Activiation of 2nd hand games

Drakar

I just got a 360 recently, and was wondering about 2nd hand games.

I remember reading something a while back about EA (I think) having a dealio where you have to login\register your game or buy the reactivation pass after that (ie if you want all the content you should expect to add €10 or whatever to their 2nd hand game prices since the original owner has most likely already registered it).

How does that work, is it easy to tell which games require it, or are there any other concerns I should have about renting\buying 2nd hand? They're obviously alot cheaper, was wondering apart from any scratching or other quality concerns, was there anything outside the re-activation I needed to consider.

Leadership

I think its pot luck, I just bought Tiger Woods 11 and activated it ok. All my other games are second hand and no problems at all with Bad Company, Red Dead etc.

I guess when I buy one that requires activation I will cough up the money.

Mickeroo

I think it doesn't happen that often as if you're buying a fairly recent game 2nd hand like Black Ops or something chances are it was traded in after they completed the single player so they might not have taken it online at all. People who play online keep there games for much longer usually.

niallon

It's only EA who have been greedy enough to do this so far. Basically, so long as you're saving adequate money by buying the pre-played just do it and take a chance.

How about they try lowering the price of games if they want to combat pre-owned? Sheesh!

calex71

Rented Medal Of Honor over Xmas there and it kept on at me to enter a code or buy one yet it let me play on line anyway after i chose to ignore it.

tman

niallon wrote: »

It's only EA who have been greedy enough to do this so far. Basically, so long as you're saving adequate money by buying the pre-played just do it and take a chance.

How about they try lowering the price of games if they want to combat pre-owned? Sheesh!

GREEDY??????!?!?!
The only greedy people in the picture are the rip-off merchants who buy the games for a fraction of their worth, then sell them on for a few quid less than the new copies on their shelves!

niallon

tman wrote: »

GREEDY??????!?!?!
The only greedy people in the picture are the rip-off merchants who buy the games for a fraction of their worth, then sell them on for a few quid less than the new copies on their shelves!

Until they accurately justify the price they charge for new games I stand by my point. I completely understand what pre-played is doing to game developers and the like and I am not for one second defending retailers selling games pre-played but the simple fact is, we are being ripped off at every turn and there's a high level of downright cheek in EA charging us more cash just because we tried to save some.

Not too many people have money to burn right now so how is it good business for a company to add a roughly €10 extra charge on to the product you have already purchased? Why are we being punished for the war between publishers and retailers? And above all else, why can't the cost of games be reduced? Konami (open for correction here) have said recently that they would not go near EA's system and are choosing to look towards lowering the cost of their titles in coming years, a far better solution in my opinion.

cython

niallon wrote: »

Until they accurately justify the price they charge for new games I stand by my point. I completely understand what pre-played is doing to game developers and the like and I am not for one second defending retailers selling games pre-played but the simple fact is, we are being ripped off at every turn and there's a high level of downright cheek in EA charging us more cash just because we tried to save some.

Arguably there is as much, if not more, blame to be leveled at the retailers selling second hand in this case, as they are the ones who set the price on the second hand games. Personally if second hand games were priced so that a second hand copy of the game, plus any code/activation, was cheaper than a new copy, I'd be happy enough to do it that way, and the fact that this activation can be bought later suggests publishers, etc would be also. Unfortunately retailers won't facilitate this.

niallon wrote: »

Not too many people have money to burn right now so how is it good business for a company to add a roughly €10 extra charge on to the product you have already purchased?

How is it "good business" for them if you buy one of their games second hand and they see absolutely nothing from it? Because that's what's happening with the "traditional" second hand trade in games.. The way you asked that question you'd swear that you were being made buy additional content after buying a brand new copy. (I am aware that there can be issues in this area when getting games to share in homes and the like, but that's a somewhat separate issue to the second hand trade issue)

niallon wrote: »

Why are we being punished for the war between publishers and retailers?

One could as easily say why are customers fuelling it by buying second hand (and arguably incomplete in the case of ones requiring activation that has already been used) games from retailers for marginally lower prices (as little as 3 euro reduction in some cases I've seen)?

niallon wrote: »

And above all else, why can't the cost of games be reduced? Konami (open for correction here) have said recently that they would not go near EA's system and are choosing to look towards lowering the cost of their titles in coming years, a far better solution in my opinion.

I agree that games can be priced over the odds, but lowering prices on them has the potential to turn into a vicious circle, as the second hand ones will drop in price to match, and then people continue saying "Ah, but I'd buy new if they weren't so expensive. They should drop the price", and the so it continues ad nauseum

niallon

cython wrote: »

Arguably there is as much, if not more, blame to be leveled at the retailers selling second hand in this case, as they are the ones who set the price on the second hand games. Personally if second hand games were priced so that a second hand copy of the game, plus any code/activation, was cheaper than a new copy, I'd be happy enough to do it that way, and the fact that this activation can be bought later suggests publishers, etc would be also. Unfortunately retailers won't facilitate this.

Again though this boils down to the publisher VS retailer argument, I am talking on a consumer level. I don't disagree with what you are saying for one second about retailers PP prices but to a consumer, if something is cheaper, we buy, simple as.

cython wrote: »

How is it "good business" for them if you buy one of their games second hand and they see absolutely nothing from it? Because that's what's happening with the "traditional" second hand trade in games.. The way you asked that question you'd swear that you were being made buy additional content after buying a brand new copy. (I am aware that there can be issues in this area when getting games to share in homes and the like, but that's a somewhat separate issue to the second hand trade issue)

This would feed more into my initial point, that publishers should be looking at lowering the price of new games to begin with. Publishers should see NOTHING from PP sales because there should be NO PP sales, lowering game costs will eradicate the PP market rather than just put a dent in it like activation codes does.

cython wrote: »

One could as easily say why are customers fuelling it by buying second hand (and arguably incomplete in the case of ones requiring activation that has already been used) games from retailers for marginally lower prices (as little as 3 euro reduction in some cases I've seen)?

Some PP games do have ridiculously small margins versus new (though in the case of Smyths, which is where I'm getting my figures from, there is always at least a €5 difference) and when there's a €5 difference leading to a €10 extra charge, then the customer should of course be wiser. But let's look at Bad Company 2 as an example. Some retailers are still selling it for €40 to €50 new whereas the PP price is generally around €25. To a customer, that is a huge saving but then you get an extra €10 slapped on for the VIP code. There are plenty more examples outside of BC2 aswell.

cython wrote: »

I agree that games can be priced over the odds, but lowering prices on them has the potential to turn into a vicious circle, as the second hand ones will drop in price to match, and then people continue saying "Ah, but I'd buy new if they weren't so expensive. They should drop the price", and the so it continues ad nauseum

I'll give you that one, that we always seek out the cheaper option, but like the above example of BC2, if the pre-played were to cost less, then the activation code, which by rights should also cost less if the new game does, will not seem as steep as the final total will amount to something more reasonable than €35 - €45. I want to support the gaming industry, and I can see the logic behind this activation code nonsense, but on the other hand, I see the better solution being reduced prices on games new rather than just trying to choke the pre-played market whilst still charging the same exorbitant prices for new games.

garv123

Drakar wrote: »

I just got a 360 recently, and was wondering about 2nd hand games.

I remember reading something a while back about EA (I think) having a dealio where you have to login\register your game or buy the reactivation pass after that (ie if you want all the content you should expect to add €10 or whatever to their 2nd hand game prices since the original owner has most likely already registered it).

How does that work, is it easy to tell which games require it, or are there any other concerns I should have about renting\buying 2nd hand? They're obviously alot cheaper, was wondering apart from any scratching or other quality concerns, was there anything outside the re-activation I needed to consider.

see what youve started op. this went on already in the games thread when it was moved from the xbox forum.

its only for online games by EA.

it restricts the amount of maps you can access in shooters without buying codes.
you can still play battlefield and medal of honor but not all the maps without buying codes.
so far ive only heard of it in battlefield medal of honour and tigerwoods. check the inside of the box when buying a ea game. if the code is intact/not scratched off buy it. it if is ask how much is it new and if its about 12 euro cheaper second hand buy the second hand copy.

rizzla

THQ also charge for online they did it with UFC2010. EA offer a few days to try out the online for free, if you have rented it or other.

I'm happy with what they do and fully support it.

calex71

rizzla wrote: »

EA offer a few days to try out the online for free, if you have rented it or other.

Ha thats how I was able to play MOH so when I rented it

Drakar

Oops, sorry I started whatever this was :P

Thanks for the info. I got tigerwoods11 new (25 yoyos in xtravision). Was looking in gamestop too at a few different games, and the difference between new and 2nd hand didnt seem to justify it. Shame you cant tell beforehand though...