Obama's Used Game Policy
Nov. 22
I've come across an interesting article at GamePolitics. Apparently Obama has been quoted on his ideas of how the Used Video Games should be marketed. He was quoted saying
"We also need to rein in the used games market and not with DRM. It is fundamentally unfair that developers are being robbed of profits for work that they've done. If the ESA will not offer a mandate, then we'll need the government to do so. Publishers and developers should be entitled to at least half of the price from the sale of every used game.
However, we need for there to be caps on used game prices and a Blue Book system for video games to prevent price gouging. We also need for developers to respect our tradition of the second hand market and have part of the mandate state that developers cannot use DRM to inhibit used sales."
If this is to happen, then the price of used video games would go up. I honestly do not see why it should matter. Yes, people buy used items. Gamestop is known for its selling and trading. But so are other locations flea markets, garage sales, Plato's Closet. There are plenty of places that sell used items, but they are not being charged to have the specified amount going back to the company/brand that makes the clothes. So why should we have to pay extra for a used game??
On a side note, I think about with everything going on in our economy, the war, and everything else going on in the world. Why is Obama's focus on Used Video Games??
To read the full article on the issue, go to: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/11/22/writer-obama-should-regulate-sales-used-games-gp-no
Chanteuse (3)
Heather (23)
Janessa (4)
Jess (6)
Nikole (228)
Raychul (135)
Rini (6)
The Game Girls (53)
Comments
i would of thought that once you bought a game, you have bought it from the company and it is yours. you have bought a product with a license for that for personal use and you were able to sell that with it's license to somebody else because it is yours to sell.
My brain hurts...=| Politics make Xeno's brain has teh dumb.
I for one am glad that a president isn't trying to spout words of lies with anti-video game policies.
But with Biden behind his back...I don't think most of what Obama tries to do, will ever get done.
Damn...Obama's thinking about EVERYONE.
I'm glad he's against DRM, I doubt this will become anything serious. with everything else going on right now, I'm betting this is pretty far down on his to-do list.
Klasco, Unfortunately that's not the way it works. When you buy a game (or a CD, or Sheet music) you are buying the intellectual property rights for you yourself to play it, and no one else.
But lets take the example of Sheet Music for a piece of music: If you are the head of a choir, you have to buy the sheet music for everyone in the choir, you cannot just buy one and photocopy it to hand out. THEN, in addition to that cost, you have to pay royalties of any concerts you hold with that sheet music being preformed, as you are playing for others to hear and their enjoyment of the music. THose royalties then go to whomever has the intellectual property rights of that piece.
I would assume then, that this would work for other intellectual properties as well, such as the situation with used games. Used or not, you are still purchasing the game for the enjoyment of someone else's work, and what Obama is saying is paying say 5 dollars for a used copy of a game that was once 50 dollars is screwing the makers out of the royalties that come with owning intellectual property.
That's the situation, but I am hardly one to talk... if you know what I mean.
@Ladyluck Places that resell your old clothes do not have to pay royalties back to the makers because it is a physical item that will only last a certain amount of time/usage... which is figured into the cost of the item when it was originally bought (ie. a 40 dollar sweater will last longer than an 8 dollar one). But the problem is, as I highlighted above, intellectual property is a whole different story, as it's produced once, copied for sales, and never ever degrades.
There is also Piracy. Yet they are more interested in people buying used games. Atleast someone gets money.
Besides, the Video Game Industry is a big thing right now. It is booming and people are still shelling out money from Wiis, PS3s, and Xbox 360s and there games. They are still making profit. This whole thing is just showing how greedy these companys can get.
Yes I know they need money to produce there games but look at GTA. It made millions in profit on it's first day. I think it has plenty of money to make another.
Really, what the companys should do is make a game that is so addictive and good that people don't want to sell them to Gamestop.
@Navie
i meant that for example if you sell a CD to somebody you have sold the CD and the license for you to use it. For that CD is sold to somebody else and they can listen to it ie the new owner has the license to listen to it and you don't because you sold it. but i dunno, i thought that if you buy something that your also buying the license to use it as by the terms of the license you have bought.
@klasco, I understand, but in reality that is illegal, as the second sale of the item has no royalties paid out from it for the intellectual property.
Sorry, but that quote is NOT from Obama. It comes from a piece by Nick Michetti called "How Barack Obama Can Bring The Change The Video Game Industry Needs." It's on the site Kombo.com if you want to google it.
GamePolitics has an excellent rebuttal on the subject, which addresses the exact quote above that the author mistakenly attributed to Obama.
Sorry peeps, the new prez isn't talking used games and DRM just yet.
Well it does not say Not For Resale so they are allowing it.
dont wanna sound like the party pooper but does this really matter? I mean come on there are way more serious things happening in the world and im pretty sure people government could care less about this lol
@Navie
thanks for clearing that up.
Mind you i haven't bought a 2nd hand game anyway, i either buy new or borrow/ trade games with my friends so i probably owe alot of royalties by swapping games well a least i don't download them for free.
@CQC_NastyN8
True, but governments have the ability to multi task (believe it or not). I presume the Gaming publishers are asking for this because there's alot of money happening in 2nd hand game sales.
Well LadyLuck if used game prices go up any higher they will cost more than the price of a brand new game. So I don't think raising the prices of used games will solve anything. It will just make people buy the game brand new instead.
In my opinion If they want to worry about publishers getting their money, they should focus more on pirating. Not the used game market. Don't get me wrong, I purchase both new and used. But some people justify purchasing a 60 dollar game, by what they will get for it on trade.
I really don't have a problem with buying used games especially games that have been out on the market for over a year. When I do buy them I usually but them from ebay or amazon but never from Gamestop. I do have a problem the way they screw their customers with their pricing. I would almost be in favor of raising used game prices just to put Gamestop out of business.
Honestly Ladyluck, it's very important. Several smaller developers and even larger companies are being hurt by the used market. If it helps the developers, even at the cost of larger prices for used games, I support it. Obama is a smart man. Had no idea he was actually paying attention to the gaming industry.
Yea sorry but this article is bogus. Obama isn't thinking about video games. Infact, no1 besides like......holy SHIT i cant think of his name....ughhhh......o fuck it, you all know who im talkn about. The senator that FINALLY got put in his place. Obama is focusing on more important matters like our economy.
sonyboy = always a good point in so many words lol ^_^
@ladyluck b/c the used games market is the more controllable of the two. Stop one torrent site, two new pop up. Use DRM as a mousetrap, and sure enough a hacker will build the inevitable better mouse.
Tell a Gamestop owner to sell used games at a higher price or else the store will be fined for intellectual property theft? Instant results.
Not that I am one to talk, but the internet and piracy have hurt the small and big business alike, as Masterfang said.
I'm into photography, and I know that if I was getting screwed out of royalties on my intellectual property I'd hit the roof (most of you know that LOL).
@ Sonyboy
And our Economy is based on a booming free market. If he starts at the bottom and works his way up, things just might get done. Especially considering that video games have taken the lowest hit of all of the major forms of mass media.
I actually think this would lower the price of used games. After all the price won't go up because the price or used games at GameStop is only $5 less then the price of a new game. So if anything I think this will hurt GameStop so much they'd be forced to finally sell used games at a decent price. That or put them out of business.
Sorry for the double post but I can't edit my previous post.
Naive another thing is that you have places that rent games. Yet it says in the license agreements or somewhere on the games packaging itself that renting is in violation of the license. Or something like that yet that is allowed.
Whoa, I guess I'm pretty late to the party on this topic. Although I love Gamestop and traded in used games to pay for both Fallout 3 and Gears 2, I do think there should be fees going back to the publishers and developers for used game sales. Navie makes a good point with the intellectual property argument, and I have to agree.
I think the government need to stay the **** out of gaming and the private sector in general that's what I think. I think there are a whole lot more bigger problems out there for Obama to worry about.
Our government has the reverse Midas touch. Everything they touch turns to s***. Hell, they might as well just stop every rummage sale too while they're at it. I have no doubt that they'll go after ebay too. Socialist f***s.
Also, many game stores may sure as hell sell used games, but they push the f*** out of the new ones. They beg you to preorder the newest game every time you're in there. Giving the store your money is giving them more revenue with which to buy new games to shove the preorders down everyone's throats. The used games I buy however aren't in stores anymore anyways.
As an oldschool gamer, I still buy games for my old systems. Find me a developer who's still selling Nintendo carts, and I'll gladly buy them from the developer. To hell with downloadable games, I'm a material boy, and I want the game itself. I don't trust hard drives.
I was reading about the lawsuit that Redbox has filed against Universal and something I saw reminded me of this topic and I think this applies to this, video games, as well.
"It is worth noting that the right to sell used movies is protected by the First Sale Doctrine, a principle of copyright law which dictates that the purchaser of a copyright-protected work may resell or give away the product without having to obtain special licensing rights or permission. "
You must be registered and logged in to leave comments.
If you are already have a login with GamePro.com, Gamerhelp.com, Games.net or GameProFamily.com, then use that login!