40 replies to this topic

[SgtFrenchy]

It seems like Sony has shot itself in the foot yet again. Yesterday those meddling kids on NeoGaf unearthed another of Sony's nefarious plans: a patent that seems designed to prevent a gaming console from playing a used game.

Here's the abstract:

A game playing system includes a use permission tag provided for use in a game disk for a user of a game, a disk drive, and a reproduction device for reproducing the game. The disk drive reads out a disk ID from the game disk. When the game is to be played, the reproduction device conveys the disk ID and a player ID to the use permission tag. The use permission tag stores the terms of use of the game and determines whether a combination of the disk ID and the player ID conveyed from the reproduction device fulfills the terms of use or not.

In more readable terms (and as I understand this system), game disks would have an RFID tag embedded in them, and the gaming console would read that tag to determine if the game could be played in that game console. If it's a new game it would get bound to the account ID associated with that console and the ID or a relatable tag would be written to the chip. If it's a used game the tags won't match and the game won't run. Or it could be more granular than that. Perhaps the game's single player mode would run but it's multiplayer mode wouldn't.

Read More Here

[SgtFrenchy]

I'm a longtime Playstation user but if this is in fact true, my current PS3 will be the last Sony product I own.

[Holliday]

That would exclude rentals, and borrowing from friends, too (assuming people still do those things?) Boooo! Hopefully that report is inaccurate.

[chicken wing]

Thank God I still have my Sega Dreamcast!!

[Vader]

That would also include taking your game disc to a friend's house when you go to hang out.

I get that they want to fight piracy, but this is one of the worst ways to try to do it.

[thecoffeecake]

Someone will figure out how to get around it, and then it will be on Google, and everyone's fine. Good thing I don't use PlayStation anymore.

[SgtFrenchy]

It would totally destroy the Playstation console in my opinion. Who is going to want to deal with that?

[SgtFrenchy]

Someone will figure out how to get around it, and then it will be on Google, and everyone's fine. Good thing I don't use PlayStation anymore.

Yeah but I doubt many people will want to go through all that though.

[JR Ewing]

If true, it blows for Sony users. Then again, nobody should be surprised by this: consoles are as closed an ecosystem as you'll ever come across in the gaming world. They're constantly telling you what you can or cannot do with your own property.

JR

[Holliday]

If true, it blows for Sony users. Then again, nobody should be surprised by this: consoles are as closed an ecosystem as you'll ever come across in the gaming world. They're constantly telling you what you can or cannot do with your own property.

JR

Ehhh... Yes and no to telling you what you can or cannot do with your property. To be clear, I have no idea what modifications are available and/or common to any consoles, because that's not an avenue I've explored. My understanding has always been if you do "thing A", you void your warranty. Or if you do "thing B", you won't be allowed to use our online services. And so on, and so forth. Am I wrong? Back when I worked at the video store for like 1/3 of my life, it wasn't uncommon for customers to have two of each console - one hacked and one legit - or so they told me. So I always saw it as trading off one set of services for another, and stayed out of it.

[JR Ewing]

Ehhh... Yes and no to telling you what you can or cannot do with your property. To be clear, I have no idea what modifications are available and/or common to any consoles, because that's not an avenue I've explored. My understanding has always been if you do "thing A", you void your warranty. Or if you do "thing B", you won't be allowed to use our online services. And so on, and so forth. Am I wrong? Back when I worked at the video store for like 1/3 of my life, it wasn't uncommon for customers to have two of each console - one hacked and one legit - or so they told me. So I always saw it as trading off one set of services for another, and stayed out of it.

Well, there aren't really any options available to customers which do not void their warranty or won't get them banned from online services if caught, even if they're not pirating software. Something as simple as looking inside the console's case, and you'd better buy a new one if you want a warranty. Picturing a car manufacturer voiding the engine warranty if you look under the hood. The scenario you describe, where people had a pirate console and an online-safe unit is bang on.

Basically, as far as the console makers are concerned, you have the right to plop their unit onto your TV stand and then play it. They absolutely hate the used game market, and feel it's nothing but another form of piracy, because they don't get a piece of that action. It's akin to being disallowed from buying a used car, and only having the option of purchasing a new one from the dealership.

The irony is that all they're doing is pushing more people to pirate their games in the future, should they go through with this plan. For me? It's not on my radar, since I've always been a PC gamer. However, I think it's horse shit if they do that to their customers.

JR

[Caniac59]

This reminds me of when I 1st got my PS2, I've got games that had the old purple back on the disc. They used to play on my PS2 when I 1st got the games but now they won't play at all. Most of my old NHL games (the early 2000's games) have this purple back and won't play on my PS2 at all.

Thank God For My Crackbox 360.

[CoyoteQ]

I don't even play anymore and this pisses me off. Man...wtf is this world coming to.

[Xcal97]

Stupid.

Console gaming is being surpassed by PC gaming in a big way. I probably will not own a console ever again.

[JR Ewing]

Stupid.

Console gaming is being surpassed by PC gaming in a big way. I probably will not own a console ever again.

I have an Xbox 360. It's the first console I've bought since the NES came out. It's not bad, but it's still sat unused for damn near a year now. PC all the way for me, as it has been forever, and it's not even close.

JR

[Craig Simpson]

This is just goofy. I mean, its highly unlikely I will buy a PS4 as the little use my PS3 gets anyway hardly makes it worth it. But stupidity by people in the boardroom.

[Dainer09]

I prefer PC for FPS games as well as strategy games, however I feel the sports game experience on a console is WAY above that of what the PC offers, so I use my 360 for those. The one thing that hasnt been brought up yet, is that consoles now adays are more than just a gaming platform. My 360 serves as my dvd player as well as my Netflix & Hulu streamer and music player when I want to jam out while cooking. I also and a huge fan of the Kinect as it lets me voice control all of the previously stated uses, adds a new level of gameplay to my sports games (i.e. calling out audibles, hot routes, etc in madden) as well as lets me play 18 holes in the comfort of my living room. My wife also uses it for Yoga, Ti-Bo, and Zumba. Not to mention the dancing games that she loves.

[JR Ewing]

I prefer PC for FPS games as well as strategy games, however I feel the sports game experience on a console is WAY above that of what the PC offers, so I use my 360 for those.

That's the way it's worked out, but only because of EA's strange fixation on producing for all platforms except for sports titles. Imagine if the NHL or Madden series weren't being hamstrung by technology which is approaching a decade in age. If they produced those same titles for the PC, and made them up to the standard of major PC titles, they'd be incredible on a home computer.

It's too bad EA doesn't do that anymore, especially since they cite piracy as the issue.

The one thing that hasnt been brought up yet, is that consoles now adays are more than just a gaming platform. My 360 serves as my dvd player as well as my Netflix & Hulu streamer and music player when I want to jam out while cooking.

Yeah, the major consoles are good at that stuff. Again, not remotely as good as a home theatre PC, carry the cost of a yearly XBL subscription, and don't offer nearly the choice, but they do work for that.

I also and a huge fan of the Kinect as it lets me voice control all of the previously stated uses, adds a new level of gameplay to my sports games (i.e. calling out audibles, hot routes, etc in madden) as well as lets me play 18 holes in the comfort of my living room. My wife also uses it for Yoga, Ti-Bo, and Zumba. Not to mention the dancing games that she loves.

I really like the technology that's wrapped up in the Kinect. There are some really cool features, and I think it has huge potential, but I'm really hoping developers can find more to do with it than have people dance along with "Gangnam Style".

Also: Kinect works on PC, though nobody's really developing for it outside of homebrewers or enthusiasts doing their own thing.

I guess I'm always left with no real reason to buy the next console, RFID chip or not. In the end, most of their big features come across to me as extremely handicapped computers which are locked down tighter than Fort Knox and carry very high long term costs.

JR

This point has been edited by JR Ewing: 08 January 2013 - 03:54 PM

[damned]

Looks like Xbox users will suffer the fate, you knew it wouldn't just be one platform that would make such a choice.

Well, there goes the neighbourhood.

Neighbourhood video game stores, specifically, which have already suffered greatly at the hands of big box retailers. Their last glimmer of hope was the used video game market (and even that has been largely dominated by GameStop, EB Games and Best Buy). But if the rumours about Microsoft’s new upcoming game console are true, selling back your used games or trading them in for a new title may soon be a thing of the past.

http://ca.news.yahoo...-195138005.html

[AUTiger7222]

I'm a longtime Playstation user but if this is in fact true, my current PS3 will be the last Sony product I own.

Same here. What a load of crap. Also all I ever buy are used games because I can't afford to buy them brand new when they first come out. I mean I'm able to make exceptions every now and then but man what a load of crap this is. I was already not liking the fact that they changed the controller.

Oh and I just have one thing to say about PC gaming. I used to play games on PC but I usually suffered from a severe lack of having an up to standards system so my gaming wasn't all that good because of lag and such. I still have some of the old EA games they they put out for PC like NHL 99 and NHL 2000, Triple Play Baseball 2000 and 2001 and NBA 2000.