Sony: PS4 “Will Play” Used Games
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Feb 23, 2013 12:23 JST
- Tags: Announcements, Copyright, DLC, Internet, Marketing, PS4, Sony, Technology
Sony has officially confirmed that the PlayStation 4 will be able to play second-hand games after all, after a patent on a method of blocking them and the much enhanced online delivery system of the new console led to much speculation that it would finally axe the used game market with a registration system.
Whilst downloadable titles – seemingly intended as the main delivery method – will of course be at the whim of Sony’s highly reliable servers and not subject to resale or unrestricted transfer, Sony honcho Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed physical copies will be playable without restriction even if previously owned:
[Do you agree that if you buy something on a disc, that you have a kind of moral contract with the person you’ve bought it from that you retain some of that value and you can pass it on?]
“Yes. That’s the general expectation by consumers. They purchase physical form, they want to use it everywhere, right? So that’s my expectation.”
[So if someone buys a PlayStation 4 game, you’re not going to stop them reselling it?]
“Used games can play on PS4.”
Another interview carried a similar confirmation by Yoshida, also seemingly ruling out region locks:
“When you purchase disc-based games for PS4, they will work on any hardware.”
Suspicions that Sony was planning on eliminating the second-hand sales market as a way of reclaiming the billions in revenue it apparently siphons away from game publishers and into the coffers of game retailers flared after it emerged that Sony recently patented a method of blocking used games from functioning, although Sony denies it has anything to do with the PS4.
However, in other comments Yoshida also revealed that publishers will be able to add anti-resale registration schemes to their titles themselves, potentially allowing them to block or discourage resale without any PR hassle for Sony.
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Well of course it can play used games ... until the publisher disagrees. What BS is this? Seriously they simply passed the buck.
We can rape you... but we won't. We'll pass you to somebody else who will. Such decency. :D
perfect way to reword it, you nailed it
It funny that I get downvoted by people with wishful thinking, failing to read the last sentence.
Of course.
Raping the consumer is EA's job.
Leave it to the professionals, right?
Don't worry about it. You've already seen the backlash that publisher blocks would end up causing: Resident Evil Mercenaries. It's not going to happen.
Don't be so sure. You're underestimating the masochism of those who buy consoles in the first place.
As opposed to one time use CD keys for Steam?
What is Steam?
Steam?
Somebody uses it?
Steam > then consoles, get it right the CD Key is important so to discourage pirates as well as if you read steam's agreement, you can load the game on another system once you have your account and key, stop trying to make the PC sound worse, then what publishers are doing on consoles.
Makes sense killing used games would kill the PS4 far quicker then it's less then spectacular specs and likely high price ever could.
okay sony saved their asses on this. Now its plausable for me to buy one.
“Used games can play on PS4.”
“When you purchase disc-based games for PS4, they will work on any hardware.”
... after you purchase a used game unlock code for a low, low price on PSN!
And you need to save the unlock keys on a proprietary memory card format! (free online storage if you subscribe to Playstation Plus!)
Just kidding, of course, but knowing Sony I wouldn't be surprised. Their legal/PR language leaves their comment wide open for a "catch" or conditional statements.
But who knows, maybe they learned their lesson...?
Once you buy a console, you're in for a milking.
Right, because PC games don't have drm or cd keys or exclusive first run DLC or the like. Never happens.
that only came about AFTER it was done on the console first they are to blame
CD keys are written on the CD itself, for pirates not to distribute its contents via internet. And games exclusive for PC usually don't have idiotic DLCs (unless it's some stupid MMORPGWTFOMG no normal people play).
lolwat
14:04 obviously is less then 12 years old. DRM methods started on the PC with shit like code wheels and dongles. Hell, even the "always online" stuff was first introduced by the much lauded Steam.
But there are no restrictions whatsoever on the resale of disc-based games on the PC market. if you purchase your games as a digital download, as we see on Steam these digital download games are less expensive than the disk based media. That accommodates the lack of a resale ability and we see on Steam and other distribution methods this leads to more frequent and more rapid discounting of these games because their online availability makes it easy to continue to offer them for months or years afterwards. if you want to buy a 5 or 6 year old PC game good luck finding it in retail stores new or used but I guarantee you will probably still find it on Steam or another digital download site for 5 to 10 dollars.
Pc games don't have restrictions? Go ask blizzard if you can resell a digital copy of diablo3. You cant.
DRM existed because of pirates, and was exacerbated by the second-generation consoles. The spread of piracy on the internet wasn't focused only on console, but the general spoiled-ness of gamers in progressive generations lead to the increase. The console being an easy purchase that didn't require maintenance is what attracted the gamer crowd to date as well, as well as the computer prices have bottomed out finally, which means it's affordable, just several years too late.
Either way, all console games begin with PCs as it is, so it's always been a moot point. Consoles existing as a standard is kind of the same as minimum requirements on PC games. The Geforce 8800 GT was used as a standard for years because it was fuckin' amazing.
Consoles didn't really destroy gaming, stupid people did.
CD keys and DRM stops pirates? Really?
DRM does not exist because of piracy. It exists because it takes control from the user and gives it to corporations. Stopping piracy, which was something that ALL DRM schemes failed miserably on doing, was only and excuse and still is.
You don't read very well, do you? They said disc-based, not digital.
So basically they make you pay for a used game twice.
Hopefully this system will be quickly cracked open as it seems far less secure then the PS3 was.
Worst case it might be possible to run the game OS on a modified version of VMware or QEmu and emulate the thing on a mid range or higher PC.
Or not.
There's no /technical/ reason they couldn't change their mind after you've bought your Sony hardware. Sony infamously removed the (phat) PS/3 "OtherOS" feature in a firmware update.
Yes, you can choose* not to update your firmware. But...
No firmware update == you can't play newer games.
*This assumes they didn't build in a "mandatory" firmware update feature.
"Sony": Polite Japanese for, "Fuck YOU, Mr/Ms Customer!!"
"... after you purchase a used game unlock code for a low, low price on PSN!"
Well i wouldn't be too bothered buy this. bacause used games market is huge lost for the publishers.
That way consumer still gets his game cheaper and companies get their share of it aswell.
Of course, this would not ideal setup but IF there HAD to be some sort of used games market block. paying small small price to unlock already cheaper game doesn't sound so bad.
Yet again. I still prefer my used games free from blocks and unlock prices.
@22:19
Publishers already get a lion's share of the initial sale, retailers make very little on new games. Of course I'm sure the big retailers and the publishers are going to find a way to screw the customer collectively.
they are just washing their hands on it and letting the publishers deal with the backlash adding their own anti used games system
hope you guys enjoy entering keys, youll be doing that a lot next gen
They already do that in a way with network passes
lol pc eitist and haters always have something to btch about sigh
Gamestop was losing share price just because of the rumour that the PS4 would not allow used games... it's a pretty big deal and is a very big selling point of Console gaming.
Used games and the lack of hassle of activation is the whole point of consoles.
They pull the crap they do on PCs you ,might as well just use a PC as at least then you can pirate the game.
Nail, meet head. I am very sure that they realized exactly what Erika said and realized that it would also encourage people to hack/crack the PS4 faster than the PS3 was hacked/cracked.
Ironically the PS4 IS a PC.
Of course Sony pulled back... Most industries nowadays appeal to the casual market, like Nintendo, now because it's more profitable in the long run. Prime example is the motion innovation boom and the addition of all the social bandwagon. Wheres casual gamers may spend less money and time on gaming as a WHOLE since they don't see it as important, but they hold a much wider audience than the hardcore crowd.
Hence why you see more "Hots Shots Golf" and "Extreme Bass Fishing" and less of "Mass Effect" and "Super Smash Bros."
i wish they made "casual norp sex: extreme missionary edition"
or "buttseks of the year edition"
I almost agree but at the least with the hardcore gamer when a new game comes out you know their will be a revenue stream incoming with the casual you never know when they will buy a game
Why I think a Mass Effect COD Halo will still be around even in the next gen we know sales will be there with the casuals well some may succeed some not
I LIKE THIS POST BECAUSE IT HAS BOLD TEXT!
Not necessarily. While the casual market is larger, it's also infinitely more fickle. Casuals flocked in droves to buy Wii's, but then what did they do? The Wii's software sales were abysmal (only a 1.6 attach rate). Most people bought it for Wii Sports - the game that the console came packaged with - and then never picked up another title. Consequently, third party developer support dried up as no one wanted to devote resources to a system with such poor software sales, and it became a vicious circle of low game sales leading to a lack of good game releases leading to even poorer game sales.
And now what? The Wii U is out and it's hardware sales are in the toilet. Why? Because the same casual market, the parents and grandparents who flocked to the Wii because of its gimmicky motion controls, aren't interested in dropped $300-400 on a new console when their old console still works (hell, most of them don't even seem to know that a new console is out, or think that the Wii U is just another peripheral for the Wii). That's how they think. A hardcore gamer is accustomed to and perfectly happy dropping hundreds of dollars every few years on new hardware, and gobbles up software like its candy. Casuals are more inclined to break out Wii Sports when company is over and then let their Wii continue collecting dust for the rest of the year; big spenders, they are not. These are the same people that still have VHS VCRs and are using the same wood-paneled 17" tube televisions that they bought in the 70s (and needed vouchers from the government to get them to upgrade to digital converters).
Motion controls were a fad. They were the Tickle Me Elmo of their time, and Nintendo was lucky enough to cash in. But that's in the past, and Nintendo's "next-gen" console appears to be dead on arrival. Hardcore gamers aren't just apathetic about motion controls; they actively despise them, as demonstrated by the terrible sales and constant ridicule of the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect. And casual gamers are perfectly happy playing the same 1-2 games on their 6 year old Wii, and have no interest in upgrading.
So no, the casual market is not more profitable in the long run. Quite the opposite actually. The casual market was massively profitable for Nintendo in the short term, but the long term support just isn't there. And now that those chickens are coming home to roost, it looks like Nintendo might be in some serious trouble.
problem would be solved if they made amazing games that people won't want to sell off. I know from looking in pawn shops that most games for nintendo are sports/crap games while the worth while ones rarely ever see store shelves.
Make better games and people won't buy secondhand cause there won't be second hand to buy.
But then they'll have to make good games. Don't be unreasonable.
I second this, I sell most of my games once I finish them, but I keep the ones I absolutely loved for forever. I still have Minish Cap for the GBA for example, or 999 for the DS, and my first pokemon game for the original game boy.
Just wait for that dreadful BIOS update.
-or of course the first hardware revision after release which "accidentally" breaks compatibility with used games..
*COUGHCOUGHSLIMCOUGHCOUGH*
That is the reason why you don't see your favorite systems getting "maxed out" is because of profit and major demand. The casuals hold the major market in gaming now and they don't care if their playing on a "brand new" system that has a 7 year-old graphics card. The company's target demographic doesn't acknowledge a console's internal hardware as long as it's shiny and has motion controls. With the addition of Facebook and the social button just proves my point even further.