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Sony May Try To Stop PS3 Game Resales
Next Generation reports on Sony's hopes that it will be able to prevent the resale of PS3 games. The article argues that it is unlikely they'll succeed in this goal. From the article: "One expert in retail law told Next-Gen.Biz, 'Sony can theoretically sell a license to play the game, but the user would have to acknowledge acceptance of the license. You've seen this when you install software on a PC. I'm not sure that the license agreement is enforceable if the licensee doesn't agree to it. Also, even if the agreement is enforceable, it's hard to preclude subsequent sale of the disc. The consumer could theoretically agree that he doesn't own the right to transfer his license, but why couldn't he sell the medium that held the license (the disc)? Sony can't enforce the agreement against a third party, as it lacks privity with the third party.'"
How many reasons do I now have to not buy a PS3?
If you haven't foed me yet, what are you waiting for?
I'm seeing a future, a few years from now, where columnists looks back at what Sony did in 2006 and create laundry lists of "how to implement the largest-scale failure in the history of video games."
Sony:
/. for months.
Do you really hate your customers *that* much?
Truth be told, I am really, really hoping that they try to do this. The consumer backlash and probably subsequent lawsuits over everything from eBay sales to EB Games/Gamestop sales will provide lots of ripe discussion material on
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
make people FAT, stupid, violent, anit-social, and ...and.....Anti American!!
Sony seems to think that we're LUCKY to get games for their overpriced console. With their statements about how people would buy it even with no games, and now this garbage?
Sony thinks they're too good for us.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
"According to a UK news source" the article claims. This is fit for the tabloids. I guess thats why its posted by Zonk.
...the socalled first sale doctrine. I think this sums it up: "US copyright case law supports that consumers cannot make copies of computer programs contrary to a license, but may resell what they own. This however is conflicting with both section 117 and 109, and the case law itself is conflicting depending on which circuit the case was heard in."
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers ...
Ka-BLAM. - The sound of Sony falling to dust.
Really, truly, why would Sony do this?
I mean, I heard rumours of something similar a while back. They were going to try and make a disc you buy to only be able to play on a single system. No more copying, no more renting, no more lending.
Hell, what happens to me when my PS3 goes the same way as my PS2 and I need to get a new one? Better yet, what happens when they release a new slimmer version and suddenly I'm not able to play anymore?
Mind you, this may not be the case with this new system of theirs, but why kill the second hand market like this? I can't remember the last time I bought a game brand new. Game Boy Advance and Game Cube both, nearly all my games are second hand copies. Why? Because not only are they cheaper, but because it's sometimes harder to find games new after they're released. Especially the rare gems.
On top of the fact that used games would be near impossible, what will they do for rentals? I'm certainly not going to go fork out $80 (CDN) for a new game that I've never tried. I want to go out and rent it, and if it is worth it, sure I'll pick up copy. "Greatest Hits" games hardly count, because they are simply cheaper because they've been out longer, and a few people liked them.
If they do this, they'll be shooting themselves in the foot. There won't be a PS3 in my place (mind you, the PS2 belongs to the finacee), and I guarantee there won't be one in many of the living rooms I know of.
I doubt this is likely and is just old news resurfacing. Not only if Sony implemented this strategy would resale businesses have problems, but renting games would cease to exist (for the PS3, at least). This would definately cause troubles for Sony as customers could not try before they buy or even enjoy a weekend of a party game. Blockbuster, Gamestop, et all, would pull out all stakes to prevent this if this were real.
o nt-play-used-games/
http://www.joystiq.com/2005/11/08/playstation-3-w
The evidence for this is an unamed "UK news source, citing retail contacts." And a Sony patent on "technology which would tie a piece of software to an individual piece of hardware." Also, Sony isn't commenting on this story.
But the article also points out how technological enforcement would be difficult, and how such a move would completely piss off both retailers and consumers.
I can't see Sony actually doing this, I really don't think it makes a lot of business sense. But then, I never thought they would charge $600 for a PS3.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
What will this do to the game rental market? (Does Blockbuster still rent games?)
Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
How will they enforce a contract with a nine year old?
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Exec 1: This foot shotgun isn't letting us shoot ourselves in the feet thoroughly enough!
Exec 2: Prepare...the foot cannon!
It's looking like they're trying to out-do Atari's spectacular flameout back in the last downturn in the games industry.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
But, hey, the new rules of gaming media are
- Is it about Sony?
- Does it make Sony look bad?
If so, then there is no step 3. The rumor must be right, and it's getting printed on Slashdot.So all I have to do to get around this is let the neighbor kid (who is too young to enter into any sort of legally binding contract) play all of my games first, right?
Since a couple of weeks, and especially since E3 show, there are lots of FUD about the PS3 and Sony. I am not a Sony zealot, I don't have any console from them. But honnestly, do you feel like this news is something more than F.U.D. coming Microsoft or Nintendo.
I don't feel like an anonymous guy repeating stuff heard from a UK retailer is something like a trusted source. Sounds more like Microsoft try to kill the PS3 beast before it's awaken...
RIP Slashdot. I used to love you. dead account - but slashdot wont let me delete it.
Along with a clause disallowing secondhand sale of the game, the EULA will debut the new "no-landfill" clause.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
A hardware-software locking scheme would also stop the big movie/game rental chains (such as Blockbuster, Hastings, etc.) from renting PS3 games. This could be a big blow to the industry, I think, given how many copies of the games the rental chains end up buying, and also that a lot of people will try renting a game for the short run before they decide to shell out the dough to buy it.
Ah, just how stupid can Sony be? I'm reminded of that old Einstein quote about how only two things were infinite--the universe, and human stupidity--and he wasn't sure about the first one of those.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Very clever hiding the truth behind two layers of news stories - the original story is about how industry experts doubt this claim (which comes from an unnamed UK source) is true! So why the anti-Sony spin when the original story is about how people think there's no way Sony would do this and they've not even said they would?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Dear Sony:
You need to stop pulling the trigger on that gun pointed at your foot. You've burned through the entire magazine, and it's time to reload.
. . . to my DRM locked down, $800.00, unable to resell games, every-title-is-a-remake, HDMI-required for HD playback console.
With all the bloody restrictions they should be paying me to take the damn thing.
Seriously; wasn't that the "promise" of all these locked down DRM systems? Hardware free, software as a service, copy protection means that companies can easily recoup their investment.
I couldn't imagine _ever_ buying one of these. It would _really_ have to blow me away.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
That's why companies like the idea of online games. You are pretty much stuck with the game, since they generally aren't easily transferable...not only that, but quite a few games come with free play time (3 months free, etc)...this makes resale of these games less profitable...
That only the people who follow the industry (hardcore gamers or not) are the only people aware of all the reasons not to buy the PS3. However, Sony will still these overpriced piece of hardware like hotcakes. Having a PS3 will be more like a status symbol, and we're in a society where "keeping up with the Jones" is a major driver.
Long live great games (regardless of the console) and competition (because it benefits us).
Dated November 2005 - The Death of Used Game Sales? posted our friend, Zonk. "The Inquirer has an interesting piece about a new Sony Patent on a technology that may possible prevent DVD disc media users from using their purchased disks in other machines after they have used them on a specific reader.
Dated November 2005 - Rumor: PlayStation 3s won't play borrowed, used, or rented games - SCEE PR manger Jennie Kong blasted the rumor as " false speculation." "PlayStation 3 software will not be copy protected to a single machine but will be playable on any PlayStation 3 console," she told the Guardian.
Sony to make it illegal to sell second hand PS3 games
Here's a quote from the end of the article:
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
Sony are acting like a company that own the market and can dictate whatever terms they want. Remind me, which Sony products are so awesome that I have to buy them and submit to these terms? It's not the their games consoles (portable or not I prefer Nintendo), or their TVs (Samsung make better) or their stereos (who'd buy a Sony?), or their portable audio players (I love my iPod), or their cameras (Canon for me), or their laptops (Apple again), or their memory sticks (I tend to use SD cards), or their crippl(ed|ing) audio CDs (somehow they don't seem to publish music I like), or even their headphones (I'm happy with my Sennheisers).
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
This would also seem to wipe out the rental market for PS3 games as well, unless Sony creates special copies of those. But of course pre-rented games are sold used all the time as well, so that wouldn't work.
If Sony wants to cut out the rental market, the try before you buy approach wouldn't work. More people would tend to wait for magazine reviews instead of buying the game on impulse. If you can't try it yourself, and you can't resell it if you get bored with it, who's gonna pay $60 for video games unless they're truly AAA titles with exremely high ratings?
The story is about technological tieing of the software to the hardware. So, if this was true at all, the person likely to sue would be the person to whom grown-up-Timmy sold the software, having claimed it was a playable game when, in fact, it was inert except on the console for which it was licensed, which Timmy, presumably, did not sell with the game.
Of course, it seems unlikely that this is practical with a game disk, unless it has a phone-home activation which then gets a key which is stored on writable media (memory card, hard disk), that depends on a second key which is unique to the hardware.
This is the same site that falsely announced that the base-model PSP woul have wired controllers and a non-upgradable hard drive:e .jsp?articleId=20060513133719562032§ionId=1006
http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/ps3/game/news/articl
I know it's probably totally unreasonable to ask Slashdot to "consider the source" but GamesRadar has a reputation of inaccuray and sensationalism.
Game specialty stores still account for over 25% of US sales of video games, systems and accessories. They are also successful in large part because of used games. This move would essentially hamstring them and either lead to them dropping Sony product from their stores or just going out of business.
"If true, such a move would be a massive boost for publishers and developers which do not profit from the lucrative and damaging retail trade in used games. In fact, many publishers are furious that they have to spend support money on consumers who have not actually contributed a dime to the company's coffers."
This is completely untrue. There are so many people that buy a game because they can play for a while and then sell it on ebay. If you get the game on sale sometimes you can even make money doing this. How many of these people wouldn't buy any but the best games if they couldn't do this? Alot. Where there's a will there's a way. If Sony does this, then it will be the biggest contributor I've seen to online piracy since the RIAA started advertising Napster. Before they got into the act none of the lamers out there were even on napster. It so bizarre. People have been selling used books since the beginning of time, what are you supposed to do throw them out?
If it's true, then perhaps Sony will include a "burning" laser in their console, with a limited range, to burn a blank portion of a BluRay disc that includes the serial code, registration information including address and name, and a lock-out code, bypassable only by a service technician and a special reader capable of reading the code (I realize that a pressed disc is non-writable regardless, but the design of the PS3 BluRay doesn't necessarily need to mirror the design of standard BluRay; It could very well incorporate small, burnable tracks).
That physically locks out the media, and if they protect the firmware properly (perhaps by having a second BIOS that starts up on system boot to check the checksum of the first before handing the boot process off to the primary BIOS), it will prevent piracy in such a way that it cannot be circumvented by Joe Sixpack or Script Kiddie Bob. Add in a very specific layout for the free space on the BluRay disc, failing with a non-writable status of that region of a disc never before played on the console, and it would make it extremely difficult for standard burning applications to burn a CD. And impossible for the pressed CD to be passed from console to console.
If the console reads a recognized rental agency as the registration on the burned portion of the disc (read from a list pushed to each unit by Sony upon internet connect and stored when offline), then the console plays anyway, perhaps with the inability to save or go online with it; Perhaps specific per-game instructions.
Each disc would have a pre-burnt portion from the factory with a unique ID code, and if a rental agency loses a copy, they can report it and have the ID code added to a blacklist/no-play list. If the lost game shows up on an internet-connected PS3, the game's locked from the console and the console registration information sent to the rental company. Full name, address, phone number, etc, all verified through international directories and an automated call to verify the phone number. Credit information could also be required to ensure that there is a responsible adult in the household. Such a figure must agree to a EULA that explains the process in thick legalese.
I dunno, if they were to do it that way, it seems like an invasive operation, but hey, it saves Sony, their shareholders, AND the rental companies from the effects of a software-based solution, with only slight manufacture time/cost increase per disc.
It would completely alienate anyone who would want to sell a second-hand copy, or buy one, but it would accomplish exactly what they want to accomplish. It would ensure that sales are final, rental sales are excluded from actual sales, and it would ensure that they get money from ALL sales and a portion of rental profits.
Possible? I think so. At the PS3's price, anything can happen.
Screw the rules, I have green hair!
Why is Zonk allowed to post here again?
Does every new site need a FUD officer these days?
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
SCEE PR manger Jennie Kong blasted the rumor as " false speculation." "PlayStation 3 software will not be copy protected to a single machine but will be playable on any PlayStation 3 console,"
The story is a lie. Clearly Slashdot editors hate Sony enough that any slander they come across is promoted immediately to a top level article.
I bet a lot of upset people now will be impressed with something on the PS3 and buy one despite all this. They will not lose many customers over this stuff:
/. people will forgive them when Sony gets some nice bait on their expensive hook.
1) Most people don't know
2) Many who know will forget in less than a year
3) Some
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