Tag Archives: used game market

Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens has said in order to combat the used game market, it would not be “inconceivable” for the firm to publish a “game like” F1 2010 partially on disc downloadable content released as the race season progresses.

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Lazard analyst Colin Sebastian expects more retailers to start selling used games now Amazon has entered into the market, says a Gamsutra report.

“According to our industry checks, one large consumer electronics retail chain is rekindling efforts to sell used video games, while another general merchandise ‘big box’ store is in trials to buy back games in exchange for store credit,” he said.

Sebastian said that the market sector is worth $2 billion annually in North America, and will further increase competition for the likes of eBay, GameCrazy and GameStop. Add in a 50 percent gross margin and it becomes even more attractive to retailers.

However, as lucrative as that sounds, Sebastian isn’t expecting any newcomers to challenge GameStop’s reign at the top any time soon.

More through the link.

Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime doesn’t feel that used games are “in the best interest of the consumer”.

During an interview with VentureBeat, NoA chief said that consumers are more interested in games they can “hold on to”.

“More and more retailers are experimenting with the used game model. We don’t believe used games are in the best interest of the consumer,” said Reggie.

“We have products that consumers want to hold onto. They want to play all of the levels of a Zelda game and unlock all of the levels. A game like Personal Trainer Cooking has a long life. We believe used games aren’t in the consumer’s best interest.”

He went on to point out that other used markets such as books, CDs and DVDs have never really taken off. He said the used game market will suffer the same fate.

“Describe another form of entertainment that has a vibrant used goods market,” he continued. “Used books have never taken off. You don’t see businesses selling used music CDs or used DVDs. Why? The consumer likes having a brand-new experience and reliving it over and over again.

“If you create the right type of experience, that also happens in video games.”