http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/03/ ... hand-games

And here I thought EA would be the first to do this. What I really hate about this is now you won't have the option to support (or specifically NOT support) games and game development you don't like. Though I don't think we should be surprised by this.

This is pants-on-head stupid. Online pass was ENOUGH, and that was OB. I guess Sony really wants that death knell to be swift. I feel dirty having gotten PSN+ for Christmas, I tells ya.

Yeah, I'm going to have my piece talking about this at the next magcast. This is disgusting. It's going to be hard to commit to never buying a PS4... but if it's the only way to get my opinion across, it's what I'll have to do.

Well, at current, this is just a rumor. However, should it turn out to be true, Sony is going to run itself into the dirt.

This is true, as well. Even if they got the patent, there's no guarantee that they'd actually employ it quite yet, if at all.

The only way that they can get away with it is if they license the patent to MS for the next Xbox or if they do something similar without infringing on the patent.
Although, it would definitely hurt the market in many ways.

If they do make it, some one will make a tag reader/writer either to alter the disc's id or the console's id or even both.

It seems unlikely that they would implement this during the launch of a new console. My guess is they will have the tech in the console, but not in the games. That way, the can have an installed base of consumers with consoles at home that are now invested in the system. Then, a couple years after the PS4 has been out and Sony feels safe about their future, they will start putting the tags on the discs, marring the games to the system.


Really, the thing they need to do is just focus on digital distribution. Make it secure so it cannot be downloaded without ownership (which is entirely possible now with the PSP) and ramp up the PS+ program. Make EVERY purchase for a subscriber worth it with 25% off retail across the board for downloads. The console would be a hit and every gamer would subscribe, more than covering the discounts. By making the user want to download the game instead of buying retail would greatly reduce the size of the second hand game market while also marrying games to individual accounts/consoles.

Okay, I will admit that I've had bad experiences with used games. However, I do not support this idea at all. I've stuck with Sony for over four years, downloading their content and buying games for the PS3. It's not hyperbolic for me to say that I've spent at least over $2000 with the PS3.

I really hope this is just a rumor, I see this as a stranglehold on gamers, the online pass BS got on my nerves. This will break them.

A quarter of that was probably the PS3 itself, but I digress. =P

If this actually happened, I see one of two things happening. Either the PS4 (or whatever impliments this) will quickly die, or it will suddenly become the most pirated console of all time. Actually, another possibility would be somebody releasing a homebrew that blocks the tag check. And then Sony would be forced to spend millions updating to stop that block over and over while the block would keep coming back over and over. In any case, it would be rather suicidal by Sony.

patent or no, every one claimed shyte like this was going to be on the PS3.

Never surfaced if I recall.

know what? we should all just install the game not on a hard drive in the console, but to a flash drive. That way it's loading off of something that has no electronically discerning features.

Sometimes i think we should all just go back to cartridges. If you had the where-with-all and ambition to crack one open and rip the ROM chip, you'd be getting props, not getting demonized.

And ever notice that with the notable exception of EA, and UBIsoft, most all the companies that are passing whole brickyards out their collective pee-holes about this (perceived) problem are from Japan? It's almost like they are combating some nefarious entity that likes to backwards engineer any and all tech and media, thereby allowing said entities to produce vast quantities of cheap look alike knock-offs. It's quite silly of them, considering that we ALL KNOW there is/are absolutely NO SUCH ENTITIES, anywhere IN THE REGION NEAR JAPAN.