Are Gamers Getting Ripped Off?

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Published on November 19, 2014

What’s something that could give a gamer headaches?

Stacking them up and starting over! Yup, thats it.

Well, what does that mean?

Buying new games after purchasing a new game system!

For example, if a person has 40 games for the Xbox 360 and decides to buy the PS4 or Xbox 1, they have to purchase all new games and start all over…yes all NEW games!

For instance, if someone buys Madden15 for PlayStation 3 but then decides to buy the PlayStation 4, they would have to re-buy that same game…for the same price!

According to Stealthybox.com, games cost $59.99 at retail, making the cost of $64.79 per game after tax.

Why should a gamer have to waste more money by re-buying the same game that he or she has already previously purchased?

Obviously, these game companies do it to grab more money out of people’s pockets, but shouldn’t there be another way to satisfy buying customers and still keep their wallets fat?

“It’s annoying when you have to start all over with buying new games. They [game companies] should do something about that,” said Al Garcia, 26, who is a student at HCC.

When the PlayStation 2 was first created, gamers were able to play their PlayStation 1 games on to the PlayStation 2. Even when the Xbox debuted, people were able to play those old games on the Xbox 360.

Now?

The new systems won’t allow game converting because the companies believe that they will lose money. Unfortunately, spending about $64,79 on another game that was already brought for the previous system rubs gamers the wrong way.

Gamers believe that they should be able to convert their games from the older system to the newer one, rather than having to splurge over $60.00 for another game. Converting their games for a cheaper price would be more feasible and attainable for everyone.

“In my honest opinion, there is no need to purchase the same game for a full price. I never did it because I already save my money to buy a new game with fresh ideas. Instead developers should only charge like $10 to $15 to upgrade your last gen game to a next gen game like Activision with Call of Duty Ghosts, EA with Battlefield 4, and AC4 Black Flag,” Garcia said.

Now, that’s not something that the game companies want to hear out of the mouths of their customers, but could the customers have a point?

If game companies approved the notion of gamers being allowed to convert their games for a cheaper price, that could maybe convince more people to buy games.

For example, instead of getting a new game that a person already has, they could convert that game by either trading in or upgrading it through the system for $15 to $20.

“A cheaper price could make people buy more games because it’s cheap! Everybody can’t afford $60.00 games, man. In the end, everybody is either making money or saving it,” said Rudy Bholanath, 20, who is a consistent gamer.

Game companies have made it so that the new systems aren’t even fundamentally compatible with each other. That means that the newer software that is used on the new systems, such as a PS4 or Xbox 1 can not read the older systems games.

“But what if I wanted to play my PS2 games but didn’t have the system anymore? We should be able to update our games,” Bholanath added.

“Something needs to happen with these games, man. I remember when they used to be $39.99,” said Jelani Green, 19, who owns an Xbox 360.

I believe that game converting should be attainable and affordable for people who look to purchase games of the same kind.

The madness is alive and well, people.