HMV's Simon Fox - 3
The retail boss on pre-owned, digital distribution - and the 3DS
I think, as you say, publishers are mixed. I've met both types - publishers that genuinely think what we're doing is wrong, or if it's not wrong that they should be benefiting from what we're doing. And others feel much more relaxed.
As a retailer we feel it is something that our customers want - we weren't first into this market, we were a late-comer. It's not a big part of our mix, but it is an important part of our mix - and what we do is, in some degree, part of the way of competing with supermarkets on pricing.
By providing a trade-in offer on a new release you can make that new release affordable, perhaps even cheaper than the supermarket price - but it's part of a deal. They bring something back, and in exchange they can have the latest product at a very competitive price.
I think customers who have bought any product - whether that's a game or anything - believe it to be theirs. And once they've bought it, if they should wish to sell it, they have that right to sell it.
No, I don't believe it has.
I think for one or two it's a genuine issue, and I'm sure they'd prefer we weren't doing it. But with Tesco now moving in, Argos now moving in...
Well, it's a serious threat. I think the first thing is that we do believe that the file size of games is getting bigger and bigger and will only get bigger still. I think it's interesting to compare the file size of Call of Duty this year with that of last year. I don't know the exact numbers, but I believe it's immeasurably bigger. And as we see 3D in future years - which we definitely will - the file size will only get bigger again.
Frankly it's going to take many years for the broadband infrastructure in this country to keep pace, and it evidently isn't keeping pace at the moment.