by Victor Dawson
What’s something that could give a gamer headaches? Stacking them up and starting over. Yes, that’s 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 or have had to purchase all new games and start all over.
For instance, if someone had an old game such as NBA 2k for PlayStation 3, but then ended up buying the PlayStation 4, they without a doubt had to re-buy the same game for the same price. Games cost $59.99 at retail, plus taxes.
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,” CCSU student Al Garcia said.
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 current systems won’t allow game converting because the companies believe that they will lose money. Unfortunately, spending more than $60 on another game that was already purchased 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 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 generation 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, more people may be persuaded 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 games. In the end, everybody is either making money or saving it,” Rudy Bholanath said, who is a consistent gamer.
Game companies have made it so that the more recent systems aren’t even fundamentally compatible with each other. That means that the newer software that is used on the systems, such as a PS4 or Xbox 1 cannot read the older system’s games.
“What if I wanted to play my PS2 games but didn’t have the system anymore? We should be able to upgrade our games,” Bholanath said.
“Something needs to happen with these games. I remember when they used to be $39,” CCSU student Jelani Green said, who owns an Xbox 1.
Game converting should be attainable and affordable for people who look to purchase games of the same kind.
Why not give the world one less thing to worry about?
