geekosystem

After the reveal of the Xbox One, there were still a lot of questions floating around about exactly how Microsoft would be handling used games and whether it'd play Xbox 360 titles. Those questions were answered, in conflicting ways, and they're "it's complicated" and "no, no it will not." Bummer.

Rumors abound that the next Xbox will be unable to play used games, and some people aren't happy about it. GameStop is clearly against that because of the business they do in buying and selling used games, so to try to show Microsoft that maybe this plan is a terrible idea, they surveyed customers and found that 60% of them said they would not buy a console that doesn't play used games.

It's about that time in the console generation when rumors start flying around like wild. Many of them make you excited for all the wonderful gaming possibilities the future can hold, others are a little bit more terrifying. Naturally, as "Xbox 720" enthusiasm keeps snowballing, we're going to get a bit of both. For instance, the new Xbox is rumored to be at least 6 times more powerful than the 360, support Blu-ray, and bring a new version of Kinect along with it. The catch? It may not support used games.

In a partly brilliant, partly terrifying move, UK video games retailer GAME has started a trial run of pre-orders for used games. Brilliant, because sometimes you simply don't have enough money for a new game, but can't ever find a used copy. Terrifying, because this opens up the door for more developers to begin using one-time-use feature-enabling codes that don't work on used games in order to cut down the sales of said used games, due to used games generating a profit that game developers don't receive.

Also terrifying, because think of the possibilities: Used game pre-order DLC bonuses. "My god," I say as I dramatically remove my glasses. "My god."

(via MCV)

Not long after THQ announced its war on used game buyers, both Best Buy and Target announced they'll be starting their own used game trade-in programs. Both programs are similar in scope, but differ in details.

In what will probably be the latest big gaming controversy, publisher THQ decided to hamper their used games via one-time codes that unlock online functionality. After THQ's announced plans to hamper their used games by including a single-use code that allows online play in their upcoming Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, the publisher's creative director Corey Ledesma made some rather controversial statements to CVG regarding the move:

"I don't think we really care whether used game buyers are upset because new game buyers get everything. So if used game buyers are upset they don't get the online feature set I don't really have much sympathy for them.

That's a little blunt but we hope it doesn't disappoint people. We hope people understand that when the game's bought used we get cheated.

I don't think anyone wants that so in order for us to make strong, high-quality WWE games we need loyal fans that are interested in purchasing the game. We want to award those fans with additional content."

Andrew Oliver, co-founder of Blitz Games Studios, told Develop Online that piracy is not the biggest revenue loss facing the games industry today.

The bigger problem on consoles now is the trading in of games... I understand why players do this, games are expensive and after a few weeks of playing you’ve either beaten it, or got bored of it so trading it back in to help pay for the next seems sensible when people are short of cash.

Oliver said that the average used game is traded up to four times, which quarters the amount of profit going to the developer.