Batman Arkham City

[Eusis]

So it doesnt sound like they charging you any more for the code.

Huh, maybe someone came to the wrong conclusion elsewhere, plus it sounds like they did this with MK. Seems to kind of undermine the point and only serve to frustrate people who wanted to rent or borrow from a friend really.

And... uhh, 20% off for owning Arkham Asylum on Steam ended up enough of a sale for me. Helps I had $5 in the store wallet that WASN'T going to Deus Ex's DLC.

[Kevadu]

How does it undermine the point?  The point was to make money off of used game sales, which is what they are doing.  I completely agree with Maxximum, here.  It's impossible that Gamestop is doing this without paying WB for the privilage.  First of all I don't even know how else they could get the codes, but even if they managed somehow they would be sued six ways from Sunday for doing this without permission.

If anything I think this demonstrates how massive Gamestop's margins on used games are, since they can afford to buy codes without changing their prices.

[Eusis]

Well, if you want to discourage people from buying used in general you might not want to ink a deal for a free code with the retail chain that leads in used sales. They can't just throw offers like that with every game, so they'll probably lose out on a 3DS or Wii game.

[Demon_Princess_Kay]

Sigh, both the article you posted and the one it cites as the source seem to ignore some fairly obvious points that, in my opinion, are pretty safe to assume. I find it hard to believe that GS would be able to just go ahead and print these codes at their leisure without either paying WB a boatload of cash for the privilege, or simply buying out a ton of them in advance. Either way, WB are going to get paid. Instead, they both seem to suggest that this is done without WBs consent. The codes are still doing their job here, especially since Gamestop is hardly the exclusive retailer of used games around the world,  making these codes far from "pointless". So, I'm going to assume that the authors are both either nerd baiting, or simply have the combined IQ of an eggplant. I'm guessing its the former, since its a fairly popular way to rack up views.

That other article links to this http://www.hotbloodedgaming.com/2011/10/14/gamestop-will-give-online-passes-to-people-who-buy-arkham-city-used/ which links to this http://kotaku.com/5849828/dont-fret-used-gamers-gamestop-has-catwoman-codes-for-preowned-arkham-city-purchasers and the one on Kotaku even says they did the same thing with MK.

[Adapheon]

Well, if you want to discourage people from buying used in general you might not want to ink a deal for a free code with the retail chain that leads in used sales. They can't just throw offers like that with every game, so they'll probably lose out on a 3DS or Wii game.

I don't think it's so much to discourage used sales as to make some money off of them. There are a lot of players that don't buy new games and really if they're gonna buy used anyways what's better: hoping that person pays $10 for a code or having the retailer lay down the money beforehand?

As for the game itself? So far it's amazing.

[Agent D.]

So gamefly came through and this lovely gem arrived at my door today. Now the bad news...

Pretty sure my ps3 is either dying entirely or i am having a massive harddrive issue. Anytime a game is installed to my system, i get terrible graphic issues and now, incessant freezing. I'm contacting sony tomorrow to see what can be done, and am gonna try to play some more of this, cuz it' s pretty awesome. I love teh batmans yo.

[PaleRobbie]

Liking Arkham City quite a bit, but the controls are a little cumbersome and complicated.  I had a hard time gliding Batman through the AR training at first, and trying to remember how to use each gadget and device in his arsenal can be tricky.  Still liking it, but it isn't the friendliest interface around. 

[Agent D.]

I agree, there really should be a combat training mode or even a practice mode for playing with your combat moves and gadgets. Also, gliding is terrible in game, the turning is so inaccurate that you waste more time trying to fine tune the landing that yoh lose time if you were rushing to an objective. I already have learned the awesomness of grapnel cancelling though, almost like spiderman web slinging.

Also of note, my freezing issues really show themselves in riddler rooms. My god it's annoying.

[laserSquad]

Up till now I did not care for the online passes because I hardly ever touch MP. Slicing single player marks a new low for videogaming though.

Fact is, they`re only doing this because they can get away with it. I`d like to see anyone try this kind of stuff with music/books/film/etc...it would cause massive uproar from all quarters (sort of like when Intel had the genius idea to charge 50 bucks to "unlock" some megahertz` on the chip you bought). Here, it`s few posts on forums, some articles on angry/obscure blogs and that`s it, business as usual. All the big sites bang on about how great this game is (which is probably true) but not seen one yet that would mention this issue.

What they should really do, try a system similar to music or film licensing - where second hand shops/rentals pay some small percentage from sale to the publisher. I buy most of my games second hand for financial reasons and wish I could "support the devs" (partially a myth btw) much more...can`t afford games new, but few bob more on a used game would be ok. Besides, Gamestop could easily afford to cover it themselves, given how ridiculous their profit margins are.

[Maxximum]

Well, if you want to discourage people from buying used in general you might not want to ink a deal for a free code with the retail chain that leads in used sales. They can't just throw offers like that with every game, so they'll probably lose out on a 3DS or Wii game.

Capcom was trying to discourage used game sales with their single non erasable save file. This, on the other hand, is clearly meant to generate money from used game sales for WB. In fact, depending on how much the game is sold to retailers for, these may actually end up generating a higher profit than new games do. A single copy becomes a sort of goose that lays golden eggs. As for the GS deal, is actually in favour of WB. It may seem like Gamespot is being swell here, showing WB where they can stick their evil code. What they are actually doing, is giving them a guaranteed code sale with every copy. Its an everybody wins scenario. Sadly, I cant see this trend going away, if anything, its going to get worse.

[Yoda]

Catwoman is hot. Therefore I shall buy this NEW

[Agent D.]

Talia is wayyyyyy hotter. Therefore i may be buying this from lamefly this week.

[Demon_Princess_Kay]

Well, if you want to discourage people from buying used in general you might not want to ink a deal for a free code with the retail chain that leads in used sales. They can't just throw offers like that with every game, so they'll probably lose out on a 3DS or Wii game.

Capcom was trying to discourage used game sales with their single non erasable save file. This, on the other hand, is clearly meant to generate money from used game sales for WB. In fact, depending on how much the game is sold to retailers for, these may actually end up generating a higher profit than new games do. A single copy becomes a sort of goose that lays golden eggs. As for the GS deal, is actually in favour of WB. It may seem like Gamespot is being swell here, showing WB where they can stick their evil code. What they are actually doing, is giving them a guaranteed code sale with every copy. Its an everybody wins scenario. Sadly, I cant see this trend going away, if anything, its going to get worse.

I don't see anything unfortunate from this it's good business no matter how you look at it. Gamestop gets used sales, WB gets money from the used sales and the consumer is still paying less than what they would for a new copy. Everybody DOES win. I'm not a fan of most of what gamestop does for the most part i think it's run by morons. They do moronic things like open every new copy of almost every game which makes me not want to shop there at all opened games are not new, but this is a good business move for everyone involved there is nothing sad or unfortunate about it.

[laserSquad]

Gamestop might be big in USA but here in Europe they are not. Other chains or smaller retailers won`t get a deal like this. And what about Amazon/Ebay? This sucks very badly and will get worse, no doubt.

Online MP passes could discourage piracy because of servers - this SP nonsense will fuel it.

[Agent D.]

So i've reached the steel mill second visit in game, and i keep getting game freezes as soon as i hit a certain spot. Rage inducing, especially because i was having a ball in game doing everything. If you're a batman fan and haven't tried this there's something wrong with you.