Nail in the coffin for game rental?
Discussion
So I rented Battlefield 3 today, I won't name where from but it was an online company that you might use if you "love films" anywhoo I cannot play online because you need a code to enter
So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
I thought you could play online without the code, and that code was only used to open up the bonus stuff that is on offer to those who bought the game. In BC2 it was the additional maps, in BF3 it is the 'Back to Karkand' stuff later in November. Didn't realise they had changed it so you can't play online at all without the code.
Previously a PC-only hurdle, its something thats being introduced on console games more and more both to reduce piracy and as a way of discouraging trade-ins and 2nd hand sales.
There were alot of articles doing the rounds a while ago where a number of publishers were comparing 2nd hand sales to piracy, because the person who bought it 2nd hand was doing so without the devs/publisher seeing any money. Its actually a very effective system for combating piracy, more so on the 360 and PS3 because you're 'locked' to their prospective networks regardless - on the PC you could always just use a hacked server if you'd got a pirated copy.
attym3 said:
So I rented Battlefield 3 today, I won't name where from but it was an online company that you might use if you "love films" anywhoo I cannot play online because you need a code to enter
So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
Sorry, but you are really saying that you wont pay £8 for 5 days access? That is £1.60 a day and if you play for 2 hours that is £0.80 per hour. You cant even buy a bar of chocolate for that.So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
S
skeeterm5 said:
attym3 said:
So I rented Battlefield 3 today, I won't name where from but it was an online company that you might use if you "love films" anywhoo I cannot play online because you need a code to enter
So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
Sorry, but you are really saying that you wont pay £8 for 5 days access? That is £1.60 a day and if you play for 2 hours that is £0.80 per hour. You cant even buy a bar of chocolate for that.So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
S
freecar said:
Trying to stop the used game market.
Sony seem to be demanding developers support this idea, I'm not a fan.
Car manufacturers don't get a slice of the cars second sale and games should be the same, they make their profit once and once only, anything else is ridiculous greed.
More likely to be stopped if games become download only rather than physical discs, installed only on a machine registered to your accountSony seem to be demanding developers support this idea, I'm not a fan.
Car manufacturers don't get a slice of the cars second sale and games should be the same, they make their profit once and once only, anything else is ridiculous greed.
Brite spark said:
freecar said:
Trying to stop the used game market.
Sony seem to be demanding developers support this idea, I'm not a fan.
Car manufacturers don't get a slice of the cars second sale and games should be the same, they make their profit once and once only, anything else is ridiculous greed.
More likely to be stopped if games become download only rather than physical discs, installed only on a machine registered to your accountSony seem to be demanding developers support this idea, I'm not a fan.
Car manufacturers don't get a slice of the cars second sale and games should be the same, they make their profit once and once only, anything else is ridiculous greed.
Downloadable games work for the 'mini' games on sale on the xbox marketplace, but for full on titles the average UK broadband speed isn't fast enough. Plus games are released worldwide, so whilse it's possible to do 'discs in one region' and 'downloads in another' that's just not very likely for the time being IMO.
This may have changed when we get to the next gen consoles, like PS4 and Xbox720, as bb speeds should be faster and I'll assume the devices will ship with a proper large sized HDD as standard. I have a decent sized game collection on 360, say 50 titles? That would need 450Gb of storage at 9Gb/game. So need a bigger HDD than the 20Gb my xbox shipped with!!
Yeah, next gen stuff I reckon. Oh, and PC games on steam of course.
Is it due to the 2nd-hand market? I don't think anyones mentioned that
Ultimately I think we're heading towards downloadable content and delivery platforms like Steam - and I do like Steam, as I can get the game on release (with pre-load), its automatically updated in the background, and its easily accessible. The only thing I *don't* like is the fact that they have the right to ban my account causing me to lose £00's of games without recourse.
freecar said:
Car manufacturers don't get a slice of the cars second sale and games should be the same, they make their profit once and once only, anything else is ridiculous greed.
But car manufacturers make alot of profit from parts/servicing, whereas Devs/Publishers rely mainly on initial sales, and the occasional DLC for the bigger games, so I can understand why they're trying to push this.Ultimately I think we're heading towards downloadable content and delivery platforms like Steam - and I do like Steam, as I can get the game on release (with pre-load), its automatically updated in the background, and its easily accessible. The only thing I *don't* like is the fact that they have the right to ban my account causing me to lose £00's of games without recourse.
skeeterm5 said:
attym3 said:
So I rented Battlefield 3 today, I won't name where from but it was an online company that you might use if you "love films" anywhoo I cannot play online because you need a code to enter
So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
Sorry, but you are really saying that you wont pay £8 for 5 days access? That is £1.60 a day and if you play for 2 hours that is £0.80 per hour. You cant even buy a bar of chocolate for that.So I went to the other place you can rent games and films from, you know the one, and they also will not give you the code if you rent the game. The guy in the shop says you have to buy it for 800MS points. So it would cost you £5 for the rental and about £7-8 for the code. Just not worth it for 5 days gaming.
Looking into it a bit it seems all games may be going this way which is just going to kill the games rental market. I can't see what is the point of the code anyway.
I like to rent a game before I buy to see if I like it as they aren't exactly cheap.
Sad times.
Mark
S
It's pretty shocking IMO, just big companies being greedy. They have made there money off the game and now they want too squeeze more money out of you!
It's more about the second hand game market than the rental one. Rental copies cost more to buy to cover the fact that it hurts full game sales.
Is it just EA that do it? Maybe it's to pay for the excellent high quality multiplayer servers that have delivered faultlessly since Battlefield 3 came out?
Is it just EA that do it? Maybe it's to pay for the excellent high quality multiplayer servers that have delivered faultlessly since Battlefield 3 came out?
I can see both sides of the argument. In recent years the used games market has grown massively, and at the same time the budget of a 'AAA' title has gone through the roof. In order to make the money back they need to look for new forms of income, and one of them has been the approach taken by EA. If we want to continue to see the massive releases like BF3, MW3, GTA4 then the industry feels that something has to be done to ensure that they are maximising the return on their investment.
Personally, I prefer the 'reward the purchaser' approach adopted by games like BF:BC2 or Batman: Arkham City than the 'Punish used buyers' that seems to have been taken by BF3.
Personally, I prefer the 'reward the purchaser' approach adopted by games like BF:BC2 or Batman: Arkham City than the 'Punish used buyers' that seems to have been taken by BF3.
Mostly play PC games.
My buying habits have changed over the last few years.
I don't buy new release games, they seem to be released as late betas which take a few weeks to be patched.
A lot of new games try to persuade you to purchase further DLC (new tracks, cars, side missions, NPC's), if it needs it include it.
A bad game can be bought 30-50% cheaper 2/3 months later. A good game is often 30% cheaper within 6 months.
And my latest pet hate, having to be online to play. If I've validated it, it's my game. I'm sick of the 'Disconnected from server' errors which wont let you play, why is this necessary on a single player mission.
So now I tend to buy my games 6 months behind, cheaper, when the bugs have been worked out and you have player reviews to state how good it really is.
My buying habits have changed over the last few years.
I don't buy new release games, they seem to be released as late betas which take a few weeks to be patched.
A lot of new games try to persuade you to purchase further DLC (new tracks, cars, side missions, NPC's), if it needs it include it.
A bad game can be bought 30-50% cheaper 2/3 months later. A good game is often 30% cheaper within 6 months.
And my latest pet hate, having to be online to play. If I've validated it, it's my game. I'm sick of the 'Disconnected from server' errors which wont let you play, why is this necessary on a single player mission.
So now I tend to buy my games 6 months behind, cheaper, when the bugs have been worked out and you have player reviews to state how good it really is.
I don't see it as just greed. There are ongoing costs involved with running an online game, so why shouldn't the developers try to recover those?
It's a bit different if it is a single player game that doesn't need an Internet connection. As has been said it is also an effective anti piracy measure.
The argument should be with the rental companies who are choosing not to give out the codes or to set up accounts so that the game can be used online, as they are looking to make money by selling the game on once they have finished with it.
Also, large downloads don't seem to be a barrier to people using digital distribution as the success of steam shows. Many games on there are multi gigabyte size, and it isn't an issue as you can just leave it downloading in the background. You can also stop and start it as necessary.
It's a bit different if it is a single player game that doesn't need an Internet connection. As has been said it is also an effective anti piracy measure.
The argument should be with the rental companies who are choosing not to give out the codes or to set up accounts so that the game can be used online, as they are looking to make money by selling the game on once they have finished with it.
Also, large downloads don't seem to be a barrier to people using digital distribution as the success of steam shows. Many games on there are multi gigabyte size, and it isn't an issue as you can just leave it downloading in the background. You can also stop and start it as necessary.
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