Just a quick question - Regarding pre-owned

I've just read this on the official site:

"You will need an Origin™ account to install and register The Sims 4. Once installed, you don't need to be online to play."

Now I know you don't need to do this with sims 3, so I was just wondering if this means buying the game pre-owned will not be an option for the sims 4 as they will be registered to someone else?

I hope that makes sense

It's actually not legal to sell preowned PC games as I recall from working at GameStop.

You have to register the code to get the install.

I'm in the UK, I guess I should have said that

Any idea on this?

Most places have stopped selling pre-owned pc games because of the key code needed to register the game. However, most software I have will let me use the same key code to register the software as many times as I like (for instance, if I buy a new computer). With programs like Origin and Steam put into the mix, the issue is more going to be whether the original owner unregisters the game before selling it and as far as I can tell on Origin, you would have to contact customer service to get them to do it (I don't see a way to do it through Origin itself). This could, of course, lead to them refusing to unregister a game so the owner doesn't turn around and sell it. Heck, I'm not even sure they'd consider doing it for any reason.

It's not illegal to sell used games or any other software in the US as long as you're selling the physical media in its original, unaltered state--First Sale protects an individual who wants to dispose of a physical item they've legally purchased (books, music cds, movie and game disks, etc.). Companies can, however, put limitations on how many times you use a registration code or require a customer to contact them to re-register, etc.

I have no idea how any of this would apply to someone in the UK. I expect that selling used pc games is going to continue to decline pretty dramatically since a lot of companies are starting to add their own launchers and organizers like Origin. Essentially, media gets added to your library and forever attached to your account. Nice because you'll always have access to it no matter how many times you buy a new computer, etc. Not so nice for people who might want to sell games they've finished playing.

I should add that if you're considering buying a used copy of a videogame in the first place, your best bet is to probably just wait until the game goes on deep discount and buy a digital copy instead--no worries or concerns over whether it will register or play, etc.

Thank you for the reply ebuchala, so I guess it seems very unlikely that i'll be able to pick up a pre-owned version, which is a shame as I usually go down that route as it's so much cheaper. Ah well maybe it will be a while before I get the game, it just seems a bit steep at the current price.

I'd be surprised if you could get a pre-owned disk but, I could be wrong. It's been ages since I've purchased a pre-owned pc game of any sort since most game shops don't carry them anymore and I don't have any trusted sources for something like that (ebay regularly has used pc games but you frequently don't know if they include the codes, etc.).

Depending on the game and how well it does, it could go on sale pretty early on, especially with the holidays around the corner. I wouldn't expect it to be down to $10 until at least the first couple of EPs come out, probably later. I seem to recall that TS3 was "regular" price through quite a few of the EPs with occasional sales dropping the price to $20 or so. Seems like it wasn't until TS4 was announced that it dropped to like $10, got bundled with EPs, etc., but I wasn't really keeping that close track so, again, I could be wrong.

It's been my experience that you need a new code to register. So you need the original account it was linked to, or a new code. I had to have all of my games reset like 5 times when I changed laptop to desktop.

That would be really frustrating! Every time I've had to reformat my computer, etc., the games all show up under My Games in Origin. Maybe it's because I'm pretty much digital these days--I haven't really tried to add a physical disk to Origin in quite awhile. Maybe Steam is a bit better at keeping track of things. Whenever I reformat or upgrade my computer, they usually still have all my games showing, even ones that were physical copies.

Yeah that's why I swiched to all digital.

Well boy Incognito thanks for disagreeing with te US law lol

Even registering a physical disk requires you to enter in your product code into origin (I did this with my Sims 3 base game and early expansions and just tossed the disks when I moved this past year).

The used game market on PC is literally non-existant because nearly every game has a unique product key. This is because PC games are notoriously easy to pirate (and still are, the product keys really change nothing for most games--MMO's being the exceptions). Console games are harder to pirate (still is done though) so companies never require you to register your games, as such they can be resold secondhand without issue; they tried doing the online pass thing a couple years back but the industry received such an overwhelming outcry that everyone stopped doing it within a year.

I don't know what to tell you. It used to be that you could play without registering. If you had the hard copy. But now it runs trough origin and you get a digital copy automatically NOW. But it was not like a couple years ago. I'm not lying to you.

I sat on the phone for hours while EA tried to reset these codes and find them for me. 2 hours. They finally issued me the digital copy through my account and I have not gone back ever.

But it is illegal - to sell preowned games in the US that require. Code- because there is no way to tell if it is good or not. I worked at GameStop. I had many people tell at me because they couldn't find their game marked down 10%.

This is actually my second time going digital...I got the Sims3 pre ordered when it first came out and my disc was a nightmare...either it would not load the game or it would just crash was driving me nuts...I contacted EA about it and they said I could have it digital cause for some reason mine was not working on the disk . I can gladly say I never had a problem since..so Ive pre ordered Sims 4 digital cause I want to have no problems just a smooth run of the game...I dont know if Sims 3 had a issue with my computer cause it was brought the same time I got the game. Now I have a gaming computer and never had a problem ...either way digital is for me ..As far as selling used games I've bought a few but not PC games but for game systems like playstation and xbox 360. I never had an issue I got from a store that actually sells all games so I would think they are wiped clean..other words if someone had the codes everything was redone or something I dont know thats not my field of work just saying lol...but I have brought used games in the past and had no problems

Ok, not that I'm saying you'll find anyone to sell it to you but I decided to uninstall some of Expansion Packs for TS3 in the hopes the game will run a little smoother. It gave me the option to de-authorize the game for my computer and said I could register the game on another computer if I do that. That was for a digital copy but I would think the same would work for a physical copy.

Although you can de authorise when you re authorise the game code is tied to your details. You woild probably get this " this code is not available"
You will also need an origin account to download DLC/content and patches

Oh, that's a good point. I'm fairly sure the decisions software and game companies make to digitize everything and try to connect it to a specific user is for this very reason.