Just my 2 pence.. (Gaming)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Sunday, May 29, 2016, 18:04 (3104 days ago) @ Raflection

Just a side note, the game industry is so different to both music and film as the game industry is an interactive experience. You listen to a song or watch a film until they are finished, you have no influence on the song or film. If you listened to

I was merely saying that the game industry is VERY DIFFERENT from music and film as such, must be treated separately.

You wouldn't compare a magazine to watching TV, would you?

Just wanted to jump in and say that how interactive a product is has little baring on used/new markets, resale value, etc. Videogames and music or movies are directly comparable because they are all entertainment. The fact that games are interactive makes them unique in terms of the nature of the entertainment, sure. But it does not make them inherently more valuable in the long term. I do get the point you're making, but we need to remember that the vast majority of people don't even finish a game once, much less replay it several times. And as far as music or movies go, the fact that it is a "static" experience does not harm their "replayability". I can play an album through my headphones on the way to work, then listen to it quietly in the background while I'm cooking dinner, then have some friends over and crank it through the stereo while everyone gets drunk and dances around. Same music, but totally different experiences. And yes, hearing music in these different ways will allow you to appreciate it in different ways, too. That's part of the fun :)

Firstly, thank you for a well structured reply with actual valid points.

Likewise :)

I especially like the reference to music being a

static experience

Whilst yes it is true it doesn't affect their repeatability, it does affect their value used to some extent.

I guess the main issue is the absolute abundance of multiple copies of the same music/film from different sources. I could find 18 YouTube channels all with the same song uploaded for example.

The absolute effortlessness of obtaining 2nd hand music and films means you don't even have to pay for a "used" copy.

Games on the other hand and very hard to re-create from their original source. I do not believe used sales affects the gaming industry negatively however, I wholely agree for the points above the music and film industry are very negatively impacted due to actual loss of sales.

I see that as more of a technological difference vs a difference in the nature of the content. The reason music is so easily found all over the Internet is because it's easy to do. There are so many different ways to grab a simple audio file and throw it online. If it were possible to do the same with videogames, we'd already see it.

But to your point, yes the abundance of ways to hear music can be seen as a loss of potential sales. But I'm not convinced it makes THAT much of a difference. The advantage to buying music is that you can listen to it whenever you want, wherever you want, as often as you want. YouTube is great if I want to check out a song to see if I like it or not, but there are still enough limitations to it that it doesn't replace purchasing a song or album that I REALLY care about. And on the flip side, it might actually lead me to buy MORE music, because I can check stuff out without paying any money, then buy it if I like it.
I see YouTube and soundcloud as more of a replacement for the radio than actual sales.

All that being said, there is absolutely a generation gap. Younger people today are not used to owning anything: they stream their music, TV, and movies, and games are not far behind. I asked my coworker's 17-year-old daughter "what was the last album that you bought" and she looked at me like I was crazy. The idea of owning an album would never occur to her and her friends.