Sony patents device designed to prevent used games sales

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http://www.gamespot.com/news/sony-patents-tech-to-block-used-games-6401992


[h=1]Sony patents tech to block used games[/h]January 3, 2013 10:04AM PST
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor


Technology giant submits application for "Electronic Content Processing System" that would tie individual game discs to one user account.
Sony has researched and patented new technology that could be implemented to block used games. As spotted by a NeoGAF user, patent application number 20130007892 for an "Electronic Content Processing System" and "Use Apparatus" would associate individual game discs with matched user accounts.
Sony patents tech to block used games




Games that are discovered to be tied to another user's account could potentially be rejected. The system works, according to the document, by attaching contactless RF "tags" to each game, which can be be read without a network connection.

The filing does not mention any specific system for its use. However, past speculation suggested Sony was interested in curbing second-hand sales with the PlayStation 4.
"A game playing system includes a use permission tag provided for use in a game disk for a user of a game, a disk drive, and a reproduction device for reproducing the game," reads a line from the patent's abstract. "The disk drive reads out a disk ID from the game disk. When the game is to be played, the reproduction device conveys the disk ID and a player ID to the use permission tag. The use permission tag stores the terms of use of the game and determines whether a combination of the disk ID and the player ID conveyed from the reproduction device fulfills the terms of use or not."
In the patent filing, Sony said in a content business like the games industry, it is "vital" to redistribute a portion of the proceeds from sales to developers, who do not see a dime from second-hand sales. Sony said though the second-hand market may expose new gamers to a particular title, in the long run, this does not benefit developers.
"In such a scheme where the electronic content is bought and sold in the second-hand markets or the like, the sales proceeds resulting therefrom are not redistributed to the developers," reads a line from the filing. "Also, since the users who have purchased the second-hand items are somehow no longer potential buyers of the content, the developers would lose their profits otherwise gained in the first place."
Sony said this patent would effectively "suppress" the second-hand game market if it ever comes to fruition. This technology would also be applicable to other forms of electronic content, including images and music.
The patent was originally applied for in September and was published today. It does not necessarily indicate that Sony will, in reality, block or in any way prohibit gamers from playing second-hand titles on the PS4 or any other device.
The used-game market has been a contentious issue, with several noted developers making clear their stance against secondhand sales. Those who spoke out against used sales in the past year include Crysis developer Crytek's director of creative development, Rasmus Hojengaard (though he quickly recanted), Battlefield 3 executive producer Patrick Bach, ex-THQ executive Richard Browne, Elite creator David Braben, Volition design director Jameson Durall, and Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack.
Not all voices are against used games. Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch said in February 2012 that blocking used games is unfair. Also during that month, Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's managing director, Adam Badowski, took a populist gamer stance, saying systems that block used games "can be a bad thing."

By Eddie Makuch, News Editor Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
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Oh well.No playstation 4 for me if they use this technology.


Of course it will put the used games shops out of business as well.

Probaly will increase pc game sales and some companies might give up on making console games altogether.We'll see.
 
I generally buy new anyways, so this really doesn't bother me much. More power to the devs, but Sony shouldn't force the issue.

That, and you should just play it on the PC anyways.
 
That is... a horrible idea. I very rarely buy new anymore, I just can't afford a $60 price tag on something I may or may not ever beat. So instead I usually wait a couple years when the used price goes down and get it then for cheaper. I've honestly been thinking about not even moving on to next gen consoles, I'm really satisfied with what I have. Maybe I'm just getting old. XD
 
Boo! Hiss! I buy used games all the time, so this is a bloody nightmare. I guess I'll just have to wait that bit longer for new games to become cheaper...
How bloody annoying :/

Like the pockets said, this will just make people go for the other consoles instead...unless the other consoles are going to do it too (I only sorta scanned the thread). If they do then ja, people will go for the PC.

This can only lower overall sales for Sony :hmmm:
 
Meh. This is pretty bad news for me. I usually buy used games since they're so much cheaper. But I guess it's for the better of the industry, since devs dont get money for resales. They should lower the price of games after this, though. I'll be damned if I have to pay 60 bucks for a game I can't resell.
 
And now watch as gamers, for decades loyal to Sony's Playstation, switch to Microsoft and Nintendo come next Gen...

Seriously fuck them if this ever happens. Fuck them. In the arse. With a old decaying Megadrive.
 
How do Sony plan on benefiting from this? :hmmm: It's the sort of thing that's gonna drive fans away, especially since the majority of games out there are multi-platform. If they do this with the PS4, to keep up with the competition, they're gonna have to pump out some seriously awesome releases that are exclusive to that console. And since so many developers release their games on different platforms, Sony would no doubtedly have to pay more for exclusive releases. And since they'd be paying more for that, then the pricetag on their games would obviously be higher just to keep those profit margins. New games now are currently going around the £35-£40 mark, so I think we'd be expecting that price to go up by another £10-£20 or so for any console, and if Sony would need to increase that further then we're probably looking at games that could be anywhere between £60-£80. :hmmm:

And besides, it's not like they're a multi-billionaire company! :wacky:
 
Of all things, it's going to hurt Gamestop and EB the most since all their sales are made from used game purchases. So if Microsoft does not go this route, I expect the lineup of games they have in their stores for Sony to be even smaller than it is now.

I prefer NEW games to used anyway, but if that's all they have, then I'll buy it.
 
this will only make game prices go up, since it will essentially create a monopoly for individual games. however just because sony have patented the technology, does not mean it will be implemented with a playstation 4. i'm sure there will be a massive backlash from the fans regarding this, and sony will realise it's just not worth the hassle. if fans can complain about the endig of a game, á la mass effect 3, and get it changed, then they can force sony to not go ahead with this
 
This is a bit sickening...and will work in Microsoft's favor if they don't implement the same technology.

This won't really hurt me too much since I usually buy my games new, but not everyone can afford the $60 price tag that hangs on brand new games, so unless everyone consciously waits until a game gets reasonable enough for them to afford, people just won't be buying many new games anymore during the year which will actually end up HURTING the developers more than helping them.

In addition to hurting places like Gamestop, this would put blockbuster game rentals out of business (I don't know if they are even around anymore, but) AND Gamefly :damon:

I just don't see this panning out too well for the long run.

I don't care too much for places like Gamestop either since a lot of my money gets wasted when I go in there to trade in games most of the time, but at least it's a place I can go to trade in the games that I get reallly sick of and I don't want anymore. Basically when we get sick of our games when this goes into effect we are stuck with all of our shite games. It will make us have to think veryyyyyyyyyyy carefully before we go buying games. I don't see too many games release days panning out too well.

I see this hurting developers more in the long run than gaining them any more profit than they already do. They are greedy enough as it is, they are just bumhurt since they can't gain double and triple the profit on used games. What they forget is that the game was already once paid for at full price at one point...they just want to keep their fingers in the cookie jar well after the original sale and they can't do that and it's pissing them off that someone else is cashing in on this fact.
 
Microsoft was also looking into this at some point. I don't think Sony is going to do anything with this patent, they have a habit of patenting stuff and not using them. Most likely this is to allow 3rd party publishers to more easily use online passes or whatever it is. Still nothing that would make any of us happy (because it's still blatantly anti-consumer), but I don't think they'd be so extreme to go as far as blocking used games. If either MS or Sony does this, Nintendo will have the best console generation ever.
 
Tmoo said:
Microsoft was also looking into this at some point. I don't think Sony is going to do anything with this patent, they have a habit of patenting stuff and not using them. Most likely this is to allow 3rd party publishers to more easily use online passes or whatever it is. Still nothing that would make any of us happy (because it's still blatantly anti-consumer), but I don't think they'd be so extreme to go as far as blocking used games. If either MS or Sony does this, Nintendo will have the best console generation ever.
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I think you are spot on.
Microsoft wants to implement the same thing judging by countless rumours that is.
I think they will use this feature for online/mp content only.
Otherwise it would be a big.mistake.

Anyways like always I.buy new gen consoles (Sony fanboy) years after the kinks are out and after release. Slim etc. That way its way cheaper obviously and I can wait.

Both Sony and Microsoft might do this. I might stop playing games at all if this occurs or not :hmmm: I buy a few games and always brand new. Im not a hard core gamer like I used to be.

I only.buy games Im really interested in.

Might go nintendo then. Anyways.I will never go Xbox (except if its free.online) and never pc..it costs too much money to go for superior graphics lmao.
 
tldr; but i can bet this idea will backfire. :grin: what a horrid idea, i'd say i can't wait to watch their sales drop as a cause and affect but too many people today are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on video games/electronics.

for us poor folk, we pretty much rely on used-game buys. :hmmm: and like mel said, it will ruin a lot of businesses.

i doubt it will happen.
 
Worst-case scenario, we buy new games. Not a big loss, but not really a big win. Either way, it doesn't affect me much since I don't have a major Sony console. I do feel bad for those who do have one. :lew:
 
I'm a big fan of Japanese RPGs and, unfortunately, stores like EBGames tend not to have said games on their shelves if the game is older than a few months, unless someone trades it in, and hence... used. So, my choice is to not buy the games I want, or to spend $200+ on Amazon or EBay for a new copy of it?
 
possible confirmation that the next xbox will be using similar technology to this:

Microsoft’s next console will require an Internet connection in order to function, ruling out a second-hand game market for the platform. A new iteration of Xbox Live will be an integral part of Microsoft’s next console, while improved Kinect hardware will also ship alongside the unit.

Sources with first-hand experience of Microsoft’s next generation console have told us that although the next Xbox will be absolutely committed to online functionality, games will still be made available to purchase in physical form. Next Xbox games will be manufactured on 50GB-capacity Blu-ray discs, Microsoft having conceded defeat to Sony following its ill-fated backing of the HD-DVD format. It is believed that games purchased on disc will ship with activation codes, and will have no value beyond the initial user.

Our source has also confirmed that the next Xbox’s recently rumoured specs are entirely accurate. That means an AMD eight-core x64 1.6GHz CPU, a D3D11.x 800MHz graphics solution and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. As of now, the console’s hard drive capacity is said to be undecided, but Microsoft’s extended commitment to online delivery suggests that it will be the largest unit it has put inside a console to date.

Though the architectures of the next-gen Xbox and PlayStation both resemble that of PCs, several development sources have told us that Sony’s solution is preferable when it comes to leveraging power. Studios working with the next-gen Xbox are currently being forced to work with only approved development libraries, while Sony is encouraging coders to get closer to the metal of its box. Furthermore, the operating system overhead of Microsoft’s next console is more oppressive than Sony’s equivalent, giving the PlayStation-badged unit another advantage.

Unlike Nintendo, Microsoft is continuing to invest heavily in motion-control interfaces, and a new, more reliably responsive Kinect will also ship alongside the next Xbox. Sony’s next-generation console camera system is said to have a similar set of features, and is expected to be discussed at the company’s PlayStation event on February 20.
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Well this is pretty mean, isn't it? I get most of my Playstation games used. Oddly enough, I've never bought an xbox game used. I've always bought them new and online.

Ehh, I don't care what they do. I'm no longer a playstation customer.
 
I'm not too worried about this, at all. If you think back to 2005 (holy crap 7 years ago) there was a lot of talk about the PS3 blocking preowned/rental games entirely. And yet... it didn't. I feel this will go the exact same way. It's suicide, especially considering retailers are apparently planning to not stock the PS4/720 if they do this.

Buuuuut if it does happen, I don't care. I have no plans to buy a new console >.>
 
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