I don’t have the ability to rent, only because my parents don’t rent anything and won’t cough up the cash to let me subscribe to Gamefly, so I have to be a bit of a cautious shopper when looking for a new game. I only have a PS2 and DS, though, so on one side it’s buy used or buy nothing at all, and on the other not only am I far more prone to find it New if I’m looking for it still in the box, but the difference in cost between new and used is even smaller than console games, so I’ll usually just get it new. My collection houses most RPG series, such as the Final Fantasies, Dragon Quests, Suikodens, Pokemon and Tales, as well as various Megaman, Castlevania, and Zelda/Mario games.

I don’t think either party is “the bad guy” here. The game devs, publishers, and retailers, are just trying to operate a good business and turn a profit so they can stay in business, keep people employed, and grow. And the consumers are just trying to make the best choice they can for themselves, taking into consideration countless options.

When the price is equivalent to a used game, I’ll buy it new, too. I bought Portal new for $10. I bought the Orange Box new later – for $20.

Make the game packaging worth something; otherwise, used games make a lot more sense than “new” games.

1) The primary reason why they feel confident is because if/when you find a ripped copy of the game, it can only be burned onto a particular type of DVD in order to function, and the system will only recognize said DVD if you hack it to do as such. Even then, chances are the quality of the game will dwindle; I have a buddy with over a hundred Dreamcast games someone burned for him, and all of them skip and freeze constantly.

2) I feel the exact same way. Far too many gamers seem to just buy/play anything and everything, so it’s somewhat hard to influence the industry. We need more people who can buy wisely, wait for a mediocre game to go on sale, only Reserve when they know it’s something they really want, and knowingly support great companies.

3) DLC is the precise problem that brought this whole debate back to life. As I mentioned down below, the article that got PA’s attention was about THQ’s new wrestling game having it’s online function locked, and the only way to unlock it is either by spending $10 for a code, or by getting one for free when you buy the game New. While this does bring it do a pretty big low, it is, by all purposes, an incentive to buy new.

Just because a game got purchased, and then subsequently sold doesn’t necessarily mean the game publisher made a profit of it. And for that matter, you’d really rather have Gamestop receive your business, even though the money they earn can’t and probably won’t go into making the games you play any better? Try selling the games you don’t want on eBay or Amazon; you’re guaranteed to get more back from them than you would even selling on credit to Gamestop.