On Tuesday at 1pm EST on Spike TV they are going

[taggart6]

The problem with blaming it all on the companies for making choices for games that don't end up working out is that that point of view would cause companies to only take the safe bet. That means no new IP, no risks like Farcry Blood Dragon, and a very boring investment in future games. Piracy and used sales are surely not the only reason, but there are people out there that pirate or buy used games that could afford new. The magnitude of that is beyond what I could try to estimate, but obviously the industry thinks its a size able enough issue to possibly take severe backlash over. The next few months will be interesting.

I disagree. Potential sales lost to piracy and used games cannot make up for poor products that people don't want to buy and that are priced at a point people will not pay. The industry is looking for a scapegoat rather then take a good hard look at itself. It's easier to generalize that all people steal and shop for lower priced items because they want to rather then because they simply can't afford to pay for things they don't think are worth it. People pirate and purchase used because of cost. They rather go through the inconvenience of managing hacks and waiting for a used copy then purchase new. Even the issue of affordability is a moot people if people with the means to purchase new still don't feel the product justifies the cost. Its a cost vs product worth issue pure ans simple.

Amazon and Steam have already shown that competitive pricing abd heavily discounted sales is both a successful and profitable way to combat piracy and used games. Yet, the console market still hasn't adopted those practices and won't until they are forced too. I'm curious to know why that is and what prevents them from doing. My guess is that console hardware ties you to only a single provider of digital media content. That lack of competition basically gives the provider free reign to set what ever price they want as long as they can get you to buy their console.

Either way, the console devs are free to do what ever they want. They owe us nothing. However, I have the freedom to support my stance by not participating when I have a more cost effective and rewarding option with my PC.