• 8Oct 08

  Why Publishers Hate GameStop

  OK, I've got a pretty decent Economics background so I thought I'd try and explain a little about why publishers are so grumpy with the used game market and why their current reaction to it is manipulative and wrong.

  Firstly, as a background note, it should be explained that in many, many industries a secondary market (i.e a second-hand or used market) is a good thing for business no matter what you might think. The videogame industry is no exception. Here, used games selling cheap through whatever outlet is a good way to get products into consumers hands that wouldn't have paid full price for it for any of a wide number of reasons. Maybe your consumer is young or otherwise without sufficient disposable income to buy new games expensively. Maybe your game just isn't good enough to attract sales at a high price point. Maybe your game is too obscure, specialist or was poorly marketed. Used games sell through into the hands of people who otherwise wouldn't have bought them - it's that simple.

  Now here comes the clincher - this is great news for the market as a whole, since it swells the sales figures in the industry and therefore increases its worth to capital investors and therefore promotes growth. This is double good news for the gamer on the street (let's call him Barry. Hello, Barry.). It's not good news for individual publishers though, as they're not getting a sniff of that green and also can't use it to swell their own company's sales figures.

  To add salt to the wound, companies like GameStop more money from selling used games than they do new ones, especially when the trade-in value of your games is expressed only in their store credit, so the 'money' doesn't leave the building.

  So what option does an individual publisher have to try and combat this trend and get more sales themselves? The golden goose they're waiting to start laying is Digital Distribution. This isn't currently feasible since the ratio of game size to hard drive size is too prohibitive for most users in this generation of consoles. In the meantime there are several methods of increasing revenue without risking alienating the core buying public.

  It would seem that the popular solution is to offer shiny new content to only those users who buy the game new - but why is that fair? Since the used game market is completely legal, does it seem ethical to punish a consumer for using it? I personally find it a little insulting, almost as if a used-game buyer is a second-class citizen to a publisher. I find this especially true in cases where useful content is offered (e.g. the GoW2 map pack) - Essentially, Epic are telling you that if you're too poor/tight/indifferent to pay full price then you don't get to play with the 'real' gamers on the exclusive maps. I can almost hear Cliffy B impersonating Nelson Muntz from the Simpsons in my Headset - "Ha, Ha."

  Consider this instead - By all means offer your pointless DLC to download for free, for everyone, within a certain time-frame perhaps - maybe even charge for it later, and then simply drop retail prices 6-8 months after the release or in response to the used market. GameStopselling your game for $50? Drop the retail price to $45. That way all consumers benefit from competition in the marketplace. Currently the competitive games market only really benefits the re-sellers while the customer gets the thin end of the wedge, and that's just plain wrong.

  I know that's something of an ideal solution but the point is that if I can come up with is, surely the publishers can do better. But they don't have any incentive to do so because the game-buying public just put up with it. See all the positive comments about the free Rock Band 2 songs etc to see how easy it is to fool consumers.

  Big business sucks.

  • Posted Oct 8, 2008 11:06 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 21Oct 06

  PS3 Launch

  There's been a lot of talk this week about the PS3 game line-up for the rest of '06. So much so in fact, that it's a little tough to separate the men from the fanboys. With the console itself still nearly a month away, the forums are still rife with those who feel they can predict the success of the PS3 when only a handful of industry insiders have actually laid hands on any actual games for it. Personally, as a UK resident, I'm going to have a lot of time to see how things pan out before I have the real option of owning one, and I'm as much on the fence right now as I ever have been, so here are my thoughts on the latest developments:
  Firstly, though the launch list frankly isn't sparkling, full of the inevitable cross-platform big guns & sports games, I think it's worth remembering the launch of the 360 last year. Realistically speaking, none of the titles back then were much to shout about, either. OK, there were a handful of exclusives like Perfect Dark Zero, but there were also the same proportion of cross-platformers such as King Kong and the usual EA Sports Games. In fact, after looking deeper, the PS3 looks pretty good right now. Resistance, Genji & Warhawk might not seem like the most original or groundbreaking entries, but I've got high hopes for Warhawk in particular, as I think it should show off the new controller's possibilities quite nicely, paving the way for the second wave of games to be creative with their control schemes - a venture that should pair well with the advanced Wii controls for third-party developers to play with.
  Also, the sheer volume of titles again sets PS3 apart from its great white rivals - since the price tag ensures a great many PS3 buyers will only have the one next-gen console, it's important that there's a large range of choice from day one to compete with the increasing array of upcoming 360 games. Which of course, being second wave releases, are beginning to test the limits and push the envelope both in terms of technical excellence and creative flair.
  A new console in it's first year is much like the human brain - huge potential, barely tapped. Unlike the brain, however, which is limited by a vast evolutionary timescale of improvement, the 360, and soon the Wii and PS3 will be able to produce much improved effects within a year, and continue to improve. Look at the improvements made within the GTA series in its PS2 incarnations. Each one made significant leaps over the previous without ever being forced to make technical compromises.
  Given that, I still can't fathom the fanboy attitude so prevalent on this very site. I will never understand why it is necessary to be so openly offensive to owners of other platforms in a way only comparable to the rivalry between football fans in my native land. Never in my life have I seen a Porsche owner engage in a slanging match with a Ferrari owner over small-minded brand loyalty. You don't see kids brawling in the supermarket over Coke/Pepsi differences, so why on earth must the forums be brimming with seething hate, 360 owners at the throats of the Sony loyalists, especially as about two-thirds of the games on each system will eventually appear cross-platform?
  So I call to the forums - please try to see the other person's side of the debate. If you don't want a console or a specific game, then by all means explain your reasons why, but realise that for every person who shares your opinion, there are others out there who feel exactly the opposite. Perhaps then the new generation of consoles can be shaped by the desires of the fans who support it - not shaping another 5 years of updated hedgehog vs plumber deathmatch debates!
  
  • Posted Oct 21, 2006 10:43 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 10Oct 06

  Cabbage Patch Dolls...

  Geez, it's been a while! I reckon I'm cursed with hardware for sure, now. PS2's still not working as it should, and I've only just managed to get my PC back on line after a mammoth crash over my holiday. Ironic that I spent a ton of cash on games, clothes & DVDs and then have nothing to use for new PC parts. D'oh!
  
  Anyway, it seems I'm back just in time to have my say about the brewing storm that is the PS3 launch. Man, I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm almost glad the UK launch has been delayed, because that means we'll be spared the madness when 11-17 hits. The way I see it, a big chunk of the machines sold at launch are gonna go on eBay. There's no escaping it. Hell, even I've bought concert tickets in the full knowledge that some chump'll pay double the value for it a week before the event. I know this because I've been that chump once or twice as well and felt perfectly happy with myself. Meanwhile, any store not offering pre-orders is running the risk of full-blown riots over a handful of consoles. GameStop need to make sure that every single one of their pre-orders are filled on day one or none at all. Can you imagine - you've got a valid reservation that you've paid good money upfront for, then the guy in front of you gets his PS3 and you don't? All or nothing, guys, mark my words. And Metal_Rodney's number one PS3 launch tip? Please, please, please, guys, if you're lucky enough to get one, don't walk far with it and don't be alone. You know the drill.
  
  I'd love to be proved wrong and see a real nice happy situation, but I just can't shake the feeling that by the end of the day there'll be a lot of really disappointed punters out there, some blood, some tears, and a whole load of lost tempers filling the streets.
  
  Man, I need to get more positive...
  
  • Posted Oct 10, 2006 1:23 pm PT
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