Crytek says used video game sales are weird

Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles have been rumored to include a technological feature that would block gamers from playing used games. Some are saying that it won’t happen, while others are saying that it can. We are already experiencing not being able to share our games, thanks to downloadable games on PSN, XBLA and steam.

If the rumors are true, I won’t be happy about it. I play used games all the time via Gamefly and borrowing them from friends. I also let my friends borrow my games. Sometimes people aren’t sure if a game is good or not, so they’d like to test it out before purchasing. Just recently I let one of my colleagues borrow Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. It’s my game that I purchased, so I should be able to lend it to others. I do this with Blu-ray and DVD movies too. And it’s not just interactive entertainment too, I let friends borrow magazines and books.

Rasmus Hojengaard, Crytek’s director of creative development, is against what many gamer do. He hopes that the next-gen consoles would prevent second-hand playing of games.

“From a business perspective that would be absolutely awesome. It’s weird that [second-hand] is still allowed because it doesn’t work like that in any other software industries, so it would be great if they could somehow fix that issue as well.”

In the end, it’s all about the money.

“We obviously want to avoid that this time, but even if we can convert 25 percent of those gamers into paying customers [you have an extra million sales],” Hojengaard said.

So where do we draw the line? We don’t hear the movie companies complaining about consumers selling, buying, and trading used movies. Sadly, we’re living in an age where tangible entertainment items are going to be extinct.

Source: CVG