Has anyone actually articulated what the "threat" of second hand game sales to the video game industry really is?
Because I just don't buy it.
I'll give it a shot. But a little exposition, perhaps useless, but fun nonetheless.
The first - and only - round of money made is per pressing. Print runs and the like. Developers put together a game, and they agree to sell it in X quantity to a publisher. The publisher, who will press it and package it, will sell those copies to retail outlets.
The retailer gets it, then sells it to you and me. The retailer gets cash. That's cash the retailer made to recoup the price they paid for the physical game. That cash, now with the publisher, is recouped cost for paying the developer.
That first point of sale is final money-making opportunity for the developer and publisher.
You and I play it for a while, then we decide to get rid of it. We could put it up on Craigslist for sale Or we could trade it to a friend. Or we can sell it back to a retailer, like Gamestop. Somehow, that game changes hands to another player who (presumably) hasn't already paid for a new copy of the game before.
Note that last part. When the game changes hands from person to person, there's no money being recouped by the publisher like in the initial transaction.
Gamestop and other used game retailers take the trading aspect and have turned into a business; a business - at least with respect to used games - that devs and publishers don't get a dime from.
That's why digital distribution is seen as "solving" the "problem." You can't trade a download, especially if it's through a proprietary network like PSN or Xbox Live. They're doing the same things with movies and music, and it's annoying as fuck.
This was typed with the aid of beer, but I hope it helps.
