While I agree that many in the industry are rather too melodramatic in their approach to used game sales (equating them to piracy is a step too far, I think), I can see why games companies feel singled out. This may not be the case in the US, but in the UK there are no mainstream high-street retailers selling both new and used products, except games. For example, HMV sells games, CDs, DVDs, and even some books. It does not sell pre-owned CDs, DVDs or books: only pre-owned games. The major specialist games retailers, Game and Gamestation, sell pre-owned games; the major specialist booksellers, Waterstones and WHSmith, do not sell pre-owned books. Clearly, there is a difference in how pre-owned sales affect these industries, when major retailers are supporting pre-owned sales.

Personally, I think the problem stems mostly to price: you take a bigger financial risk on a £40 videogame than you do on a £10 CD or book. Hence consumers minimise risk either by saving money when they purchase (by buying secondhand games) or by recycling unplayed or unloved games by trading them in. It would be interesting to see whether figures on the trade-in rates of budget or impulse-purchase casual games support this view.

I absolutely agree that DLC and pre-owned game sales figures could both mitigate the problems the second-hand game market creates. The fact remains, though, that perhaps developers and publishers shouldn't have to put up with the situation as it stands, given that analogous retailers in other industries do not support for pre-owned products in their stores.