Do you hear that? If you listen really closely you can hear it. It is big gaming coming for your cold hard cash, and they are done sharing the profits of your addiction.
They don't like it when you trade in that game. So now you need to have a code to play the entire game. If you buy it used, rent it, or borrow it from your brother you will be out of luck. You want your entire team? If you don't have that code better cough up the cash. EA has their "Project Ten Dollar" which is to basically screw you into keeping your games and not buying used. What really bothers me about this new practice is that you do not really have ownership of your purchases anymore. You can't resell the "free" DLC that came with your game. You can't give away one of your old Live Arcade games. Once you buy it, it is yours. The industry is not only squeezing out GameStop, they are taking away your freedom of ownership.
This is only going to be compounded with the eventuality of every game being download only. Now there are no retail stores, no tangible products, and no competition. The streets will be overflowing with social rejects looking to alphabetize stacks of games and strip malls will be empty. The worst part is that you will have one place per console to purchase your games. You will have to bow to Major Nelson's pricing structure. If the prices went down because of all of the savings I would be fine with that. We all know that prices will not. There are a few benefits to a system like this.
If I buy a 360 game I want it to work on every console Microsoft will put out. I paid for the game, it better work. In my lifetime I have bought version after version of Nintendo games. I have bought Super Mario Bros. about 40 times just to have it on a current system. This needs to stop. The other benefit would be to get rid of the spinning optical disc drive. My 360 is louder than the clothes dryer and gets twice as hot. Don't get me started on that bastard scratching rings in my discs.
Basically I am prepared for the royal screwing that is waiting with download only gaming. I am just asking that they make it as painless as possible. Give us a huge hard drive for current market prices, and it would be great if there was a system to trade or sell games. That may be asking too much, but make it quick. It doesn't hurt as much that way.