Month: August 2011

With EA’s decision to charge $10 for online play and Ubisoft and THQ following suit, is it about time that game publishers started selling local and online play separately? Drop the price of the local play to $50 and charge another $10 for those who want to play online.

It seems obvious that $10 is the price that EA has given online play is all they value that feature at. So why make everyone pay for it when getting a new copy when those who purchase used have the choice?

I find it hard to believe that everyone who buys a game new will play for any extended period of time. EA has already decided to give everyone a 7 day free pass designed around the idea that people will borrow or rent their games and want to play online for that time. Why not give that option to everyone who buys used or new and then charge everyone the $10 if they want to go online for longer than that.

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Over the last few months, I have been thinking more deeply about the ever connected gaming world and what exactly that means, not just for the consumer but also for the games we play.

This console generation is the first generation of consoles to all have a connection to the internet. All three consoles have online multiplayer, downloadable content and servers that need to be maintained in order for that functionality to continue.

This generation of game consoles have also brought about the ability to patch and update not just the games on the console but also the console itself.

Have you ever thought of what that means for the games of this generation when the switch on those servers is turned off?

There is already some evidence of what will happen.

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A good while back, I wrote up some thoughts about the used game market and the complaints game developers had and some possible solutions to their complaints. So here are those thoughts. I will probably come back to this topic in the future as it remains relevant to this business venture.

Here are some interesting thoughts. The used game market is complained about by the suppliers of games more than any entertainment market out there. There are stores that sell used music, used videos, used books, used comics, used toys etc. Very few individuals from those industries complain about their used market and any that do are not as vocal as those from the games industry. So why does the games industry complain so much and so loudly? What can be done to alleviate their concerns? Let’s talk.

First, Why do they complain? Well the first reason I can think of is that the used game market does not add any money directly in the pockets of those who create them. This can be concerning for those who are struggling to profit or are barely breaking even. From what I have read and heard, the used game market is often put on the same level as piracy. After all, if you are not putting money in the pockets of the developers you are essentially stealing. At least that is what they want you to think.

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