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The future of games development has been called into question after the EU Commission suggested developers provide a two year guarantee.

[snip]

At present, licensed software is exempt from EU legislation that forces firms to offer "a minimum 2-year guarantee on tangible movable consumer goods".

[snip]

At present, retailers are not obliged to give a refund on a video game that has a bug or glitch that prevents a user completing a game. If the proposals become law, this could change as users would have the right "to get a product that works with fair commercial conditions".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8044125.stm

That will never happen, or atleast it will be impossible to enforce it.

I hope it does happen.

Regards,

Grell

Tabula rasa and hellgate comes to mind.

If only we could get a two year guarantee on government working as expected...

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

If only we could get a two year guarantee on government working as expected...

Well thats just silly...........

It looks like the days of releasing half-finished games for full price are coming to end[:D].

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

It looks like the days of releasing half-finished games for full price are coming to end[:D].

If anything this 'guarantee' will have an adverse effect on pricing in the EU not the opposit.

One of two things will happen

1) Most if not ALL small companys will just stop selling to the EU

2) The price will reflect the opportunists looking for FREE entertainment.

Etherway you think game pricing is high now wait till there's preview entitlement.........[;)]

I see this being abused by one-time players.

However, I do wish this was available years ago before we had the internet to find what game is so horribly bugged up to hell. 

Anyone remember Action-52 and other scams back in the day?

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

If only we could get a two year guarantee on government working as expected...

keep it up, and I am going to have to lock this post up, you know the rules !!!!

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge

keep it up, and I am going to have to lock this post up, you know the rules !!!!

The phrase 'hoist with your own petard' does indeed spring to mind! [:D]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

If only we could get a two year guarantee on government working as expected...

It would cost too much.....

I really think they are just trying to kick the evil empire down, We know which gaming one that is , right? 

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker

I really think they are just trying to kick the evil empire down, We know which gaming one that is , right?

Pong?

Two years is immoderate but I'd consider a general right-of-return within 7 or 14 days as reasonable. Games which don't entertain beyond that timeframe are not worth the money.

ORIGINAL: Sarge

If anything this 'guarantee' will have an adverse effect on pricing in the EU not the opposit.

I'm talking about customer rights, not about pricing here. Right now, a customer has to pay a full price, but the producer doesn't have to provide a finished product and doesn't need to inform the customer that he's buying an unfinished/faulty product.

Amusingly, I started a topic on CCS about the customers rights in gaming some time ago. It's funny how developers always use the same arguments to support their breaking of customer rights.

ORIGINAL: Sarge

1) Most if not ALL small companys will just stop selling to the EU

Actually, no one ever sells anything to the UE, because of those horrible customer rights *facepalm*.

ORIGINAL: Sarge

2) The price will reflect the opportunists looking for FREE entertainment.

You mean the opportunists that already use torrents to get the FREE entertainment?
Frankly, that whole "opportunists" argument is pure bullshit. It was invented by producers that know that if one copy of a game is faulty, then probably all the other copies are faulty too. Which means that they will have losses from mass returns or will have to mark all the copies as faulty, which would look bad on boxes.

After all who would like to buy a game who has a feature, like "crashes randomly", "faulty infantry/vehicle pathing", "musing graphic glitches", "crashes even on Playstation", etc.[:D]?

ORIGINAL: E

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker

I really think they are just trying to kick the evil empire down, We know which gaming one that is , right?

Pong?

HeHe...close but not the one i meant..and no, not the evil empire of vista but the one of the overblown blowhard who just retired

ORIGINAL: Lützow

Two years is immoderate but I'd consider a general right-of-return within 7 or 14 days as reasonable. Games which don't entertain beyond that timeframe are not worth the money.

So your saying if the “individual” finds no personal entertainment value after 7-14 days irregardless of functionality of the software they should get their money back .

ORIGINAL: Lützow

Two years is immoderate but I'd consider a general right-of-return within 7 or 14 days as reasonable. Games which don't entertain beyond that timeframe are not worth the money.

That post seems to have been less than thought through...

Since to my knowledge software does not degrade from use, a guarantee over a certain time period does not make much sense.

Two arrangements that, in my mind, would make sense are:

1) For a certain period - two years, for example - the producers have to devote a certain amount of resources to fixing bugs and customer support and stuff. Or alternatively, they have to pay for the cost of someone else fixing the bugs in their game. No more "We´ve earned enough with this one, we´re off to the next project, dear customer, sucks to be you".

2) Some definite rules are set up which sort of bugs give the customer the right to have his money back, as well as rules detailing that with certain bugs with impair but do not destroy gameplay, customers get part of their money back.