CROFL Capcom

[ElNono]

Capcom tries to kill used video game sales with the one-save game (http://dvice.com/archives/2011/06/capcom-tries-to.php)
Buying used video games is great for gamers who don't want to pay full price for the latest hits. You know who doesn't like used video games? Game publishers. In a very sad twist, Capcom's fighting back against the second-hand game market with a game that can only support one save file — for life.

It's been confirmed that Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS is a game that once finished, cannot be reset for complete replay. According to both the U.S. and U.K. game's instruction manual "saved data on this software cannot be reset."

Basically what Capcom has done is make Mercenaries 3D a one-time play affair. Once you've unlocked all the goodies and played the entire game, you will not be able to erase the game's save data and start fresh as if it were a new copy. Consider this: lending Mercenaries 3D to a friend, a little brother or sister will be worthless because they'll only be able to continue playing the game with your saved settings and create their own.

We get that game publishers don't make any money off sales from used video games, but killing off the ability to hit the reset button is just taking things too far. It's like saying Upperdeck is entitled to a cut in my autographed Michael Jordan basketball card I sold at a garage sale for $10,000 some 25 years after I bought it.

While it can be argued that used video game sales are actually more damaging than piracy, it's still a lowball move for Capcom to make, especially with a franchise as large and significant as the Resident Evil series. Will other publishers follow in Capcom's footsteps to take a stand against the lucrative market of used video games? We really hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Complete and utter bullshit! compounded by the fact that the gaming industry is a billion dollar business with no need to pull off shit like this other than greed. Frankly they can go fuck themselves.

[lefty]

haha wtf

[leemajors]

Complete and utter bullshit! compounded by the fact that the gaming industry is a billion dollar business with no need to pull off shit like this other than greed. Frankly they can go fuck themselves.

I think they have been hit pretty hard the last few years too (not as badly as the porn industry), not making nearly as much as they used to. I heard Cliffy B. say on the Joe Rogan Experience a few weeks ago that he and the publishers are far more worried about used game sales and services like Gamefly and Redbox than piracy, and that there has already been talk of reducing budgets for A list titles because of it. I'm not saying that is gospel, but it definitely cuts deep into their profits.

[ElNono]

I think they have been hit pretty hard the last few years too (not as badly as the porn industry), not making nearly as much as they used to. I heard Cliffy B. say on the Joe Rogan Experience a few weeks ago that he and the publishers are far more worried about used game sales and services like Gamefly and Redbox than piracy, and that there has already been talk of reducing budgets for A list titles because of it. I'm not saying that is gospel, but it definitely cuts deep into their profits.

Wouldn't the solution be to scale back and adjust to the economic realities (both on investment and profits) like everyone else does? What they're trying to pull off here is ridiculous.

[leemajors]

Wouldn't the solution be to scale back and adjust to the economic realities (both on investment and profits) like everyone else does? What they're trying to pull off here is ridiculous.

Oh, I agree, Capcom is being stupid. It was just weird to hear it how he stated it, which I probably mangled badly. He said he is excited about the possibilities of the mobile platform now too. He was really happy with how Infinity Blade turned out and was received.

[cheguevara]

this is just an experiment. I don't see this being repeated.

[baseline bum]

Used games always seem like such a ripoff to me. You go to gamestop and a $60 XBox360 games is like $53 used. What a crock of shit; I'd rather pay the extra $7 and not have my disc scratched up from a bunch of 14 years olds lending it out.

[z0sa]

Punishing the owner for buying brand new is obviously the way to get into the used game market . . .

[Pistons < Spurs]

Capcom Denies Anti-Used-Games Stance in New Resident Evil 3DS Game


Capcom says used game sales "were not a factor" in deciding to make the save data in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D permanent, but it was a little less than forthcoming about what actually drove the decision.

We found out yesterday that save-game data on the new Nintendo 3DS game Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, according to a note included with the game, is permanent and cannot be reset. The immediate and obvious assumption was that this is an attempt to thwart pre-owned game sales by sticking anyone who buys a used copy with the saves, achievements and other content already unlocked by the original owner. But Capcom says that's not the case at all.

"Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision, so we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer," the company said in a statement. So what were the factors? That part isn't entirely clear.

"In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, all mission progress is saved directly to the Nintendo 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset," the statement continued, essentially repeating what we already knew. "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."

Clear as mud, eh? I suppose there could be another valid reason for making the game this way, I just can't imagine what it could be, and I think that Capcom's refusal to spell it out speaks volumes. And regardless of the intent, the new Resident Evil title may already be making an anti-pre-owned splash, although not necessarily to Capcom's benefit: Vooks.net claims that EB Games in Australia is refusing to sell the game because its resale value is so low and it would be impossible to return it within the store's seven-day "as new" refund policy.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111337-Capcom-Denies-Anti-Used-Games-Stance-in-New-Resident-Evil-3DS-Game

[Spurtacus]

Capcom denies after hearing negative reaction from the leak :lol

[ElNono]

Well, that was quick :lol

[ElNono]

Also, it doesn't address the fact that you can't start from scratch again :lol
Sneaky bastards :lol

[ElNono]

Used games always seem like such a ripoff to me. You go to gamestop and a $60 XBox360 games is like $53 used. What a crock of shit; I'd rather pay the extra $7 and not have my disc scratched up from a bunch of 14 years olds lending it out.

tbh, I've gotten some good deals at gamestop. I bought Fallout: GOTY for $10 (after about 2 years). I also purchased Fallout: NV for $17 (about 4 months after release). If you're willing to wait it out, you can get a good deal.

[MannyIsGod]

Yeah - used game deals always require that the titles be at least a year old (or reallly bad) but I've gotten a lot of shit super cheap.

[Nathan Explosion]

The used game market relies heavily on supply and demand when setting prices. If they get flooded with a game and no one really buys, the price drops, quick. It's like buying used textbooks.

[CuckingFunt]

tbh, I've gotten some good deals at gamestop. I bought Fallout: GOTY for $10 (after about 2 years). I also purchased Fallout: NV for $17 (about 4 months after release). If you're willing to wait it out, you can get a good deal.


Yeah - used game deals always require that the titles be at least a year old (or reallly bad) but I've gotten a lot of shit super cheap.

This.

And I've also gotten good deals using Gamefly's "keep" feature.

[baseline bum]

tbh, I've gotten some good deals at gamestop. I bought Fallout: GOTY for $10 (after about 2 years). I also purchased Fallout: NV for $17 (about 4 months after release). If you're willing to wait it out, you can get a good deal.

Aren't a lot of games released for like $15-$20 after a couple of years? I got Saints Row and Halo 2 dirt cheap at Best Buy a few of years ago, and I think Bioshock cost me something like $30 a year after it came out. I ask as I got bored with games and don't play a lot right now, so I don't know if they still release the XBox & XBox 360 Greatest Hits cheap anymore.

[Nathan Explosion]

Aren't a lot of games released for like $15-$20 after a couple of years? I got Saints Row and Halo 2 dirt cheap at Best Buy a few of years ago, and I think Bioshock cost me something like $30 a year after it came out. I ask as I got bored with games and don't play a lot right now, so I don't know if they still release the XBox & XBox 360 Greatest Hits cheap anymore.

They do. But these days, you can just buy the games on the Live Marketplace and download them without worrying about scratching your disk. You can make money selling it back but it guarantees the quality stays the same.

[ElNono]

Aren't a lot of games released for like $15-$20 after a couple of years? I got Saints Row and Halo 2 dirt cheap at Best Buy a few of years ago, and I think Bioshock cost me something like $30 a year after it came out. I ask as I got bored with games and don't play a lot right now, so I don't know if they still release the XBox & XBox 360 Greatest Hits cheap anymore.

Depends what you get, and the state of the game. Since I got the 250GB Xbox Slim, I basically install everything on it. So as long as the disk is readable once to install it and it can subsequently just read the copy protection part, it just works.

I normally just set a price I'm willing to pay max for a game. Then I just stop by GS once every week or two and wait it out. Sometimes there are copies with no box or manual and a little worn out disc that work fine for real cheap.

[baseline bum]

Depends what you get, and the state of the game. Since I got the 250GB Xbox Slim, I basically install everything on it. So as long as the disk is readable once to install it and it can subsequently just read the copy protection part, it just works.

I normally just set a price I'm willing to pay max for a game. Then I just stop by GS once every week or two and wait it out. Sometimes there are copies with no box or manual and a little worn out disc that work fine for real cheap.

Ah, that makes sense with the 250 GB model.

[BlackSwordsMan]

three months from now 320 gb model

[Frenzy]

So now people gotta jailbreak video games. Find some 15 year old nerd to
do it.

[BlackSwordsMan]

nvm,