Why? 'Cause you can't sell anything when you decide that buying it was a mistake. (I had a big, verbose rant written out, but then decided I could make this much more concise.
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Seriously though, some of the crap I've bought just sits there taunting me, reminding me that I should think before I act. The worst offenders are the products of drunk downloading. (Fortunately, I don't drink any more.) I wish I could sell them and make some money back and feel better about them, but I can't -- and that blows.
I mean Space Giraffe for US$20? What was I thinking? Noby Noby Boy? Was I high? Even reactivating my WoW account can often make me feel dirty a few days after playing it. (The initial rush of being back is nice, and then I realise why I left, only for it then sink in that I paid $15 to play for like a week.)
I think I seriously need to avoid any kind of digital distribution from now on...
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I've got crap like Arkadian Warriors cluttering up my XBLA list and I bought the full X-Com pack on Steam knowing that everything but the first two games is utter garbage. And for some bizarre reason I bought Pixeljunk Eden on PSN, somehow thinking that it was going to be an exciting and engaging game.
I'm more forgiving of Noby Noby Boy and Space Giraffe because I only paid $5 for those, and there's magic in their insanity. Space Giraffe is not worth $20, though, and I'd imagine anyone who bought Trine for $30 feels similarly ripped off.
It'll be interesting to see if game companies are ever taken to court by gamers over the right to sell digitally distributed games. If one owns a game, shouldn't they be allowed to sell it? Game companies do not want to have that happen; they're already annoyed by the used game market, and would rather they get rid of lost sales through second and third uses of the same copy.
I think we're eventually going to an all digital distribution future, though. It's going to be too tempting for game companies to eliminate the middle-man of retail, and take pure profit, as well as cut down on lost profits through used games sales. It feels like the whole industry is gradually trying to ease us into the idea through services like WiiWare, XBLA, GameTap, Good Old Games and Steam. And if OnLive takes off... who knows.
JustPlainLucas