Sony Planning Serial Keys For PS3 Games?

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Sony Planning Serial Keys For PS3 Games?

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 21, 2011 @05:34AM from the keep-digging-that-hole dept.

Stoobalou writes "Rumor has it that Sony is looking to the PC games market to help solve its growing piracy problem on the PlayStation 3 — with the introduction of serial keys to its games. According to 'a very reliable source' quoted by PS3-Sense, Sony is attempting to address the recent revelation that it failed to properly secure the private signing key for its flagship console — leading to clever tinkerers producing third-party firmware that allows unofficial software and illegitimately downloaded games to run on unmodified hardware — by looking to the PC retail market for solutions. Unlike the PS3, the PC doesn't have a hardware DRM system built in to it — despite attempts by groups like the Trusted Computing Group, formerly the Trusted Computer Platform Alliance, to introduce such a thing — relying instead on software-based DRM and a surprisingly old-fashioned guarantee of a game's uniqueness: a serial key."

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Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by eldavojohn · 2011-01-21 05:34 · Score: 4, Insightful

From the article:

Printed on the product's packaging, the key is a unique identifier that promises that the game is the real deal - and usually verifies itself with an online server
So in order to play disc games you're going to require an internet connection?

And, just as speculation, wouldn't it be possible for someone to figure out what the server is sending the gaming console as an acknowledgment code and then setup a local area network that directs the PS3's requests to that IP address to connect to your own computer and send the same key acknowledgment notification? Sure, it's more work but history has shown that just means a little more time.

This just seems implausible and ineffective on so many levels ...

--
My work here is dung.
1. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by MoonBuggy · 2011-01-21 05:36 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This just seems implausible and ineffective on so many levels ...
  Unfortunately that is often not sufficient to prevent a given DRM scheme from being implemented.
2. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by andymadigan · 2011-01-21 06:08 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  That workaround is the simplest one for DRM to avoid. Burn a public key into the game, have the game generate a random number and send it to the server, the server must respond with that random number, signed using the private key that matches the public key in the game.
  
  Of course, Sony doesn't seem to be competent when it comes to RSA... and there's still the fact that you should be able to modify the software to remove the DRM.
  
  --
  The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
3. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by ObsessiveMathsFreak · 2011-01-21 06:25 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  This just seems implausible and ineffective on so many levels ...
  This is going to be a total disaster. Console gamers have enjoyed instant on convenience, game sharing/lending/selling, and in general a concrete certainty that the disc they hold in their hands is guaranteed to work on any console without a hitch. You cannot turn around and change all that overnight without seriously ruffling feathers. Console gamers will expect these features implicitly--it's tradition!
  A recent game, Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood, came with a one time serial code which could be used to obtain downloadable content. Lots of console players simply didn't bother. The concept of typing in this alpha-numeric hieroglyph, originally designed for commercial office software, was simply alien to them. It goes beyond intelligence or capability, and enters the realm of culture and society. Console gamers simply don't work this way. This move is taking Sony into three shells territory.
  This isn't going to fly. This is going to crash and burn. I foresee droves of console gamers being driven to console hacking by this move. The smart option is simply to place more focus on downloadable titles, content and network features in title, incentiveising people to stay on PSN, and not bother with all that complicated geek stuff. But when it comes to consumer relations, Sony never misses an opportunity to miss and opportunity.
  
  --
  May the Maths Be with you!
4. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by zegota · 2011-01-21 06:39 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  This is false. Games that require a certain firmware include the firmware on the disk.
5. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by lgw · 2011-01-21 06:54 · Score: 2
  
  If that check were part of the game software you could just remove the check in the pirated version. If it were in hardware, you can still defeat that approach if you own the hardware that generates the random number, often by causing a temperature or voltage excursion while the random number is being generated (this is why FIPS 140 level 4 exists). Still, it would be a pretty easy way for Sony to significantly raise the bar on its copy protection without interfering with people who want to use the PS3 for somehting else entirely.
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
6. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by Somebody+Is+Using+My · 2011-01-21 07:02 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  (I originally wrote this article for the PC Gaming Alliance article posted this morning... but since it's relevant to this discussion too I think I'll just copy and paste it again into this thread ;-)
  People keep harping about how useless DRM is against preventing piracy. And this is undeniably true; at best it might slow down people from copying games, but often not even that. So why, everyone wonders, do companies still insist on wasting resources, losing money, programmers, even loyal customers on a boondoggle that has been proven to be ineffective?
  Because DRM is no longer only about stopping piracy. It has oh-so-many other advantages.
  1) It kills second-hand sales.
  2) It enables forced obsolescence (kill the registration servers and you can't play the game anymore)
  3) It ensures a one-title, one machine policy. Own a lap-top AND a desktop? You can't play the game on both.
  4) Online activation requires a user to be online and transmit data to the publisher. You can use this to collect valuable demographic info (also, since the customer has to be online anyway, you might as well push advertisements down his way to earn even more cash!)
  5) It slowly pushes users to become more accepting of service-based licenses (e.g., subscription gaming) instead of single-sales.
  6) It reassures investors that the publisher is protecting their property.
  That it might have some minimal effect on slowing illegal copying of games is just an added bonus at this point. It's less a way of preventing piracy at this point as it is of maximizing the publisher's income. Don't expect it to go away anytime soon, no matter how much the customers hate it.
7. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by mcgrew · 2011-01-21 07:14 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The only thing that will stop DRM is if people stop buying crap (yes CRAP) with DRM. We geezers did it in the late eighties; DRM on games disappeared entirly. Do you young folks have the balls? I'm guessing "no".
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
8. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by CohibaVancouver · 2011-01-21 07:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  wouldn't it be possible for someone to figure out what the server is sending the gaming console as an acknowledgment code and then setup a local area network that directs the PS3's requests to that IP address to connect to your own computer and send the same key acknowledgment notification?
  For gorram's sake, just buy the damn game and be done with it.
9. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by Phoobarnvaz · 2011-01-21 08:18 · Score: 2
  
  Thank God I bought a 360. Nothing like this I need to worry about there. Plus...got it hooked up to the Media Center Extender in the living room with a TV Tuner...so it plays games and I can watch TV...without inputting a code before doing anything.
  
  --
  Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. - Charles M. Schulz
10. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by dunezone · 2011-01-21 08:47 · Score: 2
  
  Comparing today and 30 years ago is like comparing apples to oranges.
  
  I will assume you are talking about DRM on old computer software back when the home computer was not in everyone's home and those who owned them were those that were interested. The harder forms of DRM died because the market was very small and anyone who owned a computer discussed these issues with each other. Also it didn't really die it just wasn't as restrictive and abusive, for example looking up a code in the manual of your legally purchased game.
  
  The problem today with the PS3 or Xbox is that EVERYONE owns them and the market is huge, its not longer "geeks and nerds" who own the hardware, pretty much everyone does. So for the 100 of us on Slashdot that say we wont buy into it, there are 5000 other people who just don't give a damn or have no clue what DRM is and if you explained it to them they still wouldnt care.
11. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by mcgrew · 2011-01-21 09:39 · Score: 2
  
  I was referring to some of the crap they pulled with their install floppies, like putting a hole in a certain spot to make the pirate version different than the legit version; in this scheme, if the program could write to the "dead" spt it was a pirate copy. Trouble was, if your head wasn't perfectly lined up, it would flag a brand new legit copy as a pirate copy.
  They had many such schemes, and like the present DRM, they never did anything to stop piracy and all it accomplished was to piss off paying customers.
  The "what is the second word on page six?" stuff was annoying, but not badly annoying. It's been so long since I played KQ that I don't remember any DRM at all, not even the "manual" stuff (which I wouldn't call DRM anyway).
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
12. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by tlhIngan · 2011-01-21 09:40 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  This is going to be a total disaster. Console gamers have enjoyed instant on convenience, game sharing/lending/selling, and in general a concrete certainty that the disc they hold in their hands is guaranteed to work on any console without a hitch. You cannot turn around and change all that overnight without seriously ruffling feathers. Console gamers will expect these features implicitly--it's tradition!
  A recent game, Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood, came with a one time serial code which could be used to obtain downloadable content. Lots of console players simply didn't bother. The concept of typing in this alpha-numeric hieroglyph, originally designed for commercial office software, was simply alien to them. It goes beyond intelligence or capability, and enters the realm of culture and society. Console gamers simply don't work this way. This move is taking Sony into three shells territory.
  Actually, I credit Sony for the computerization of the console. Think about what Sony's done so far.
  After all, some PS3 games need to be installed (and it's a real installation, not like the 360's "copy to hard disk" feature. You can't play without installing). And those installers present you a nice EULA that you have to agree to.
  This is just furthering the cause - now you have to enter in your key code, just like a PC.
  My guess is that Sony's trying to make the PS4 one of their Vaio PCs - hey, PS3 gamers are used to installing games, agreeing to EULAs and entering codes, let's made the next-gen console a PC!
13. Re:Doesn't This Require an Internet Connection? by Hamsterdan · 2011-01-21 11:19 · Score: 2
  
  I *Loved* how copy protection banged the head out of alignment on C64 drives. The pirated ones didn't damage the drives :)
  
  --
  I've got better things to do tonight than die.
Rentals? by ryanw · 2011-01-21 05:36 · Score: 5, Insightful

Lame.. what about game rentals or taking it over to a friends house to play for a few hours? NO way..
1. Re:Rentals? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-01-21 05:41 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Get a PC in a console form factor.
  Sincerely,
  The Last Remaining PC Gamer
2. Re:Rentals? by chispito · 2011-01-21 05:57 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Be sure to thank Geohotz for this.
  If you cheered his 'liberation' of the PS3 you can't really be unhypocratically mad about Sony's response.
  Um, yes I can, because there are plenty of content producers and distributors who don't punish their customers in ANY WAY for buying their products, pirates-be-damned.
  
  --
  The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
3. Re:Rentals? by paulsomm · 2011-01-21 05:59 · Score: 2
  
  Be sure to thank Geohotz for this.
  If you cheered his 'liberation' of the PS3 you can't really be unhypocratically mad about Sony's response.
  geohot didn't enable/endorse/provide piracy. he merely exposed a flaw, and took steps to specifically release and detail it that wouldn't allow you to use it for piracy. he's a hardware hacker in the old-school sense of wanting to learn, pick apart, see how things work and make them do what he wants, just to do it.
  the fact others have used his work to further piracy isn't his fault and shouldn't be blamed on him.
4. Re:Rentals? by countSudoku() · 2011-01-21 06:04 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Bullocks! He is a hacker hero. Period. Sony is not out to make things easier for consumers, and good people like George undo the shitheadednessness of assholes like Sony. The more you accept draconian DRM, as well as pure root kit nonsense, that Sony forces you to swallow, the more they take your freedom to do with your hardware whatever you want. I no longer buy Sony or Apple products because of bullshit like this. Also, do NOT subscribe me to your newsletter as you are consumer unfriendly, a possible DRM sympathizer, and as AC put it a "noncompoop."
  
  --
  This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
5. Re:Rentals? by synthesizerpatel · 2011-01-21 06:27 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I concur, Sandra Bullocks!!
6. Re:Rentals? by Nadaka · 2011-01-21 06:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That is just an added bonus. Why allow someone to own a physical object when you can license its use to them instead. Every resale of a physical object is the loss of a first hand sale at full price. Personal ownership is a threat to corporate profit. Imagine the chaos if people had the same rights as corporations?
7. Re:Rentals? by pcolaman · 2011-01-21 06:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I have a feeling it's partially about piracy, and partially about the used game market. They want a bigger piece of the pie, so they want to make it much harder or impossible for gamers to trade in games and buy used games.
8. Re:Rentals? by Svartalf · 2011-01-21 06:40 · Score: 2
  
  They don't like game rentals to begin with. Cuts into sales for them and their affiliated studios and publishers.
  It should be observed, though, that if they're going to that...what difference is there other than maybe some cost savings on the unit, between a PS3 and an HTPC?
  They honestly don't really want to go where they're going with all of this. It's not a pretty place for someone in the console business.
  
  --
  I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
9. Re:Rentals? by Kijori · 2011-01-21 08:22 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not going to claim that this was his fault. If Sony do decide to implement serial keys for their games it will be a dark day for console gaming and it will have been their decision.
  That said, something like this was absolutely foreseeable when he decided to publish his work. Anyone seeing the description - a break in the PS3's security that couldn't be fixed - knew instantly that they weren't going to leave it alone and not respond, and that anything they did to try to remove the vulnerability would be more invasive and more annoying and more consumer unfriendly.
  You say he's a "hacker hero". Maybe he's a hero among hackers, but hackers make up only a very, very small portion of PS3 users and are the only ones - well, other than pirates - who will get any advantage from this hack. Average users won't get any advantage at all. They won't want to root their PS3 or install pirated games; they just want to buy a game at the store and use it like they always did. It was absolutely foreseeable when he released this that it was going to inconvenience those people. So while, as I said, I don't think he's to blame, I do think it was a bit of a dick move to play to the hacker crowd without thinking about the inconvenience and irritation that would be the inevitable result for average gamers. I've seen other hackers say "I've cracked the system, I've broken all the security, and I'll find a way to make homebrew possible - but I'm not going to put the hack itself on the internet because people will use it to pirate and it'll end up hurting the users". That would have been a much more decent thing to do.
10. Re:Rentals? by metamatic · 2011-01-21 10:24 · Score: 2
  
  That said, something like this was absolutely foreseeable when he decided to publish his work.
  Someone publishing a crack for the PS3 was absolutely forseeable once Sony got rid of OtherOS. It might have been a mod chip or plug-in hack rather than just software, but someone was going to find a way to crack the security to put back what Sony took away.
  
  --
  GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
11. Re:Rentals? by man_the_king · 2011-01-21 19:02 · Score: 2
  
  Someone publishing a crack for the PS3 was absolutely forseeable once Sony got rid of OtherOS. It might have been a mod chip or plug-in hack rather than just software, but someone was going to find a way to crack the security to put back what Sony took away.
  VERY CONVENIENT how everyone forgets that Geohotz's first hack (which abused the OtherOS feature to perform its exploit) WAS THE REASON that Sony took OtherOS away in the first place - http://www.answers.com/topic/george-hotz#Hacking_the_PlayStation_3
  Specifically the lines "On January 26, 2010, Hotz released the exploit to the public. It requires the OtherOS function of the machine, and consists of a Linux kernel module and gaining control of the machine's hypervisor via bus glitching.[22] Hotz wrote that "Sony may have difficulty patching the exploit". On March 28, 2010, Sony has responded by announcing to release a PlayStation 3 firmware update that removes the OtherOS feature"
  Very convenient for people who just want to lambast Sony and glorify Geohotz, REGARDLESS OF THE ACTUAL EVENT CHRONOLOGY.
Real Old School by RazzleFrog · 2011-01-21 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

"Enter the 5th word from page 35 of the instruction manual." Or maybe like SimCity which had the list of codes that couldn't be photocopied.
1. Re:Real Old School by Anonymous Coward · 2011-01-21 05:46 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I liked the combination wheels. Monkey Island had 3 different sized circles on top of each other, rotate each one to replicate the picture on the screen.
  Test Drive 3 had something similar as well....
2. Re:Real Old School by Anonymous Coward · 2011-01-21 05:57 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Or maybe like SimCity which had the list of codes that couldn't be photocopied.
  I remember that. Didn't stop my dad, though; he copied the entire thing by hand, symbols and all, the entire list. Was one hell of a lot easier to read, at that.
3. Re:Real Old School by RazzleFrog · 2011-01-21 06:02 · Score: 2
  
  Who even owned scanners at the time, though? I think the only printer I even owned back then was a daisy wheel.
4. Re:Real Old School by rograndom · 2011-01-21 06:05 · Score: 2
  
  I had one friend that messed with the brightness/contrast controls on a photocopier for an entire afternoon and managed to get a readable copy out of the Simcity code list. The copy also copied very well I remember.
  
  --
  
  Stupid Cheap Guitars
5. Re:Real Old School by Nyder · 2011-01-21 10:45 · Score: 2
  
  Who even owned scanners at the time, though? I think the only printer I even owned back then was a daisy wheel.
  Only took 1 person with a scanner to get it scanned then share it with friends, who would share it with friends. And it would get on the BBS boards.
  sheesh, BBS boards. I suck.
  
  --
  Be seeing you...
6. Re:Real Old School by QuantumBeep · 2011-01-21 12:14 · Score: 2
  
  FAYUL.
  If people start saying that, I'm gonna know whose ass to kick.
Why is this even here?? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-01-21 05:40 · Score: 5, Informative

When did rumors perpetuated by 4chan become news?? Someone posted this on 4chan a couple of days ago. Then it showed up on PS3-Sense and now it's on slashdot.
Lots of trolling going on....
1. Re:Why is this even here?? by adolf · 2011-01-21 10:41 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  In the future, after conventional media and the concept of a reporter both die of attrition (along with any remaining shreds of journalistic integrity), all "news" will be bloggers blogging about rumors found on blogs. And 4chan.
  This article is merely an indication that we're still moving along the path to that eventuality.
  
  --
  Kid-proof tablet..
Oh this is going to be popular... by Samuraid · 2011-01-21 05:41 · Score: 2

I don't know anyone who regularly plugs a USB keyboard into their console for any reason. Likewise, "typing" out a long number of string of characters using a controller seems exceptionally cumbersome. Also, having a serial code remains yet another way Sony can tie a specific game license to a specific console. Really, I don't see any way this could be convenient nor benefit gamers.

--
if ($question !~ m/bb|[^b]{2}/i) { die(); }
1. Re:Oh this is going to be popular... by vikisonline · 2011-01-21 05:48 · Score: 2
  
  Umm what makes you think any of this is to benefit the gamer? If they don't tie it down to a specific console and make it so its like old half life/ counterstrike was (only one instance of a cd key can play online at a time) or which is the same thing steam is doing now it could be fine. Then if you pass it to someone you trust with the key they can play it too. But if you give it out on the internet then it will be unplayable because you will never know when someone is on. Now the only question is whether sony can be trusted to create such an old school implementation.
2. Re:Oh this is going to be popular... by mike260 · 2011-01-21 06:06 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  PS3 games are already spectacularly inconvenient, often requiring 30 minutes or more of downloading, patching, installing and firmware-updating before letting me actually play the game I just bought. Having to type in a serial via gamepad would be the least of it.
3. Re:Oh this is going to be popular... by davidbrit2 · 2011-01-21 07:34 · Score: 2
  
  Or the better part of a day downloading updates, for people like me out in the sticks with coal-powered internet. It's to the point where I've resigned myself to just download the updates at work, throw 'em on a flash drive, and install when I get home, but you can't do that with the game-specific updates.
  I want to like the PS3, but Sony makes it so damned hard sometimes. And I'm sure with all these massive security holes being exposed (which I'm not at all opposed to in principal, mind you), I'm sure the updates will just start coming even faster. Hooray.
I really wish people would tell Sony to fuck off. by seeker_1us · 2011-01-21 05:45 · Score: 4, Insightful

I stopped buying their stuff after the rootkit thing. By buying their stuff, people are only supporting the abuse that Sony seems to feel entitled to heap on its loyal customers.
it's like sony wants the x-box to win by alen · 2011-01-21 05:48 · Score: 4, Insightful

first kinect outsells the Move by 2 to 1 or more. now they have this plan to drive even more people to Microsoft. i have both and only game on my x-box. i was actually going to buy a PS3 game yesterday, but decided against it at the last minute. crazy systems like this will mean i'll just stick to my x-box
why would anyone put up with this?
Re:console developers are idiots by alen · 2011-01-21 05:54 · Score: 3, Interesting

so how do you exactly play Dance Central without Kinect? press the buttons on the controller to move? the fun is moving your body and trying to learn the moves.
same with the music games. few weeks ago i found a $15 drum set on sale and bought rock band, guitar hero and some track packs. total cost around $50. how would i play the music games without the instrument add ons? the whole fun factor is to replicate the air guitar/drums that people play when listening to music
And here are the keys... by Maltheus · 2011-01-21 06:01 · Score: 3, Informative

Agu4shoh dae2oCha VieGhoh2 Gairoh5a
iak6Ou7i Wu0ATeit IrohT5ee Fu2neif8
Woh5OoWo Zoh7zah0 Jong1tav OB1oliuy
Aev2az4f il9phieZ AeM0uXah ESheika3
You're welcome!
Re:don't buy consoles by Shados · 2011-01-21 06:13 · Score: 3, Informative

My video card is quiet, cost me 110$ 3 years ago and play most games on high settings, including garbage console ports. I do have most consoles of this generation (both portable and not), and i like them better than PC for gaming, but for other reasons. This isn't 2002 anymore. You don't need a powerful PC to game, and upgrades are often unnecessary. (Heck, it looks like my Nintendo DS will have to be upgraded more frequently than my computer to get all the bells and whistles, between the DSi for the store and now the 3DS for newer games)
Re:And ...... by countSudoku() · 2011-01-21 06:13 · Score: 2

Damn good points. Also, think of this; Sony is spending millions of dollars on securing their system, rather than improving the gaming experience on it. They are trying to build a wall around a garden that is old, uninteresting, and now outgrowing the gardener's tiny constraints. Fuck 'em. Freedom of hardware is for the consumer and Sony would only like to piss on that very freedom. You buy the hardware, but Sony/Apple tells you what you can and can't do with it? That's not consumer friendly, that's being a Software Nazi. I call shenanigans!!1!

--
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
Dear Sony... by Rinnon · 2011-01-21 06:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

In any market, it is always advisable to be aware of what your competition is doing so that you can make sure you are offering a superior, or at least non-inferior, experience. Allowing your competition to stay leaps and bounds ahead of you in any market is a sure fire way to flush your business down the toilet! So who is your competition? Microsoft, and PIRACY. Yes, that's right, Piracy is a competitor, and don't you ever think otherwise. It's a competing distribution method that is cheaper and in some ways more convenient. Hope you have some great plans up your sleeve to prove that buying games is the most hassle free way to go; That buying games gets you a BETTER product!
Let's take a look at what the you and your competition are up to shall we... oh, it looks like none of you require a constant Internet connection to play games, so you're all on the same page there. Wait, what? You WANT to introduce that? Won't that put you in a WORSE position than your competitors on the level of convenience offered by your product? What if people have flaky Internet, or god forbid, NO Internet! Fuck them you say? Oh, well, okay. I'm going to have to deduct you a few points for that one.
Let's see... no one has CD key's either, so that's nice... wait, WHAT again!? You actually WANT to introduce these!? What if people lose their keys, or want to rent video games before buying? Fuck them you say? Welllll okay, it's YOUR business Sony. Of course, I'm going to have to deduct more points yet again...
You know Sony, you're not really selling me on why I want to buy from you here. What? Fuck me you say? You know, I'll remember that.
Re:And ...... by gorzek · 2011-01-21 08:05 · Score: 2

In all fairness, the hardware being locked down is not just to thwart Joe Gamer from doing what he wants with his hardware. It's also to keep game companies from bypassing Sony and distributing their software without paying licensing fees. Sony doesn't make a lot of money off of each PS3 sale (and initially they lost money), so those fees for licenses and dev kits are an essential component of the console business model.
Console manufacturers don't get into that business to make money from console sales, they do it to make money off of each game sale, which is a far bigger revenue stream. Consoles themselves are often loss leaders.

--
Check out my world simulator thingy.
Re:resale market by canajin56 · 2011-01-21 09:36 · Score: 2

Video games are different from cars and houses because they are copyrighted. So they don't have to say all used markets are "wrong", just that the Doctrine of First Sale is wrong. They would have had better luck in the past, when first sale wasn't actually law, just an unwritten guideline. But for a long time now it has been law. They've tried to get around it by saying "No see it says that the owner is allowed to resell, but we're the owner of the copyright, it doesn't actually refer to the owner of the disc!" but since the law specifically makes that distinction and says it's the owner of the copy, they've not yet been successful. Still, they spend an awful lot of money lobbying both political parties to get First Sale stricken from law.
Meanwhile, they're already using serial keys as an end-run around first sale. So far nobody has had PS3/360 games that lock you out of single player without having a previously-unused CD key, but plenty of them lock you out of bonus features and multiplayer. It's only a matter of time. The only way to stop that is if state AG get serious about false advertising prosecutions. But as long as they're clearly labeling which advertised features do not work unless it's a new copy, I'm not sure how much traction that would get. There might also be an anti-trust angle, but that's pretty tenuous.
Anti-consumer developers, such as the folks at Penny Arcade (they made a game so now they're strongly anti-consumer-rights), say that games are different from movies and CDs because games make all their money from sales, whereas DVDs and CDs are all bonus money on top of the theater tickets and the concerts/radio royalties, so you can't even compare them. When asked about cars and houses, though, their answer is that Ford pays its workers on salary, whereas game developers pay their employees in royalties (which I don't think is true at all) and so therefore you can't compare them, either. Because apparently how a company choses to pay its employees should have a bearing on whether or not resale should be legal.

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ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI