Capcom has decided to go ahead and experiment with the used game market.

 

Their newest game for the 3DS, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, only has one save slot. A slot that can never be erased. Ever. This means that you can not erase your game to start fresh, or lend it to a friend, or more importantly, buy it used. Once you save on it, it’s there. It will never go away. According to Giant Bomb who received a statement:

“Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision,” said the company, “so we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer.”

They say that used game sales weren’t a factor, but it’s hard to understand this feature otherwise.

“In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, all mission progress is saved directly to the Nintendo 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset,” said the company. “The nature of the game invites high levels of replayability in order to improve mission scores. In addition, this feature does not remove any content available for users.”

However, according to Giant Bomb user thegrue72:

“Somehow Ocarina of Time allows you to delete saves, even though it saves them directly to the cart[sic]. Must be Nintendo magic.”

(Stay godlike grue.)

What this basically boils down to, is a market shift in killing used game sales. EA’s online activation codes and Capcom’s perma-saves are all clear stabs at second hand markets. Now that debates on whether secondhand sales are warranted are aside, it is clear to see how the industry sees them. I’d feel bad for the industry if they weren’t currently inventing new ways to suck money out of my wallet (CoD Elite, DLC that is already on the goddamn disc). We’ll see how things continue. Will everyone else start to take up the fight to kill secondhand sales, or will they accept that it’s a part of business? Will secondhand markets cut a deal with the game companies? Who knows. For the time being though, we are the ones paying the price.

Mark Marquez

Mark Marquez: I, who stand before you in full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates of hell. Come forth divine lightning! THIS ENDS NOW. INDIGNATION!