Raw Deal for computer gamers

Wyke

Hi folk

This week I bought a game that I have been after for while; Silent Hunter V (a WW2 sub sim). Anyway, I installed the game and discovered that the thing is bugged beyond belief, to the point of being unplayable.

Among the gaming community, the attitude seems to be "Expect that to happen and wait for the patch to come out." Now, that's all well and good, but no other industry can get away with selling 'broken' product with a view to 'mending' them later.

When I bought my new Ford Fiesta last month, it was not a case of "The steering is a bit iffy and the breaks don't work. But don't worry, Ford are working on an upgrade and it will be ready in a month or two."

Software retailers seem to be more then reluctant to reimburse you, and this is made even worse as there is a growing movement toward games being download only.

So, can anybody point me in the right direction to get the information I need to challenge this attitude next time I get sold a 'lemon' that may, or may not be fixed in the future?

Thanks in advance

karatedragon

If the retailer is not hlepful do a chargeback on your debit card. I do that if retailers won't play ball. It is so fun to get the Building Society to rip the money back off the cocky retailer. You just fill the section of the form in concerning unsatisfactory goods or services. A lot of people think this is for £100+ purchases but I have done it for something costing £29.99.

custardy

well its interesting you use cars as a comparison
nearly every car needs a 'patch' in the form of recalls/warranty work
programs and operating systems are constantly patched

i take this is a PC game? they are worse to test given the miriad of combinations of PC hardware
its far less excusable on console versions though

vyle

Did you read any reviews? Because I never touch a game until I've checked to see if it's any good.

I think software is a bit of a grey area. I do think there should be laws to help with this sort of thing, but as said, with PC software it's almost impossible to achieve because no two people have the same hardware configs.

neilmcl

There's not a piece of software written that's not had to go through various bug fixes, ammendments, re-releases etc, that's just the nature of coding I'm afraid.

DCFC79

I dont think theres been a game(PC and console) that has been released that hasnt needed a patch due to the game being bugged, its part and parcel with computer games. Theres always a game on the xbox 360 that needs a patch, opart of the problem is the game gets rushed to get released on a certain date that teh game is released needing patch or patches which are released at a later date.

RobertoMoir

neilmcl wrote: »

There's not a piece of software written that's not had to go through various bug fixes, ammendments, re-releases etc, that's just the nature of coding I'm afraid.

I know this all too well myself but still find myself astonished at the quality of some of the rubbish that gets churned out. There must be a dividing line between acceptable and unacceptable quality.

I'd suggest if a game was playable but had glitches that could be improved by patches this was acceptable and if a game was more or less unplayable out of the box and needed to be patched simply to meet the most basic standards then this is unacceptable.

rl290

First, you analogy of cars is wrong. A few years ago I was chatting to someone very senior for a well known luxury sports car manufacturer. They had found a fault in the operating system for the car. There was a sensor that detected when the fuel tank was empty, and cut of the engine at this point to stop it "spluttering" and causing damage. However, taking a corner quickly resulted in the engine suddenly cutting out as a result (the fuel in the tank swished to one side, activating a "no fuel" reading). When I asked him what customers thought about the recall, he said all was fine: customers understood it was a software teething issue and didn't really have much of an issue - it was expected.

Re: computer games, I only ever guy one once I have read several reviews, and must say that I have never had a problem with buggy games on the scale you have described. What have others said about this particular game?

R

Mupette

Thats the thing about pc games, and on-line games, you pay for something that sometimes doesn't work.

It also depends on your own machine, what may not work on yours might work on mine and vice versa.

Frustraiting thing is re doing drivers for gfx cards and up date this, change that.. and patiently wait for a patch that might help, or pray that Nvidia for example, release a decent patch for their gfx to play the games..

It's been like this for years, and so far most people tolerate or not play

RobertoMoir

Mupette wrote: »

It's been like this for years, and so far most people tolerate or not play

Isn't the fact that it's been like this for a long time more reason why we should start demanding better, not less?

esuhl

I presume (not 100% sure) you'd be covered by the Sale of Goods Act which states that goods must be fit for their purpose and of a satisfactory quality.

If this is the case, maybe you could threaten the retailler with legal action and make a small claim in the county court if they refuse to give you a refund...?