Pre-owned

EA has confirmed that SSX, the upcoming reboot of its snowboarding series, will use the company's online pass. Rather than lock second-hand buyers out of the game's multiplayer component entirely, however, it prevents them from accruing the in-game currency used to unlock vanity items and additional events. More >

Several UK retailers have said they would be prepared to share revenue from sales of second-hand games with publishers. Speaking to MCV, a number of stores said they would be prepared to pass on a cut of their lucrative pre-owned business if publishers were to cut them some slack in return, either by reducing trade prices or doing away with online passes. More >

EB Games, the Canadian subsidiary of US retail chain GameStop, has reportedly merged its used and new game sections, with minimal distinction between which is which and new copies of games hidden behind pre-owned ones. An employee informed Kotaku that staff have been told to put the same, white price stickers on both new and used games; in the past, pre-owned games have carried yellow price tags. Although one employee got in touch with Kotaku to dispute the claim, scores more have verified it, and the retailer is yet to comment. More >

Twenty-three per cent of all money spent on console games in the US and UK goes on pre-owned titles, according to a new study from market research firm Newzoo. In the United States, 85 per cent of gamers admit to buying from the pre-owned section. More >

Quantic Dream co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere says “between €5 and €10 million worth of royalties” were lost due to second-hand sales of the developer’s interactive thriller Heavy Rain. Though he understands the plight of a customer, trapped in a recession and faced with full-price retail, Fondaumiere is keen to find a solution to the problem. “I've always said that games are probably too expensive so there's probably a right level here to find,” he said. “And we need to discuss this altogether and try to find a way to I would say reconcile consumer expectations, retail expectations but also the expectations of the publisher and the developers to make this business a worthwhile business.”

Game Group is to no longer sell older model second-hand Xbox 360s, according to an internal memo passed to Eurogamer. It reads: "As of Saturday September 3 we will not be selling pre-owned Xbox 360 Cores, Arcades and 20GB non-HDMIs. This is due to the high failure rate of the console and the difficulty and cost of repairing them." While the retailer will continue to accept trade-ins of the older models, they will be returned to its distribution centre "as a regular faulty return where they will exit the business."

Following the news that the upcoming Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions will utilise an undeletable save file in the manner of Capcom's controversial Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D system, Namco has explained how the save game will work but remained tight-lipped over the reasoning behind its inclusion. "There is no way to erase the save from within the game itself without misusing the hardware, causing corruption." the game's QA lead told Shacknews, attempting to mitigate the news by adding: "It takes a very long time to get high scores on all the games to fill up the rankings as each game is a stand-alone title." Even more worryingly, while players will be able to save high scores and share them online, if the same cart is used in a second 3DS, scores may be "double posted." Namco provided Shacknews with a detailed breakdown of exactly how each game in the collection is affected.

Nintendo's recently announced 3DS price drop has prompted some used game retailers in Japan to drop their second hand hardware prices early, despite the official cut - which will see the hardware retail at 15,000 yen instead of 25,000 - not set to occur until August 11. Japanese book, clothes and media retailer Book Off dropped its used price from 23,000 to 14,000 over the weekend while Bic Camera subsidiary Sofmap also adjusted its figures dropping the price from 22,800 to 13,800. Inline with the reductions, buyback prices were also cut, apparently resulting in retailers selling used stock at a loss.

A poster on German forum Konsolentreff spotted a warning label on the upcoming Resistance 3 PS3 bundle which reads: "PSN Pass - network features only available in countries that have PlayStation Store." While Sony is yet to comment - we've sought clarification - it appears Sony is the latest to introduce a single-use code for online play to combat pre-owned game sales.