I think part of the problem is that EA has become such an enormous publisher that it is barely able to support its own weight. The games it has produced and published do not all stand on their own too well. If they were to work on quality projects for a longer duration, I would be more interested in buying more of their content, even additional content online. Unfortunately, they have a habit of ruining titles, like "SimCity Societies". It's more like the Sims, but your Sims can't visit or occupy it. Beyond that, it lost the city management aspect of thr original product line.

I remember when EA was publishing content for the ill-fated Commodore 64. Games that were simplistic and still gratifying. Now in an age of sensory overload in terms of video and audio quality, EA just churns out titles for PC's, online & offline, and Consoles. This business model has diminished their quality.

I would suggest to EA, if I had the opportunity, that they consider the registration as previously mentioned. Each user has the responsibility to register a game. That registration remains with the, for the life of the CD/DVD. Each game is registered to a user and they can install it on one machine or multiple machines (Requiring the CD/DVD with encryption of course). They should blacklist stolen or shared serials. The game should have online access to "check-in" as being in use. As far as console games go, you need toe DVD to run it anyway.

Secondly, EA should consider a different pricing model for their products. Perhaps a different design &  manufacturing process as well. Something to reduce costs of their overall production and pass that to the consumer. Perhaps they will sell more products in volume that way.

While obviously they would make more money if everyone had to buy the games new from them, it's ridiculous to think they need to make more money off of it if it changes hands to someone new. The whole economy would crash if everyone did that.

Think about this - furniture, cars, clothing...After a car is sold to a consumer and they drive it for a few years, they sell it to someone else. GM or Ford don't piss and moan because they're not making money on it. They sold it once and made their money, it's out in the world and that's that. Because there is a used car market, many people are able to own cars that otherwise couldn't.

And because there is a used video game market, many people have video games that otherwise couldn't afford them. It's no more fair that EA should make a profit off of a second owner than if GM were to make a profit off of each car owner during the car's life.

Hey maybe car makers could make it so you have to enter your social security number into a door touchpad in order to get into the car. Then if you sell your car to someone else, you wouldn't want them to have your number, so the manufacturer could charge them a few hundred bucks to activate the new owner's social security number in the car's computer system.

all about supply and demand....it costs too much to buy so people wait it out and get it 2nd hand.  if they really want it they will buy it

if it is really good, people will be willing to shell out the money. nobody is going to buy Madden 06 for 10 dollars when Madden 09 is available....but they might buy Madden 09 in January even though its available now to save 10-15 dollars.

Tuff luck, get a life and live with it EA, it's the same for all products

I could be wrong, but I think J.W is being facetious. He is showing how absurd of a concept it is, at the rsik of appearing supportive. Gamers (customers) are the only people that can stop this madness. Speak up!

Before I buy A game I download a free demo, or i try it out at a friends house. After purchasing a game like HAZE from ubisoft and being extremly disappointed in it Bad company was a game I was not sure about. So I tried it out, found out it is one of the better shooters on the market for counsel gaming, purchased it and I will probaly not get rid of it for some time now. I like the game that much. For me it is not even worth buying a used game. Especially if you know the amount your given back for it, then what gamestop sells it for. Come on....pay 60.00 for a game that becomes a hit, trade it in for 25.00 then game stop turns around and sells it for 54.99.  That is what EA should be upset about. The markup is almost nothing for these games. Gamestop is not buyin a 60.00 game for 20 bucks a copy from the publisher or distributor. Once the game is traded in they stand to make a decent profit on the re-sale.  That is what EA games is upset about.

EA is becoming a bit upset about the realities that will be hitting soon with where delivery of games is going too. 10-15 yrs from now I will not be driving to a store to buy a video game. I will be downloading it from playstion network or someother download service. Capcom is now pushing there games for more online delivery.  They have released some really great games over the past couple of months. Fun to play classic style but with improved graphics. Good stuff. So of course EA should be upset. But not as upset as we should be about how much we get rapped by the trade-in scams retailers are starting to run.

how about coming out with original game ideas and concepts to make money?  hmmm but then you might have to provide a product that works as advertised, plays as advertised, and is entertaining.  Instead of selling us pieces of a game that must be upgraded to a "full" version how about coming up with new ones that are complete and interest us. Thats how every other product manufacturer does buisness(cars,TV's,DVD, Blu-ray etc) If the gaming industry is supposed to be a mirror of Movie industry as they keep saying in their yearly stockholder report, then come up with new content like they do.

Seriously, this is about EA maintaining, and increasing their profit margins for console games. This discussion is not about pc gaming. (As mentioned above no retail stores even sell used pc games.) However, the only, fair, way to meet EA in the middle is... On all online, yearly realeased sports games, they need to just offer support and a network for that game until the next series is released. (Of course, overlapping a couple of months to make sure that the next series is attracting enough players to move on.) On all other types of games that are online, then they just would need to provide adequate support for the life of the game. If EA is really focusing on their margins instead of trying to cherry pick monies from their devoted gaming customers, maybe they should try focusing on diversifying. ( Maybe getting behind some of these video game based movies, or anime's or something of the likes.)

Seriously, this is about EA maintaining, and increasing their profit margins for console games. This discussion is not about pc gaming. (As mentioned above no retail stores even sell used pc games.) However, the only, fair, way to meet EA in the middle is... On all online, yearly realeased sports games, they need to just offer support and a network for that game until the next series is released. (Of course, overlapping a couple of months to make sure that the next series is attracting enough players to move on.) On all other types of games that are online, then they just would need to provide adequate support for the life of the game. If EA is really focusing on their margins instead of trying to cherry pick monies from their devoted gaming customers, maybe they should try focusing on diversifying. ( Maybe getting behind some of these video game based movies, or anime's or something of the likes.)

Seriously, this is about EA maintaining, and increasing their profit margins for console games. This discussion is not about pc gaming. (As mentioned above no retail stores even sell used pc games.) However, the only, fair, way to meet EA in the middle is... On all online, yearly realeased sports games, they need to just offer support and a network for that game until the next series is released. (Of course, overlapping a couple of months to make sure that the next series is attracting enough players to move on.) On all other types of games that are online, then they just would need to provide adequate support for the life of the game. If EA is really focusing on their margins instead of trying to cherry pick monies from their devoted gaming customers, maybe they should try focusing on diversifying. ( Maybe getting behind some of these video game based movies, or anime's or something of the likes.)