Sony patent idea to stem second hand game market

  • Thread starter Thread starter bluemoon_19
  • 47 comments
  • 2,431 views
bluemoon_19

bluemoon_19

Premium
Messages
1,177
United Kingdom
England, Yorkshire
Messages
bluemoon_19
Sony has filled a patent in which it propose an authentication system for new games. The basic system means new games come with a code that generates a passkey for that system. When the disc is played on another system Sony can then stop that disc from working. here is the link to where I found the info as I think I explained it a bit wrong.

http://www.psu.com/a017923/Sony-patent-proposes-way-to-stem-second-hand-game-sales
 
The bit at the bottom seemed to suggest that one way around this was to only play offline but that won't be much use for any game with multiplayer.
 
This isn't new. There were rumors of a patent application filed for this on the PS3. It didn't happen. Side effect? Gamestop's stock price dropped over 5% yesterday. Same thing that happened years ago. Microsoft is hypothetically proposing the same thing.
 
Yes apparently loads of patents never see the light of day and I think this may be one of them. The public backlash would be massive
 
Bottom line: If the protection scheme can work completely offline (unlikely), then I'm for it... so long as Sony has reasonable methods to "transfer" the disc to a new console in the event that your old one breaks.

If it mandates an internet connection for any portion of the process of initially tying a disc to a console, then I won't be buying Sony's next console. Simple as that.
 
Lain
Bottom line: If the protection scheme can work completely offline (unlikely), then I'm for it... so long as Sony has reasonable methods to "transfer" the disc to a new console in the event that your old one breaks.

If it mandates an internet connection for any portion of the process of initially tying a disc to a console, then I won't be buying Sony's next console. Simple as that.
Click to expand...
As if the online pass 🤬 weren't enough!
 
Any system that restricts a single disc to a single console will never get approved. Its that simple. Gamers will never accept it, stores will never accept it.

Instead of attempting to get rid of used games alltogether, Sony and developers need to focus on how to make new games the far more attractive alternative. Maybe give free DLC to people who buy new games by means of a pass key. Give them early unlocks or other awards not available to those who buy the game used. That combined with online passes should give gamers reason enough to spend $3 more and get the game new.
 
I am wondering if they realize killing the second hand market might have a negative effect on new sales as well. Many people I know sell their finished (bought new) games to fund their new games. If there's no longer a second hand market, those people are not buying new games as often. I think it's a better approach (at least from the company's perspective, not the consumer perspective) if they try to capitalize on the second hand market, and/or take control over it.
 
I don't think Sony would be that stupid to be the only ones of the next generation to put on a new games only lock because it would mean masses of people picking the console that doesn't do it. So its either they all do it or none do, if all do it then PC is the last place of freedom.

The whole concept stinks, you don't own anything and are basically licensed / renting the use of a piece of software. Online passes were bad enough but the game not even booting without scanning and authenticating a QR code is madness.

NLxAROSA
I am wondering if they realize killing the second hand market might have a negative effect on new sales as well. Many people I know sell their finished (bought new) games to fund their new games. If there's no longer a second hand market, those people are not buying new games as often. I think it's a better approach (at least from the company's perspective, not the consumer perspective) if they try to capitalize on the second hand market, and/or take control over it.
Click to expand...

It can only be a negative outcome, it will drive more people away from traditional gaming which is already facing a steep decline in the face of competition from cheap mobile games and will kill off many retailers which are already struggling (Gamestop's share price plummeted on the news of this patent). As you said many people who fund new games by selling old ones will no longer buy new games because they are too expensive. Unless this lock lead's to cheaper new games (which is the story that all content producers spin which everyone knows won't happen) the whole idea is doomed.
 
I keep all of the games I buy, and play them again, several times in some cases - so I don't really understand the whole selling games on thing.

I am however not a fan of tying one game to one account, which is something also being looked at. That is more important to me, as my lady wife plays some of the same games as I do - it would also kill local co-op as an option, unless that limited-tagging would allow a guest account. I'd still not be happy with such limitations though.
 
Earth
Any system that restricts a single disc to a single console will never get approved. Its that simple. Gamers will never accept it, stores will never accept it.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure, some years ago I would never thought that once I bought I game I needed to pay more to unlock some content that was already in the game. Neither would I think that people would pay real life money for a pre-alpha test or for virtual currency on a game (beeing card, gold, gils, armor or anything).

So yeah I'm not so sure. Only futur will tell.
 
It could be just a bit of scaremongering between Sony/Microsoft.

I see Xbox coming this fall and PS4 next year.
Maybe Sony are just playing mind games to unsettle MS.

I'm not in anyway a fan of hackers. However for the first time in my life I would not feel sympathy to Sony/MS if hackers worked to find an exploit to get around this.

I can't see this happening though. Unless all 3 systems made a unanimous decision to accept it.

Edit. Actually Sony patented the idea so the other two would have to pay Sony I would imagine.
Scrap that idea then.
 
I also thought of this, If it they do restrict on single disc/ console, if you need to buy a new one since the old one is dead you cannot no longer play online due to a new console you had to buy?
 
Spagetti69
Edit. Actually Sony patented the idea so the other two would have to pay Sony I would imagine.
Scrap that idea then.
Click to expand...

They patented this idea. It doesn't necessarily mean MS couldn't come up with an alternative method.
 
SimonK
They patented this idea. It doesn't necessarily mean MS couldn't come up with an alternative method.
Click to expand...

Yep your right there. More than one way to skin a cat.

It's inevitable in the end I think. Maybe not next gen but after that I can see digital download, streaming and such being the norm and discs a thing of the past.

I would hope digital download would cost a lot less in that scenario. At the moment there artificially high to keep brick and mortar shops alive.
 
Spagetti69
Yep your right there. More than one way to skin a cat.

It's inevitable in the end I think. Maybe not next gen but after that I can see digital download, streaming and such being the norm and discs a thing of the past.

I would hope digital download would cost a lot less in that scenario. At the moment there artificially high to keep brick and mortar shops alive.
Click to expand...

I think that the next gen will be digital download, not only, but I think that most of the stuff we get next gen will be digital download.

Also, I don't see a massive price reduction, why? Just look at the price of games on PSN that have only just been released. Some of them are even higher in price than they are in the shops.
 
There is no way the next gen (if you are indeed talking about the hypothetical PS4/Xbox720) will be digital only, the world as a whole is not ready for that yet and it would be idiotic of either company to go that route.
 
SimonK
There is no way the next gen (if you are indeed talking about the hypothetical PS4/Xbox720) will be digital only, the world as a whole is not ready for that yet and it would be idiotic of either company to go that route.
Click to expand...

Was that a reply to me Simon?
 
Spagetti69
It's inevitable in the end I think. Maybe not next gen but after that I can see digital download, streaming and such being the norm and discs a thing of the past.
Click to expand...

That was my take on it.

As for downloads getting cheaper I believe they will.

At the present time PSN Etc can't afford to piss off the brick and mortar stores. They need shops to show off consoles, games etc and both mediums need each other.

Yes games will need higher development costs. Factor out disc printing, shipping costs and storage costs and it should even itself out.

There is no finite amount of stock digitally. If a game doesn't sell well, then just drop the price until the public bite. I think steam does a good buisiness model.

TBH if they think they have you by the balls because its the only way to get your content and they double the prices of games then it won't sell much at all.

As long as there's more than one digital distributor, Sony / MS / Nintendo etc I think we will be alright.

Just speculation.

Edited to add. EA pricing on the digital games is rediculous compared to the discs, why is that? Probably because they want the discs sold off first IMHO.
 
SimonK
There is no way the next gen (if you are indeed talking about the hypothetical PS4/Xbox720) will be digital only, the world as a whole is not ready for that yet and it would be idiotic of either company to go that route.
Click to expand...

Not everyone has a good internet connection also, so going all digital is a bit like shooting your foot off.
 
I prefer having a hard copy of things, so I really don't like buying anything online. If they get to the point where you stream and download everything, I'm not going to do it for the reason mentioned above, plus I have horrible internet.

I thought that this was going to be tried before, and it got shot down. Trying it again? Really... I don't have the money to buy games new anyway, so what am I supposed to do?
 
FireEmblem10
I prefer having a hard copy of things, so I really don't like buying anything online. If they get to the point where you stream and download everything, I'm not going to do it for the reason mentioned above, plus I have horrible internet.

I thought that this was going to be tried before, and it got shot down. Trying it again? Really... I don't have the money to buy games new anyway, so what am I supposed to do?
Click to expand...

It's just big company's being big company's, they realised that pre-owned games are a massive market that they are missing a peice of.

Pure greed in my eyes.
 
This isn't a reply to anyone in particular, but (incoming wall of text by the way):

I don't see what's so different about the console and PC markets that means most PC gamers are fine with 99% of their games being digitally distributed but console gamers are less accepting. Is it that their internet connections aren't fast enough, their hard drives aren't big enough or what? I think, once brick and mortar games outlets finally die (in the UK we only really have Game (which very nearly died), HMV (which is dying) and one aisle in the bigger supermarkets), Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo should take some cues from Steam and PC gaming in general and make digital distribution viable for consoles. I think it would be relatively easy, really. They'd need:

- To allow people to fit whatever size hard drives they want in their console (or connect to it with a high-speed link like eSATA). This is 2013, we shouldn't be getting excited about 500GB consoles when a modern gaming PC has at least one 1TB drive. I understand that the PS3 is old hardware and all that but why Sony didn't give the hard drive bay just a little bit more room to accomodate the thicker 2.5" drives I have no idea. It's not exactly rocket science that higher capacity drives that don't exist yet might be a couple of millimetres thicker than the lower capacity drives on the market in 2006. As for Microsoft and their proprietary hard drives... My face just isn't big enough for all this palm it's getting.

- A method to allow people to buy games from any internet access point and download them to their console at home while away from home. This means people at school or work can buy games and download them so they can play when they get home; this would largely cure the whole 'I can't just go out and buy a disc' thing.

- To allow pre-downloading of a game so that it can be installed and ready to go when the release date comes. Maybe they already do this, I'm not sure.

- Automatic updating like PS Plus has. There's nothing more annoying than having your console sitting idle for a week, turning it on for an impulse play of, say, BF3 and finding a 1GB update waiting for you. Let the console do that at 5-6AM so it's always ready to go. Again, it's 2013, this should be standard. Well, a standard option, as some people have download limits.

- Competitive pricing. There is absolutely no fathomable reason as to why Need For Speed: Most Wanted is £60/$60/60 Euros on the PSN store when it's £40 on disc, £30 at full price on Origin and available for less than half that fairly regularly from other digital distributors. Are PC bytes cheaper than console bytes? No.


If they can make digital distribution convenient then they've got all the DRM they need right there. Steam is the most widespread form of DRM in the world and how many complaints do you hear about that compared to TAGES, Starforce, First-purchaser codes and always-online DRM? Hardly any! But do I care that I can't resell my copy of, I don't know, Gish (the worst game ever made)? No, because it cost me next to nothing. Had it cost the £12 it probably would've cost as a console game I'd be annoyed.


TL, DR: Physical game retail will die eventually (how many CDs, DVDs and/or Blu Rays did you buy in 2012 compared to 2002?), I'm willing to put money on it being within the next console cycle. The console companies should be looking at what Steam does that makes it indispensable to most PC gamers rather than invent silly new DRM methods. Oh and they need to design the new consoles accordingly.
 
somebody deleted my post?

sum up, no game worth more than 30 bucks. most dlc totally not worth it and should have been included in game from get go (seriously, asking 4 euros just for the oval lap to test top speed, talk about ridiculing).

whats up with people nowadays, people seriously not wanting products that are worth the asking price? everybody want to pay more for less? it seems the average iq of gamers has gone down by 9000.

only reasonable explanation i have for this is peoples lives suck so much nowadays that gaming has become one of the most important part of their lives. games are the new crack.
 
The next gen consoles from Sony and MS (I don't know about Nintendo) are going to have one-owner only games. The game code will be tied to your account and you can play that game on your console only. Get used to it.

Don't have a good internet connection? Sony doesn't care. Used game stores- Sony doesn't care. MS will of course follow suit because this scheme will in the end make them more money. No one is going to give up on playing video games- it just won't happen. There is a law in the US that guarantees the right to re-sell what we own- The First-Sale doctrine. But selling the game to someone then registering the right to play it circumvents this law (not sure how...)

AAA titles will depreciate in value less than they currently do. So when COD 8 comes out for the PS4, you will pay $70-80 the day of release and then 1-2 years down the road pay $60-70 for it. There will be no used game market to force prices lower.

The only thing that could change this and keep it from happening is if a new console hits the market with the current system. No online authentication, keeping a used game market alive and cheap games. Gamestop needs to make their own console.
 

Latest Posts

Back