Game renters may have to "buy" ending

[kamkal]

these fools need to know who the f*ck is in charge here.

We the paying customer is in charge a-hole and you are DEPENDENT ON US, not the other way around son, we dont buy, you dont eat, get the drift?

Games are not a NEED, only a LUXURY and if you want our continued business i suggest you don't piss us off

sorry the audacity of this fool just hit a nerve.

 

[iocedmyself]

Well....this shows that the gaming industry is getting really really close to just bluntly telling consumers

"now what we want you to do is just undue your belt, drop your pants.....good, now grab your ankles. Now please hold on tight while we show you just how much we care about customer service. We like to make sure that we always go that extra mile, and give our customers a little bit more than they were expecting. You can't imagine how good it feels to go out of your way, do that little bit extra and make it clear what's really important to us....what's that? oh....you're bleeding you say...no no terribly sorry i can't use any of that, you didn't pay for the unlock code but don't you worry, i don't mind a bit."

PC games have a 20:1 piracy to sales ratio? Well that should say something about the quality of the games then. More and more i've been unable to find demo's for newer PC games, which are kind of a must when you shell out $50-$80 a title and the majority are all eye candy. That being the big selling point more often than not now and anything shy of $500+ GPU and $400 monitor to take advantage of higher rez makes them a waste.

There are usually a handful of titles worth buying every year when they first get released...and alot of them have been around on console for 6-12 months already. Gee i wonder why PC sales are down you morons.

You pay for a game once..that should be it. No new content, no additional cost. Espcially not for something that has a subpar story and less than 20 hours of gameplay. Crysis warhead for example, is like 8 hours maybe, no where near worth it. The few times that i do buy games i get them on steam, and that's after i have already played the game for an hour or two to see if it's worth the cash.

 

[kamkal]

gaming industry is like the music industry

run by publishing houses that rush crap games and put most of their resources into "marketing" the game so that drones will go out and buy it the first day even without a demo, and each game is a slightly modded version of some previous title

same thing happens in music, the "artists" are generally crap and they all sound and look alike, more noise than singing
the music publishers "market" the crap out of them and make people believe (power of suggestion) that yes this artist is "good" when in person they sound like a screeching cat


if a song or game is good, you know it the first time you play/hear it, the marketing machine doesnt have to "convince" you that it is good

get back to quality titles and people will shell out good money for them!!!!

ahhhh ok rants done.

 

[Marcus Yam]

While I am all for game developers recouping as much of their costs as possible, it would bother me in a big way if they would go to such lengths to cut out the rest of the industry.

How would movie renters feel if they had to pay an extra $2 charge to the movie studio to see the last 20 minutes to a movie they had just rented from Blockbuster?

How come the music industry isn't furiously stamping out used CD stores? Does the book industry have a problem with libraries?

 

[miribus]

Why not make some money by using advertisement where appropriate?
Honestly, if done right and seamlessly, I don't mind having a few adds or company logos inside my game.
As long as the combine aren't wearing uniforms with Nike swooshes anyway, but on the UI, it's fair game, I don't care.
On sports games, naturally I care even less.

 

[radnor]

A message for Mr. Micheal Capps.

Take a Top-Down view of the business. Control the Distribuition channels. Look at Blizzard for Quality Control. As for piracy, you cannot control it. I think it was Warner Bros that is now renting movies in China for a dime. Finally hit them that they can't control it.

In the next sentence ill just use crysis as an example because their sales numbers are known.

Mr Capps, if the piracy rate is 20:1 (witch btw, i think is much bigger worldwide, but lets use you numbers), and you game is 50$, , knowing that for example Crysis sold around 1 million copies the real question is:

How many copies of Crysis would be sold if the game costed only 2,5$ ?

You just needed 20 million copies to hit the same profit that you hitted with 50% a box. Head Digital Distribuition with a Top-Down horizontal aproach.

With Crysis a 5$ legal license, i bet it would pass the 50 million copies sold. And Crytek would more then doubled their profit.
Itunes is a great example in the music industry.

But no, continue to keep your head in the sand.

 

[ravenware]

He goes on to ramble about how Epic employees don’t buy used games
, that sales of new retail products put food on the table and supports their gaming industry
friends as well.

Cry me a river you whinny bit**.

Always out to f*** the consumer. Like the extra money made off of the download code would really go into the pockets of the devs, the profits would go straight to the CEO's pockets. This would probably add to the piracy problem too.

 

[graviongr]

What these people are failing to realize is that used game sales DO support the industry. Yes not directly, as the developer doesn't really see money from people buying it second hand, but it keeps people interested in gaming.

It puts money back into the pockets of people who DO buy games new, and they continue on to buy even more new games. Do you know how many LESS new games would buy if I couldn't sell off my old ones?

I purchase a great majority of my games new, but I also will buy a title I missed at a used price. This may lead me to try out a new game franchise or developer that I would not have felt like "taking a risk" on at full price. An example of this is Need for Speed. I never bought a new version of Need for Speed until I was able to pick up a used copy cheap... then I thought "hey wow, this series isn't bad, I'm going to buy the next one". Which lead me on to buy Need for Speed: Carbon.

Used game sales DO support the industry, and they are only doing this out of greed.

You don't see automobile makers trying to implant special shut down computer chips into cars if you don't have a "code" that you get when you buy the car new. It's because if people couldn't sell their old cars, there would be a lot less people buying new ones.

 

[WheelsOfConfusion]

There is no way that crackers won't find out how to circumvent their cute little trick and release it free of charge for illegal downloading. This sort of tactic would just be sabotaging game sales by alienating legitimate buyers and making cracked torrent versions more appealing and accessible. We've already seen this happen with SecuROM games like Spore.

This goes beyond just pirating a game instead of paying for it. When criminals offer a SUPERIOR product, at ZERO cost to the consumer, your business model is fucked. Go back to square one and start over.


Personally, I think there should be a move towards more episodic content like Bone or that Penny Arcade game. Get a complete playing experience for a reasonable price, and if you like it you keep buying the new stuff.

 

[crom]

It seems to me he forgets that gaming in general is a luxury, especially in the current economy. If he tries to impede it by say targeting the rental/second hand market he's going to further alienate people playing games. Now should someone spend 50 - 60 dollars on a game when they can buy a DVD/Bluray disc for 20 - 30 dollars. If Epic chooses this model, or if say Microsoft pushes it for a future Xbox version, the real money for the competitors is to keep the market as it currently is to turn an even tidier profit.

 

[bounty]

I'd buy Crysis for 5$ It's not worth it to pirate. (others don't care) It's certainly not worth 50$. I did play a friend's copy of Oblivion for about 10 hours before I went out and purchased it. Hell I'd probably pay 10$ for Crysis just for the tech-demo-iness/benchmark-iness of it. I'd pay 20$-25$ if I thought it was any good. So maybe in a few years I'll pick it up. 50$ HA. I'll only pay 50$ for a 'special' or 'collectors' edition of a game I'm really into. (Diablo II as an example)

-Bounty

 

[gm0n3y]

This would just lead many more people to pirate games. And where did this magical 20:1 pirated to legit games come from? Most people I know buy the majority of their games. Sure, they might download a game to try it out, but if its decent, they buy it, if not it only gets an hour or 2 of play anyways.

 

[igot1forya]

One word.... Keygen

 

[enforcer22]

Seems like all the companys that are saying console only are just the companys making crap games. TY epic for keeping less crap on PC game shelves. EA pull a epic with 95% of your games ty again.

 

[crockdaddy]

I did not read any comments yet but the guys from EPIC are idiots. It is a shame too as I was a huge UT fan up until their recent crapastic comments over the last year. Frankly ANYTIME I traded a game or re-sold it I generally did it to BUY the new version. IF I had not done so I would not have had the FUNDS to buy a new game. DUH. I am so happy I enjoy games from quality publishers such as Valve, Bethesda, and Stardock.

Where and how did mighty EPIC fall so hard?

 

[crockdaddy]

Another comment,

Most hard core gamers that I know whom are also my friends tend to buy far more games than they ever pirated. I have laughingly enough found my less knowledgable friends in terms of games are the ones whom most often want to "copy" a game rather than pay for it. Why? Well I suspect the casual gamer does not get as much value out of their 60$ than the hard core gamer. Nearly all my friends with Wii's have them modded. My Wii is not modded (although it is for my wife and kids rather than me). I see others post similar comments. Which suggests the industry does not truly understand (much like the RIAA) why people pirate.

 

[anartik]

This crap will never end... It’s all about utter greed. I have been a programmer for many years and I am pretty well paid but this clown’s line about putting food on the table is mostly BS. The programmers and the rest of the technical staff most always get screwed. This is no different than the rest of the greedy bastard corporate world... this is about putting more millions in the pockets of CEO's and upper management and maybe throw a bone to the stockholders. Yes I am a capitalist but greed is an inherent problem in business when no one is ever happy with making a profit. They always have to continue making more profit at all costs and it usually ends up in the hands of a few... I'm sure most of you have seen stories about the excesses and lifestyles of well known game makers like John Carmack, Richard Garriot and others. I'm certainly not going to feel sorry for people with castles, planes, Ferraris and enough money to take a private trip to space. Making games is no different than making Movies or Music... If you spend the money and make a crap production you lose your ass... not my problem. Make a good production and maybe you rake in the bucks.

Technically these companies have the right to do what they want and put it in the license including limiting its use to the original purchaser. They are also free to use crap like Securom but then again we are free to sue them right out of business or not buy the product. I seriously doubt the courts and juries will stand for this type of breach of fair use. They are free to take steps against piracy but there are limits. Punishing the legitimate users is no way to do business. If Securom (from Farcry 2) affects my system in any way and they do not provide a means to fully remove it I WILL participate in the class action suits or file my own. Certainly telling a paying customer they are not free to recoup some of the purchase costs by reselling when done will never fly. I have played pirated games but anything I want to play I have bought for some time now. Frankly I have never sold any of the PC games I have bought and never bought any used games but it is your right. My son is a different story who buys/sells/trades video games and consoles like they were Yugi Oh cards. As for me you couldn’t give me a console, it’s mostly crap games and cash cow service schemes. The best quality games are usually developed for PC’s and then maybe ported to consoles. Like so many I despise this idea of not making PC games and just a console version. The best thing we can do is boycott. Even if you happen to have a console DON’T buy the console version. Piracy is pretty common in console games and frankly I would love to see it explode and show the makers the error of their ways. With most console games going from dongles to CD/DVD distribution they are just as easy to pirate.

I may have missed a couple games because of it but I refuse to purchase and play any game that requires any kind of paid subscription, extra money for new in game equipment or ANY additional fees. Some things may be resolved in court but in reality much of it is on the consumer letting it be known that it won't be tolerated. Many have said the primary cause of Piracy is excessive pricing. With the retail model the retail store, the distributor, the manufacturer, the producer and the developers are getting small pieces of the pie and the whole traditional middle man concept drives up costs. Eliminate most of those (and the media/packaging) and sell direct and we should be getting games much cheaper like from Steam but we don't. We usually get the same or higher prices than running out to Bestbuy. Two factors come in to play... charge the same price and keep all the extra profits (greed) and/or charge the same price so you don't piss off your distributors and retailers. Until that changes I will continue to get a hard copy from retail shops.

 

[RacerX0_3]

Here's an original thought. If folks are buying used and/or renting maybe its because folks don't have $60 a pop for a game or don't feel the value of the game is $60 a pop. Consumer's vote with thier wallets. In this case I would say that the Video Games industry's Value Equation is out of tune with the market. The video game industry always whines about how they are undervalued. Come one. How about remodeling your pricing strategy so you sell higher volumes. At $30 a game you would sell more games at a smaller profit however more folks would be able to afford more games. Thus, high volume sales at lower profit margins equals higher profits for everyone.

How about working with the 2nd hand market to re-coup some revenue. Grow up gaming industry. Instead of turning your marketing plan to "Punish everyone" why don't you try to make relationships and build a business plan where everyone wins?

 

[AndrewMD]

I could go for this but there must be only one clause.

I should be able get the game for free, play it until the end, then decide if I want to play the final level or read about it on Gamefaq or similar site!

 

[falconqc]

Does EPIC stand for EPIC FAIL?

I buy most of my games new, so I don't feel this effects me to the extent it may others. But I no way do I want to pay 20$ for a boss ending battle just because I didn't want to pick up your 60$ waste of a game. I've sold some of my pre-owned games, turned around and bought a new game. Telling people that they have to buy the ending if the game is pre-owned is like a slap in the face.

If I treated my clients like that I would go out of business.

Is Gears of War 2 any good, sure it is. I bought it, knowing full well I was getting the same game as the first installment, only with a little more story attached. Story I can't help but feel should have been in the first game to make it last more than 8 hours.

Having a good multiplayer mode and coop-play makes up for it, somewhat... But I can't help but look at games so short, like condemned for example, and feel completely robbed that you would ask me 60$ for it.