GODDAMN IT EA!! NOT ANOTHER THING!!!

Rotaretilbo wrote:As far as I can tell, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are already out of business, or soon will be. This could be the final nail in the coffin for them. I'm more concerned about game retailers that carry all games. I've been through Walmart's video game aisles, and I've got to say, they really don't carry much. I guess, on the bright side, it will probably force tons of third party developers to Steam...

Why would they move to Steam?

Rotaretilbo wrote:Because Walmart doesn't carry games made by lesser known third party developers. And if EA puts the game retailers out of business like they surely just put the rental stores out of business, Steam will be the only place that will be willing to carry their games. Either that, or they'll all go Indie and make games for XBL Marketplace.

Oh. I thought you meant that third party developers wouldn't like this new thing. I just hope Steam comes out with a console, cause i'm console 4 life (at least with FPS).

Also, you seem to be forgetting that you get a 7-day-trial that you get with the game, allowing for rentals but not long-term-usage.

Fuck EA.
That Cerberus network bullshit was stupid, and now they have decided to take stupidity up a notch.

It is so obvious they are just a bunch of mindless drones that sit around a table, showing each other graphs of how sales went. Looking at the graphs, absent of emotion, motivated purely by the sent of money. they see that they might be be losing a fraction of their money from people using second hand games. So they narrow mindedly thought for a split-second about how they can squeeze more money out of their customers, and can to a quick conclusion.

I can understand their point of view. That they think people are sinning by lending or selling second hand games to one another. That those who lend or sell each other games are doom to eternity burning in hell, and therefore must be punished. So they decide to punish everyone, as though everyone is a sinner.

But who cares if you lend or sell a game. It is not like by lending or selling a game to someone you suddenly duplicate the game or something, making multiple copies of it. There will still only be one game, and one person with possession over it, and one person who can play it at a time (unless you can play 2player or more, in which case, it is designed to be played with 2 people or more at a time.)

When was the last time they went on a website like e-Bay or Trade Me. There is a entire industry built around second hand items, not just video game exclusive, but of all different types. It is not a sin, it is not a crime, it is not frowned upon, it is not bad in any way, shape or form. Once some one if finished with a game, and had all the fun they wanted out of it, that does no make it a crime to let someone else use the game, the game that they already payed for. Once you sell it, it should be their property, to do what they will. And for you to act as though people selling second hand game that you may have developed is stealing money off you, is rediculous.

TNine wrote:
1.) How long do you honestly think piracy will last? Another ten, fifteen years? Anti-piracy laws and enforcement has only been going up, i can't honestly see it lasting much longer.

enforcement actually almost completely stopped after the RIAA sued an 8 year old boy and a woman who was dead.

the laws may be going up, but eventually they're halted by the constitution. The only enforcement that exists is the 3 strike rule on internet access which isn't even a viable threat, especially when using private trackers.



based on your logic, there shouldn't even be crime now. Enforcement and laws have been going up for decades, it still happens. Because the criminals are always one step ahead.

YouCurse wrote:Fuck EA.
That Cerberus network bullshit was stupid, and now they have decided to take stupidity up a notch.

not really, Cerberus was basically a way to hand out free DLC to first time buyers, and make the same collection of DLC cost $15 for those that bought at a discounted price.

TNine wrote:2.) The problem here is that the people that care about this change aren't worth a damn anyway. It's not like DRM, where it hurts everyone, this new rule hurts only the people that it's meant to hurt. The big question here is why SHOULDN'T EA do this?

What?! Are you kidding me?

How about because it doesn't allow people who rent the game to play online? Which, by the way, is often the reason for renting it in the first place.

How about because it's effectively murdering the second-hand gaming industry (as others have said) in the field of sports games?

How about because it's another fucking ten dollars per game, just to do something that you've either already paid for on X-Box Live, or something that you're supposed to get for free on PSN, just because you didn't have the money, or didn't want to buy the game new?

Rents are usually between 4-7 days, more than enough time to play it online with the 7-day trial.

Nobody expect the store that sells you the game get money from used games. IT's a MASSIVE finnical hole in the gaming industry.

True, but they expect you to pay full price, but honestly, amazon and play.com barely sell new games at full price, so it won't have such a massive impact to me.

Yeah, I'm with Vigil. There's a difference between Scrooge McDucking the pennies and trying to get hold of a third of your potential profit.

Vigil wrote:Rents are usually between 4-7 days, more than enough time to play it online with the 7-day trial.

Many people who use Blockbuster (myself included) choose the option to pay a monthly fee in exchange for keeping 2 games, 2 movies, or a game and a movie for any amount of time with no fees.

Well your out of luck then.

Rotaretilbo wrote:Not when trying to get a hold of a third of your potential profit puts half the retailers out of business. Used games is the only thing keeping game stores afloat, because they carry all games, but only make profit on top sellers. And when the "big bad" retailers all go out of business, third party developers who can't afford to advertise their game on every TV channel will pretty much die out, because no one will carry their game (except for Steam), and then we will have an industry bankrupt of creativity, because the only people left will be the puppets of the publishers making the same fucking bullshit as before and shoving it down our throats. The only bastion of hope in this whole mess is that Valve will still be independent and will generally be unaffected by the death of retailers.

Glad to know Valve is your one saving grace...

PiEdude wrote:

TNine wrote:2.) The problem here is that the people that care about this change aren't worth a damn anyway. It's not like DRM, where it hurts everyone, this new rule hurts only the people that it's meant to hurt. The big question here is why SHOULDN'T EA do this?

What?! Are you kidding me?

How about because it doesn't allow people who rent the game to play online? Which, by the way, is often the reason for renting it in the first place.

How about because it's effectively murdering the second-hand gaming industry (as others have said) in the field of sports games?

How about because it's another fucking ten dollars per game, just to do something that you've either already paid for on X-Box Live, or something that you're supposed to get for free on PSN, just because you didn't have the money, or didn't want to buy the game new?

And EA cares why? If you don't like it, don't buy games secondhand. EA gives a fuck if you refuse to buy it at all, if the other alternative was buying second-hand.

Also, renting is still a viable option, provided you don't lend for longer than a week.

Rotaretilbo wrote:Not when trying to get a hold of a third of your potential profit puts half the retailers out of business. Used games is the only thing keeping game stores afloat, because they carry all games, but only make profit on top sellers. And when the "big bad" retailers all go out of business, third party developers who can't afford to advertise their game on every TV channel will pretty much die out, because no one will carry their game (except for Steam), and then we will have an industry bankrupt of creativity, because the only people left will be the puppets of the publishers making the same fucking bullshit as before and shoving it down our throats. The only bastion of hope in this whole mess is that Valve will still be independent and will generally be unaffected by the death of retailers.

Finally, an actual point beyond "but i dun wanna pay EA for ther gamez!".

The gaming industry will adapt. We still have Steam, which ironically does the exact same thing. And i bet Steam-like distribution (downloading games online) will become more and more common, and i bet it will become the primary way of getting games in the next few years.