PS3 Informer

Belgium Outlaws Game Rentals: Is America Next?

When we think of Belgium, we usually picture quaint little towns filled with jolly Belgians, munching on chocolate and waffles. If you pictured a jack-booted foot stomping down on the rights of video game lovers, you would also be correct. Today, the diminutive European country passed into law a rule outlawing the rental of video games. The law was first proposed back in June by the Belgian Entertainment Association, a lobby group made up of video game publishers and concerned waffle makers. The law goes into effect on December 1st. The reason behind the legislation (which already exists in neighboring France and other European countries), is that rentals eat away the potential profits of game makers by allowing many people to enjoy the same copy for a lower price.

In America, video game rental is already an established practice. Most major brick-and-mortar rental shops carry a good selection of the newest Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii games, while online companies like Gamefly deliver games right to consumers’ doors like Netflix does with movies. It is unlikely that regulators would be able to put a stop to this (highly profitable) behavior in the U.S., but some game publishers would like them to.

Lost Winds Developer David Braben thinks that we should get rid of the market for used games, and start charging higher prices for rental copies of games to discourage the practice. In an interview with Eurogamer, Braben laid out his bold plan:

[In the UK] they brought out rental copies, and copies not for resale or rental. That distinction is really important in the video market, and all of the chains honor it because they know it's more than their life's worth not to. My argument is that for every game there are two versions. One is personal, not for resale and it's made abundantly clear you can't sell it. And it's made available for something like GBP 25 ($50 USD). And a resale and rental copy, which in film is actually about GBP 80 ($160 USD).

Currently in the United States, there is no system to protect gaming companies from eager fans who want to try out their games. Clearly, Belgium has taken a bold stand by telling gamers: “The less chance you have of playing our sweet, sweet games, the better. Now, have a Waffle.”

You Decide.

[Sources: Eurogamer, Kotaku]