UsedGames
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Sony ponders destruction of used game market [Update 1]
The technology to prevent playing unlicensed software has been patented and should be delved a little deeper into. Let's face it -- we probably buy most of our games used. Heck, we spent $990 million on used games last year. Sony's new technology registers our games when we load 'em up and prevent any other system to play them. It even prevents any other copy of the same game to be played. Scratched up your copy of your favorite game? Oops, you can't buy another one because it won't work. So very, very sorry.That seems a bit extreme. Perhaps there will be ways around it or perhaps it won't be as harsh as the story at 1up.com makes it out to be. Sony could be sharing what the patent has the ability to do, but won't necessarily utilize every feature. Still, this may cripple our used game market or at the least hinder it. If anything happens, let's hope it's something like a timestamp feature on games so we won't find a used game at a lower price two days after the game's release. That gives the developers and publishers more time to make money and keeps the bargain-hunters waiting for a few weeks. One month wouldn't be too long to wait for a game to appear used, would it? What does everyone think? Should there be a timestamp on games, full protection, or none at all leaving doors open to piracy and whatnot?[Update: after a comment, the URL with the patent is included to stop the "fake news" nonsense]
Rumor: no pre-owned games for PS3?
According to GamesRadar (who struck out on their last PS3-rumor at bat), Sony might be looking to prevent the sale of pre-owned games by using a software licensing system similar to the one employed in the PC software space. The rumor goes something like this: instead of purchasing the actual game, you purchase a nontransferable license to play the game, and the physical media is just a distribution method (think Microsoft Windows). While Sony does own some patents that might be used to this end, the issue is far more complicated than the technology and motivation behind it. Sure, Sony and most publishers would love to cut off the parasitic used-games industry, but would they do it at the expense of angering both retailers and consumers? Considering the dubious origin of the rumor -- "retail sources" -- and GamesRadar's past inaccuracy, it's far too early to get upset over this one.Next-Gen offers their (similarly skeptical) take on the rumor, getting responses from an expert in retail law and two publishing sources who, though admittedly in favor of such a plan, concede that the story is unlikely.[Thanks, SickNic and Kerina]
Used games and MMOs are "bright spots" in games
The New York Times' Seth Schiesel looks at the recent poor performance of EA and the anticipated performance of other domestic publishers. While much of the poor performance may be attributed to common culprits, like the dearth of Xbox 360 consoles and transitional difficulties, there is one other thing.Schiesel writes, "... game publishers in the United States are still almost entirely in the same business they have been in for 20 years: selling new games at retail." Subscription-based MMOs and used-games are both profitable avenues that represent "a major challenge to the publishers' traditional business model."Game retailers thrive on the used-games market; even big-box stores like Best Buy want to get in on the action, much to the chagrin of developers and publishers everywhere. For now, the bad blood between retailers and publishers will continue: Gamestop's most recent quarterly earnings were "eye-popping" while EA's shares are down 11 percent over the period.
