Topic: Gamestop: the reason games need online multiplayer

[Smash_Brother]

Something I've been thinking about recently...

Gamestop functions on a system where people sell back games so Gamestop can then sell those games as used, generating 100% profit for Gamestop and completely cutting the publisher out of selling a new copy of the game. It's quite ingenious. It allows people to spend less money to get the games they want while simultaneously allowing Gamestop to sell the same copy of a game 3, 5, maybe even 10 times over.

There's one key lesson publishers need to understand in all this: if you don't give gamers a compelling reason to keep your game, then you're going to get screwed out of many, many potential sales, not just in terms of Gamestop, but in rentals, resales, borrowing, etc.

To date, the most compelling reason is a multiplayer mode, but even better is an ONLINE multiplayer mode. It's a simple equation: the more gamers keep your game for a longer period of time, the more gamers will buy new copies instead of finding used ones.

To the point, which will have a higher percentage of used copies show up at a local Gamestop, Metroid Prime 3 or Halo 3?

This is one of the reasons Nintendo's stubbornness in embracing online gaming irks me so much: first day sales are going to be weaker for games which most players know will show up used in less than a week if they're willing to be patient. Halo 3 didn't suffer this stigma because most players are buying it for the multiplayer and thus will keep the game for a while after purchase, unlike MP3 which players will complete and likely sell back for store credit toward Mario Galaxy, which they'll also sell back for store credit for SSBB which they'll probably hold onto for a while because it has online multiplayer.

We don't live in a market paradigm where getting a game sold is the end of the battle. Games are a volatile commodity, as the trade in credit for a particular game will go down after time, urging players to beat a game quickly and sell it back quickly. The trick is giving gamers a valid reason to not bring it back to Gamestop.

It'll be interesting to see how many copies of SSBB show up used a week later...

[Ian Sane]

Online play can sometimes give a game a short shelf life if the game is too reliant on the online features.  Online games benefit from a community and that usually is the strongest when a game is brand new.  A couple months later the buzz is gone and not as many people are playing.  If the game doesn't have enough strong offline content then the game loses value.  No one wants to buy a new game specifically to play online and then discover hardly anyone is interested because they're already bored of the game.  It's a balancing act I guess.

But don't point out to publishers that used games lose them money.  They'll react in an evil corporate manner which would mean trying to get legislation passed to ensure they either get a cut on used games or to outlaw used game sales.  It's like how the music industry realized they were getting hosed with file sharing and went nuts and insane discussions like whether you should be allowed to play music at a private party where everyone gets to listen without paying come up.

Technically the lost money is largely theoretical.  The same amount of games were made and each one was paid for at the some point so it's not like there is extra manufacturing cost.  And while potential sales may have been lost potential sales is a bullsh!t figure.  You can't say you lost money because someone MIGHT have bought your product because you have no idea why they didn't.  Maybe the price was too high new.  In the case of piracy maybe the person only stole the game specifically because to them it was free and if money was involved they wouldn't have even tried it out.  Maybe they only bought the game at all because it was cheap used so they bought it on impulse.

Nintendo should embrace online more anyway just because they should keep up with the market.  Online play is expected.  Want to keep your customers happy?  Provide online when it makes sense.

As long as a profit is still made do used sales matter that much?  It isn't like anyone is going broke from this and you could never enforce any law against selling used games.  All that would do would take the used games from the legal business to the underground and if we're already being shady lets skip ahead and just pirate the game in the first place.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Don't worry, once Nintendo tracks the high level of online play through SSBB, they will make online multi much more of an importance especially when it comes to games geared toward the "hardcore". Nintendo's focus right now is to bring the non-gamer/casual into mix and getting them involved in the gaming scene.

Animal Crossing & Mario Kart Wii is coming and I'll bet the Pikmin Wii will have some online multi too. I'm also sure that 3rd parties have a bunch of online games planned, and we will start hearing about most of them sometime early in the next year.

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: Ian Sane As long as a profit is still made do used sales matter that much?  It isn't like anyone is going broke from this and you could never enforce any law against selling used games.  All that would do would take the used games from the legal business to the underground and if we're already being shady lets skip ahead and just pirate the game in the first place.

Sony tried to make game discs "cohere" to the first console they were played on at one point, but that was shot down.

As for online shortening shelf life, I don't think it's an issue when people buy games specifically for online multiplayer.

I mean, how many of the 4 million copies of Halo 3 were bought with the intention of playing through the single player and then putting the game down forever? I'd guess a very, VERY small percentage.

In fact, Halo 3 proves that online multiplayer alone can push a game's sales much further than single player does. Nintendo seems to be sobering to the fact that a solid multiplayer can push a game a lot further, like Mario Strikers and BWII. I just hope they continue with the trend and make sure to add online play when and wherever they can.

I can't make one, but I'd like to do a poll where we list games and say, Kept it, sold it back, would have kept it with online play.

[Ian Sane]

"In fact, Halo 3 proves that online multiplayer alone can push a game's sales much further than single player does."

Yeah but will ANYONE buy Halo 3 once Halo 4 comes out?  Probably not.  However an offline game like Metroid Prime 3 would still sell after Metroid Prime 4 comes out.  Once Halo 4 is out the online community for Halo 3 will dry up and the game will become useless if no one likes the single player.  But to be fair this happens with any multiplayer focused title.  That's probably why Mario Kart only shows up once per console.  A second Mario Kart would kill sales of the other one.

You want to do the poll?  Every game I've ever owned - KEPT.  But I don't trade stuff in and if someone stole every game I had there are some I would have no desire to replace.

[Mario]

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Online play can sometimes give a game a short shelf life if the game is too reliant on the online features. Online games benefit from a community and that usually is the strongest when a game is brand new.

This is definitely the case for Mario Strikers, especially in Australia where there isn't many people online period. There's only about 20 people online in the game in any given day now when there was up to 1000 at launch, I haven't even touched the single player mode and never plan to (dont want my mad skillz to be "weakened" by playing against AI), and now I hardly ever play it because its purely a competitive game and you can't play it offline with casuals because you'll win 18-0 and it'll be boring. Though the hours I did get while the game was new for the first few months were fantastic.

I bet most people returning Prime 3 did it because they were bored out of their mind after the first half hour. That's what caused me to not even buy the game.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Dead franchise, zero marketing, it all makes SENSE.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well Ian I agree with you that the big difference between a offline and online modes is that the offline mode will always be accessable since its always available and that the online modes have an expiration date and I agree with you that if the servers for x game is a ghost town then the appeal of the game drops significantly especially if they have no offline multiplayer component or no offline component at all. Also the other thing I'm surprised that you neglected is that what if the publisher/developer shuts down the server, once that happens then its SOL for the players.

My belief is that if the online mode is compelling enough and functional to hold the interest of people then it will prosper hell if you look at the connectivity charts of the wifi connection stuff like Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing Wild World are still going strong even if they have the "oppressive and horrible" friend codes everyone bitches about on here.

[Infernal Monkey]

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Originally posted by: BlackNMild2k1
Don't worry, once Nintendo tracks the high level of online play through SSBB, they will make online multi much more of an importance especially when it comes to games geared toward the "hardcore".

I sure hope not.

[KDR_11k]

Online play doesn't fit into every game.

I think 10 resales of the same copy is an overestimation, most people are not careful enough to let the copy survive more than 3-4 owners.

Also remember that the ability to resell a game lowers the cost to the buyer, if he thinks "yeah it's 60$ but after I finish it I can get 30 of that back through resale" he considers the expense effectively 30$. No resales and that suddently jumps up to 60$. The only issue I see is that used sales have such a huge difference between buy and sell price. I guess offering some non-transferrable bonus (like 500 Wii points or something) with a new copy would force GameStop to make the used copies cheaper than now since they lack the bonus stuff which would decrease the amount of money pulled from the market every time that game is resold. Another thing would be to reduce the price stores have to pay for the games, as it is most stores don't make much money on games so they stock them only to draw customers into the store.