Now lets look at your first flawed point: [quote]The big difference between this and physical media is that the bulk of the cost involved comes from a single event: the creation of the content. The costs of replicating the content, either through physical formats or digital downloads, are fairly slim. [/quote] Wrong. First of all, the development of games doesn't just happen in on one event. You have money and time being used for the pre production phase which you completely disregarded, thus making your credibility go down right off the bat. You also ignore the pitch and the concept, that first has to be made before a publisher will approve of it. Obviously, there is time and money being invested in that process. So making the claim that there's one set expense being had when the former phases could lead to more funding is false. [quote]So what does this mean for the industry? Well, it means that, while in other industries a used sale will detract from potential sales in a relatively small way, a lost sale in the video game industry loses a buttload more money for publishers/developers. [/quote] Those two statements are in no way even comparable or related. You go from saying demand will be decreased for one good because substitute goods are being bought and then go straight into comparing it with profit margins. This is a horribly inconsistent argument. Also, buying something used is a "lost sale" for any industry. The manufacturer gets nothing for the manufacturer product because they legally don't own it after the first transaction. You can't say buying used cars isn't a lost sale for, let's say Ford, yet claim it is a lost sale for a game developer. That's just flat out fallacious. [quote]This creates an environment of higher risk in the industry, leading to less investment in games and, overall, a smaller game market for us, the consumer.[/quote] No it doesn't. Used games sales are literally free promotion for a developer. What do you think happens when games peak in sales? Major retailers clear them from the shelves to make room for new products, while in the used game market, the older ones are still being circulated, thus meaning they can be purchased. And that purchase will lead to online gameplay, and potentially a DLC sale. So it's clear you didn't think things through. [quote]On top of that, it puts pressure on developers to produce DLC and long term multiplayer titles to recoup the losses they'd otherwise make from used game sales.[/quote] This is probably the dumbest statement you've made. In an industry where almost everyone involved is online, developers and publishers will produce DLC because there's a market for it. It's literally that simple. They don't do it to "recoup losses". They do it because there's actually a demand for it. If a game has sold millions, clearly the developer will create extra content on it to get more money from their product, regardless of used sales or not. [quote]supporting the used game industry not only detracts from this as a whole, but stunts the kind of games that really explore what video games can do as a storytelling medium.[/quote] Used games sales in no way distract from storytelling and creative elements of games. By this dumb logic, used movie and book sales would be detrimental to an industry based off of creativity and storytelling. [quote]if we want to be supporting the expansion of the gaming industry, we shouldn't be supporting the free reign of used games, or at the very least acknowledge that doing so comes at a real cost.[/quote] You say it comes at a cost, yet the used game market has been around for decades and has yet to have a detrimental impact on the industry. The industry has even expanded and is in the multi billion dollar profit range. Your post was just an incoherent ramble about how used games sales will hinder creativity and the industry when you didn't have any way of backing that claim. Do you seriously think AAA titles will be heavily funded if they don't think they'll hit their profit mark on launch day? Call of Duty is a prime example that funding advertisement and sticking to a formula will net you record breaking sales of, get this, new copies of a game, and nearly all major developers know this. Simply put, I can tell you didn't think about the composition of your post, and it's clear that you don't know how the industry works or the economics behind it.