I don't think any gamer out there has missed the debate whether controlling the used games market through DRM is a good or a bad thing. One thing is certain; if your gaming relies on buying used games because your life-situation makes it hard to save cash for games, then you do not want to go down the road that Microsoft currently appears to travel on. Buying an XboxOne under their current plans to hinder used games-sales (I say hinder because you can actually buy used XboxOne games though you will have to pay a fee if you want to play them) would be inadvisable if you know that your funds are limited.
Nintendo already allows you to play used games on the WiiU (although one could argue that there aren't any games out yet that you wouldn't buy at launch that you would buy later).
Sony has said that it is up to developers to decide in this matters.
However, it really shouldn't be up to them. If a console is their channel for doing business, then they should not be able to make such decisions. It doesn't feel right. Sony should do what they did with remote play of all PS4 games through PS Vita. That is mandatory (with the exception of PS4Eye games). They should make it mandatory to not block/hinder the used games market in any way. Blocking that market is just an attempt to quickly earn some extra cash and annihilating the "long tail" that the sales of a game has if left alone without the involvement of DRM.
Anyways, to the point. I'm sorry for the long introduction. I can promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that it will absolutely happen again.
What I think Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony should do is:
After a certain amount of time has passed since a game released, let's say 1,5 years, then they should make it available through their online stores at the same average price that a customer would have to pay on the used games market. This way, they don't make the situation impossible for stores that rely on the used games to survive. The people that have enough interest in a game that research it before purchasing would greatly appreciate being able to download it right away at the same price that they would pay if they went to their local games-shop. Then these people would also contribute directly to the developers.
The kind of customer that likes to browse and go through the used games bargain bin would still be able to enjoy their way of being able to afford gaming as a hobby.
What I mention here is really my ultimate dream when it comes to the used games vs. DRM dilemma. What do you think about this solution? I really do think its a viable one.
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Nintendo and a few other publishers already do to a degree; they add codes to their games that people can register on club sites to earn free stuff, particularly free game downloads in Nintendo's case.
We've been using used games since the beginning of the industry but NOW publishers believe it's wrong. How about publishers focus on quality and stop inflating marketing budgets?
This gif represents a publisher talking about used game sales:
http://gifguppy.com/css/ima...
Sony can't stop the publishers for one simple reason-Microsoft are allowing them too, publishers like EA would start pulling support on ps4 because less sales mean more in terms of £ over on the xbox. There'd be more EA exclusives popping up etc etc. The issue is MS have made blocking used games acceptable now- so it's not too big a step for publishers to take to add it in some way to PS4-really is a shame...
There are a few different things to be taken into consideration when talking about used games but I think it all goes down to the fact that, so far, developers and publishers have gained nothing from the used-games market and the want their share.
They have seen GameStop become a giant also thanks to the used-games business and they want their money.
Fine by me, after all it's the developers and publishers that finance the game so it's fair they get a share from the used market (from GS or whoever). So just talk with the retailers, decide on what's fair for them to keep (since they're running the shop and that costs money) and be done with.
Or tackle the matter in a different way, but you have to bear in mind your consumers, the gamers. We are not fools, if you want our money / my money I want something in return, for example to know that what I'm buying is worth my hard-earned money. That's something that doesn't always happen and that I can deal with THANKS to being able to re-sell my games (see my own blog): http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
If I will not longer able to trade games I don't like in, there must be another way for me to not feel "ripped off" in some cases :).