Used Video Games

Lately I've noticed a trend by video game developers bitching about used game sales, the latest of which can be found here. There are other examples out there too, much more condemning at times, this was just the most convenient to post.

Now to be fair I do understand a production companies problem with second hand games, they're not getting any compensation for resale, but what the hell do you want? There is a legitimate case to be made about piracy, ripping and burning games is a theft of Intellectual Property, but once you've paid for a license for a game it should be yours to do what you want with it.

Maybe the problem at heart here isn't so much with the consumer as it is with the developer. We're getting flooded with more and more "Must Play" games every year, and the price sure as hell isn't going down, your average 360/PS3 game is retailing for 60 bucks these days, and a lot of them are going for 70-80; I'm not even going to mention Special Editions, those are purely consumer optional and are rarely resold anyway.

So you take a slow economy, raise the price of software, and put out more crap than quality and then complain when people buy used at every option? Seems like a problem to me, and, again, not with the consumer.

I'd take this opportunity to cry about the coming flood of digital distribution, such as our good friends at Valve, but to be perfectly honest that was going to happen anyway. The only problem I have with digital distribution is once hardcopy games are gone will outfits like Steam still feel the need to keep their prices affordable?

MAD Magazine

I recently revived an interest in a very old friend, MAD Magazine. I almost literally grew up with this publication, the first copies I read were in the late 70's when my father was still buying them and I read it almost religiously until the very early 90's when I felt the art and writing were straying from what I considered prime material.

A couple weeks back I was in a comic book store and stumbled across a book that collected a bunch of MAD Oscar winner movie spoofs; I figured for 10 bucks how can I go wrong. Although many of them predated my original reading or postdated when I stopped it still managed to bring back fond memories and drove me to look for current publications.

One stop at their site later I knew I had to get reading this magazine again, however I was less than thrilled to find I couldn't get my hands on a copy anyplace. Apparently they have moved to a quarterly publishing scheme and the new issues weren't out until the beginning of May, at which point I got my new copy from a drugstore magazine rack (just like when I was a kid).

Then a strange thing happened this weekend. My family is getting ready to move so I was going through some boxes of books and papers buried in our basement when lo and behold I ran across a copy of Mad Magazine from 1983 (missing the cover like all true childhood treasures) featuring, among other things, spoofs of Tootsie and The Dark Crystal (both released in late 1982). I read it from missing cover to missing cover and have to say the magic is still there.

OK, maybe it's not 100% what it used to be, but times change and I think they have evolved as well as can be expected. My advice is, if you're thinking about new reading material give MAD a try, it's just good fun.

By the way, if you want an interesting story check out the bio on William Gaines, the creator and Publisher of Mad Magazine, you'll even find out why it's always been titles "MAD Magazine" instead of just "MAD"

Star Wars Soundboard

Ever wanted to rock some Star Wars sound effects, or maybe capture some of the most exciting dialog to ever hit a movie theater's speakers? of course you have, and now you can.

Check it out, the Star Wars Mixing Board. Might be just what you need for your next ringtone.