Ashery said:
But one can buy almost anything second hand: Music, books, cars, electronics, clothes etc. What makes the video game industry so special that they feel that they can prevent this? Unless something is physically consumed, there will be a second hand market for it.
And I know that's a bit of a tangent from your post and the statement is not directed at you. I just wonder why the fuck the video game industry thinks they're special and not like every other non-direct consumption industry.
They don't feel they're special. They, like any sane businessmen, want to sell, and are offering you a nice bonus if you buy it from them . Just like a peddler on the street will sell you his wares cheaper than if you bought it in the general store across the street. He wants to motivate you, and what's better for that than throwing in some swag (free shit) in the deal?
You're free to buy it second hand, but you won't get the bonus.
Is it so wrong? This is not DRM that prevent you from installing the same copy more than X times, I think this is a p good idea because it offers you something optional, but interesting enough for you to consider buying it from them. Works too, since these are one time only codes.
I just hope no one comes with "but they should've included it in the game in the first place!". No, it's their game and they will include whatever they want, you aren't entitled to anything because you can choose if you want to buy the damn thing or not.
In fct, the topic title is correct, this is a brilliant marketing strategy. I'm sure you can just pirate the damn extras, but let's forget about that.
When high quality games with a lot of replay value come out, it's hard to find "second hand" copies available, or atleast cheap second-hand copies.
Instead of strong-arming customers out of the full experience, a more pro-consumer approach would be to make the game good enough so that people don't sell it in the first place (e.g. Blizzard's signature expansive multiplayer).
That doesn't work because it's based on the premise people will hang on to games they like and will sell only shit they didn't like enough, when the truth is that people that sell their games will do so regardless of liking the game or not. People that sell games usually do so to get money to buy the next title, or to get money for other reasons more important than games.
It also needs a "good enough" game to work, and most developers think their games are good enough (either because they genuinely like their work, or because they feel it's good enough; they don't want the sales to flop, so they'll put work into it until they feel it's good enough). There are few games that rank as "so good they cost more now than when they came out". some rare PS titles, for example. It's kinda unrealistic to trust your game to be like those gems in the first place, and include that in your plans.
btw, blizzard multiplayer doesn't count as a good example because it's much different from single player games.
