I don't disagree with the economics of what you're saying, but it's interesting that the console makers seem to be against second-hand games:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/03/29/the-coming...

Every single DRM enforcement today is a statement against the second-hand market. As apps, videos and music are bought as DRM protected files from online stores, the notion of possession of the physical means (cartidge, disk, book, etc.) is being replaced by some weird notion of half-ownership attached to a user ID.

In the rare event of me buying some DRM protected content (rare ebooks, for example), I will usually do whatever is needed to strip it for my own archival purposes, and share with friends. When something is DRM-free (Humble bundles come to mind) I won't share it, but send my friends to the provider. That's just the little rebel in me.

How much would you be willing to pay for a car or a house if you knew you couldn't sell it later? I know I would be willing to pay less than I am now.

That's what I meant about the economics of it. Of course, that's only part of the picture. It's true that resale value must figure into the new value, but it also might depress demand for new sales.

Coming at it from another angle, Gamestop makes a lot of money from second-hand sales. That's money that the game and console makers don't get to make and they want it.

Or I could download the ROMs and buy some new games, too! And the 12 year old can mow my lawn for tenpence a day until he or she also has enough to buy a new game.