“Discouraging Resales Hurts The Consumer, Too”… according to GameStop. I try to check out Gamasutra at least once a week and stumbled upon an article about how GameStop claims used game sales actually help the consumer. While it’s obvious they would say this due to the nature of their empire, I find it hard to believe that used game sales actually benefit anyone other than GameStop.
Due to the current economy, many developers and publishers will be trying to encourage the sales of new games and discourage the sales of used games. This is also an obvious stance for them to take. While I do think used game sales is good for GameStop, it’s certainly no bargain for consumers or publishers.
Example:
I purchased what turned out to be a terrible game the other day for $60 at a GameStop. I traded it in the next morning for $30 in store credit. In a 24 hour period, I basically ended up with a 50% loss. GameStop puts the same game back on the shelf for $50. Basically they made $80 from a $60 game. Until games hold their value with trade-in schemes, I simply can never see the value in it from the consumer point of view.
Check out the article at the link below!
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