The Growing Pains of the Online Pass

I tend to stay out of polarized discussions.  This is because by its very nature the polarized discussion is one that cannot be resolved.  Most discussions are made up of people with various viewpoints and information who are edifying the others in the discussion so that the whole group is better informed and more knowledgable.  Polarized discussions, however, are made up of two sides only who are so entrenched in their belief that facts are irrelevant and no amount of reasonable discussion will change anyone’s mind.

That being said, I do feel the need to put in place some facts surrounding the “Online Pass” and the discussion surrounding used games.  As many of you know, many publishers have started adopting the Online Pass as a way of: “recouping losses from used games”.  Their stance is that they do not receive any portion of a sale of a used game like they do with a new game.  So they are “losing money” on that sale.  The Online Pass is their way of recouping these losses.  Basically, if you go into Gamestop and purchase a used game you have to pay a $10.00 fee in order to play it online, whereas if you purchase the game new, it comes with the code in the box to enable online play.

I would like to go ahead and call this for what it is – a bean counter at a company who saw a revenue stream that they weren’t tapping into.  That’s it.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Let’s take the arguments for the Online Pass one at a time:

Publishers don’t receive a cut of any used game sales

Response:  So what?  They received their payment when the game sold new.  Musicians don’t receive a cut of any of those old Vinyl records you purchase from a used record store.  Publishing houses don’t receive a cut of the used DVD you purchase from Blockbuster.  There is an accepted understanding of the economy that once you package and sell something you’ve created, the purchaser can do what they want with it.  Obviously there are protections against the purchaser being able to make money from re-distributing the property or trying to sell it as their own.  But there is nothing that would prevent the purchaser from re-selling that item a single time to a 3rd party without consulting with the original creator.  This is why we can resell our used items in garage sales, to thrift stores, etc.

This brings up another interesting point – inconsistency with this concept of Online Passes and other used goods.  In cases where I purchase other used goods, the originator of that good also does not get a piece of the sale, but there are no other cases where the originator is trying to change that.  If I buy a used car, I don’t have to pay a fee to Ford or GM in order to drive the car on the highway.  If I buy a used movie, it doesn’t lock any of the content unless I pay a fee to the movie company.  So why would I need to do so to the original game company?

Used games are taking money away from the publishing company and the developers (through a domino of the money trail) because that’s one less new game being sold and so less money going to the publisher

This is probably the biggest argument that is being put forward – a need to cover the cost of creating the game.  But on inspection it makes no sense and is an accounting trick to change the perceptions of the consumer.  The idea falls a little into the “penny saved is a penny earned” adage where they are trying to get us to believe that a lack of a new purchase is lost money.  How can money that the company has never had be “lost” money?  The only scenario I could see being a valid “lost sales” argument would be a case where somehow a bunch of the disks or access codes to a game  were lost in shipping and sold on the black market.  Pirated games are definitely lost sales and should be pursued legally.  But a used game is not the same thing.  In a used game situation, there was an original purchaser who paid for the new game.  This means that the publishing house has already recouped their money (if they priced the game correctly) from that original sale.  Once the game has been resold, the original purchaser is no longer a consumer of the product, but that’s not a lost sale because someone else is stepping into their shoes.  As far as the publisher is concerned the number of purchases hasn’t changed.

I equate this to what recently happened in Michigan with the tax break that was put in place for the movie industry.  The tax break spurred a great upswing in the number of movies being made in the state.  This led to new jobs in the movie industry as well as within all the supporting industries (food services, hotel, car rentals, etc.).  When Snyder came into office as the new governor one of the first things he did was remove the tax breaks for the movie industry.  He insisted that the tax incentives were costing the state money.  Yet in no way did he show how exactly that was.  On closer inspection you see that it was in how he looked at the balance sheets.  Let’s say that normally the movie industry generated $100 Million that the state taxed 10% to make a movie in the state and under the plan we lowered it to 3% (numbers are made up for this example).  Snyder’s reasoning was that the state was thus losing 7% of revenue or $7 Million.  This is flawed because the only reason we got the business in the first place is BECAUSE of the tax incentive.  And guess what?  As soon as he cut the tax break the movie business dried up and went elsewhere.

Think Snyder can figure out what 10% of $0 is?

The Online Pass is really to offset the cost of having to maintain servers for the online portion of the game (multiplayer) and any used game is cutting into those because the new user gets to play for free

This is probably the biggest wool-over-the-eyes that the publishers have pulled on the consumer and ties into the other responses I’ve put forward here.  Their argument is basically that they have to maintain servers for their user base to be able to access the multiplayer component of their game.  This is definitely true and I agree they need to make enough money to make it worthwhile.  However, their argument that used games are cutting into the money they receive to maintain the servers is complete fabrication.  The math simply doesn’t work!

Here’s an example:  Say we have a game that sells 1 million units new.  That means that the publishing house has to maintain server to handle 1 million online players (potentially – some people never play online, but let’s assume they plan for the best case scenario).  Let’s say that 50% of the original purchasers decide they don’t like the game and sell it to Gamestop and that resold game is then picked up by another gamer.  How many users do the publishing houses have to account for and maintain the servers for?  1 million.  How many did they receive money for to cover the costs?  1 million.

They already received the money for maintaining the servers from the original sale.  When a gamer sells a game back to Gamestop, they aren’t playing that game anymore.  So the publishing house is trading one gamer for one gamer.  The fact that the replaced gamer never paid the original fee is irrelevant.  In essence, the original purchaser of the game is paying for any future person who buys that particular copy of the game to play on the server.  So where is the extra need for money coming from?

Final Thoughts:

The bottom line of all this is that we are in a transitional state when it comes to games.  Games are big business – every year we hear about how they make more than the movie industry. Additionally, the way we enjoy games and the very nature of the games are changing.  Whereas we used to purchase a cartridge that contained the entirety of the experience and enjoyed that solely in our basement, we now have games that have expanded beyond the physical media.  With the number of games you can get through Steam and Origin as well as Microsoft considering the idea of their next system not even having a disk drive, it is ever more evident that we are on the verge of the truly digital age.  All games in the future could really exist solely out in the web space.  So what is the product that we are buying at that point?

Product and service are merging.  The Online Pass is one of the growing pains that comes with evolving to the next stage.  As a gamer and consumer I do understand this, but I also think there is responsibility on the part of the publishing house to take responsibility for what they are actually doing.  If all you’re trying to do is expand your revenue and make it easier for games to be made and make it so you don’t have to increase the cost of new games, great!  Tell me that and I’ll happily continue to purchase new games.  But as soon as a company starts telling me things that don’t make sense it takes away all credibility and makes them appear to be nothing more than a money-grubbing organization who doesn’t really care about me as a consumer but is more interested in trying to squeeze every last dime from me they can.

Budget Gaming Tip: Library Game Renting

I thought I’d follow up my initial post with a tip on how to get access to the most games on a budget.  Like most avid gamers, I had gotten into a pattern of getting every exciting game the minute it came out.  Obviously, with all the good games that are available, that can really stretch the budget.  Additionally, it was easy to get caught up in the hype of a game release and buy into it before the review came out.  This led to a few games that did not live up to their expectations and a feeling that I had paid $60 for a game that wasn’t worth $20.

One option that I pursued was to join http://www.Gamefly.com.  For those of you who don’t know, Gamefly is the Netflix of gaming.  For a monthly fee you can rent any game you want from their catalog for as long as you want it.  They have a tiered pricing structure based on the number of games you want to rent out at any one time.  Overall the experience with Gamefly was a good one.  I got to play through lots of great games.  And, for a fraction of the price, I was able to try out games that weren’t worth buying.

In the end, as I met my wife and life got busy, it took longer and longer to get through the games that I was getting from Gamefly.  It got to the point where I’d have a game out for months upon months, meaning that I was almost paying more for that one game than if I’d simply purchased it.  In order to stay on a budget, I ended up cancelling my service.

That’s when my awesome wife turned me onto another idea – renting from the Library.  We live in Clinton Township, MI and so go to the Clinton-Macomb Public Library (http://cmpl.org).  Like most people, this had never occurred to me.  I always considered the library a source for borrowing books and maybe CDs, but never movies and video games.  As I looked into it I discovered that my library had quite the impressive catalogue of games.  The list covers the full gamut of genres and styles for Nintendo Wii, PS3, and XBox 360.  They also have a program that allows you to suggest games to purchase as they come out.  As I’ve browsed the catalogue I’ve seen older games over the last few years as well as new releases.  Just recently I searched and found that I could rent Battlefield 3, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (which I have put a hold request in for), Modern Warfare 3, Assassin’s Creed II: Revelations, and more.

The process is fairly simple.  When you find a game you’d like you submit a hold request.  This puts you in a queue for being able to check out the game.  Obviously, the more popular games will tend to have longer wait times, and it can take a few weeks to get the game, but considering the cost (free!!) it definitely can be worth it.  Once your turn comes up, you have a set time when the library will hold the game in their reserve section.  At the Clinton-Macomb Public Library, that section is just past the information desk on the left as you come into the library.  The holds are organized alphabetically by last name.  Simply head on in and pick up your game.

I want to put in an aside here as well – the Clinton-Macomb Public Library has a FANTASTIC checkout method.  You take the items you want to check out up to the service counter, scan your library card on the scanner, place the items (all of them) on the scan pad, and the system automatically detects all the items that you’ve placed on the pad.  You touch finish on the screen and it then spits out a receipt showing when the items are due back.  It should be noted that for video games you have to go to people at the service counter to get the actual disk as they don’t keep them in the cases.  Simply show them your receipt and the case and they’ll go in the back and get the disk.

Typically, you have a week to enjoy the game.  For many games this is not nearly long enough.  You do get to extend the time once on video games, giving yourself 2 weeks to play the game.  If your time is limited, like mine, then you may have to rent the game several times to get through a play-through.  But for many games that don’t meet the “gotta buy it” qualification (and let’s face it – with limited time and budget you need to be a little choose-y) the fact that you can play these games for free is an awesome option.

I hope that this helps get more games at your finger tips and that you can make use of your local library to get to some of the games you might otherwise have to skip.  If your local library doesn’t carry games, you can get involved and help change their mind by showing that the desire for gaming exists in the community.

Enjoy and good gaming!!

Player 1 Press Start

Hello and welcome all gamers!!  This is the first blog in my adventure as a blogging gamer.  My wife suggested starting up this blog series as a way of connecting with other gamers and being able to get enjoyment out of being a gamer.

It has never been a better time to be a gamer.  With XBox 360, PS3, Vita, 3DS, and even Wii (ok, ok – had to add it in because there were a few good games on it), there are so many games it can be difficult to keep up.  This is especially true when you are a married gamer in your 30s.  With a wife who is very understanding I do get to game more than most at my age, but it gets harder and harder to find the time – especially when discussions of having kids comes into play.  Once the kid arrives, the gaming pad goes on the shelf!

As I indicated, my wife is VERY understanding about my hobby (sometimes obsession).  But she is also an EXTREMELY good stabilizer who helps balance my life.  She has helped me set a budget for my games so that I’m not going overboard.  It has also made it so, in the long run, I can play more games because she’s helping me to wait on those games that I don’t need to play just yet.  And as we all know, the longer you wait to play the game, the cheaper it is to pick up ($29.99 for Mass Effect 2?  $25.99 for Gears of War 3?).  While there are some games I will still get as soon as they come out (Skyrim anyone?), overall I am liking this new style of delayed gratification.  Besides, with my new wife and eventually new child (once we start), my time to play is much less.  So, as my smart wife pointed out: “what’s the point in buying a game that will just sit in a stack in your man-cave?  Why not wait until you’re ready to play it?  And, if it happens to be cheaper – even better!”

I knew I married her for a reason.

So, with that in mind, join me on my adventure.  I plan to explore all the games I’m playing as well as discussing my schedule and finding the time to game while still making my wife and family the most important part of my life.  My gaming tastes are wide-spread (RPG, Adventure, Platforming, MMO, FPS, etc.) so we’ll hopefully touch on a good deal of games.  As to what I’m playing right now:

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Infamous 2 (just beat)
• Dark Souls (beat but can’t seem to stop playing it)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.  Definitely let me know if there are any games that you are interested in me exploring more in detail.  In my next blog I am going to start with my impressions of Skyrim.  I figure as a HUGE time sink that is as good a place to start as any with the theme of trying to find time to game and still have a life.

Until next time fellow gamers!