Used games: Good or bad

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the used games market, and whether or not it's good for the games industry.

In this corner:

Pro-used games: (1) Used games allow consumers to get more gaming for their dollar, the amount they were going to spend was a 'fixed' amount anyway, (2) Games are property, and people have a right to do what they want with that property, including to sell it, (3) low-price used games allow people to try games they otherwise might not, and provide a path for non-gamers to dip their toe in the water, growing the gaming market overall.

(Proponents include Alice, Billy, many others)

In the opposite corner:

Anti-used games: (1) Used games reduce the number of people that buy the title new, thus decreasing the revenue to the developer/publisher, (2) retailer margins are better on used games, incenting them to sell those first and foremost*, (3) while sold on physical media, the consumer is actually buying an entertainment experience, which shouldn't be transferable/replicable, or at least if it is, the 'performer' should get paid again in some way.

* I haven't seen any date on (2) above, but do have one anecdote. I had a game developer in Japan actually take me to a couple shops in Akihabara where (in one) the used games were stacked IN FRONT of the new games, so you had to dig for them, and (in another) the used games were on display and the new games were hidden away and had to be asked for (only displayed if they were sold out of used). I've only seen this taht one time, and only in Japan though. For this case at least, it was pretty clear where the retailer's preference was.

(proponents on this side include: Mark Rein, Mark Deloura, and -until recently- me.)

Anyhow. There are plenty of proponents on both sides of the argument - probably a good indication that the reality lies somewhere in between.

While I've stepped out of the "anti-" camp, I haven't stepped into the "pro-" camp either.

Why? Because I haven't seen a good thorough analysis of the problem. So I just don't know the truth.

What I would like to see is a piece of research, backed by data (ie. research, not opinion) that answers the following questions:

• Do used games increase/decrease the amount of money the average gamer spends?
• Do used games increase/decrease the amount of time the average gamer spends playing games?
• Do used games introduce new gamers to gaming, or gamers to new genres?
• How do margins compare, and what is the split between various parties, between retail new and used games? (Looking for something better than my original stab in the dark. This post looks like it goes into some detail, but I haven't made my way through it all yet).
• Do the above answers vary significantly between different countries? different platforms? (e.g. PC vs console, handheld vs console...)
• How does the above compare with other media (music, video)?
• How does the rental market compare (e.g. I've heard that with video rentals, IIRC, some portion gets back to the publisher, but not game rentals. Is this true?)

Anyone know of one any piece of real research that can help answer the above, or is it just a religious argument and we are left to choose our favorite preacher?