No trade-in for future Playstation games

[Xylak]

I told you that publishers don't like the second-hand game market: http://uk.gamespot.com/news/next-playstation-to-lock-out-used-games-report-6368582

I'm not surprised. It seems that Sony are doing everything they can to kill the Playstation when it was once the bye-word for games consoles.

 

[thatbloke]

Not read it yet, but I suspect it will be a steam-like service, associating games to an "account". It will also mean that online connectivity is a requirement.

 

[Xylak]

Not read it yet, but I suspect it will be a steam-like service, associating games to an "account". It will also mean that online connectivity is a requirement.

For the hard of clicking....

Full Orbis games will be available via Blu-ray disc or as a PlayStation Network download and will be locked to a single PSN account. Players will not be able to circumvent the system by remaining offline, as the source said users will be forced to be connected to the PSN to boot up their games.

However, this could also just be for initial installation and that once registered you don't have to be online to play.

Gamers will be free to trade in Orbis games, but the person who purchases a secondhand disc will be restricted to a limited trial mode or "some other form of content restriction." These gamers will be forced to pay a fee to unlock the full title, according to the source.

And as others (i.e. Microsoft) follow, it will mean the current market for second-hand games will effectively be killed off.

In the boardroom this will be called "maximising revenue", in the gamer household this will be known as ... well, any number of unpleasant things.

I can also see the music industry looking at these methods and trying to figure out how they can do something similar.

 

[Spicypixel]

It's why whoever buys GAME is special, most of their revenue came from a system that is going to be broken soon.

 

[Silk]

If it means console games will drop to the same price as PC games I'm all for it. I never did like the fact that developers don't get a penny from resales.

But I bet they still try to sell them at 40 quid, then moan when the industry starts to nosedive. And probably blame piracy. Or something.

 

[thatbloke]

But surely this will also eliminate piracy? What will they blame then? :trollface:

 

[Panda with issues...]

But surely this will also eliminate piracy? What will they blame then? :trollface:

They couldn't possibly blame themselves.

So, does this mean that you need to connect your PS4 to the internet essentially all the time? Can we bet on there being a fee for 'playstation live'?

If so, consoles are essentially dead to me. I only use them to play single player games, and as such, have no inclination to connect them to the internet.

I feel that a charge service for the internet functions (especially if essentially compulsory) is a poor long term strategy for Sony. They lost this generation's console war, badly, and if they want to tempt people away from Microsoft, they need to offer something different, or better, not the same.

No one is going to flip out with joy at the prospect of having to pay for telephone line rental, broadband, xbox live AND 'Playstation live'. People will just choose one or the other, and if they're already on xbox live, and still play old games, well, you can bet that they aren't going to plump for the PS4 and it's new network.

On top of this, there's the fact that poor (to no) internet is actually the norm across much of the world. Maybe not this generation, but the next console generation for sure, major markets will be in place in currently developing countries like Brazil, South Africa, Russia, China, India and a bunch of other places.

Requiring permanent stable internet connections will not help sales in those countries where many are wealthy enough to purchase, but are hampered by poor regional infrastructure.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

One hopes the network will have multiple user accounts and parental controls, otherwise in a single household with multiple aged users, say 11,16 & 35 sharing a single piece of hardware will not be possible without, buying some games twice, just to have multiple friends lists, and parental lockout of the 16+35's games.

 

[Xylak]

ranty stuff

Woah, slow down. That's a lot of supposition, assumption and jumping to conclusions.

It may be that it's a one-off install check that's required rather than every time the game is run.
There's no suggestion of a pay-for "Playstation Live" (yet people will happily fork out £40-50 for Xbox Live).

And if you haven't got an internet connection by the time this console comes out, it's unlikely you can afford to buy it anyway. And for the few who don't and can... Sony's position will most likely be "meh".

But, yeah, Sony are slowly killing what was once a flagship device.

 

[thatbloke]

slightly off-topic, but you (mostly) get what you pay for, and xbox live is worth every penny.

 

[Traxata]

slightly off-topic, but you (mostly) get what you pay for, and xbox live is worth every penny.

Which is why many people don't pay it

 

[PsiSoldier]

And as others (i.e. Microsoft) follow.

bit late there.

 

[Ghostwolf67]

Yeah great sony. way to go. Thats right tie in everything into those online accounts that you dont know how to protect and recently had the data stolen from. Now they can lose all your presonal info and invalidate all your games at the same time. Shine on you crazy diamonds.

 

[Kasatka]

All of this is hardly news - the games industry has been going in this direction for some time.

 

[Pottsy]

I think any hardware manufacturer that would go through with this is putting the nails into their own coffin.

Think back to the format war between BluRay and HD-DVDs. Now imagine BluRay players were designed so you couldn't play any second hand or even borrowed discs. Do you think they would have sold when a more open format was available?

If Sony and possibly Microsoft are planning to go down this road, I hope Valve does move into the hardware market. At least they don't treat their consumers like criminals.

 

[BiG D]

Oh you can buy used games on steam now??

 

[thatbloke]

Oh you can buy used games on steam now??

^this.

I'm not surprised by this move, and there have been rumours about it happening for quite some time. Don't be surprised to see the same on the new xbox platform.

For people who are NOT PC gamers, this will be something of a shock to the system, as a lot of people, and I would say particularly younger people, will buy a game, play it through, then trade it in back at the store to get another game at, say, 50% off the full price or something.

If they still expect to be able to charge £40-£50 for each game, however, I think they may well get a nasty shock to the system.

on a related note, this is probably also another nail in the coffin for the GAME stores in the UK.

 

[Pottsy]

Oh you can buy used games on steam now??

I had realized the irony of my remark shortly after posting it. There is a difference between digital downloads and controlling a users access to a tangible product though. Also, it has (sort of) been done before. Man sells Steam account for $1,000 on eBay

The reason Valve sprung to my mind was one of Gabe Newells remarks regarding how Steam deals with piracy: "Our goal is to create greater service value than pirates".

If they did make a console, I imagine Valve would deal with used games by not bothering with physical products at all instead of restricting how you use them.

 

[BiG D]

Selling accounts is definitely against the steam TOS, if it becomes commonplace you can expect them to crack down pretty hard.

 

[Spicypixel]

Why sell someone a product that's transferable when you can not?