Sony’s Recent Trademark Could Change Gaming in the Worst Way

Dann has a look at the impact of the recent trademark that Sony has taken out on single-use discs for the next-gen consoles.

[TongkatAli]

I know! game devs will be compensated for their work, the horror!

[2pacalypsenow]

No now less people will buy games and will be geared towards other means of gaming (Wii u,Xbox,PC) because they wont be able to share games with friends and family or buy games cheaper. Look at cars The used market is huge yet Car makers don't complain about it . Also back in 2006 the same rumor came out

[caseh]

Further back than 2006 actually, try 2000:

http://articles.latimes.com...

Article is dated 2006, patent was aquired in 2000.

[Seraphim]

you're comparing apples to oranges when referencing the used game market to cars.

[Anon1974]

Wow. Sites are still talking about this, huh? Remember, Sony has had patents for this kind of tech since 2000 and none of it has shown up in their consoles. If we're really going to pick apart every patent Sony owns looking for the potential to ruin gaming as we know it, we could be here for awhile. The same goes for Microsoft. You want to see some scary patents, start digging into that pile, but realistically how often are these patents put into production?

[zerocrossing]

This has nothing to do with devs being compensated for their work, this is about greedy publishers wanting to maximise profits at the detriment of the consumer.

The used games market has existed for many years now and the games industry's has thrived and become mainstream regardless, publishers see a way to make more cash and they're gunning for it, the last thing on their mind is looking out for you or any other consumer.

(edit)

You're not helping your argument by making tired excuses for multi million $ companies.

There you go again, listen the devs do get paid for their work, so unless you are one stop acting like you have a clue what goes on, I developed indie games for 5 years in the past so I know a thing or two.

It has nothing to do with the devs, it's about the "publishers" if the devs aren't getting enough money it's either to do with bad marketing, the publishers suck, or the game isn't good, and try to understand that once a game hits retail it's already been paid for making most of your claims moot.

[TongkatAli]

Do you work for free ? How bout you open yourself a dev company, spend massive amounts of money to make a game and we will see if you can pay the rent or your mortgage or your employees on time.

Shouldn't a game for example XENOBLADE Chronicles deserve every sale it gets ? I bet if Nintendo was doing this you would be okay with it XD

@Punisher why don't you marry him and boycott every game being developed by a major company. My head is up my ass ? XD the irony of your statement, have fun peeling dem used stickers off your cases.

[punisher99]

"This has nothing to do with devs being compensated for their work, this is about greedy publishers wanting to maximize profits at the detriment of the consumer"

+bubbles to you. Its about time I find someone who doesnt have their head up their butt.

[Ragnaarock]

Except developing games isn't free. These people put a lot of effort and time to bring you a great gaming experience. The least you can do is buy their game to support them. Developing a game cost anywhere from $20 million to $100 million. That means that they have to sell 333,333 to 1,666,666 copies at full retail price to break even.
Honestly though I don't really see the problem with this whole thing anyway, people who buy new games will still continue to buy their games new while people wanting that $5 off when a game launches by buying a used copy will have to buy a new copy if they want to play the game. The whole issue are places like gamestop anyway since they make billions of dollars each year by selling other peoples work. I'm sure a better way to go for something like this would be to ask used game retailers to send a percentage of their profits to the respective game developers.
I'd also rather make tired excuses for multi million $ companies that earn money for their work rather than make excuses for a multi BILLION $ company sponging their profit from developers work.

[Revolver_X_]

@Ragnaarock- good explanation, I see it close to the same way. Its all about maximising profits, but not in a greedy way. The ENTIRE industry set the $60 standard. Dont you think devs for games like COD would charge $100 if they could. To me showing up on day 2-10 to save $5 dollars is ridiculous. On ther other hand $60 9 months later is ridiculous. This may not be the right answer, but an answer is needed. BTW, anyone who says I'll just go to Xbox is retarded. If Sony did it, money hungry Microsoft definitely would.

[punisher99]

"I know! game devs will be compensated for their work, the horror!"

Um they were already compensated for their work.

[zerocrossing]

It's OK your speaking logic, that doesn't fly here...

[3-4-5]

Why do they need to be compensated over and over again on the same item though ?

If I buy a bike from a store and a year later sell it, do I need to pay the make of the bike some money too....again ?

[Wikki]

If Sony does this and Microsoft doesn't, goodbye Sony

[TheGamerDood]

Sorry but all the fees associated with owning a MS console will keep many from jumping ship.

[born2live]

The money they are going to save buying used games will more than make for the $50-$60 for their gold membership - AND they'll be able to play their games on someone else's console...
That argument is getting old...

[SkullBlade169]

Actually, I prefer using Sony consoles. If they did this and MS didn't I'd instantly switch to the next Xbox console instead of buying a PS4.

[TongkatAli]

We have been hearing "Goodbye Sony" since 2006, yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, sure buddy.

[MasterCornholio]

They are saying the same thing about the 720.

http://www.techradar.com/ne...

"Microsoft's next generation Xbox console will feature a system aimed at preventing owners playing used games, according to reports."

Also Nintendos the first company that i know of who puts region locks on their controllers.

http://mynintendonews.com/2...

"Online Japanese news publication Rocket News 24 have confirmed that even Wii U GamePads are region locked. This basically means that you can’t use an imported Japanese Wii U GamePad on your North American system. We already knew that Wii U consoles and games are region locked, but it’s unusual for Nintendo to region lock the controller."

I really dont like the looks of next gen because of this. It would be terrible if they ban used games and i hate the fact that Nintendo continues to region lock their games and they even region lock their controllers.

[KING85]

At this point we'll have to play the waiting game and see what Sony does. It's no guarantee they'll implement this in their next gen system. People will act accordingly if Sony does or doesn't implement it. They will buy or not buy, it really is that simple. I hope people do not waste time worrying because that helps nor changes anything.

[WeAreLegion]

Nobody, including Sony, is going to actually use this technology for gaming. It will, most likely, be for secure non-re-writable discs. It has been talked about a lot, recently. It's a cheap alternative to most forms of memory.

[CRASHBASHUK]

I am guessing that PS+ will be on PS4 and the online storage for game saves and one of the key words it says on ps3 now "expand your gaming horizons by downloading your saved data to a friends ps3 system to continue your game" if they do make one game disc work per console then there be only one point to the online storage right?

[exfatal]

hmm this is a good point.. unless sony just expects your friends to own the game too, i really hope not.

[-Falaut-]

Yes yes, Sony always shitting and taking away from gaming. Seriously, what are they still around for?

...and no, I didn't read the f****** article!

Falaut <--- in a drunk and irritable state at time of writing

[nevin1]

What exactly is the diffrence between

1. Sharing/Trading/Borrowing a Car among familiy/friends
2. Sharing A Subway $5 Footlong
3. Sharing/Trading/Borrowing
4. Sharing/Trading/Borrowing Movies
5. Sharing/Trading/Borrowing/Musi c
etc

vs

Sharing/Trading/Borrowing Games?

[zerocrossing]

Absolutely nothing.

[MrBeatdown]

Really? You are comparing video games to a sandwich?

How many times have you ever considered dropping money on a pre-owned sandwich?

[calis]

lol

[exfatal]

well when u go to an all you can eat restaurant, you ant just eat off someones plate, its frowned upon. lol just playing devils advocate. i actually agree with you, sharing is caring for god sakes!

[Ragnaarock]

There are things called theaters....you know the place where movies are shown and the place where the producer hopes they will at least break even at. Games do not have the same luxury as they 100% depend on software sales to make any money.

Music...... if you are referring to the sale of CD's than I would believe the market is significantly smaller to even try to compare to game sales. As for things like Itunes, songs you buy are bound to your account and you can't share or tade them to anyone or anything. Sure you can let others on your network listen to your play lists for what thats worth.

As for cars, companies make money off each unit sold and do not rely on "filling a quota" to make money. They build units based on how many they expect to sell and try to sell all of them before they release the next model.

[skrug]

1) Car manufacturer earn a lot of money per car sold.

2) Cars gets damage, needs to get fine tuned, oil change etc. Manufacturer have their own service/garage to earn more money.

3)It is not often people sell their cars a few months after they get it. Where one copy of a game can go through tens of people.

Not only that there are piracy, where as a car you can't duplicate.

[gtr_loh]

Highly doubt this would happen given today's market. The article states that Sony rarely goes through on their trademarks and it seems that this may just be Sony plastering their name on this technology before other companies do so. Will it ever have use? Probably not. But in the same sense, would vomit flavoured jelly beans have any use? Probably not, but there's a name on it either way.

[BitbyDeath]

Why is every patent Sony makes suddenly about gaming? It would make more sense for something like this to be included in the movie industry to stop the demo tapes from leaving the work site and ending up on the interwebs.

Their are a ton of ways this tech could be well used that doesn't apply to consumers...

Why assume gaming when Sony is involved with so many different aspects of the entertainment biz?

[Hingle_Mcringleberry]

Because the patent was filed by SCEJ and then there's the wording of the patent itself: By employing the GAME playing system
1000 according to the present
embodiment, the user permission tag
220 together with the GAME disk 210 is
supplied to the user, and the use permission tag 220 actively determines the use permit/rejection of electronic
content. Thereby, the use of GAME AP
stored in the GAME disk 210 can be
restricted as appropriate according to
the attribute of a reproduction device.
Consider, for example, a case where used is a GAME package 200 distributed
in the second-hand market. Then the ID
of reproduction device for the GAME
disk 210 differs from the legitimate use
device ID stored in the use permission
tag 220, so that the GAME disk can be reproduced in a mode which is
predetermined for those bought and
sold in the second-hand market.
I'm pretty sure you can see why most are assuming it's game related. No?

[BitbyDeath]

Ok, my fault, i did not click all the way through and only read the first article.

[joeyisback]

wasn't this the same rumor when PS3 was coming out that it would lock a game to one system

[hkgamer]

think someone doesn't know the difference between trademarks and patents.

[NameRemoved0017]

Nextgen consoles will be all downloads like PC anyways, the current generation should be to but Microsoft thinks a 250gb 5400rpm sata 1 hard drive is worth $150 when you can get a 7200 64mb cache sata 3 3tb for the same price.

[Ragnaarock]

We will still have hard copies of games being sold regardless and will never equate to an "all download" system. The whole issue is not whether you have enough storage but whether or not you have the means to download a game in a reasonable amount of time. For most people in the U.S it should be a problem but there are people all over the world that buy consoles and games that may not have a strong high-speed internet connection which makes the "only download" system of selling software a moot point....at least for a couple years....or decades.

[baodeus]

then clearly the issue is everyone is just looking out for themselves.

1. Retailers selling used games (probably does impact new game sell to certain extent) get 100%, while developers getting nothing -> good for consumers & retailers but bad for developers/publisher.

2. Developers/publisher prevent used game sell by possibly implementing this patent (not sure if they will use it) to force consumers to buy game new and prevent sharing -> bad for consumers but good for developers/publisher.

how about everyone just give in a little, like retailers can give developers/publisher a small share (10%-20%) of used game sell and publisher/developers can give retailers a little discounts?