GameStop to Give Used Arkham City Buyers Free Catwoman Code
by Alex Co, posted on 14 October 2011 / 2,120 Views
We already reported on how Batman: Arkham City will be utilizing the online pass system to deter used game sales - understandably, this has caused an uproar in the gaming community. Used game buyers need not fear - if you're buying from GameStop at least, as the retail giant has revealed in an internal memo that they will be supplying codes for used Arkham City games bought at their establishment.
Sent by an anonymous tipster to Kotaku, the news has since been verified in various GameStop locations. Used Arkham City buyers will get the code printed on the back of their receipt. Not a bad deal...if you're buying from GameStop.
An image of the memo can be seen here.
I think it's safe to say that online passes and the sort are here to stay, whether people approve of it or not. Does this new GameStop news alleviate some of your worries or does it worry you more that this sort of thing is being cornered by one of the biggest retailers in the world?
Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City will be hitting retailers this coming October 18 for the PS3 and Xbox 360; with the PC version hitting in November.
This sucks even more: the industry makes a deal with GameStop, that actually is the one that supposedly damaged the new games market the most, and screws single users that sell their games directly to other people. As usual megacorps always find an agreement to stop fighting, and the agreement usually implies getting together to screw the users more and better.
still sucks. i'm buying new so it doesn't matter. looks like 1 publisher was able to work out a deal and still get paid.
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Because it's 5 dollars cheaper for the exact same thing. If you don't care about it being "new". Though you can get it cheaper used elsewhere.
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Question is, how long will Gamestop supply these codes? If I get the game next year, do I still get Catwoman free? The publishers are finding new ways to get as much cash out of you as possible. It's pathetic. This is why I almost never buy a game new, unless it's freaken amazing, or I know the price won't drop. Batman is awesome, but this one is one I'll wait a bit for.
obviously for the codes to work game stop must get them from some where so it looks like they are paying WB for them to work, so WB gets money from used sales upfront and game stop gets to sell used without mucking people around with purchasing an online pass later
Well publishers are only doing online pass because retailers like Gamestop are refusing to cut them in on the used game deal. Now Gamestop will bump up their price of used games and give publishers the cut they've been wanting all along. Will make buying used in private transactions even cheaper. If you can buy used from GS at $30 then private sales should be down at $20 or less. In the past private sales and GS sales would be similar price. It's actually a good thing. It keeps the used game market alive, while keeping prices down.
Not really interested in this game. But is gamestop actually paying for the codes? The publisher will probably stop this if at all possible.
Hmm, I wonder if this also applies in the UK, as I live not too far from one of Gamestop's few UK outlets.
Well, there goes that option to have the industry compensate developers for work they did. Good old Gamestop undermining this.
Dude your acting like there not getting any money off the first sales. You know how much gamestop makes off first sales $5, they need the used market and devs get hundreds of millions from sales, they need to stop crying
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They have to pay warner brothers for the codes. So in essence it works how they intended. I buy lots of games that aren't that interesting off ebay used because it's cheaper, if it's good maybe I'll buy the sequal or a product from that company new in the future.
Used textbook companies don't get money on used textbooks.
Instead of getting no money. They now get some.
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Sorry for the long comment, I can't edit. But, this is better for Warner Bros. Because they get money for every used copy. Gamestop would probably otherwise sell the game without full content, some people wouldn't purchase the pass, be gimped content, and they could look at Rocksteady unfavorably because of this.
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square-enix isn't publishing this game (except in japan). This is only warner brothers universal everywhere else.
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And lose a whole fuck ton of sales that'd they get from new sales? I don't think so. Gamestop's probably still the #1 seller for games in North America.
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Please. Gamestop needs the gaming industry, not the other way around. If you guys are really that cheap, just rent or let the price drop to 39.99 or lower like I do.
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