Online Passes : Othor Games

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:47 pm

Acording to http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/07/06/asdf.aspx article, Sony's games will now come bundled with one-time use Online Passes.

As Gamers, most of us should know, due to the recent outbreak, what Online Passes are. Great games such as Dead Space 2, Mortal Kombat, and so on have started instituting these "passes", and I'm a little worried.

I've been buying game used for years now; Its a tough economy, and any way to save those extra few dollars is worth it to me. But these Online Passes don't just stop at used games; Renting games now also requires purchasing a pass just to experience online for the short amount of time the game is in your possession.

-EA started this.

-Sony is onboard.

-We all know Activision will probably join in.

Who's next?

In my opinion, the two sides of the fight are on equal ground.

Greed might have a bit to do with it for the bigger companies. If their game is selling well, I'm sure plenty of people have bought it new. Why force us to spend more money on your game, when you already got your due?

For the side of the Online-Pass supporters, Via one of the members;

If you're buying the game new, you get you online play with no strings attached. If you buy used or rent - depriving the developers of that game from a single cent of your patronage, just so you can save 5-15$ from retail price, then you get what you pay for.

Remember this, for goodness sake people, the developer houses you read about closing in droves... the thousands of talented people losing their jobs because their high quality game somehow didn't manage to sell enough copies... YOU are doing your part to ensure this sort of thing continues on a year to year basis when you go out of your way to buy used.

Now I'm talking about games still fresh in their release window - you know, the ones you buy for 5$ off retail price? Yep... 5$ in your pocket - an easy 30+$ in your used game retailers pocket, and 0$ in the pocket of the publisher of that game. Where did the other 20+$ that game is worth go to? Into the pile of money they'll use to acquire more games to resale - ensuring a never ending cycle of depriving the creators of the games we love of the money they should be seeing.

I can clearly see the point hes trying to make.

Your opinions, fellow forum-goers?

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:40 pm

Bullcrap (with regards to the "devs are leaving in droves b/c used games sales, boo hoo!")

as for online passes - no opinion from me, I don't play online.

As for "$0 in pocket of publisher" - WRONG. The original buyer already paid the publisher for that game. They no longer have it, now someone else does. It's the same game, transferring ownership. The publisher already got their fair share for that game.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:06 am

It's so people don't buy pre-owned games.

Console users will now know first hand what PC users are talking about when people complain about DRM, exciting.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:49 am

I don't really care, as I play on PC only, but there should at least be a rental/basic online account option.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:44 pm

I only buy new games, so this won't really affect me. I can understand why devs/publishers would want to institute a system like this, but from the stand point of many consumers this is a terrible idea as it will kill the market for used games, and I tend to be on that side of the argument.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:39 pm

I only buy new games, so this won't really affect me. I can understand why devs/publishers would want to institute a system like this, but from the stand point of many consumers this is a terrible idea as it will kill the market for used games, and I tend to be on that side of the argument.

But the developers and publishers have absolutely no need to cater to the people who this upsets, which makes it make an incredible amount of financial sense. If the only people you are inconveniencing / irritating are the people who aren't paying you in the first place.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 5:04 pm

I personally only buy games first-hand, but my friends and I like to swap games and this makes it tough to do so. Oh well. :shrug:

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:13 pm

I dont get it. Its the same as used anything else. Take cars for instance. I could be wrong, but I doubt that the manufacturer gets money every time their car is sold used.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:32 pm

I dont get it. Its the same as used anything else. Take cars for instance. I could be wrong, but I doubt that the manufacturer gets money every time their car is sold used.

But the auto industry hasn't found a way to prevent second hand sales. This is probably the only reason why you can still sell used cars.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:20 am

But the auto industry hasn't found a way to prevent second hand sales. This is probably the only reason why you can still sell used cars.

Oh, well at least we have something to look forward to.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:05 am

I dont get it. Its the same as used anything else. Take cars for instance. I could be wrong, but I doubt that the manufacturer gets money every time their car is sold used.

No, but every time a used car is sold, it's one more potential sale of a new car that's lost.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:56 pm

But the developers and publishers have absolutely no need to cater to the people who this upsets, which makes it make an incredible amount of financial sense. If the only people you are inconveniencing / irritating are the people who aren't paying you in the first place.

This is very true, which is what makes this situation so sad. Although, it could be argued that used games do make some money. If you go out and buy a game used, you might still buy the DLC if you enjoy the game, right? The developer/publisher still gets that money.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:28 am

I hardly buy new games, with the exception of my favorite series of games.
So this is going to either leave me with less money in my wallet and/or less games :/

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:24 am

Their reasoning makes sense, though I'm skeptical if that is actually the real reason. This just seems like a form of DMR similar to serial codes on PC games that also allows the console developers to make money. This also deals a pretty significant blow to used game retailers and pirates (which is commonly misunderstood to mean only on PC, the consoles are much more vulnerable to piracy than PC). IMO, I think the real change needs to happen within the industry, and not some forced fee that kills used gaming.

The reason used gaming is so prevalent is because of how [censored] many of the current titles are. What else do they expect from AWESOME GAME 7 featuring an AWESOME 9 hours of an EXTREMEly shallow scripted corridor campaign gaming and tacked on multiplayer "fun" (for a couple of matches and then you realized how unbalanced, buggy, or broken the experience is), and only for the low low price of $60. If developers stopped releasing [censored] sequels every year in the hopes of cashing in on their current top seller, maybe they wouldn't have a problem with low game sales and lots of people wouldn't be selling their newly beaten title a week after release.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:32 pm

Their reasoning makes sense, though I'm skeptical if that is actually the real reason. This just seems like a form of DMR similar to serial codes on PC games that also allows the console developers to make money. This also deals a pretty significant blow to used game retailers and pirates (which is commonly misunderstood to mean only on PC, the consoles are much more vulnerable to piracy than PC). IMO, I think the real change needs to happen within the industry, and not some forced fee that kills used gaming.

The reason used gaming is so prevalent is because of how [censored] many of the current titles are. What else do they expect from AWESOME GAME 7 featuring an AWESOME 9 hours of an EXTREMEly shallow scripted corridor campaign gaming and tacked on multiplayer "fun" (for a couple of matches and then you realized how unbalanced, buggy, or broken the experience is), and only for the low low price of $60. If developers stopped releasing [censored] sequels every year in the hopes of cashing in on their current top seller, maybe they wouldn't have a problem with low game sales and lots of people wouldn't be selling their newly beaten title a week after release.

This.

Ah, but of course. I forgot, actually making games worth keeping takes time and effort, as opposed to simply attempting to kill the used game market, which is much easier.

» Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:11 am

You make a good point Mapler, I buy games at Gamestop used from time to time, and while I got L.A. Noire new, I'd still be pissed if Team Bondi were to make a discount purchase guy have to pay, I don't know, 5-10 dollars for a 3 day pass, but the discount guy, unlike me, can afford to buy the DLCs. I think the developers are becoming to concerned with cash over product quality if such a case arose.