Gamespot Rumor: Playstation 3 won't play games that are rented or borrowed

This is bogus. What's Sony thinking? If they put this into their PS3, then much of the fanbase would turn to Nintendo or Microsoft. Instead of gaining business as the plan hopes to achieve, it'll drive away business. Blockbuster and other rental companies wouldnt be happy about this. Hopefully this is not going to happen. If it does, I'll just get an xbox 360 instead.
 
Well, but see, there's a benefit to this as well. Sony doesn't receive any money from the used games portion of retail, which is exploding. Best Buy has toyed with the idea of a used games section, and may go national with the idea. Sony actually looses money through the used games industry, as consumers purchase used titles instead of new ones.

It's definitely an interesting approach to take should they so choose.
 
This could be bad. Already with the current Playstation 2 there is a huge amount of failure rates among the systems. Disk read errors happen in something like 30% of all PS2's within 12 months as it is, in fact there is a major law suite about this that was just settled out of court.
If Sony implements some new feature to make games only playable in the first system I can just imagine the bugs inherient in the system. Systems that reject all games no matter if you just purchased it or otherwise.

I could see Sony trying to pull this off but I think it would hurt them in the end.
 
Horrible plan. They did the same type of thing with Switchfoot's new CD, only that was the addition of a spyware-like digital rights management software that would not allow you to rip music from a CD and then copy it. They're getting sued for that already. This idea would kill the PS3. Microsoft is probably licking their lips. Sony would be best off to just accept that used games are what people want and find some way to get their hands in that pocket rather than forcing gamers to other systems entirely.
 
Mr_Slice said:
Horrible plan. They did the same type of thing with Switchfoot's new CD, only that was the addition of a spyware-like digital rights management software that would not allow you to rip music from a CD and then copy it. They're getting sued for that already. This idea would kill the PS3. Microsoft is probably licking their lips. Sony would be best off to just accept that used games are what people want and find some way to get their hands in that pocket rather than forcing gamers to other systems entirely.
Click to expand...

I suppose I can temporarily derail this thread as I started it.

So you can't, say, rip "Nothing Is Sound" to Windows Media Player and then take those WMA files and burn them to CDs?
 
I love internet rumors!!!!
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Yeah, sony has done some stuff like this before:

http://grc.com/securitynow.htm
go to this site and scroll down to episode #12 titled" Sony's "Rootkit Technology" DRM
its pretty bad

even if sony totally pulls this drastic anti second hand game thing, I will probably get a ps3 anyway. I read up the specs on howstuffworks.com and its totally jawdropping technology. I couldn't believe what I was reading.
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/playstation-three.htm
 
My opinion won't carry much weight as I have no intention whatsoever of purchasing any console until it's one generation old. I own a PSX (or PS1, if you prefer) and a Dreamcast. I considered purchasing a Gamecube just for SoulCalibur 2 and X-Men Legends II, but my budget won't allow for such frivolity.

Personal irrelevance aside, I think Micro$oft must be eagerly hoping that Sony goes through with this dastardly plan. With the recent rootkit controversy and the PS2 suffering a much higher rate of failure than other consoles, their ban on used and rented games would be more than enough to convince many that Sony is the devil. If Sony goes through with this, the XBox 360, with its promise of Gears of War, Halo 3, and a superior online matchmaking service, will dominate the US market.

And no, I didn't forget about Nintendo. While I appreciate their desire to introduce sorely-needed innovation into the console market after Sega's self-destruction (Sega = terrific ideas, terrible business decisions), I don't think their target market can wrap their minds around a television remote-style controller. Then there's the issue of ergonomics, which is too far off-topic to discuss in this thread.

Oh, and Nintendo may offer downloads of classic games on the Revolution, but you know it won't be free. I can't imagine Nintendo not being greedy with their "retro" downloads service. For goodness' sake, the retail price for Super Mario Bros. Classic for the Gameboy Advance was twenty dollars. This download service may spark a renewed interest in emulation and the secondary market, but will likely do little to earn any love for the new console. Can you imagine playing Super Mario World using your TV remote? Nintendo refuses to learn that you can only recycle a game so many times before people throw up their hands and pick up Halo or Katamari Damacy instead. In the immortal words of Penny Arcade, "1984 called. They want their games back." Don't get me wrong: I love my Gameboy Advance. Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World is one of my favorite games. (Then again, I never owned a Super Nintendo and never purchased Super Mario World.) How many times can Nintendo ask consumers to re-purchase the same game?

Back on topic: If Sony bans used and rented games, many gamers will refuse to buy this console. Imagine paying $200 to $400 for a console and then being expected to pay $60 per game on a blind notion. $60? Yes, $60. You don't actually think Sony would drop the price of games just because they ban used and rented games, do you? You underestimate their greed!

This the same company that was willing to lie to their customers and include a stealth-installed rootkit that compromised the security of client machines just so customers wouldn't copy their audio CDs (which are already grossly overpriced). Sony has stepped out of the realm of anti-piracy and fallen down the slippery slope of anti-fair use.

The used and rental game lockout would, of course, lead to retailers refusing to accept opened PS3 games as returns. If I ever had an inkling of thinking about considering purchasing a PS3, it will be neatly decimated this decision. I'm still upset that most consoles are region-coded (but not my beloved Dreamcast!), requiring modchips to play Japanese imports.

If Sony does this, they might as well place a conference call to the modchip developers and say, "Please, oh PLEASE, won't you hack our hardware to circumvent this measure?" This measure also strongly encourages piracy. When you think about it, it's easy to see how rental stores help curb piracy. If you can rent a game for a few dollars (or, in the case of Blockbuster, several dollars) to check it out, there's no sense in going through the hassle of modding your system, downloading games in illegal fashion (which often have content ripped to fit to spec), and using confusing software and instructions to burn them to DVD. Instead of pirating a game, you can walk in to a rental store, plunk down your $8 (Blockbuster = greed), rent the game, and return it. If it's a stinker, sure, you're out $8, but at least you didn't shell out $60.

If Sony goes through with this, even tech-savvy people who wouldn't ordinarily consider piracy might be inclined to give it a shot. And the more people you have pirating games, the easier it gets. Simplify piracy too much and it could help destroy the console's market (piracy was one of several factors leading to the Dreamcast's untimely demise). I don't advocate piracy, but I don't advocate big business greed and disrespect for its customers, either. There's an adage I repeat often: "If a government or a corporation does it, it's business as usual. If an individual does it, it's illegal." Eminent domain, anyone?
 
Here's another scenario if this were to happen (if I understand it correctly)...

You buy a PS3 and some games, play it for a while and then your system breaks. You buy a new PS3 and suddenly find out that the games that you already own will not work because they are linked to your broken system.
 
Sounds like steam with thier cd key binding to accounts, but a bit more solid since it will be linked to a PS3.
 
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