot of metascore 6 games than with many metascore 9 games, just because COD is a every year a score 8 or 9 it does not mean i will like it

Companies do not care if you like the game (or console in Sony's case). They just want you to buy it. What happens after that is on your ass.

i am not saying look at the scores, reviews have gameplay and info about the game, as well as a lot of videos on youtube about any game, you can watch them and see if they interest you, i usually watch reviews looking more for info about the game than the score itself.

You can usually get refunded if you bitch enough. Obviously you can't wait too long to request a refund.

The latter business model was established in the 1980's with the NES.

The problem was that people would keep returning their games and could essentially play like 10 games from one purchase.

Its not hard to tell if the game's gonna fail or not. Just look at Ubishit for example. Everything they release is garbage so you know for a fact the game will suck even before gameplay footage is shown, or year(s) before release.

Your second proposal is just plain stupid.

You're proposing refunds.

Refunds for a mostly digital distribution industry.

well the best answer to that would be demo's. I think all games should have demo's if you like the demo you can buy it. Nothing will tell you how much you will like a game more then playing it yourself. If there is no demo, there is always an option of using reviewers you trust, friends opinions, and of course watching gameplay videos. there are plenty of youtubers who do walkthroughs etc. Once you choose to spend it, you can't ask for a refund. its like going to a restaurant ordering food and sending it back because you didn't like it.

I voted the first because this is complete non sense. This is business. I know as gamers some take this way to emotionally. I look at it as business. Should I receive my money back after I feel a movie sucked? Or after owning a new car for a month do I get my full purchase price back if I don't like it after all? Its business. If the game sucked, oh well, those are the breaks. It will never be what you want it to be because human beings lack integrity. So many will play a game and say they didn't like it regardless of whether its true just to get their $60 back.

Thats not why the return laws changed so you can't return open games. Early NES games could be opened with a screw driver and you could switch the boards inside the cart with another game and then return it. I was doing it back in the day.

LOL

You are not force to buy the game..if in doubt, don't buy it...if you buy into the hype that's your fault. Another "trying to lay personal responsibility to someone else" :P

how about

5. You don't pre-order or buy games on day 1, you look at reviews, opinions from other people who have bought the game, and see whether it's right for you and whether the game actually bloody works. Also, don't ever do day 1 purchase from a company that already has bad reputation.

Not mutually exclusive.

Back in the 80's games were new and were treated as toys (like barbie dolls and remote controlled cars) rather than media (like movies).

But once retailers realized the same abuse of returns that happened in movies could also happen to games.

If you pay for it before playing it and are out $60, guess it's your fault for being too eager and not doing your research.

After all there's always gameplay videos before release that should give you all the warning you need, there's always leaked gameplay as well, there's always leaked reviews, and review embargoes are lifted sometime after midnight the day of release, there's really no excuse.

I mean, what's next, would this line of consumer satisfaction work if you paid $9-17 for a movie ticket (depending on pricing, whether it's 3D and/or IMAX), and were disappointed? Would you demand refund for your popcorn and soda as well? Are we going to start demanding a refund on the time we watch TV on shitty shows based on ad revenues divided by viewership?

Just suck it up. You made a bad choice as a consumer. Now stop being a little bitch about it.

Pretty much this. Now, if a company thinks it's in their best interests to have a more lenient refund policy, that's on them and I see nothing wrong with that. Either it works out for them, or it bites them in the ass and they suffer for it. Either way, that's not my business.

But accepting risk is part of being a consumer. I bought a box of animal crackers earlier today, and they sucked. Do I get my money back? No. Because I wasn't paying ffor enjoyment. I was paying for the animal crackers and I got the animal crackers (regardless of whether or not I liked them). I have no grounds for getting my money back. Sure, if I fuss and scream loud enough then MAYBE I'll get my money back just so I shut up. But that's the exception, not the rule. After all, if that were a sure ticket to getting the product for free, then more people would be doing it and then the company change their refund policy.

Where is the option where you wait for the game to be released and look for reviews or comments from people who bought it and then you make a purchase based on research?