Sony Patents a Way to Sabotage Used Game Market

BrotherRool

New member
Oct 31, 2008
3,834
0
0
Zipa said:
I can see your point about it being a inconvenience, Steam isnt perfect by any means but it at least does have a upside. Ventrilo/teamspeak are not free though. Someone somewhere is paying to rent the server. And again Steam voice is off by default, its on you to turn it on so its not really annoying. Some games have their own voice chat thats turned on by default (like most call of duty titles but that is nothing to do with Valve.
Okay I'll leave it here. I was shocked to find out that a company like Valve had already put into place anti-used game DRM several years ago and was selling it to other companies and publishers, considering the outrage that the concept alone had caused when discussed in relation to consoles (or heck, charging people who bought the game second hand for multiplayer). I would never have dreamed that a company actually banned used games when we were still talking about the inconvenience of paying §10 for old multiplayer. But you're right that at least Steam does add some features. Sony don't really have their option because ingame chat/voice talk comes with the console or is impossible on the console. If they started touting features with their anti-used game stuff then it would just mean they were removing them from normal consumers.

It is just a patent at the moment, they had a patent for demos that degenerate as you play them and that hasn't happened yet. Hopefully it never will. And when boxed games die out it won't matter that Valve was stopping their resale
 

Damien Granz

New member
Apr 8, 2011
143
0
0
I have no doubts that this will be implimented in some way in the future, and that nobody will complain when it does. We as a consumer culture love to pretend we don't have nor deserve customer rights.

We champion Steam and complain about how terrible and awful GameStop is, and Steam is the same thing. The user has almost no rights in cloud computing and we wallow in it like pigs in mud, because we don't care. We refuse to walk outside and talk to a human being at a store and so we give them complete control over every way we consume media.

It won't be long before this technology hits your car or your fridge or anything else. It's already happening in smartphones and printers and we can't stop consuming. Your smartphone's battery is predesigned to just stop working after a year to force you to upgrade. It'll come in some convenient package, like "It helps against car theft", but before you know it, your authentication server goes belly up because the company wants you to buy the new 5 year model.

And we'll thank them for it. "Thank god, I can use my car's onboard computer to purchase gas on the go so I can just roll up to an automated station, fill up and leave".

The idea that consumers have rights, period, is in our rearview mirrors.
 

Pink Gregory

New member
Jul 30, 2008
2,296
0
0
Zeldias said:
Mike Fang said:
God, this reaction to use game purchases is so stupid. What makes video game developers such a special case? Book publishers and authors don't whine about used book sales. DVD companies and film producers don't ***** about used movie sales. Also, is it just me, or is it ironic that this restrictive tech is coming from the producers of the PS2, which is famous for doing well because of having a back catalog of PS1 games that could be played on it? Yeah, I'm sure a lot of those were from PS1 owners who got the latest console and didn't want to have to throw out their old games...but I'll bet there was a significant number of people who chose a PS2 over an Xbox or a Gamecube because they could also buy used PS1 games from Gamestop, Ebay, flea markets and garage/yard sales.
Lots of authors hate used book sales. And book publishers. You know how many screeds I've read against reselling books on Amazon and shit? I figure it might be different for the film industry, I don't really know about that.

To be on topic, yeah, this is dumb, but I'm not really surprised to see folks trying to muscle in on used game sales. My beef with this is that it's not a service to anyone, really. If there's gonna be something that's gonna attack used game sales, I'd like to see it help the playerbase and the developers mostly.
Of course, books and films don't cost £40+ at a time new, and that's at the lower budget end of physical releases.
 

Mike Fang

New member
Mar 20, 2008
458
0
0
Zeldias said:
Lots of authors hate used book sales. And book publishers. You know how many screeds I've read against reselling books on Amazon and shit? I figure it might be different for the film industry, I don't really know about that.

To be on topic, yeah, this is dumb, but I'm not really surprised to see folks trying to muscle in on used game sales. My beef with this is that it's not a service to anyone, really. If there's gonna be something that's gonna attack used game sales, I'd like to see it help the playerbase and the developers mostly.
Okay, alright, if publishers, film/dvd producers and video game manufacturers don't want people reselling or trading in their old books, movies or games, then they need to provide us with an alternative to letting them pile up until we wind up being featured on "Hoarders". They need to create manufacturer buyback programs or at the very least a manufacturer-run recycling program to deal with the piles of old books, dvds, game discs, game cartridges and obsolete consoles that would immediately become worthless outside of sentimental value because you're not supposed to be reselling them. If they don't, it's gonna create either a storage problem for their customers who have to find someplace to shove all their old crap they don't play, watch or read anymore or a waste problem due to the tons of paper, plastic, discs and electronics getting dumped into landfills.
 

PoolCleaningRobot

New member
Mar 18, 2012
1,237
0
0
Quaxar said:
I like the way how some people seem to sit all day and look through patent applications just to use it to badmouth a company.
Not this article personally, but you know what I mean.

Anyone remember the in-game ad system two years ago? Pharmaceutical companies patent toxic chemicals every day, that doesn't mean they'll release it in our drinking supply.

I was actually thinking the same thing. Now people are gonna ***** about something Sony WON'T do because they'd obviously lose all their sale to x box.

"Hur durr, these companies is so stupid to do this and I'm so much smarter than them"
 

viranimus

Thread killer
Nov 20, 2009
4,952
0
0
I almost want to see Sony do it. I want to think it would generate enough public outrage that it would either ruin them outright, or at least hurt them enough to realize just how much they have been pissing on with their customer base over the last 3-5 years.

However... it will happen, and the result is, Nothing.

Apathetic gamers will gladly reward Sony for undercutting first sale doctrine with cash hand over fist knowing full well that it will just encourage Sony to do something even more wrongly insane, and begging for even more rights to be subverted and less consumer protection for themselves.

I may not have lost all my faith in gaming yet, but I think I am just about tapped out on having faith in gamers.
 

Poetic Nova

Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus
Jan 24, 2012
1,974
0
0
Another reason to add on my list of ways sony tries to screw consumers. I do like both the ps1, 2 and 3 but Sony themselves don't give a damn about fans/consumers etc.
 

hutchy27

New member
Jan 7, 2011
293
0
0
Vilealbaniandwarf said:
I'm currently saving money, not for the new playstation or xb360, but a kick-ass pc for a variety of things including gaming via steam and gog, video editing and streaming movies from lovefilm.
I'm also saving up for a new computer for gaming, not looking for some beast of a machine, just one good enough to play games fluently on decent setting for the next few years until I can afford a much better one. I currently got £140 and I also know a few other people who are also saving up or recently got one.
 

Carrots_macduff

New member
Jul 13, 2011
232
0
0
dear sony, just because there is a used copy doesn't mean im going to buy it. infact i usually will splurge and pay that extra fiver to know that my game will be scratch free, and still have all the codes and manual etc. the only person your going to hurt by sabotaging used games is yourself, having cheaper alternatives will make it seem more accessible and appealing to people with less money.

if this is integrated into sonys next console, the wiiu will probz be my next console of choice. (i doubt i will want a next gen xbox either because it will probably have their stupid camera built in, and they'll probably continue to charge for xbox live as well since everyone seems so thrilled to be paying for services that they need to pay a subscription to use on their console that they payed for, over their internet that they pay for while microsoft SELLS ADS ON YOUR DASHBOARD.

i mean holy crap, iv'e heard of double dipping, but xbox live is such a scam its rediculous
 

KEM10

New member
Oct 22, 2008
725
0
0
I signed back into my Escapist account for this (haven't felt the need to in at least a year).

While I haven't read all 5 pages of comments, none of them seem to say the benefit of this product.

Yes, it can be used to eliminate the used games market. But you know what it can also do? It can be used to counter the USB hacking system that plagued the PS3 by embedding a serial key into each game and linking it to systems. If working properly (huge if, but they have time to run through the bugs) it would only prevent the use of the same game on multiple systems at the same time. Although, there is the complicated issue of having a friend bring their game to your house to play with you, but that would be a timeline issue on their software (maybe a "force eject" for the CD key could do that?).

That is probably where this is going, not destroying used games.
 

Jumplion

New member
Mar 10, 2008
7,873
0
0
The optimist in me would like to think that this system could be used to streamline the distribution of DLC does and the like. The console would be able to tell if the game is brand new or if has been used before, and through that it can generate a code for the extra DLC that new games come with (pre-order bonuses and such), or the online pass that some companies do if the game is used.

Of course, that's being extremely optimistic. But I highly doubt they would implement this system to combat used games. There's stupid and suicidal, and while Sony may be stupid sometimes (incredibly stupid), they are not suicidal.
 

MeChaNiZ3D

New member
Aug 30, 2011
3,104
0
0
Sony, I love your products, and I really want to like your business practices, but give me something to work with please.

Maybe one day one of these jackasses will actually manage to shut down used games sales. Then realise how integral they are to new game sales and die in agony.
 

scorptatious

The Resident Team ICO Fanboy
May 14, 2009
7,405
0
0
Don't do this Sony. I actually like your systems and the games you publish for them. Hell, the Playstation 1 was my very first console.

*sigh*

Hopefully, this plan backfires horribly and they get rid of this anti-used game mindset.
 

AstylahAthrys

New member
Apr 7, 2010
1,317
0
0
It's really looking like I may be PC only for the next console generation. I might get the new Xbox if it impresses me, but the Wii U controller is too big to be comfortable in my hands and, if this is true, the PS4 is completely out of the question, mostly for principal.
 

DataSnake

New member
Aug 5, 2009
467
0
0
WouldYouKindly said:
I always have this to say; WHY THE FUCK SHOULD YOU GET ANYTHING FROM USED SALES?!

If I sell anything else I own, the original creator doesn't expect to get anything at all out of it. I sell my car, that's all my money. I sell my TV, that's all my money. I sell my house, all my money.

In other words, of course you don't get anything from used sales, games industry. No industry does. What makes you so fucking special?
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Entitled said:
Movie publishers can sue you if you play music with too many people around, say, in your cafeteria. I think that's on the same level.
Which I've always felt makes about as much sense as GM suing me for carpooling.
The other analogies are faulty, since they are governed by property rights, that are quite a lot more clear-cut than IP rights.
Not really. When you sell a game back to, say, GameStop, you no longer have that game. The number of copies in circulation doesn't change, so it's more analogous to a used car than a bootleg CD.
 

Do4600

New member
Oct 16, 2007
934
0
0
If they implement this, wouldn't every major video game retailer and re seller refuse to sell their products? I'm sure a good deal of the profits they get are based off of used software and hardware, Sony would have to pay them what they are "losing" from used games for them to carry their system.