Topic: Buy new or used games?

I always bought 2nd hand games as I saved money and then resold them making most games not really cost me anything to play. Apart from a few franchises which I would always be on day one. Now I try and buy games where I can new or digital. My biggest gripe with most big game releases on digital is that they are priced a lot higher than the retail versions. Also having a poor internet connection means a large game takes days to download. If they were priced the same would probably go digital a lot more. Another point is that if you preorder a game you often get a few extra DLC. Its an incentive to get the game straight away. But often that content is then removed from the game and is sold as extras and you are still paying the full price of the game and then if you want the extra DLC you will pay even more. It would be more of a incentive to buy new games if they did come with that extra DLC all the time not just on release.

If I buy a game 2nd hand the developer/company is not getting anything back unless I buy extra content. So in reality I am playing the game for free in their eyes. What is the true value of a game? It's sold for say £40 then gets bought and sold again and again. At the end of its life it could have generated over £140 maybe more maybe less. The developer only gets a small fraction of this money from the original sale. People make an issue of expensive add ons for games or releasing lots of post game content. Saying it should have been in the original game. But if so many people are not buying new then they need to get money back any way they can.

Microsoft made a bold step by saying they would charge a fee to play 2nd hand games. Sony quickly said they would not. I do agree with what Microsoft were doing more money needs to go back to the games companies after the original is sold. This is an issue that has never been addressed on consoles. A fee to activate a game in my eyes would be a good step forward. I know it can not happen in this current generation of consoles. Of course this will all be irrelevant for the next generation of consoles if they are digital only. But it is current issue that has never been resolved. Its ok for a big games company to take a hit on sales for a game but smaller companies it can be make or break. People want physical release of games but what incentive is there for a company to do that? Life Is Strange is going to get a physical release which did surprise me but its got extras which is good and I can see a lot of fans buying it. They have made good sales and the wait between the digital and physical release has been enough to make good sales.

unless a game is out of print i always buy new, i feel that if i want to play a game then i should at least support it, the developers and the creators

all buying used does is fuel the greed of the shop you buy it from

I always buy new games too. The pre-order incentives can be nice but often nothing more than cosmetics which do nothing to enhance the game for me. In some ways these are a bit like the online pass system that was used to get money from those that bought 2nd hand but the difference is these are less essential. I refuse to buy 2nd hand unless its a game thatt is unavailable by any other means. As I don't buy 'retro' games or at least haven't for years, I haven' bought 2nd hand either. If a game is more than I am willing to pay at that moment, I will wait until the price drops or its offered in a sale.

The main reason Digital prices are so high compared to the physical edition is competition. There is only 1 place you can buy digitally and therefoe they can and do charge RRP. Physical copies though can be bought from many different stores - from game shops, supermarkets and a whole host of online stores. Because of this competition, it drives the prices down - Who would buy from one shop selling at RRP when a shop down the road is a lot cheaper?

Personally I prefer physical releases myself. The inconvenience of switching discs - something I have done for over 35yrs (although not just discs but tapes/cartridges etc too) is greatly offset by having something physical for my money, opening the case for the first time and the 'goodies' that come with ltd editions etc. So I may have to wait a few hours for the postman to deliver my pre-orders but in some cases I have had these before the digital owners have theirs! I also like to see my collection grow on the shelf too! I haven't traded games/consoles for years but I also know that my library of games will be worth 'something' which is more than can be said for a digital library. Spend £500+ on 10 digital games and its 'worthless' compared to spending £400+ on 10 physical games and getting £150-£200 back if I sold them on...

I used to buy most games second hand as I didn't have the money to buy games at full price save for a couple of special games each year. However as time has gone on I noticed that for me games generally get good discounts in the various PS Store sales, so now I usually just wait for a sale to buy a game I can't pay full price for rather than getting it second hand. This is despite the fact I don't have fast internet speeds so it does take awhile to download the games but I don't really mind as I have other things to play and do anyway. I also wait for sales simply because the only stores near where I live are Gamestop and Argos, Gamestop in my experience really overprice their second hand games and provide little value for trading in. For Argos I will say that they usually provided some new games with a nice discount during the week there released which is really good so it makes it easier for me to pick up new games. Basically I've been forced to go digital (not complaining though) for the most part simply because the PS store provides better offers for me, a few sales ago I picked up TLOU Remaster for €22 whereas in shops it's still a full €55 new or €35-40 second hand, can't argue with that. Slow download speed is a small price to pay for me with the savings I've made

I buy new on a few titles, but if I can wait I buy used. I support a local business that sells used games, DVDs and board games. I occasionally buy from gamestop as well. I like the idea of physical copies. When im done with a game and dont want it anymore I know at least I can get a few dollars towards the next game.

I buy new - I usually wait for a release to see how it does, then snap it up when the price drops. Recently that's changed with the ND collection, Disgaea and MGS PP being pre ordered. Pre ordered!! I would of kicked myself a year ago - but preordering helps me buy the games I want when I'm relatively flush. So this is a good option for me.

So new all of the time.

I buy new if I can (if the game isn't out of print). I've noticed that most Playstation games get quite cheap a few weeks after launch, except for Bloodborne, that game is still €60-70 every I look... It's been a long time since I bought a game for €60 (the ''full'' retail price). With most of Nintendo's games going for €40-50, and the rapid decrease in price for Playstation games, I managed to save quite some money if they were all €60.

I've only bought one second hand game in years, it being Drive Club due to all the launch issues and me not being sure I'd like it. Therefore I had no problem buying Drive Club Bikes and would be happy to throw some more money their way.

Before that, the last game I got second hand was Arkham Asylum, and went on to buy City that I wouldn't have purchased had I not got Asylum.

I'm not terribly against buying the odd second hand game but honestly I'd much rather buy new.

Gotta support those developers.

I pretty much stopped buying used games when they all went to discs. People just don't take care of things anymore and I got burnt a few times.

That said I'm pretty much all digital these days anyway.

Honestly for me it depends how I can get the best deal. If I do buy new games it usually when they are on sale or have had a price drop. That's one of the reason I have so many digital games on the PS4 some of those PSN sales were crazy, like I got both seasons of TWD, and Tomb Raider for 5 dollars each, and Diablo III for 24 (back when ever where else was charging 60 for Diablo).

As for physical games most of them are used with the exception of, GTA V, Arkham Knight, Borderlands, WWE 2K15, and Transformers Devestation. Arkham Knight and Borderlands I got on Amazon for $40 and $30 a few months ago where everywhere else was charging $60. GTA V and WWE 2K15 I paid 60 for but those were Christmas gifts so I didn't mind paying 60 then and Transformers well that was on I had to have lol.

All my other physical games I got used (Sleeping Dogs, Mortal Kombat X) and those I got from Gamefly since I got them each for less then 20 dollars.

So basically it's where I can get the best deal which is one reason I really like this time of the year.

I have a good mix really. I buy used if it's been out for a long time at GameStop. It's a good way to get a good price, but I get new when I buy a game day-one (I almost always wait for a price-drop if I don't get day-one), or if there's a good Black Friday sale or something going on. The only notable exception lately is when I got Syndicate used, but I was going out of my way to not support the game in that case.