Boo hoo....

Why does everyone bang on about piracy and the people downloading games they probably weren't going to pay for anyway, when game group continues to get away with reselling games and paying nothing to the producers, making 100% profit on games they've sold multiple times,

My friend is adamantly anti piracy, he won't download an album, even watch a downloaded tv program, yet he won't buy a new game, he gets them all pre owned from ebay or game etc, logic please?

I dont think you can say its affecting all of the market, they are going through their "we are the best so can stamp on the consumer" stage, again.

I know a lot of people whom they have snubbed and are going else where, even if it cost them more.

People are voting with their wallet and companies with bad customer services are suffering

Tried to buy a silver DS in Game (and via their website). Didn't have it in the bundle I wanted online, and the silver had sold out in the shop.

Went to Gamestation instead.

To Scum AC above : As far as I know, it's perfectly legal to resell console games in this country - why are you so upset about it? The manufacturers have already made the money on the original sale, they are not entitled to any more are they? You don't to pay Ford every time you sell a second hand Escort, do you? You don't find jumble sales having to pay the producer of the jumper cash everytime it gets resold, do you?

Your mate gets a good deal - games don't deteriorate, so buying second hand you get exactly the same thing but cheaper (I know, just bought games off Ebay that were mint condition for half price)

I thought Game owned Gamestation.

I contacted them regarding purchasing Guitar Hero World Tour (full) works to be told that they do not sell to the Republic of Ireland, which is news to me seeing that I pass one of their shops daily here in Dublin.

Selling something you own for it's value to someone else I don't have a problem with, that's what money is for, game sit in the middle making money from that trade between people, siphoning off money they would have no part in were it not for the industry they'll gladly omit when given the chance but that they depend on entirely to exist

My main point was why be oh so anti piracy when you don't contribute to that industry either, if everyone bought exclusively second hand stuff, well, you wouldn't have much choice would you?

well play.com probably have something to do with this as more and more people I know buy from them because they are cheaper, free delivery and normally have what I want in stock (where as game often don't).

I work so often I cant get out to retail stores often so when im ordering online I go with the cheapest price.

Second-hand sales aren't siphoning money off anyone. The producer has sold one copy of the game, and that's where they make their profit. After that, that copy belongs to me. I can sell it.

Your argument that resellers somehow "owe" something to the original producer is ... weird, to say the least, as is the comparison with piracy. Should I pay Ford a tax to be able to sell a used car?

Also, if I buy a second-hand game I *am* contributing to the industry, in that if people know there is a secondary market, they are more likely to buy a copy of a game they'd find too costly otherwise (because they'll figure they can resell it and recoup part of the cost).

Amazon, Tesco, Asda (and as noted Play) almost always undercut Game / Gamestations price, so I don't use them.

I also dislike the fact they abuse the near monopoly on the hightstreet they have, and try force you to buy a bundle of tat on anything in short supply. (Wii Fit £70, Wii Fit with a silicone antl slip mat and rechargable pack £90, and Gamestations will not sell it without the bundle.)

And lets not forget that they went and bought the cheaper XB360's and Wii that Sainsbury sold and re-sold them in their own stores. It's probably not illegal, but it's certainly sharp practice from the company who get the lions share of distribution anyway to ensure people have to buy the bundles they sell.

Nope, still not with you. Not sure of the connection you are making between buying second hand and piracy. Surely buying second hand puts more money in to the chain - money that will in all likelihood be used to buy another game (2nd hand or new - eventually the chain gets back to new of course). Piracy puts no money in to the chain whatsoever.

Even Games middleman trading puts money back in to the chain - the fact that they pay little but charge lots is their lookout - if you want more money for your games, try Ebay, or similar. You dont have to use them, they just try to make as much money out of the consumer as the consumer will bear. Pretty much what everyone else on the High Street does.

Nonsense, game aggresively promote the resale over first sales, every time I buy a game in there I'm asked if I want a preowned rather than a new to save a few quid, maybe I just look like I need that few quid

Well said.

I've recently been in the market for an xbox 360, and both game and gamestation seemed more interested in making sure that I bought their own insurance with it.... to the extent that even though I'd politely said I don't buy after sales insurance.

In both stores, the salesman was on either his 3rd or 6th machine, and had been without it for over 3 months while microsoft repaired it. After refusing to believe I was foolish enough to think that UK consumer law gives me adequate protection in both instances I decided on a different tack... "Is your warranty insurance backed? Only with the recession I don't necessarily trust that you will still be here in 3 years to honour the promise". Both times I walked off after telling them in front of prospective customers that I wouldn't buy a console they seemed to be promising me would almost certainly fail.

Now I'm no fanboy of any of the current gen consoles, I love xbmc on my gen1 xbox too much, but... I can't help wondering how much this sales policy contributes to the RROD story... I mean honestly what are the odds that the two salesboys I spoke to had required multiple replacements??

Oh and about the bundles - neither store would give me a price on a 60gb xbox on its own - "the bundles are fantastic value" - "not if I don't want the games on offer!"

"game sit in the middle making money from that trade between people" - er, and eBay don't? Game are acting as a middleman. If people don't want to trade in their games there, there are plenty of options available, including the aforementioned eBay. Personally I don't trade in at Game because I don't think its a particularly good deal, but that's a market choice and there's nothing wrong with that. As for the old "taking money out of publishers'/devs mouths" argument; there's actually a huge amount of evidence that GAME, particularly in its former EB incarnation, had a major influence on the growth in the UK games market, and thanks to 10 day returns, loyalty schemes and yes, pre-owned, the market here was much bigger, much earlier than other big European countries.