Pre-owned vs Piracy

Kage said:
I agree, with this, remember I have pre-opened :p games and will probably buy pre-opened games in the future.
I just find it is very easy to blast Pete the Pirate but somehow it is ok for me to buy a pre-opened game without thinking twice about it.

Pre-owned games are legal now but for how long...the net is rife with stories about dev companies, Epic being one, that are against 2nd-hand game sales and the loss of revenue for them.
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Well what they should consider doing is selling the licences over the net.
So lets say a game costs R500, how much of that is packaging, import duties, middle men etc... What if they let you download the game and then sell you the licence for much less ? You could sell the licence for like R300, that person owns the licence and then can install as many times as possible.

Obviously that would include online activation and some sort of password though.
 
masasmal said:
pre owned is NOT piracy. thats just ridiculous.

developers dont make royalties for the number of people playing the game. they make money once on the unit itself.

piracy is theft because multiple units are made and the developer/studio only made royalty on the original, and each time a copy is made, their "ïdea" (intellectual property) is stolen with every copy.

and anyone knows every unit/game has a shelf life. once it breaks,you buy again and the developer earns again. thats why they measure income in number of units shipped or sold.

pre-played/second hand is the best thing ever. it removes the desperation from income challenged gamers cos they're getting ps3 games @ 1-2 months old @ cheaper than ps2 game prices...

AND less people searching for cheap illegal games means less demand for pirated goods means another nail in the coffin of bootleggers...

the only downside is that the preplayed market may become so big that it may cause new game prices to rise...

eg. gta 4 preplayed can easily get r400-450. when gta 5 is released, stores will see the demand and just boost the price cos they know there's demand.
JUST like our 2nd hand car market...
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That part I highlighted applies to 2nd hand games too. Only the first purchase goes to the devs, the rest of the people that own it get the content and ideas and enjoyment without giving the devs 1c. That's piracy.

With piracy you get the content and ideas and enjoyment without giving the devs 1c as well.
 
WoW - 12 million players, 8 million copies of the latest expansion pack shipped, a monthly subscription.

This product is absolutely coining it, and piracy is not even on their list of threats.

Why?

Because their product lives and breathes and grows and provides continuous ongoing support and provides and entertainment factor of note.

Compare the WoW product to the product offerings from those that complain about piracy.

Methinks the answer lies within, and the product manufacturers should stop shouting "abuse/unfair/rape" and provide a product that is the solution.
 
Qwikslver said:
That part I highlighted applies to 2nd hand games too. Only the first purchase goes to the devs, the rest of the people that own it get the content and ideas and enjoyment without giving the devs 1c. That's piracy.

With piracy you get the content and ideas and enjoyment without giving the devs 1c as well.
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*sigh*
That is my point! :D
 
Qwikslver said:
That part I highlighted applies to 2nd hand games too. Only the first purchase goes to the devs, the rest of the people that own it get the content and ideas and enjoyment without giving the devs 1c. That's piracy.

With piracy you get the content and ideas and enjoyment without giving the devs 1c as well.
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So if i buy a second hand bmw i am actually stealing the car because bmw is not making any money from the sale :rolleyes: ! what a bunch of hogwash

I suggest u go and read up on the copyright act 78 of 1978 and then make a sensible reply !
 
AFAIK haven't the developers already been paid for the product and it's the greedy publishers who just want and want and want?
 
With the low manufacturing cost of games (NOT development cost), I think they really should throw in a cap, t-shirt, coolerbox or whatever, to reward the first time buyer. The multiplayer map vouchers and so on are a cool idea.
I still wouldn't buy many new games because of the silly prices they ask, but at least the guy I'm buying it from has been there and got the t-shirt.
The second hand car analogy is very spot on. A few people have the money or the compulsion to drive a brand new car, and they get the benefit of having a car that turns heads and has a motorplan etc. That's why 2nd hand cars are cheaper. The same is true with 2nd hand games, but there should be more value for the first owner imho.
 
Dohc-this act? :p

http://www.buys.co.za/publications/cyberlaw/CopyrightAct.htm

[a98y1978s23]23 Infringement

(1) Copyright shall be infringed by any person, not being the owner of the copyright, who, without the licence of such owner, does or causes any other person to do, in the Republic, any act which the owner has the exclusive right to do or to authorize.

[Sub-s. (1) substituted by s. 20 (a) of Act 125 of 1992.]

(2) Without derogating from the generality of subsection (1), copyright shall be infringed by any person who, without the licence of the owner of the copyright and at a time when copyright subsists in a work-

(b) sells, lets, or by way of trade offers or exposes for sale or hire in the Republic any article;

(c) distributes in the Republic any article for the purposes of trade, or for any other purpose, to such an extent that the owner of the copyright in question is prejudicially affected; or
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No, definitely not.

Games sold at $60 take into account that they are sold onwards - it is your legal right to do so. The problem is the price/value and the publishers should be cognisant of that. regardless of development costs, a 6-8 hour game is just not worth R600, and they need to realise that. 007 QoS is daylight robbery at 4 hours for R700, the developer deserves to get nailed.

Developers have to get smart and put "keeper" features into their games - long life multiplayer being a good example, or continuous DLC like Burnout Paradise. The other option is to make the games cheaper and put restrictions on them - MGS online single user code, GoW2 flashback map pack are all good idea's.

Personally I'd like to see "rent to buy" now with HDD install on the 360. rent it, install it to the HDD, then if you enjoy it you buy a "discless" license for it for about R300.
 
I paid R200 for Forza 2 new from Game, it's an Xbox360 Classic so it's now cheaper. Who gets the R200 bucks?
 
Kage said:
Dohc-this act? :p

http://www.buys.co.za/publications/cyberlaw/CopyrightAct.htm
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Yip !

'exclusive licence' means a licence authorizing a licensee, to the exclusion of all other persons, including the grantor of the licence, to exercise a right which by virtue of this Act would, apart from the licence, be exercisable exclusively by the owner of the copyright; and 'exclusive licensee' shall be construed accordingly;

(e) a computer program, means a copy of such computer program,
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If u sell ur fable 2 to someone u are selling it legally since u are relinquising ur licence to that buyer (thats why selling ur legal copy of windows with its licence is not illegal if u uninstall it from ur pc first), so it is legal but if u make a copy of fable and sell the copy and keep the original then it is illegal
 
Dohc-WP said:
Yip !



If u sell ur fable 2 to someone u are selling it legally since u are relinquising ur licence to that buyer (thats why selling ur legal copy of windows with its licence is not illegal if u uninstall it from ur pc first), so it is legal but if u make a copy of fable and sell the copy and keep the original then it is illegal
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*sigh*
*lightbulb moment*
 
andytl5 said:
I paid R200 for Forza 2 new from Game, it's an Xbox360 Classic so it's now cheaper. Who gets the R200 bucks?
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Ms and Epic as they are still producing the classic titles (consider the classic version as a rerelease but @ a budget price)
 
@Andy: That's exactly the point andy, good for you you fed a starving developer for a day ;) :D

But seriously - classics are part of the answer. The problem is that they need to implement relative pricing. If a game is second rate and they want you to buy it new they can't charge premium grade prices for it. The publishers need to make their prices more flexible.
 
Most software product licences allow you to tranfer your licence rights to another party, but then you are no longer allowed to use the software. There are however products that do not allow licence rights transfers.

You should refer to the End User Licence Agreement of the software product you purchased.
 
NetSpike said:
Most software product licences allow you to tranfer your licence rights to another party, but then you are no longer allowed to use the software. There are however products that do not allow licence rights transfers.

You should refer to the End User Licence Agreement of the software product you purchased.
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Thanks for this...will have a squiz at the EULA tonight.
Just for fun of course. :p
 
If they make such short games what do they expect us to do with it after we done with it? It gets pretty boring replaying a 4 hour game over and over. . .
 
The gaming industry will go down the same way the music industry is going. Peddle an inferior product on an inflated price and you'll get whats coming to you.

I understand the devs are p1ssy about the mark up on the preplayed article. ie GTA4 R730 (at look and listen) sold for R300 (fictional number) to store, sold to new owner as preplayed for R500. they are greedy twats, wetting themselves about the missing R200. [edit: my maths arent wonky, i just took the difference between 300 and 500, as the store wont be playing the game and just keep it on the shelf]

i dont buy preplayed but i will go out of my way to buy GoW2 preplayed, just to stuff those money hugging bastards. They cant start implementing activation codes for boss fights or end games, because not all countries have XBL, and if they do I will actively boycott their products or even go as far as getting a cheap arcade and mod it to play pirated games - not because i cant afford it but because i am sick of this **** being marketed to me. look but dont touch, touch but dont taste, etc.
maybe i should just go back to PC gaming.
 
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