pkt-zer0: I'm just looking at this from the perspective of a gamer...
And if I want to look at it from the perspective of a car manufacturer, or TV manufacturer, or etc.
ChaosTheEternal: I buy a $1000 TV. I let friends over to watch it. (*snip*)
pkt-zer0: Eh, let's not go there. At what scale is sharing acceptable, at what point is it not? Sharing with a friend of yours is okay. Sharing a game with a guys at a LAN party is still okay. Giving the game to everyone in your class, possibly. Sharing it with a hundred others on a torrent - not really.
And here's what you're going on about. It's not about second-hand sales. It's filesharing.
If 50 people play a game, but only 10 people paid for it, the
only thing to be concerned about is how those other 40 played the game. Did they download or make illegal copies? Did they buy legitimate copies second hand? Did their friends let them play their legal copies in their own home, without transfering ownership?
In only the first case should the developer expect to be compensated. It's the only case where they weren't already compensated for the product.
But the topic is about second-hand sales. Not illegal copying, so that point is moot here.
ChaosTheEternal: Why should video games and video game developers be so different?
pkt-zer0: If it has to be different so it doesn't discourage content creation, then why should it not be different? As for the car analogies, I seriously doubt that second-hand, almost brand-new cars going for 90% of the original price are making used car salesmen more profit than the manufacturers get by selling new. I'd be honestly surprised if they did.
No, but by your comments, the original car manufacturers should get a percentage of that sale, to bolster "research and development" for new cars. The same way you claim to want it to work for video games. Again, why in this case should video games and video game developers be so different?
pkt-zer0: Yep, and I don't want them to take much further. Pushing them in that direction certainly isn't going to help.
The thing is, they went in that direction by choice. I don't fully support them using DRM to manage second-hand sales, but I have no problem buying games that cannot be resold, only by my own preference that I do not resell my games.
pkt-zer0: I find this a bit odd, that somehow Gamestop deserves that 50% of a game's price...
Hmmmm, it's more that GameStop is succeeding at playing to how they can make money from it. They are willing to buy the game at a certain price and intend to mark the price up to their "used" price. The only matters that work in their favor is if the person selling the game is fine with what GameStop will pay, and if the potential buyer is fine paying what they sell a "used" game for.
There's nothing stopping people from cutting out the middle man (GameStop, etc.), and, quite honestly, there's nothing stopping the video game companies from trying to compete in the same space. They just choose not to, then some take to complaining about it.