Posted on 02/17/2012 at 02:05 PM
| Filed Under Feature
I feel absolutely no sympathy for publishers who aren't turning a big enough profit and using the online pass to dissuade used game purchases. Used sales are a part of their industry - like it or not. The rules of capitalism dictate that you need to change your business plan if you aren't able to turn a profit. The online pass is certainly a means of doing this, but it's not going to be a lasting solution.
If they want to turn a profit, they need to start changing budgets. Just like Jesse wrote in his editorial, the AAA model is not a lasting one. We need properly priced games, we need smaller budgets and smaller scoped games, we need more business savvy publishers who want to shift and change along with the market.
I refuse to buy games with online passes. They hurt consumer rights and they harm the historical integrity of games. How will future generations play the Catwoman missions in Batman when the game is no longer in print? The answer is, they won't. Thanks online passes!