European law permits re-selling of digital content

In response to all the people who think this is gonna kill physical distribution, I'd just like to point out that never in human history has a medium gone completely extinct; they've only become unpopular. To this day there are still vinyl records being produced and people who buy them.

I for one predict we'll see a resurgence in Feelies (but unlike the old days, they won't be tied to any copy protection scheme) and/or other physical bonuses like posters or artbooks bundled with physical copies of games. Ni No Kuni is already leading by example on this, and it's only a matter of time before Follow the Leader kicks in.

edited 4th Jul '12 1:26:15 AM by PoochyEXE

Feelies don't make that much sense these days, especially after seeing how effective the Codex was for the Mass Effect series. It also costs quite a bit to make a paper book in comparison to an extra CD just for fluff and extra features, believe it or not.

There's an image somewhere where a guy gets a refund on a game he bought by telling Steam (who said they don't do refunds and told him to read the license agreements) that the laws in his country overrule Steam's license agreements. They gave him the refund.

I think Steam will have to oblige by the laws of the countries they distribute to.

edited 4th Jul '12 1:33:25 AM by ShadowScythe

But it's worked nicely for a couple other games. One failure doesn't disprove the viability of a concept, or else nobody would drive cars after the mess that was the Ford Pinto.

edited 4th Jul '12 1:30:59 AM by PoochyEXE

Eh Stardock trieed something like this before when Impulse is still theirs...not sure how it fares now after it got bought by Game Stop...

As near as I can tell, the ruling says companies can't forbid the resale of digital content. It doesn't say they have to provide a mechanism to do so.

@Poochy EXE: Consider that several companies now move to sell stuff exclusively online because of cost-saving and convenience (and greater profit), feelies are NOT coming back easily...unless it's a pure digital one...

edited 4th Jul '12 8:11:45 AM by onyhow

They'd have to. Because if they didn't, a black market would spring up almost immediately to capitalize on used game sales, and the companies would be losing a huge profit as a result.

And to be honest, I hope this law doesn't affect Steam and other companies, because right now what makes the whole digital download market so lucrative to game companies is the fact they don't have to worry about losing sales to used game retailers like Gamestop.

^

The thing is, it isn't really feasible to have a black market for Steam, or worse yet, Origin.(I don't use Origin, but I have a feeling it doesn't let you trade games)

What's the deal with Origin? Is it a sad attempt to compete with Steam? I don't understand why EA started it and couldn't just do things the way they always have.

As I understand it, EA and Valve got into a bit of a kerfluffle over how Steam handled DLC sales (namely, the fact that EA wanted players to go through their own store for it and not through Steam), Valve wouldn't budge at all, so EA basically threw up their hands and said "FINE! We'll start our OWN digital distribution service!"

There's not much going for EA's Origin service, either. Buying any of the older games in their library is a waste of time, since you'll be able to get it from Steam from much cheaper - whereas EA will still sell it at or near full price. Including stuff that's been released several years ago. The current sale on the C&C recent games is a good example: Steam has them for $7.50 USD right now, whereas Origin is selling them for over $25 USD.

Ah. That explains why it was such a headache getting Mass Effect 2 DLC a few months back. Basically put me off ever buying any add-ons for their games. Good job, EA.

Pretty sure you can only trade a game that hasn't been played.

My general rule of thumb is that EA is evil, and as little interaction as possible with them is a good thing.

EA wants a slice of the digital distribution pie, but they're trying to brute force their way into the market instead of trying to understand why Steam is successful. "We'll obviously make more money than Steam if we price our games higher, because people will have to pay more!"

I hate EA and their practices, but the companies they own tend to make good games, and I won't deprive myself of them because EA is evil.

Honestly I think services like Steam are the answer to piracy.

I used to pirate all my games. Or at least all the games that I didn't want to play multiplayer on.

I haven't pirated a game in ages, and I also haven't bought a boxed game in ages either. Nearly everything I've bought has been on Steam, for a variety of reasons. They have pretty good prices, access to lots of cheap and nifty indie titles out there that I've enjoyed, and it's nice to know I don't have to back up the ISO of the game somewhere, or risk damaging or losing a disk. I have well over 50 games on Steam, and they are at my fingertips for whenever I want to play them. That level of convenience coupled with a great price has made Steam almost exclusively the place where I buy games.

EA can't do it, they can't even try to compete. They are soulless leeches who just want to make a quick buck by swallowing every studio in sight and suck them dry. With exorbitant prices, rushed titles, and little to no support and obnoxious DRM in the form of Origin these days, they don't understand the concept of working for the consumer. Meanwhile, Valve is laughing at them while they swim in giant pools of money and as an example that yes, ethical and consumer friendly business practices coupled with a great idea can make you filthy rich.

This. A million times this. I haven't pirated anything since Steam.

Also, Origin causes my router to fall off the internet and requires me to physically reset it (though this might just be a uPnP problem that I'm too lazy to work around).

I hate EA too, but I get their games anywaym sorry, cannot resist it

I've gotten a few of their games too, because they keep buying studios that I like...

Now if Steam could just get Ubisoft games minus their stupid uplay service... It kept going down and made Anno 2070 suck ass as a result.

TotalBiscuit weighs in at the matter (6:04):

It is a pretty interesting issue to look at. I do like anything at the interest of the consumer, but I wonder what this would mean for sales, at least on a regional basis...

edited 5th Jul '12 4:18:27 PM by EarlOfSandvich