Retailers around the world have had a heck of a time deciding what to do with Capcom’s 3DS release Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.
As it happens, the data on every copy of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is permanent – it cannot be reset. That means that all the game progression, all the unlocks, all the awards, all the records, everything that is opened up in the game will be there forever.
While Capcom insists this was not an effort to curb used game sales, that exact effect has occurred with many game retailers around the world.
As news of this feature (or lack thereof) surfaced, North American GameStops announced that they would not accept the game as a trade-in, though this policy was just reversed today. In the United Kingdom, retailer HMV has stopped taking trades for the title, and EB Games Australia has stopped selling the game entirely.
According to a representative of EB Games via Facebook, “If you would like to purchase it then of course we will sell it to you, it will be a case of an order with our store. We made the tough decision to remove it from sale because we have everybody’s best interests in mind, and don’t feel it’s fair that you guys would be paying $60 for what is essentially a one use game.”
[source] IGN, EB Games Australia
While I can understand the reasons a used game purchaser would be upset at this practice - I just don't get the uproar its causing amongst gamers who aren't buying it used. They are crying foul because they can't "restart their game from scratch" - and some of the less educated people out there are taking this as "once I start a game and progress I won't be able to go back to the beginning". Which is hogwash. All the save system does is save the records of each level you beat and the items you've unlocked. At anytime you want you can go and play the game from start to finish - you can even replay specific levels at any time you wish (although why you'd want to continuously replay those first two "training" chapters is beyond me). Its the same thing that happened in RE5 - you can select chapters as you wish, go back and replay them for better scores or to try them with new unlocked weapons, or to try and get the highest "SS" rating on each.
I have never erased a save in order to replay a game from scratch - I can't imagine I'm alone in that respect. Sure it sucks for Used game buyers - but like the saying goes "Caveat Emptor".
I don't think the omission matters much in terms of the replayability of a game like Mercenaries, but I really don't like the precedent it sets.
I also have a problem with portable games that don't offer you (at least) two save slots, but that's a slightly different matter. my girlfriend and I will play through games and it's nice having two slots, or at least the ability to wipe a single save so the other person can start fresh after the game's been beaten once.
I've never wiped my own saves but I have wiped saves when buying used games many times - I remember lots of L+R+start+select while booting a game on the GBA. I think the DS had a similar button combo.