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Final Fight Brings Restrictive DRM To the PS3
Channard writes "As reported by Joystiq, the PS3/PlayStation Network version of Final Fight Double Impact features a rather restrictive piece of digital rights management. In order to launch the game, you have to be logged into the PlayStation Network and if you're not, the game refuses to launch. This could be written off as a bug of some kind except for the fact that the error message that crops up tells you to sign in, suggesting Sony/Capcom intentionally included this 'feature.' Granted, you do have to log into the PlayStation Network to buy the title but as one commentator pointed out, logging in once does not mean you'll be logged in all the time. Curiously, the 360 version has no such restrictions, so you can play the game whether you're online or offline. But annoying as this feature may be, there may be method in Sony's madness. "
Channard continues, "The key difference between buying titles on the 360's Marketplace and Sony's PlayStation Store is that buying a title from the Marketplace only usually entitles you to play that title on a single console. A PlayStation Network account, on the other hand, can be used to license up to five consoles, meaning any title purchased from that account can be played on five different consoles. And these consoles can be de-authorized and re-authorized at will, allowing gamers to switch licenses around. This has led to a practice known as PSN game sharing, whereby gamers can purchase a title together, thereby paying a fifth of the cost of the game, and still allowing anyone to play the game on their console. Whether this has had any direct impact upon Sony or Capcom's apparent decision to implement this forced sign-in system is unknown. [Though an email from a Capcom employee seems to confirm this.] But Final Fight is the first title to feature this system — it'd be interesting to know whether this was done at Sony or Capcom's request."
simple as that. Only by refusing to buy DRM laden product will we win.
Worse: if they decide this the resell value of your ps3 will decrease.
Let me give sony an other idea: only allow blue rays disk to play if a title has a release in blueray and dvd.
-Blueray give better screen qulaity.
-They can sell the titles all over again.
-DVD "security" is broken. it is not an effective DRM.
These companies need to get it through their rotten skulls that we aren't all always connected to the Internet. Many, many people go through periods where they don't have a net connection at all. All these greedy fools are doing is shooting themselves in the foot by reducing their customer base. A customer only has to buy a small number of titles that don't work for them, for whatever reason, to conclude that all the games are junk and that they're better off to pirate or go without.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
You keep reafirming my 10 year old commitment to never buy a Sony product again.
I wish I had mod points right now, because this is an excellent summary of the current state of play. To my mind, the Nintendo model is the worst/least ethical, due to the require to repurchase content if your console dies (and this does happen - I've had a Wii die on me). However, Sony do now seem to be engaged in a race to the bottom. It's ironic, given MS's usual reputation and the controversy that surrounded the launch of Steam, that these two systems are actually the least offensive of the current DRM systems for the end-user.
Now if only Valve would finally put their foot down and ban 3rd party DRM from their network, mainstream PC gaming could be in for a serious resurgence.
What he's saying is; if there is a choice between DVD and Blu-ray for a particular Title, set the PS3 to only play the Blu-Ray version - because the profit margins on Blu-Ray are higher and so are more valuable to a media company like Sony.
These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
Look! It's a game which requires that you are logged in to PSN to play it, which will require you upgrade your firmware to the latest version which disables the "Other OS" feature!
I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Oh, find the DRM restrictive? Don't buy it. Problem solved. I fail to see why that's worth an article
It's worth the article because I'm pretty sure Sony won't be trumpeting this new "feature" from the rooftops, and if it's not discussed, how will people even know it's happening (until they run up against the restriction, which might not be for a while if they're usually connected). I'm sure you read every last term and condition of every product or service you purchase so that nothing escapes your knowledge, but the average user who has bought games before will just click through the boilerplate (if, indeed, they even include some boilerplate, it doesn't sound like they do from TFA) without realising the terms have changed.
Actually, you've one other option on either...probably the best one overall.
You can opt out. You're not forced to do anything you didn't sign off on there. If you pay for it, now that the cat's out of the bag it's your own fault, not theirs- and you weren't forced to do anything. If you pirate it, you're giving them ammo to do WORSE things to everyone.
Isn't it about time people quit doing the "ooh...shiny" or "but...it's shiny" stuff and stood up to them and let them know that you're not a consumer but a customer and you don't treat customers like this.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas