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Well the main difference between used physical goods and used games is that there is loss of quality between buying a used game and buying a new game, meaning that a game could be sold and traded in many times before being undesirable, which is not true for the vast majority of books.

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There is a loss of quality with games---the discs still get wear and tear. One of the reasons I'm wary of buying used games is that the disc is almost always badly scratched.

Admittedly, I am not an expert with video game issues, but I would say that the biggest loss of quality between a used game and a new one is the amount that graphics and game play technology have progressed in the time it takes for the game to become available used.

Perhaps a way that game developers can combat the sale of used games undercutting their current offerings is to make games that are so good that people don't want to part with them so quickly.

I have several thousand dollars worth of second hand games (for xbox 360), I've never once come across a scratched disc.

While I'm sure it could potentially be a problem in high-churn stores like gamestop, most places do have a replacement policy on discs that are scratched at purchase.

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