EA's Online Pass or Used Game Premium

[Carnage17]

actually Dragon Age: Origins started it, followed by The Saboteur... ME2 was the third game to do it lol. But even Gears of War 2 did basically the same thing in 2008.

As you know, I think this is great for the pubs/devs you get completely screwed by the used game market and, more importantly, PIRACY. It's been a well-publicized problem, and the people who work on these games deserve compensation.

The DLC offerings are completely optional, and in the case of the new direction EA Sports is taking with it, they still give you a week-long trial before you have to decide. $10 is a more than reasonable price to ask, because people who need to have to pay the $10 are people who did not pay up to the original publisher/developer to play the game (remember, new copies get this stuff for free!).

Also, the argument that it hurts the budget-minded consumer isn't that strong. I am very, very poor, and have to adjust my gaming purchases accordingly. I almost never buy a $60 game, and when I do I plan months in advance to be able to save up for it (see: MW2, Mass Effect 2). People can just as easily wait about 3 months after release, at which point the price for most new games already drop to the 40-45 dollar range. And if you are savvy enough to score a used copy at a much better bargain, throwing on an extra $10 is not at all much to ask, especially if it still results in a cheaper price than a new copy. If it doesn't, then buy it new. Or just skip out on the optional content anyway.

If anything this will drive the price of used games down further since they will now be "incomplete" experience. But I think the more important point here is in regards to piracy, where now the pubs/devs can at least scrape SOME well-earned dough for their years of hard work.

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Carnage17

actually Dragon Age: Origins started it, followed by The Saboteur... ME2 was the third game to do it lol. But even Gears of War 2 did basically the same thing in 2008.

As you know, I think this is great for the pubs/devs you get completely screwed by the used game market and, more importantly, PIRACY. It's been a well-publicized problem, and the people who work on these games deserve compensation.

The DLC offerings are completely optional, and in the case of the new direction EA Sports is taking with it, they still give you a week-long trial before you have to decide. $10 is a more than reasonable price to ask, because people who need to have to pay the $10 are people who did not pay up to the original publisher/developer to play the game (remember, new copies get this stuff for free!).

Also, the argument that it hurts the budget-minded consumer isn't that strong. I am very, very poor, and have to adjust my gaming purchases accordingly. I almost never buy a $60 game, and when I do I plan months in advance to be able to save up for it (see: MW2, Mass Effect 2). People can just as easily wait about 3 months after release, at which point the price for most new games already drop to the 40-45 dollar range. And if you are savvy enough to score a used copy at a much better bargain, throwing on an extra $10 is not at all much to ask, especially if it still results in a cheaper price than a new copy. If it doesn't, then buy it new. Or just skip out on the optional content anyway.

If anything this will drive the price of used games down further since they will now be "incomplete" experience. But I think the more important point here is in regards to piracy, where now the pubs/devs can at least scrape SOME well-earned dough for their years of hard work.

I think you are overly-optimistic about how this will combat piracy.

For me, I think this is fuel for the DLC fire in some ways, and I loooooooooove DLC. I could go on for hours, but another thread, another day....

[Carnage17]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

I think you are overly-optimistic about how this will combat piracy.

For me, I think this is fuel for the DLC fire in some ways, and I loooooooooove DLC. I could go on for hours, but another thread, another day....

not that it combats piracy in the sense that it stops it, but in the sense that game makers can still make some money off pirated copies... along the same lines as DLC, but more integrated, in a sense