Leveling Down

Are digital distribution systems like Steam going to be the death of the used game industry?

We’ve come to the end of our look at used games, which means it’s time to look forward. As we’ve noted, GameStop takes the lion’s share of used game sales as they sit on their mountain of money raking in more and more profits. Last month, however, Amazon announced that it will begin to buy back used games. On the day of the announcement GameStop’s stock dropped 13% showing stockholders feared new entrants into the used games market (though the stock has since recovered).

The question remains, will other players in the used game market affect GameStop? Or is there another threat – digital distribution – to GameStop’s dominance over the market? In the final part of our discussion on used games, espion4ge and I discuss what we predict will be the end of used game sales, and maybe GameStop. Without further adieu, we present to you Part 3!

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Is GameStop really that bad?

In Part 1 of our discussion on used games, espion4ge and I discussed our own personal buying habits when it comes to used games. Of course, when you think used games, you have to think of GameStop. Although there are new retailers trying to get in on used games (and there’s always eBay and Craigslist), the fact of the matter is, it’s GameStop’s world and everyone else is just living in it.

In the second part of our discussion, espion4ge and I discussed GameStop’s policies, how we felt about them, and whether we thought there might be ways to improve GameStop. Is GameStop really as bad as everyone thinks? Is it really great for consumers? Check out Part 2 to hear our thoughts, then let us know yours.

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Look at all those used games for sale!

When I was about 10 years old, I wandered into a little store called Funco Land. I distinctly remember it being next to a Bradlees and asking my mother to take me in because I saw all these TVs inside through the windows. They had something I had never seen before, a “used games” section, with prices that were lower than new games! I had been an introduced to a whole new side of retail in the gaming industry.

Of course, Funco Land turned into GameStop, and GameStop eventually merged with EB Games, and now we seemingly have a GameStop or EB on every street corner selling used games. Is the used game market good for the industry as a whole, or is it the seedy underbelly of the video games industry? espion4ge and I decided to tackle this huge topic for a discussion that got so big we needed to split it up into three parts. We also know that people have a lot of opinions when it comes to GameStop and used games in general, so we’d love to hear what you think in the comments.

In Part 1, espion4ge and I talk about our own used game habits and whether we think used games are beneficial or harmful to consumers.

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Is Left 4 Dead a $60 game? Or is it really only worth half that?

Recently, news hit the gaming industry that Valve’s Left 4 Dead half price sale ($24.99) on the PC was met with remarkable success. Gabe Newell, one of the co-founders at Valve, remarked that it was an experiment that surprised them: when Left 4 Dead went on sale for half price, it actually made more money for Valve than the initial launch window of the game when it sold for its full price. This is pretty unprecedented, because when you think about it, who ended up buying it for $24.99? Didn’t we all already buy it back in November? I’ve never taken an economics class, but I’ve heard people state that according to economics theory, if a game is selling ridiculously higher with a reduced price then perhaps the original price is too high.

Today’s discussion topic between cmfl3x and me revolve around the pricing of games and what we feel they are worth.

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Are Avatar’s six Achievements really worth 1000 points if they can all be unlocked in a minute?

I’ve managed to score a 50k+ Gamerscore in my years with the 360. And while that pales in comparison to the guys with 6 digit Gamerscores, it still sometimes manages to illicit some responses from players in online matches (both good and bad). But what is the point of the Gamerpoint score anyway? In this discussion topic, cmfl3x and I will discuss our thoughts on the implementation of Microsoft’s Achievement system and this new site we joined called TrueAchievements.com.

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Fallout 3’s Operation Anchorage – really worth $10?

cmfl3x asked me a little while back if I was looking forward to the Fallout 3 downloadable content. He seemed pretty excited about it and I felt bad telling him but no, I didn’t share in his excitement. In fact, while there are games I may fully enjoy, like Ninja Gaiden II or Fallout 3, I’ll never buy their DLC. To this day, I have not paid for downloadable content for any traditional game, and I don’t plan on ever doing so. Why? Because I don’t believe in what it stands for. Obviously if downloadable content is free, such as Burnout Paradise’s motorcycles and whatnot, or BioShock’s extra plasmids, then sure – it is always welcome. It’s when it starts getting charged for that it gets on my nerves.

I actually wrote up an entire article just knocking on it, but then felt it may come off as too much of a rant so I held off. I figure that if I could turn it into a discussion topic with cmfl3x, it’d be a little more civil.

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Does being good or evil even matter in video games?

I’ve created a new section for Leveling Down called Discussion. In this section we will be posting gaming related discussion that either cmfl3x or I may have from time to time with members of the gaming community or even just between ourselves. In some ways, this isn’t really different from one of us posting an article and the other one commenting on it but we’ve structured it in such a way that we expect the other to sort of reply – at least to have somewhat of a conversation. These posts may be nothing more than idle chit-chat, but I guess this is what aging hardcore gamers chit-chat about. Feel free to jump into the discussion with your comments as well.

This first discussion topic was suggested to me by cmfl3x, as he asked me how I felt about how morality was currently handled in video games.

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