Why Game Publishers (and the Auto Industry) Need to Revisit Econ 101

As the world slips further into an economic abyss, several industries have sought financial help from their respective governments, especially the auto industry.  There were several excellent pieces written by Thomas Friedman about why the auto industry should be left to its own fate and how it can reinvent itself for the future.  The crux of his argument, with which I mostly agree, is that the American auto industry should suffer the consequences because they refused to innovate where other companies did. 

The capitalist principle of innovating on a product to keep the market in your favor is necessary for a variety of reasons that we all learned about in either Econ 101 or by visiting any Apple store in late January.  Similarly, video game developers and publishers must use this principle to address their problems with the used game market.  Their current strategy is to cry.  The used game industry provides a tremendous service and value to the consumer.  I'm not referring solely to gamestop , but the myriad of services that allow the you and I access a game without having to buy it in shrink wrap.  There are tons of games that we want to play, but don't want to pay full retail price or wait for a sale/price drop.  Hell, there are several games I want to play but don't want to spend any money on, ever! And the used game industry provides a means for us to address this issue.  And what the market wants, the market traditionally gets and whinning about it isn't going to do any good.  

However, innovation can help everyone! For example, I recently traded away several PC games via goozex only to rebuy them through Steam.  Why? Steam allows me to easily install the games on multiple machines or put them right back where they were after I format my hard drive.  That is a service I'm willing to pay (twice) for and prevents me from reselling.  Console publishers need to develop similar improvements to their approach that will encourage you and I to consistently buy new.  Unfortunately, I don't have any good suggestions at this time, but I think that the inclusion of bonus content with the initial purchase (and not as rip off DLC) is a good start as per Gears 2 or NBA live.  However, strides should be made to avoid punishing the users for not buying new a la Nintendo's Wii Speak model or Epic's suggestions.  That method is akin to pushing Hummers when gas is $4 a gallon.  Using that tactic is sure to lead to a bad response from the market and the US government will never bailout the games industry.  

Always Call the Police

This has nothing to do with games or politics but it is a word of warning to the 0 people that follow this blog - if you ever get into a car accident, be sure to call the police immediately!!! I am perhaps the only person on this dying planet that did not know this and foolishly did not call the cops after I got tagged by a moron driver named Heidi Thomsonn.  As such, I am stuck with a dented car and a no insurance money. 

Always call the police - before you even get out of the car, call the cops!!!!!!

Leftist Advocate: Your Buck Doesn't Really Stop at Gamestop

I recently went through a video game purge.  My game bulimia was inspired by my recent move in which I packed 3 boxes full of video games that I have not touched in over a year.  This included an N64 collection that had not touched a TV since in over 7 years as shown by the still connected RF adapter.  After lugging these "classics" to the new place and falling short on shelf space for my newer games, I had to face the facts - I had squeezed all the frustration (and most of the achievement points) from Assassin Creed, Shadowrun, Crackdown, and many more.  This led to a new predicament - what do I do with this trash that would be someone else's treasure? 

I decided to unload them via Goozex and Gamestop using an arbitrary system I invented to determine which provided the maximum benefit.  There is often a ton of negative press for Gamestop, much of which is well deserved.  Yet, I am here to argue in favor of the nation's largest dedicated video game retailer.  In this story, I brought in a bunch of merchandise that I would never again  touch and, without any personal risk, walked out with credit towards a future purchase that I would inevitably make.  My initial disappointment that I had brought in almost $500 worth of merchandise to receive back $110.82 was alleviated by two thoughts - 1) there is no other area is which there is an "authorized" method for returning heavily used electronic merchandise for a monetary compensation and 2) most of my trades were PS2 and gamecube games.  I say authorized as there are tons of peer to peer services such as ebay, goozex, CAG trading, etc. that allow you to trade or sell games, but carry some risk and a delayed reward.  I certainly won't be able to give anyone my old HDTV for credit towards a new one when the time comes to replace it.  There was no one that wanted my shitty 4 year old router when I needed to buy a new one this weekend.  Yet Gamestop gladly took my Jak 1, 2, and 3 and gave me about $5 bucks to use towards something else.  The store is immediate, safe, and useful (albeit underwhelming in credit for games more than 15 days old).  Recently, I traded in my near death 360 that was readying itself for its 5th visit to McCallen, TX for $151.80, which I was able to combine with that $5 (and much more) for a brand new elite.  

As such, I've revised my harsh opinion on Gamestop and their trade in racket in light of their being a method to efficiently unload merchandise that would most likely find its way to the trash can.  I agree that their return prices should be higher, but I'm satisfied to receive any return on my investment, especially if it keeps me from falling into old habits.  

What's your method of dealing with your older games? Gamestop, Goozex, Ebay, Ikea (for more shelving)

Next Entry: Much like the Auto Industry, Game Publishers need to take Econ 101 

It's Chambless - Not Chambmore

This past Tuesday incumbent Senator Saxby Chambless was relected.  Mr. Chambless defeated rival Jim Martin in a run off because he failed to receive the necessary 50% + 1% on election day. The run off was forced by the popularity of Barack Obama on the Novemember 5th election who led many people to vote for his democratic opponent.  Those people stayed home on the 2nd. Chambless' victory speech was broadcast all over the news on Tuesday & Wednesday both here in Atlanta and (I assume) the national news.  His speech carried a very different tone than the ones Americans heard after the general election.  Rather than proclaiming his victory as an achievement of this nation and a mark for progress, it was filled with statements proclaiming his ability to block those ideals.  It's surprising to hear a senator expound his desire to continue to the failed policy of the republicans after being forced to a runoff.  I suppose we should give Mr. Chambless some credit for bucking the this year's trend of hope and change - after all he did win with traditional right wing attack politics (and because the Democratic opposition wasn't very good, but that will be just between you and I).  

What upsets me the most is the grand standing done Mr. Chambless.  Especially when isn't too surprising he won despite the negative environment for his party.  He was a republican incumbent senator who won in a state that went for John McCain and whose response to Barack Obama's victory was to purchase as many assault weapons as possible.  The primary reason for the spike in gun sales? Those who live in southern Georgia were "terrified" about the Obama administration.  As such, Mr. Chambless should not proclaim his victory as a hard fought battle that will prevent this country and its new administration from coming out of the worst economic recession in recent memory.  His victory was an expected win in a traditionally republican state, using a traditional right wing campaign, and, evidently, means he is going to keep our country on the (more recent) tradition of failure. So Mr. Chambless, please stop doing what traditional republicans do by pretending you know what it is like to win in combat when you haven't seen a battlefield and remember your name ends in what you probably contribute to this country - less.   

Achievement Unlocked - You've kicked the habit

I was never a person who cared about high scores, collectibles, or seeing every ending to my games. One play through to see the ending and maybe a few side quests and I was ready to move on. So you could imagine my surprise when I found myself chugging through hour 15 of Army of Two's horrendous multiplayer to unlock my "Retirement Savings Plan" achievement. Something about seeing the little achievement unlocked bubble or the filled in achievement icon page for the game makes me so happy. I'll admit it, I was a full fledged achievement whore. That was until I played through Too Human.

I finished the single player campaign for Too Human with a big frown on my face. I couldn't stand the game from beginning to end. My complaints are pretty much the same as everyone else's, so I'll skip that bitch fest for now. After seeing the mediocre ending, I checked out what achievements I missed on my first run through and guessed I would be playing this game for another 2-3 weeks if I was to reach the full 1000/1000. With Dead Space, Fable 2, and Fallout 3 on the shelf and Gears 2 in the mail, I was faced with a tough decision. Move on to another game that I would probably enjoy immensely or suffer through several more weeks of pain with Too Human to satisfy my addiction. Typically I would have chosen the latter. For proof, check my gamer card for Army of Two, Conan, and Shadowrun. But this time, I chose to eject Too Human from my disc drive and my life. Maybe it was my realization that I'm now an adult and don't have as much free time, maybe it was knowing that I'll never get through my backlog if I don't move on, or maybe it was a deep understanding that having a full 1000 in Too Human isn't anything to brag about (no offense to those that do). Thanks to Goozex, I will never even be tempted to return to that game.

Now, I'm still a recovering achievement junkie/whore - I'm playing Dead Space a third time for the final achievement and I would like to get the full 1000 in Gears 2 - but at least these are games that I enjoy.

Are any of you guys hopelessly addicted to achievements? What is that appeal that draws us in? If you kicked the habit, what was your method (or game) that helped you walk away from an incomplete game?


And - anyone wanna get some gears 2 achievements (Tag: Mindzeye82)? (I said I was recovering!)

Greener Pastures for Detroit

Check any car manual and it will indicate that the driver should immediately investigate any unusual noises coming from under the hood.  If any lights on the dashboard turn on, the vechile should be brought to a trained professional right away. Given how many warnings the big three auto makers have been seeing on their economic dashboard, its surprising none of them bothered to investigate.  It appeared that despite driving for several years with the "Danger - Global Warming" light on or the words "Hummer Sales Dropping" rattling from the engine, they refused to make any major changes.  They decided to avoid innovation and continue to create products that many Americans did not need, let alone want.  The biggest sign of creativity was from GM who created the electric car which spurred Toyota and Honda to turn to their drawing boards for a competitive product.  However, GM decided to walk away from this endevour and put their money behind the hummer while the Japanese developed hybrids.  I suppose we should give credit to GM - without them we wouldn't have the Prius or the Hybrid Civic.  

The auto industry is such a deep part of American culture and success that we can't leave it behind.  But we cannot tolerate it as it is now.  This country has the largest and most complex roadway system in the world, which means that we should have the most advanced and efficient cars in the world. Unfortunately, we never had the leverage to make the American car industry make these changes.  Now we do. If we bail out the auto industry, I hope it leads to a greener Detroit and a greener America.  

I recommend this column in the Times  for further reading.