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[PopcornMegaphone]

There's already a Bound Round Thread, but given how connected Geoff Keighley is in the industry I thought his Sony DRM for rental games comments deserved it's own thread. At 17:50 during today's Bonus Round he notes his sources are indicating Sony will implement some sort of used game DRM. Given Sony's rather ambiguous comments on the subject, I think we should brace for the worst.

Update 1:

A confirmed GAF source gives some hope:

I actually did caution that it was coming about a week ago. Because as of a week ago it was.


I just heard on friday that it wasn't. I didn't want to come right out and post about it because leak-y individuals like myself are getting a bit too much attention and I don't care about myself but Im not really looking to get my friends into trouble. But i've confirmed it with a second person so I got dumb and posted it.



Chubigans can vouch for me though on having been correct on other sony leaks in the past.


And chubigans should probably PM me again telling me to be quiet.

Update 2:

It absolutely does. Whenever i've been told about shitty things possibly happening both of the people I know at sony, who are hardcore gamers just like us, both say "make a big stink about this to yoshida (@yosp) on twitter.

I mean these guys are human, you can't keep hearing negative things and think that it's a good idea. Like I said before, I don't know anyone inside MS but basic human nature tells me that they are not happy about the reaction and will change their positions accordingly.



This week was a PR nightmare for MS. There's no two ways about it. That doesn't mean they already lost next gen. It doesn't mean that third parties are jumping ship. It's nothing crazy like fanboy delusions. But a bad PR week for any company makes that company sit down and ask themselves "How can we turn this around?" If MS or Sony think that pissing off a lot of people will cost them more money than whatever unpopular thing they want to implement would make... they will 86 that shit. It's all about dollars.

Sony also is in a tactically advantageous position right now where they aren't talking about it and they won't talk about it until they have to. And this is only amplified by the fact that they go second at E3.


I do want to warn that these decisions do flipflop (as evidenced by what i posted earlier this week vs now). I'm not 100% on this. The people I know aren't 100% on this. Some suit can come in and fuck the entire thing up. So I wouldn't go running around screaming "HAHA SONY ISN'T DOING IT!" I just wanted people to know that as of now Sony has flipped their position in response to the shitstorm microsoft got hit with.

So don't let the "just be quiet until E3" people sway you. If you don't like something, say something. Twitter is amazing for being able to talk to people in these corporations. YOSP will even respond if it's about something he can talk about (he is currently not responding to ANY questions about Used game... but you can bet your ass he is reading them).

Be respectful and tell them how you feel. I would assume this is true of MS also. And it actually works. They want our money and if they start to get scared that they won't they WILL change things.

Update 3:

Here's the entire list of sony folks I know of that either are in on the decisions or have the ears of people who are in on the decisions that are on twitter.


My biggest piece of advice is be respectful. They aren't likely to finish a tweet in all caps threatening them.

Shuhei Yoshida (president of worldwide studios) @yosp (easily the highest level person on twitter and quite accessible)

John Koller (head of hardware marketing) @jpkoller (dude has like 150 followers - heh)

Guy Longworth (senior vice president PlayStation Brand Marketing) @luckylongworth

Scott Rohde (PlayStation Software Product Development Head for Sony Worldwide Studios America) @rohdescott



Also couldn't hurt to let the ex-journos that work there like @nsuttner and @shanewatch

 

[boinx]

Disappointing but not suprising

 

[NZNova]

It's not really a surprise, to be honest.

 

[DidntKnowJack]

I still have faith they won't do this.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

This isn't news.

It was obvious the moment that EA scrapped "Project Ten Dollar".

 

[Audioboxer]

Do not want, I just want a generation like we have now, but with faster consoles, prettier graphics and a better UI.

IS IT THAT HARD TO WANT NICE THINGS?

 

[Dabanton]

Fully expected.

MS were not going to be doing this without Sony doing it too.

 

[specialguy]

and they'll catch 1/100th the flack as microsoft as usual.

 

[thehypocrite]

Doritos Pope with the subtle FUD. Not surprising.

 

[Einbroch]

PC it is.

Edit: Since people are just quoting this and not responding to my rebuttal:

I use GameFly, but since no console/system will support this if the rumors are true, I might as well go to the system that has the cheapest games, competition, no used sales price floor, and unlimited BC. Oh, and I already have a PC, so it's cheaper for me to upgrade than buy a new console.

I feel like a broken record.

Stop quoting this with "hurrrr when could you play used games on pc"

 

[Zombie James]

Wonder how they would even implement that when you can use the PS4 without an internet connection.

 

[Kyoufu]

This isn't news.

It was obvious the moment that EA scrapped "Project Ten Dollar".

Yup.

Sony will probably leave this up to the publisher.

 

[Limanima]

You forgot to add SHOCKING NEWS to the title.

 

[Sorcerer Supreme]

PC gaming it is then. I'll have to buy another GTX 670 this fall now.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Not Sony, third parties.

 

[Grover Cleveland]

Not totally unexpected, the major publishers aren't going to let one system not have used game DRM while the other one does.

EDIT: Don't think Sony will implement it at a hardware level, but they'll leave it up to publishers.

 

[Skyzard]

Probably an option for publishers to implement in addition to their online passes. Good for a backup in case that becomes a big sticking point for developers, hopefully it won't be too popular.

 

[zoukka]

Wii U-only gen confirmed.

 

[Colonel Nasty]

Well duh. They have online passes in their games. Of course they were gonna do this.

 

[pauljeremiah]

PC it is.

I'm thinking the same

 

[Vampirolol]

Gamers are going to accept this.

 

[Cheerilee]

WiiU looking better by the minute.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

shocking news?

 

[DoomGyver]

More of a publisher influence, than a Sony influence.

PC it is.

Yep I've been itching to build my first PC, this fall is looking like a good time to go that route.

 

[ginger ninja]

oh for ffs

 

[RoboGeorgeForeman]

Guess I'll be sticking to PC and handhelds this gen.

 

[Kyoufu]

WiiU looking better by the minute.

Games aren't magically appearing on the Wii U.

 

[Kusagari]

Sony will leave it up to the third parties instead of mandating it.

And they'll all do it.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Then fuck them too, all of my words towards MS will apply to Sony for the same reasons.

I wonder if this is what ended the EA Nintendo relationship. Nintendo didn't want to do any of this shit, so they walked.

 

[cluderi]

Hope not but if it's the same as MS then I guess I'm out for a gen (or at least until the machines reach low prices)

 

[Anticitizen One]

What will you guys do when Wii-U gets revised to support used game DRM and the PC follows suit

 

[Crimson_Gold]

I wonder how this will work with the ability to play the console without ever connecting it online

 

[Gonzo The Great]

Wii U saved.

 

[Nirolak]

What will you guys do when Wii-U gets revised to support used game DRM and the PC follows suit

The PC has had used game DRM for around eight years now.

 

[Skyzard]

Next-gen games aren't magically appearing on the Wii U.

Fixed.

 

[jbug617]

Sony won't catch the same flack as Microsoft.

 

[kayos90]

Are we really surprised by this?

 

[flc]

Yeah, EA don't drop anything that gives them free money without a very good reason. That said, I like the idea of a system that pays the developers/publishers for used game sales (instead of being 100% profit for Gamestop) so I'm not too concerned about it if that's what it results in (one way or another)

 

[gogojira]

and they'll catch 1/100th the flack as microsoft as usual.

This. Let's wait for the official announcement but I don't anticipate Sony's plan being much better. I also don't expect the reaction to be nearly as harsh.

 

[GashPrex]

I look forward to outrage on this board for the next 2 weeks

Be fun purely from a cognitive dissonce perspective at least

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I guess Wii U wins the gen.

 

[BadWolf]

Unless Sony wants to give up Japan to Nintendo, the most they will do is give publishers a choice.

 

[Acosta]

What will you guys do when Wii-U gets revised to support used game DRM and the PC follows suit

PC? second hand?

BTW, I'll believe it when I see it. If they do DRM, they need to validate online so they will have to require it at some point. And how the hell is Sony going to kill second hand in Japan?

Really disappointing if so.

 

[Lakitu]

I'll wait for E3 before I make any snap judgments.

 

[tranciful]

Wouldn't surprise me. Wouldn't really bother me, either. I think having the game tied to your account is fine (it's how I buy games on Steam/iOS) and I think it's really cool that they're letting you sell your digital license -- Steam/iOS/Android does NOT allow this (I hope it also applies to non-disk games, though I doubt it will, and I hope Sony has something similar if they do have similar DRM otherwise). It can certainly be done awfully, but I think there's a chance it can be done right. The convenience of having no disks is big for me and I've always had a distate for GameStop and how they mutated the used game market.

 

[Spieler Eins]

I'll wait this situation out while the 3DS is still beasting and taking all my time for at least a year anyway.
Hopefully it's not as awful as with MS.

 

[oVerde]

No blame on Sony, blame publishers.
And let's wait Sony final announcement while we go for MS' jugular.

Expected by doing that 'fast switch on and off' stuff.

 

[gngf123]

Going to wait and see just how bad it is. I still feel it will be mostly left down to publishers, but after what Microsoft showed off I don't know any more.

If it is as bad as it sounds, looks like the Wii U will be the only console I'll be interested in this gen.

 

[saunderez]

Sony doesn't get any special treatment from me. They go down the Microsoft path I won't be getting one, simple as that.

 

[Kusagari]

This. Let's wait for the official announcement but I don't anticipate Sony's plan being much better. I also don't expect the reaction to be nearly as harsh.

Well it'll be less harsh just because people already spent so much vitriol on MS.

I really hope we don't see people, who attacked MS, defending it though.