133 réponses à ce sujet

[nikki191]

i can understand the point of EA with wanting to make some sort of profit off used games sales with things like the cerberus network. if you want to look at money grabbing then have a quick glance at the sims 3 store.. all those little dlc items that only cost a few cents add up to costing you a hell of alot of money in the end, and to give you a small taste for it you get points to buy a few things off it when you purchase an expansion or the original game



i honestly see a time comming where a consumer will purchase a pass to play a game thats kept on the companies server and you are charged a small fee everytime you play.. i can see it being the ultimate extention of UBISOFTS always being connected and save games being stored on the company servers.. of course this depends entirely on internet speed and stability

[MerinTB]

Kindles (and most e-book readers) use digital ink and no back-lighting. They don't hurt anyone's eyes (except hypochondriacs) so the argument is null and void.



As for holding the book, I had friends who really complained when CDs stopped being sold in long boxes. "I like the box art" they would say, and they had collections.

And I understand this - while I was not resistant on the switch to DVDs from VHS, I did miss having the bulky VHS boxes to use as decorations. I loved lining up a series of VHS boxes that the box art made a composite image! You really can't do that with DVD boxes.



I feel a similar thing about comic books - I'm not immune to irrational, emotional responses. I prefer getting the issues than getting the trades (even though trades are cheaper and more durable) or the electronic issues (again, cheaper, easier to store, easier to transfer, don't get damaged.) I LIKE a stack of comic books, flipping through them, browsing them at a comic book storre. And, so far, I strongly dislike what the comic book industry has to offer as digital formats (motion comics - please - if I wanted shoddy, poorly produced super-hero animation I'd watch the old Marvel cartoons from the 60's.)

When the industry gets digital comics right, though, I'll probably be there.

I'm already there for wanting it with my RPG books (seriously, lugging around a backpack full of D&D books is no longer fun for this aging man.)

[SarEnyaDor]

Despite Amazon's non-stop email campaingn to get me to try a kindle, I have never seen one in the flesh, so I don't know how much it differs to read off of it as opposed to my iPod.



I can't stand reading on my iPod.

[MerinTB]

SarEnyaDor wrote...

Despite Amazon's non-stop email campaingn to get me to try a kindle, I have never seen one in the flesh, so I don't know how much it differs to read off of it as opposed to my iPod.

I can't stand reading on my iPod.

Quite simply - the page reads like a printed page.  You need an external light source (your candles, if you like, or sitting outside in sunlight) - you cannot read it in the dark, the screen has no glow.

I will admit that this means little to me - I stare at screens all the time and the only real eye-strain I get is the same kind of eye-strain I get from reading books for too many hours.  That is, the staring too long with too little blinking and too little eye movement and too much focusing intently.

They are light, very easy to use, and very cool looking.  They are so much fun to use that I managed to make it all the way through Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, a book that I would have probably returned to the library less than half-way through.

Don't get me wrong - I love books.  I have bookshelves all over the house.  I love books on bookshelves.

Still... I've moved about 12 times in the last 15 years, and boxing up books and hauling them is a pain in the ass.  It always became a "I don't want to sell these books, but I don't want to rent another U-Haul either...."

I didn't mind reaing on the computer monitor nor on my laptop - but the Kindle is far more fun to carry around, and it feels in many ways like a book - a book that is easier to hold and turn the pages of.

[Darth Drago]

Is it just EA that’s doing this to fight the used game market?

[MerinTB]

nikki191 wrote...
i honestly see a time comming where a consumer will purchase a pass to play a game thats kept on the companies server and you are charged a small fee everytime you play.. i can see it being the ultimate extention of UBISOFTS always being connected and save games being stored on the company servers.. of course this depends entirely on internet speed and stability

Now this bothers me a great deal.

The "constantly online to play" and "stored on their servers" seems like an ok thing, for me, for movies and tv shows.  But for games ... I like my save games and my game mods and all that jazz to be under my control.

What happens when the pull a game off a server (like Netflix pulls movies and tv shows off the Streaming lists now and again) and that's the one you wanted to play? Having your own copy (whether a disc or a download) seems preferable.

[Tirigon]

They shouldn´t fight the selling of used games, they should make good games.



All of these things like the OP described only hurt people who buy games legally.

If you get them at Rapidshare you are far more comfortable. They should change that.

Atm you feel like an idiot when you actually waste money on a game only to have less support and more restrictions AND less content due to pay-DLC than those who pirate it.

[Loerwyn]

I don't care about "Project Ten Dollar" or whatever you call it, because as a PC gamer, I'm basically locked into a purchase anyways, so I just stand to profit from it.



I don't think digital distribution will be the ultimate method that companies want it to be. At the moment, most of the Western world is held back by archaic internet connections, especially in places like the UK. I know that Valve have an authorization patch written (and working) for Steam, so I'm not worried my Steam collection will ever be unusable and when they finally shut down the servers (if they ever do, and there'll be notice) I'll back up all my purchases some how.



And yeah, I support this fight against the used games market. As someone mentioned on page one or two, some retailers do rip you off. I've seen new console games for £40 and a used copy for £35, which is just ridiculous. Not to mention "premium content" and "added DLC" are marketing ploys that do work. It's an illusion, yeah, but if it's used correctly then it could be good - Just look at the Cerberus Network for ME2. Even if they release nothing else on it, that's more post-release content than a lot of games.

[Trefalen]

They reported a 0.05 cent stock dividend.
Source:
http://www.fool.com/...-this-week.aspx

Electronic Arts, on the other hand, didn't have a very rosy 2009. The entire video game industry has been in a funk. Analysts see EA delivering a profit of $0.05 a share. That may not seem like much, but it's a welcome splash of black ink during a seasonally sleepy quarter -- especially after last year's deficit.

They need the money, plain and simple. This is just their new excuse to appease stockholders. "It's the other guy not us.."

Modifié par Trefalen, 11 mai 2010 - 06:25 .

[AlanC9]

Evewyn wrote...

The teens I knew who were hard-core gamers, the first paycheck they got went towards a new game or the like.

But  then this statement is nonsense:

 A lot of gamers are young kids, teens, etc, and while maybe older gamers can see what's worth their money and what isn't, kids usually could care less

These kids know what's worth their money. Games. They have thought about it, and that's what they've decided. The fact that it wouldn't be worth it to you is meaningless

[AlanC9]

MerinTB wrote...
The "constantly online to play" and "stored on their servers" seems like an ok thing, for me, for movies and tv shows.  But for games ... I like my save games and my game mods and all that jazz to be under my control.

What happens when the pull a game off a server (like Netflix pulls movies and tv shows off the Streaming lists now and again) and that's the one you wanted to play? Having your own copy (whether a disc or a download) seems preferable.

Why does it suck less for movies and TV sows to just go away like that.

[PMorgan18]

I'm extremely happy with what EA is doing. Cerberus Network and BFBC2: Limited Edition is a great way to make money off of used game sales where the developer and publisher didn't get a cut.

[Daeion]

To those who say EA is a multimillion dollar company and thus doesn't need to do any of this and makes enough money as it is, I would like to point out that they posted a $677 million loss for FY2010.

[grim_reaper_13]

Blk_Mage_Ctype

  

scyphozoa wrote...

I hate Gamestop. Their markup on used games is near criminal and it is the only thing that keeps Gamestop solvent.

Gamestop
is part of the archaic and outdated method of physical distribution
that is holding back the video game industry. As soon as the next
generation of consoles come out, the physical distribution of games
should be reduced further.

The real future is buying digital copies of games directly from the developer and downloading them onto a harddrive.

Sure,
you cannot resell them and that is fine for me because I only buy games
I know I want to keep. Game rental should work the same way online, you
rent the license for 5-10 days and when it expires the game is locked.

I'm
sure many of you disagree with me, that is fine, I'm not here to
convince anyone, I am just hoping we can accelerate and get to the next
evolutionary step in game design ASAP.

Remember, ME2 was likely
designed or heavily influenced by the space limitations of the Xbox DVD
disc. I hate this, No game design should be compromised to accomodate a
disc format. The sooner space limitations are removed the better games
become for everyone.

Lastly, this is not to take the thread
off-topic, Not every idea i've suggested here is directly related to
EA's new plans to drive new-game sales, but my understanding is that
used sales will never exist once we reach the digital promised land, so
the longer we dither with physical copies the longer we will be
subjected to game design that is compromised by space limitations.

Meh,
I HATE Digital Distribution... I'm okay with it as long as it remains
optional, but the day that I no longer have the option to buy a
physical copy of a game is the day I quit gaming.

As for ME2
being hampered by the size restrictions of DVDs, this problem could
have been easily avoided if Bioware had've made the game for PS3, since
a single layer Blu-Ray Disc holds 25GB of data, and a dual layer holds
a whopping 50GB!
Furthermore, if all consoles next gen use Blu-Ray
as their form of media, then storage will not be an issue. There is
also a new type of storage disc in development called a Holographic
Versatile Disc that is said to be able to hold up to 6TB of data, so we
won't have to go DD in the future due to lack of storage space.

http://en.wikipedia...._Versatile_Disc

MerinTB wrote...Digital is the way of the future. And, IMO, that's a
very good thing. You are being so ripped of by purchasing CDs, DVDs,
etc.
Digital prices are still too high, IMO, but that will most likely change soon.

You can pine for your LPs and leaded gasoline and vaudville shows and horse buggies all you want.

Wow, can't get much more ignorant that that...

For
you information, PS3 is available with up to a 260GB HDD, and
furthermore, since PS3 uses a 2.5 SATA Laptop HDD, you can upgrade it
as much as you want. I myself upgraded mine with a 320GB Western
Digital 2.5 SATA HDD.
If you like DD then that's fine, but don't act so damn smug about it and devalue that options of others.

I
prefer Physical Distribution, and frankly, even if Physical Media cost
up to $20 more than a Digital Copy, I'd still buy the physical copy
over the digital one.
The only games I even own digital versions of
are old SNES games on the Wii's Virtual Console that are either
incredibly rare or expensive in physical form, and PSone games off PSN
that I don't already own on disc that are incredably rare or expensive
in physical form.

And as I've already covered, HVD's can hold up
to 6TB of data, (greater than any current harddrive) and will be
cheaper than a new HDD.

If Bioware really has a space issue on DVDs that is hampering Mass Effect then they should move the series to PS3 immediately.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just gotta say this from the wiki link you gave: "These discs have the capacity to hold up to 6 terabytes (TB) of information. The HVD also has a transfer rate of 1 Gbit/s (125 MB/s).
Sony, Philips, TDK, Panasonic and Optware all plan to release 1 TB
capacity discs in 2019 while Maxell plans one for early 2020 with a
capacity of 500 GB and transfer rate of 20 MB/s[2]—although HVD standards were approved and published on June 28, 2007, no company has released an HVD as of June of 2010."
So basically when these come out we will probaly have 100 tb of HDD.

Also they cant move the series to PS3 without the 1st one abd if am not mistaken MoneySoft owns the right to that.

Modifié par grim_reaper_13, 11 mai 2010 - 10:24 .

[Icinix]

Daeion wrote...

To those who say EA is a multimillion dollar company and thus doesn't need to do any of this and makes enough money as it is, I would like to point out that they posted a $677 million loss for FY2010.

This will actually lead to more generic shooters with more online components in an attempt to make more money.  In fact I read a couple of articles in the last few days that says EA are really pushing for the multiplayer side of things to get a stream income like our good friends in the WOW camp.

This is scary.  Really, really scary.

[Loerwyn]

I agree with this.

'tis true.

[nikki191]

MerinTB wrote...

nikki191 wrote...
i honestly see a time comming where a consumer will purchase a pass to play a game thats kept on the companies server and you are charged a small fee everytime you play.. i can see it being the ultimate extention of UBISOFTS always being connected and save games being stored on the company servers.. of course this depends entirely on internet speed and stability

Now this bothers me a great deal.

The "constantly online to play" and "stored on their servers" seems like an ok thing, for me, for movies and tv shows.  But for games ... I like my save games and my game mods and all that jazz to be under my control.

What happens when the pull a game off a server (like Netflix pulls movies and tv shows off the Streaming lists now and again) and that's the one you wanted to play? Having your own copy (whether a disc or a download) seems preferable.

it bothers me too and i am concerned about what happens if they pull a game off a server, short of them having a premium server for new games and then having them available on a "good old games" style server i dont see a work around.

[Cascadus]

I don't get the issue with this. Why is EA wanting to curb used game sales so big of an issue? They don't see a cent of any of those sales and the industry has lost millions to Gamestop's massive scam. Happy that those big mega-publishers are losing money? Don't. No money for the publisher means no money for the hard-working developer who spent an enormous amount of time making these games. The publisher is taking a loss from a lack of return by their employees and their product, thus they're cut loose. People lose jobs, people suffer.

They aren't asking you to pay 10 dollars after you buy the game 'new', it's included in the package so long as it's a legitimate copy. It's pretty much the same as CD Keys. And people complaining how this is EA being as greedy as possible? Don't make me laugh. GameStop runs the largest scam in the industry, they've reportedly made millions off selling the same game over and over again with a resell value that is a tiny fraction of what they sell it back to the consumer as (often for a pitiful difference of five dollars to the retail price). EA wants a piece of the pie and to return the massive deficit left by used game sales, and I just cannot object to how they're conducting themselves by way of this passive, non-intrusive method of gaining back money lost off used game sales.

I really cannot comprehend what's wrong with this.

Modifié par Cascadus, 12 mai 2010 - 01:18 .

[Trefalen]

"I don't get the issue with this. Why is EA wanting to curb used game sales so big of an issue?"

Lost profit, no matter how small it seems they want every penny or will penalize the gamers. Great PR move lol guess EA is going broke (not) lol With the global ecnomy in turmoil, this is only the beginning. It could be worse, they could place a not for resale clause on the software license. Give em time though, they'll do it.

Modifié par Trefalen, 12 mai 2010 - 03:53 .

[Cascadus]

Because nearly half of game sales lost to GameStop is a small amount of profit.

Modifié par Cascadus, 12 mai 2010 - 03:54 .

[Trefalen]

To put it simply (mechanics will appreciate this analogy) . If BW was an untrained mechanic, they would strip an engine bolt and back it off half a turn to set the torque. LOL

Sarcasm aside, EA is making it painfully clear they want every dime or you can't have the extras the game once included. If you don't like it, don't buy their games used, can't afford new tough... No grey area there.

Modifié par Trefalen, 12 mai 2010 - 04:15 .

[Ryzaki]

That is so weird.  I can't quote Merin's Post. D:

Alas!

Anyways Blk said it better than I could. DD is not so unavoidable as you may think it is.

That said I am a bit of a used games girl so /shrug.

Granted this will probably make people more wary of what they purchase (hopefully).

Modifié par Ryzaki, 12 mai 2010 - 04:49 .