Sony's apparently taking the threat of used game sales and piracy seriously. According to one insider, the company is backing a new type of digital rights management for its next PlayStation gaming console which would limit how much consumers get out of second-hand games.
Citing a trusted source, video game blog Kotaku reported that the next PlayStation system, code-named "Orbis," will render normal titles at a staggering 4096x2160 resolution and 3D-supported ones at 1080p thanks to a souped-up GPU made by AMD. The console's rumored anti-used game system is equally intriguing, but not exactly consumer friendly:
Here's how our main source says it's currently shaping up: new games for the system will be available one of two ways, either on a Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download (yes, even full retail titles). If you buy the disc, it must be locked to a single PSN account, after which you can play the game, save the whole thing to your HDD, or peg it as "downloaded" in your account history and be free to download it at a later date.
The platform may also require owners to have a broadband Internet connection -- even to play offline single-player games.
So, what does that mean for the used games business and consumers who prefer to rent before they plunk down $60? Kotaku speculated that a PlayStation 4 title traded in to GameStop or any other retailer would, once resold and inserted into a different console, lock out a significant portion of the game in the process. Accessing the full game would then require an additional fee. In other words, customers would be paying however much for what's essentially a demo.
PS3 backward compatibility may also be a no-go, supporting reports from 2009 that Sony would abandon its ballyhooed Cell processor altogether.
Microsoft's next console, code-named Durango, was the subject of similar anti-used game rumors earlier this year, leaving Nintendo's Wii U as potentially the only next-gen gaming system that won't attempt to stymie used game sales through the hardware itself. Expected to hit shelves this fall, the tablet-controlled Wii successor could end up being more consumer friendly at the cost of resistance from game companies who support anti-used game lockouts.
Several major publishers have backed a controversial "Online Pass" system which requires used game buyers to pay $10 to access select content, including online multiplayer modes. Electronic Arts reported last September that it had earned $10-$15 million in revenue from its own online pass system in just one year -- too big a number for many publishers to ignore. Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive and Tecmo Koei have also embraced online passes.
