Game Gorilla - (Indiegogo) idea for console game trading.

[Exotath]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=APXkanGgagc

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/game-gorilla#home

 

 

Most of us have on occasion borrowed a game or two from our friends - games that we were not only excited to play, but equally as excited to not have to pay for the experience. Most of the time, that same friend might have wanted to borrow a game from you - a mutually beneficial endeavor to say the least.

Now imagine having the ability to trade your games with people across the entire country, not just your close circle of friends.

At Game Gorilla, we offer just that. Our patented algorithm matches up users from across the country and allows them to trade their games with each other in the safest environment possible. Consequently, your circle of friends just got much bigger. And here's the good part, all users deal with us directly, and we guarantee a successful trade from the beginning to the end of the process.

We can't complete this endeavor without you. As a contributor, you will be helping us establish the best interactive web experience possible. The interface of Game Gorilla is extremely easy to use. Users will list the games they want to trade, as well as input the games they desire. We take care of the rest. One of the benefits of Game Gorilla is that users never have to deal with the general public. All games come through our facility where they will all go through a 10-point inspection process before being sent to their respective owners. When your game is sent to you, you can be assured that it will be in 100% working condition.

 

 

 

Pretty interesting idea... I know everyone here seems to hate consoles (whatever) but I have both a PS4 and Xbox One so this sounds pretty cool to me. Thoughts?

[iNothing]

A very good way for the creator to get new games to play

[Jogostar]

Best idea ever. Seriously.

[ShadowCaptain]

What if I accept a swap, and send off my game, and the other person doesn't send his game?

 

Is there less risk this way? maybe the company can bill you if you do not send it?

[Scionyde]

$5 for a trade? That's not too bad. I think I prefer Steam's family sharing (despite all of its limitations), but that's probably not a fair comparison since it's digital vs. physical media.

 

I wonder if there would be an option to allow your games that are "up for trade" to be worth more than others in your collection. I mean, a straight up one-for-one trade of Titanfall for a much older game like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion wouldn't be terribly fair.

[Scionyde]

What if I accept a swap, and send off my game, and the other person doesn't send his game?

 

Is there less risk this way? maybe the company can bill you if you do not send it?

 

I think everything goes through Game Gorilla, so they receive and inspect both games, then send them out to the correct people

[Nineshadow]

YES PLS.

 

Just don't fuck it up.That's all.

[ShadowCaptain]

I think everything goes through Game Gorilla, so they receive and inspect both games, then send them out to the correct people

 

Ah I see, so you send the games to the company first 

 

That's quite cool

 

I do not support game trading or second hand games, but for people that do it seems a good service

[Vytautas]

Sounds great. If this will gain some momentum, its just a matter of time until account bound console games will become a widespread thing.

[matin94]

well this will fuck up microsofts no trading thing if they happen to pull it back in. im happy

[Misanthrope]

So, a glorified fucking craigslist? Why do we need this no doubt incredibly sophisticated algorithms when you can just run a message board like this with a search feature (or just put a link to a google domain search) and boom you're done?

 

No wonder they're aiming at console gamers.

[geogga]

What if I accept a swap, and send off my game, and the other person doesn't send his game?

 

Is there less risk this way? maybe the company can bill you if you do not send it?

They're the middleman so if you don't send it for whatever reason they will send your game back

At least that's what I think it is

[Curemylife]

So, a glorified fucking craigslist? Why do we need this no doubt incredibly sophisticated algorithms when you can just run a message board like this with a search feature (or just put a link to a google domain search) and boom you're done?

 

No wonder they're aiming at console gamers.

How many people do that and? This is easier, probably cheaper and more secure. Why wouldn't you want it to at least be an option?

[Misanthrope]

How many people do that and? This is easier, probably cheaper and more secure. Why wouldn't you want it to at least be an option?

 

I wouldn't mind it as an option. I do mind it as a yet another motherfucking begging campaign looking for money.

[DLM_012]

So, a glorified fucking craigslist? Why do we need this no doubt incredibly sophisticated algorithms when you can just run a message board like this with a search feature (or just put a link to a google domain search) and boom you're done?

 

No wonder they're aiming at console gamers.

 

Because people would find some way to screw others over. The company serves as a middle man and simply wants a profit for providing that service. I see nothing wrong with that. Would I use this service personally? Nope. I don't mind paying full price for games and if I want to take a risk to try something different, I shop around for a deal.

[Misanthrope]

Because people would find some way to screw others over. The company serves as a middle man and simply wants a profit for providing that service. I see nothing wrong with that. Would I use this service personally? Nope. I don't mind paying full price for games and if I want to take a risk to try something different, I shop around for a deal.

 

Oh it's not a matter of being "wrong" or "right". They might have genuinely noble intentions. They're still pretty damn stupid intentions and we should point out that reinventing wheels is not a productive endeavor worthy of anyone's indiegogo contributions, but it's not necessarily "wrong" per se. 

[bbqsauce]

Oh it's not a matter of being "wrong" or "right". They might have genuinely noble intentions. They're still pretty damn stupid intentions and we should point out that reinventing wheels is not a productive endeavor worthy of anyone's indiegogo contributions, but it's not necessarily "wrong" per se. 

profit motive? Yes. Is it wrong? No. They see a way to make money of this by providing a safe and secure service to trade games as compared to you finding some random stranger to deal with and play Russian roulette with him and hope that he doesn't scam you.

They see a market in this, hope to help people along the way and make some money off it.

All firms operate from a profit maximization motive, its natural, regardless of their intentions.

[ACatWithThumbs]

Sounds awesome but how are they making money ?
 

[Exotath]

Sounds awesome but how are they making money ?

 

 

I assume off of the $5 fee. Which considering shipping costs is very fair!

[Game Gorilla]

Hey everyone! George and Aaron here (The Cousins) to answer any questions you might have about this exciting, new, up and coming service. We want to answer even the toughest questions you might have, and request that you ask them!

 

What if I accept a swap, and send off my game, and the other person doesn't send his game?

 

Is there less risk this way? maybe the company can bill you if you do not send it?

 

Great question! Essentially there are two options in this scenario. Firstly the user who sent us their game properly will stay at the front of the queue, incurring barley any down time as our algorithm finds the next user. This is by far the best option. The second option is for Game Gorilla to send the game back to the user with either a full refund, or a free trade. I want to reiterate that Game Gorilla 100% guarantees successful trades. There are only a few other niche trading services, and every single one has their users deal with each other. There are many risks involved with dealing with the general public and no trade is ever guaranteed this way.

 

So, a glorified fucking craigslist? Why do we need this no doubt incredibly sophisticated algorithms when you can just run a message board like this with a search feature (or just put a link to a google domain search) and boom you're done?

 

No wonder they're aiming at console gamers.

 

It is true that a lot of these other avenues are free, however they are never guaranteed. The $5 takes away the unknown and the risk associated with all these other avenues. The algorithm is more complex than one might think. Every time a game is uploaded into our system it is time stamped, recorded, and tied to the users account. In essence, this allows for games to trade near instantly without any work for our users. That $5 takes away 100% of the risk.

 

I wouldn't mind it as an option. I do mind it as a yet another motherfucking begging campaign looking for money.

 

Unfortunately, projects like this need money, and two die-hard gamers with a dream on a shoestring budget can only get so far without help. Crowd sourcing is a great way to gauge the interests of gamers as well as supply much needed funds. If a person is not able to donate, they can still help by spreading the word. Every little bit helps.

 

The reason we came up with Game Gorilla is because we were sick of the depreciating values of video games and the companies that take advantage of that. Game Stop basically gives you peanuts for your games, then turns around and sells them for almost full price in most cases. Depending on how old your games are, you might have to trade 3,4,5,6 games in order to accumulate the store credit required for a new game. This has been going on for years and frankly we're fed up with it. It is from this frustration that Game Gorilla spawned. Thanks to all of you for your interest in this, and please ask us any questions that come to mind.

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

Nice to see you answering questions and directly representing the company. Let me ask a difficult one

 

How do you feel about the second hand market in general and the fact that second hand sales/swaps do not give any money back to the develops/publisher etc etc? 

 

I am not going to share my personal view, I was just wondering if you feel this has any effects, perhaps more on indie devs rather than AAA titles.

 

Perhaps you feel that the devs make enough and this will not effect them?

Perhaps you feel that the people doing this probably wouldn't be buying new anyway?

Perhaps you think it makes no difference?

 

I dont know Just wondering how you feel

[Game Gorilla]

Nice to see you answering questions and directly representing the company. Let me ask a difficult one

 

How do you feel about the second hand market in general and the fact that second hand sales/swaps do not give any money back to the develops/publisher etc etc? 

 

I am not going to share my personal view, I was just wondering if you feel this has any effects, perhaps more on indie devs rather than AAA titles.

 

Perhaps you feel that the devs make enough and this will not effect them?

Perhaps you feel that the people doing this probably wouldn't be buying new anyway?

Perhaps you think it makes no difference?

 

I dont know Just wondering how you feel

 

Great question! We have a few things to say about this.

 

As with everything in the used game industry, our service is reliant upon people already owning games. Obviously we want the newest and greatest games to be available for trade on our service, but that is only possible if people buy those games in their retail form. In addition, Game Gorilla's "eco-system" as it were will naturally have a balance between what trades for what. This is mainly because every trade, no matter the game, is the same price. It is this natural balance that will force people to buy new games. We feel that when someone pays full price for something, it's up to them to do with that property what they wish. In Gamefly’s case for example, they buy thousands of games in order to rent them out to their users - Users who do not buy these games. However someone did, and in this case, Gamefly.

 

Essentially as with any used game market, every used game originally came from someone buying it at full price. Our service does not take away from that, if anything it incentivizes it. For example, Game stop makes 50% or more of there revenue from the used game market, and in the process, rips people off who paid full price. Does this take away from full price sales? In a sense it does and in a sense it doesn’t because both are reliant on each other. In other words there are no used games if there are no retail games, and used games stimulate the purchase of retail games. What keeps the used gaming industry in check, is that without the retail gaming industry, it does not exist. No matter what used gaming platform erupts, this necessary balance will never change.

 

One last thought. The alternative to the used gaming industry, is to have everyone buy brand new games, and have them digitally tied to their consoles. This does the opposite of stimulate retail game sales. People now are more afraid to buy games, because they are permanent and are forced to pay full price every time. Trading, renting, used game sales etc, allow people breathing room to fearlessly buy new retail games. This is just one way the used gaming industry stimulates retail game sales.

 

Game Gorilla's goal is to ensure that people who pay full price for a game retain the best possible value for their purchase.

[Massive Cosby]

Wow. This is an amazing idea.

[Game Gorilla]

Also just so everyone knows, we will be using any questions found here to help us finish our FAQ. So please ask away!

[ItsComrade]

This looks very promising. I would pay five dollars for that kind of peace of mind.