EA's 'Project $10' to Squeeze Used Game Buyers

[nonstoprobot]

What does he mean by still have a good experience, but have to pay the $10 to get everything? Limited features? Different per game? Not sure what this means.

 

[Ambictus]

[citation][nom]ashburner[/nom]This really shouldn't be legal at all. Imagine buying a used car. You paid 20K on a 2 year old car that originally cost 30K. Suddenly, the owner tells you that it may have been driven on Toll Roads for those two years and they now want to recoup those costs... Sorry, that would not hold up in court. Us gamers need to unite and stop this before it spreads to all publishers![/citation]

I like the car comparison but it'd be a little more like you buying a used car(we'll pretend a Honda) for 20K that retailed for 30K, but finding out that the original keys only worked with the first owner's fingerprint so you have to go to Honda and pay 10K to get a new key made for you.

 

[Vampyrbyte]

[citation][nom]nonstoprobot[/nom]What does he mean by still have a good experience, but have to pay the $10 to get everything? Limited features? Different per game? Not sure what this means.[/citation]

To start off it could well be multiplayer or something like that.
However if successful, and i hope to god it isnt, then we could well see a time where buying a pre-owned game only entitles you to play a "demo" copy, limited by time or content to the point you are forced to pay the extra money.

 

[fancarolina]

Someone should point out to EA if they didn't give the big fuck you to PC users they could have their profits. If you go direct download on Steam there is no used market.

 

[lothdk]

Talk about having your cake and eating it too.. if I wasn't already shying away from anything EA due to past actions of theirs, this surely will make it so.

 

[touchdowntexas13]

This is crazy on so many levels. Especially when you consider the fact that many used games aren't even $10 cheaper than their new counterparts.

I have been holding off on all of the EA criticism, but this is utterly ridiculous...

 

[wbogart]

Okay so basically a brand new EA game is gonna cost me $59.99 but that same exact game that is used from gamestop or whatever is gonna cost me $54.99 + this $10 bs? Yes this will force people to purchase brand new games IF they decide to even deal with the EA name anymore.

I have enough issues with the 60 dollar price tag. Im not going to put up with the ~65 bucks just cause some suit is crying that his panties arent lined with 100 dollar bills anymore...

You wanna sell games? Try making more games that are worth playing new!

 

[gorehound]

Assholes.We will just download the extra content as in being pirates.but then again you EA are the biggest pirates and many on this board can see that.

 

[gorehound]

If you by a used game none of the money goes to supporting the developers, is that right?

WRONG !!! The game is used meaning someone bought the game and sold it so they got money from that sale.

 

[jednx01]

Oh boy.... This is going to backfire soooooo bad. lol

 

[tat2demon]

I dont know about other places but the Gamestop here sells their used games for only 5 bucks cheaper than the new game. So if I buy a used game from them, I would have to pay an extra $10 to get the full game. So I am paying $5 more than I would for the new one?

EA not putting DeadSpace 2 on the PC had me pissed enough. This has helped me make up my mind.

I can do without anything EA puts out.

 

[rodney_ws]

When I read the heading I was optimistic they were referring to re-pricing games at the $10 price point months after their initial release. Wouldn't that achieve the same ends and not piss off gamers in the process?

 

[michaelahess]

EA just makes you shake your head in disgust.

 

[doc70]

I know there is a lot of anger over this; however, from the article one can understand that only access to the Whole original content would be for the 10 bucks. That is not very obvious, but will kick in if the game in question has a limited number of installs/key, or if it requires an online activation thingy to work. You would not want to buy a used game, only to find out that you can't play it because the activations were used already, or it does not work because it doesn't "recognize" your system. You actually pay a 10 dollars "re-activation/recycling" fee for the game to work as new.

This brings the main question: is the online activation/limited activation a fair thing? I don't think so, but this is an entirely new subject...

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]montezuma[/nom]If I own a product, real or digital, then I should have the right to do with it what I please. If I want to sell the item, then I should have the right to sell it. I should not have to pay the creator a fee to purchase the product "second-hand".Oh wait, the Autodesk decision essentially said such. While I own Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, I will no longer purchase anything that EA sells again. It is sad I have to take this stance, as BioWare makes good products, but I will not support a company that tries to extort customers.Since part of the purchase price for the original game is access to all portions of the current game, then the sell of the game should transfer all aspects of the game in question. Such issues were handled in the aforementioned court case.[/citation]

Not entirely. You need to read the agreements attached with them. You can't sell a copy of Windows because you don't own it, you have the right to use the license for it.

I do disagree though with this. Just another way for EA to put it to gamers. My biggest tiff with EA is how they continually try to kill PC games and gamers the most.

In fact I wouldn't be suprised if this is mainly geared towards PC gamers since there is more "piracy".

 

[eklipz330]

im actually ok with this... i buy my games when they're on super sale off of steam anyway

 

[porksmuggler]

Did the entire PR division at EA go on vacation this week or something? Time for another mandatory Fuck EA.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

You're talking about EULA's? Everyone knows that these don't hold up in court for noone reads them and they are therefore not as black and white as they are written.

Back to the original topic, this is the same thing that the limited installs games were really targeting. The same thing that steam existing is really targeting. They all hate the used games market. It makes a used product practically useless. You cannot sell a steam game at all. You probably won't get much from activation games. And you will get $10 less on these, because used game buyers will know about it and pay less. I am a huge advocate of the first sale doctrine (wikipedia it). This sort of activity that they are pulling is for all intents and purposes breaking this rule, and they cover it up with ridiculous licenses and whatnot. I'm surprised just how many people don't know about this. I'm also waiting for a bigger backlash against this stuff. Do I sell my games? No, I do however like that there is the option, and a large percentage of the games I buy are used. (Up to 3-5 years later) But I suppose they would rather make people pirate than buy used. (not that to them there is a difference between the two if you think about it)

 

[KC8DKT]

[citation][nom]grieve[/nom]i hate EA...I promise you this! not only will i never buy an EA game i will ALWAYS torrent there stuff.[/citation]

You can type that again!

I can hardly wait to see the "Assassins Creed 2 PC" sales because of the cancellations over the DRM or the end of year sale for EA.

If your goal was to piss MORE people off and turn them into pirates that never pay, JOB WELL DONE EA!

 

[matt87_50]

seriously, every single thing EA says... they should just stop talking.

how is buying a second hand game different than... I dono... buying a second hand ANYTHING ELSE!?

maybe EA! you should focus on why people are SELLING their games rather than stopping people buying them! like, I dono, maybe make them GOOD so people might wanna hold onto them more than the 5 minutes it takes the hype to simmer down!!

if people are having too much fun to sell their games there aren't going to be any pre-played copies to BUY are there!! I remember when the pre-played section was like a big list of "DO NOT BUY, SHIT" now everything's in there, and I would struggle to say my impression has changed!