The old used games debate is back again with a vengeance.http://www.bitmob.com/articles/why-used-games-are-nothing-at-all-like-piracy-even-for-developers
In any case, I guess it’s time to reiterate my normal position on this. I normally buy new games when given the choice because it’s usually not a huge drain on the budget to do so. Buying new injects more copies into the used stream anyway. I’m not really doing this because it’s piracy or anything, but instead I’m trying to support the developers in making more games that I enjoy. Of course, I tend to prefer used games if the games are coming out Xbox360, because I would rather the game developers look elsewhere.
But the used market is very important because titles go out of print. Often you can’t find a new copy of a game you’re looking for because it has been out of print for years. Occasionally you’ll stumble on a used copy… This is primarily when I buy used games.
Now the big debate is Day one DLC and Online play with used games. I agree with Penny Arcade on this. You didn’t pay the developers of the game for the online features. You paid gamestop for a copy of all of the offline content of the game. One is a product, the other is a service. Think of it as a consumable item. Sure, you can sell that bottle of orange juice after you consume the orange juice, it’s just not going to be worth as much and you can only use it as a container. When you buy the game new, you pay $40-50 for the offline content and $10-20 for the online content, and the latter is consumable and tied to one account. It’s gamestop’s fault if they’re pricing their used games based on the consumable content price and not the offline content price, and it’s the buyer’s fault if they don’t realize that gamestop is ripping them off.
As long as the company lets you buy that content separately at least. If they don’t permit you to go online at all with a used copy, then I have a problem with that. Also, you must be able to complete all of the offline content without the online content. No making the downloadable mandatory to complete the game…