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- Jason and Michael talk about the used game market and Best Buy starting to offer used games and trade ins. THQ stated that this would only hurt their business but there was little sympathy and that many wouldn't ever pay full price for the game. It was discussed that with used games you are not being cheated as much paying $30 for poor quality games as you would be for paying full price for a sub-par game (Madden '11).
- The Publisher's Creative Director for WWE Games Cory Ledesma said that if used game buyers are upset that if they don't get online feature sets that he doesn't have much sympathy for them. It was then discussed that there isn't any truly "used" video game as nothing is offered besides the game itself except for online features.
- Video games are starting to become over-marketed and sub-par such as Kayne and Lynch 2 with its four hour campaign. They is starting to be less content and it is more reliant upon the community to add replayability with multiplayer but they are still charging the same amount as games with much more content. This is due to the fixed pricing system that multiple forms of media have where new games are always set at around a $60 price tag regardless of actual content.
- Gaming production budgets have peaked according to various companies which means that companies won't have to push out such poor games to recoup the costs of producing the level of art that is required. There was massive growth in the production values but it wasn't truly sustainable. EA Partner Head David DeMartini said that consumers are well informed. Before you occasionally used to be able to slide a clunker out that will do well but now people are so informed by various outfits that I don't think anybody makes an uninformed purchase anymore. This was debated as budgets are heavily weighted towards marketing which shows through in Madden '11 and Halo Reach. Halo Reach had the largest marketing budget Microsoft has ever had which raises the question of what is missing that requires such a big marketing push.
- Halo: Reach was leaked online off of Xbox Live which was billed at $1000 and was accessed through a security breach and it then spread through torrent sites. It was made available for reviewers but was only protected by a code system.
- Sony's Move is not expected to have large single day sales but for its popularity to be built upon word of mouth similar to the Playstation 2's EyeToy. The fatal flaw in this is that if no one buys it to begin with then there is no one to spread it through word of mouth. The backwards compatibility with the Move isn't a strong enough motivator to drive sales either.
- Digital distribution is needing to be added to future generations of consoles but Amazon has stopped selling Xbox Live Arcade titles. This could be due to a lack of marketing or the ease of purchase within the Arcade itself. This could also be due to Amazon having to compete with Steam who is the dominant force in digital distribution. The future for Steam is also unclear with options being to collaborate with console developers or with systems such as OnLive and create a digital rental service through Steam. Insiders at Microsoft have said that the Xbox experience will always be controlled by Microsoft.
- Sony's PR firms continue to pump up 3D technology but many others are starting to say that 3D technology will have no impact on future technologies. Thsi could however be the same with the Wii and how Nintendo didn't want to have HD games as there was no real market penetration.
- Predictions for future consoles have Microsoft making another Xbox but with more backwards compatibly, Sony holding onto the PS3 for an extended time, and Nintendo abandoning the gimmick of motion control unless they do something completely unique. Nintendo would have a regular control input but have a greater focus on the social aspect of gaming.
- Zynga has come under fire due to sidewalk vandalism that has been committed to advertise the new Mafia Wars game, in the form of fake $25,000 bills glued to sidewalks in San Francisco. The bills direct people to a Mafia Wars website.
- Game review sites are losing credibility due to allegations that companies are able to buy positive reviews from them. GameSpot fired and editor and top reviewer reportedly due to pressure from the advertiser because he posted a negative review of Kayne & Lynch. IGN has been bought by NewsCorp which means that they lose the little amount of trust they had.
This Week In Games 
