Gamesharing, the process of distributing the cost of PSN titles between friends by sharing user accounts, has been going on the PS3 since day one. Announced by Jack Tretton as a unique selling point for the console, you could previously share games with up to four people, or systems, but yesterday’s breaking news that Sony have reduced that number to 3, along with other imposing restrictions, has upset quite a few people.
We’ve spoken to a few developers on gamesharing over the years, most of them don’t agree with the principle, but gamers often do – it’s a way of reducing the cost of a game by dividing up which of your friends is paying for this week’s game – if you take turns, it’s a fair and fun way of getting your hands on more games. As of yesterday, though, it’s clear that Sony aren’t happy about this and want to dramatically reduce the number of users of the system.
What are your thoughts on this – do you gameshare, will you continue to do so, or have you never done this and fully support the developers and publishers by buying all your PSN games yourself?
Gamoc | 25/11/2009 12:01
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We have two PS3s in our house, one in my room and another in the living room. I want to be able to download my PSN games to both, thanks.
kevatron400 | 25/11/2009 12:12
Don't call him Kevatron400.
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Isn’t that a little.. excessive?
Erroneus | 25/11/2009 12:28
Wanted "Trophy Hunter" but was too late.
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Two is less then three, so you shouldn’t have any problems, but we need some kind of system, so we can revoke downloads on other systems or broken down systems.
herotoozero | 25/11/2009 14:24
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are you the same guy that had to trade a ps2, gamecube and shedload of games to buy your 1st ps3?…won the lottery or something?
toutski | 25/11/2009 12:03
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I only have 1 PS3, but it has been replaced, so I assume I am up to 2 activations?
I have never done any game sharing because I have had no need to and I don’t think I trust anyone enough!
Charmed_Fanatic | 25/11/2009 12:05
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I think you should beable to download as many times as you like with the original PSN name that brought a game/DLC. Then say once or twice with a different one.
If i brought a PS1 game [which i have], i want it forever, not just for the 3 times i can download it if someone deletes it, or my PS3 breaks.
Watchful | 25/11/2009 12:27
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You can download to any one of your 3 or 5 activated consoles as many times as you like. So if you’re running short of space on your HDD and remove some older PSN titles, you can re-download at some later point to the same PS3 without losing one of your 3 or 5.
Damigos | 25/11/2009 12:06
* Banned *
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Trust me! I’m a greek pure idealist who loves Sony
cc_star | 25/11/2009 12:06
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From a gamesharing point of view I’m in favour of the move.
But, and it’s a big BUT I may get stiffed by this personally,
I’ve got one account on my old 60gig which YLODd, I then gameshared with my brother (at the the advice of Sony’s head honcho) however my brother had his house broken into and he doesn’t have a receipt for his PS3 or know the serial number.
So now I’m on my last activation, I won’t be able to activate my account on another unless Sony can deactivate it from either my old YLODd machine or my brothers stolen one.
So question to Sony, what happens if my current machine breaks down?
What happens if I want to buy a 2nd PS3 for another room in my house, are you really ‘forcing’ me to by a competing console, out of principle?
I’m hoping to make some time to speak to Sony’s customer service soon, and all update everyone with a blog about my experience (either positive or negative)
flatspikes | 25/11/2009 12:17
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This could turn the tables of the debate I feel…
pawski | 25/11/2009 12:18
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pretty much the same thing happened to me, had to get one of my friends to de-activate me from their system after i got the 60gb ylod. so i am pretty screwed if i get another one. bloody sony should be able to deactivate your account from broken/stolen ps3’s from their end. if they enforce reducing the number to 3, will that then mean all the stuff i have downloaded will stop working on my ps3??
gordon_strange | 25/11/2009 19:10
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hey. i had 6 replacement 60gbs and had this problem (couldnt play my beloved warhawk so panic set in) i called sony and they reset the number of times i had downloaded my psn purchases. i exchanged my last 60gb for a slim, and called sony customer services, and they reset the downloads again- all good!
on a similar note, if you get a problem with a ps3 and you have made singstar purchases, then they are reset differently, and take up to 14 days to be available to you, and you have to deal with a customer services advisor, sniggering at your choice in tracks …..o_0
Amphlett | 25/11/2009 12:08
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It’s one of those tricky subjects.
If I buy a CD, is it ok to copy it and give it to my mate? Legally, no it isn’t. Why should it be different for a game?
On the other side of the coin, if I have two PS3s, like Gamoc, I should be able to play the game on either PS3 as it would be me that would be playing. Though this could be a grey area as well… If you can afford two PS3s then you can likely afford and extra £3.99 for another copy of that PSN game.
Gamoc | 25/11/2009 12:13
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But I’ve already bought it, why should I have to pay for it again? I can take the bluray downstairs and play it there, it’s just the same thing.
cc_star | 25/11/2009 12:16
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But if you’d bought all of your CDs in the knowledge it was OK to copy then 4 times to give to others, and then the rules changed meaning you don’t have enough activation to cover yourself in the event of yet another YLOD or something, then is that right?
If you can afford 2 PS3’s then you can afford 2 copies of a £3.99 game?
Why once you’ve bought the content, it should be yours to use personally on any number of machines you own, obviously 5 should cover it, but do to reliability 3 may not be enough.
Lorcan | 25/11/2009 12:17
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Don’t really mind gamesharing between friends or family, but as long as it’s with good intentions. I know that thats probably the vaguest statement ever, but that’s kind of how I feel. Here you’re sharing.
I just don’t like it when people do it between each other when they don’t even know one another and have just set it up online so that they can get some free games.
I don’t see it as sharing then. There you’re just out for some free stuff.
flatspikes | 25/11/2009 12:21
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I think that’s a good distinction between sharing with those you know and using forums to get freebies. I share with my one PS3 owning friend who lives like 4 miles away we have very different tastes in content so we’ve both been able to try games we never would have bought.
Having just one free slot does concern me though… if my PS3 dies can I have that slot re-instated… I surely feel I should…
I’ve also just remembered when I sold my PSP 3000 I forgot to deactivate it (thankfully the password was never stored on it though)… does this mean I have only 1 slot free as I’ve not bought a Go?
Questions questions…
Watchful | 25/11/2009 12:30
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So you’ve got to try games you never would have bought. Did you then go on to buy those you found you did like?
This is why PSN needs demos of all games, like XBLA. That would remove one excuse for gamesharing.
flatspikes | 25/11/2009 12:37
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Hmmm have I bought any… Tekken 5, deleted… SSF2 HD… deleted but bought 4… Zombie Apocalypse… played once so far… Echochrome, bought on PSP… So kinda I guess I did buy some but not the exact same game.
mark w. | 25/11/2009 12:18
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I didn’t do it either…
Btw can I in the future keep downloading something with an US PSN account and play it with my EU PSN account?
kevatron400 | 25/11/2009 12:18
Don't call him Kevatron400.
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I personally think that gamesharing is a good thing, among friends. For example my housemates last year and my brother all have PS3s and it’s a good bit of mutual generosity to give eachother the games you’ve bought.
The problem comes when you get idiots on the PSN asking if you want to give over your details.
“Hmm yes please, hey feel free to use my credit card while you’re at it”
kevatron400 | 25/11/2009 12:19
Don't call him Kevatron400.
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Also, just noticed we should be discussing gravity crash, according to the url!
nofi | 25/11/2009 12:22
Wants a custom tag.
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Doh.
Watchful | 25/11/2009 12:19
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Don’t gameshare, never have done, never will do. I think it’s great that Sony put in a mechanism where if I were to get a second (or replacement) PS3 I could have most PSN downloads (everything but SingStar downloads I think) on both without any hassle.
I believe Jack Tretton’s promoting it as a feature was a mistake. With PSN titles costing just a few quid each, many are worth a punt even if you’re not entirely sure you will like them. Lots of people complain every week that there’s never anything worth buying on the store anyway, so if they just put a quid aside every week (which is less than the cost of a bag of chips round my way) they’d have more than enough for when something did come along.
I’d also repeat the already oft-repeated call for demos of all PSN titles at this point to help convince people to buy.
Though the new restrictions may only apply to video store purchases;
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2009/11/24/sony-knocks-gamesharing-down-to-3/comment-page-3/#comment-109076
masoke | 25/11/2009 12:34
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This, I agree with everything.
I don’t gameshare, I don’t think it is right. It would be good to remotely de-activate a console, though, it would save the worry of running out of ’slots’, but it would mean that you would have to be online to play a PSN game, so it can check the console is still active.
retroedward | 25/11/2009 12:21
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I agree with gamesharing. If I go round my mates house and want to play my game that I bought, why shouldn’t I be able to log in and do so ?
Plenty of games (Warhawk being one) don’t allow the game to be used on 2 machines at the same time. Warhawk imposes a 24 hour restriction before you can play on a different machine. If all games used this then there would be no issue with people gameswapping, which is the bit that causes Sony and other Devs problems.
cc_star | 25/11/2009 12:24
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I think Sony need to clarify exactly what you can & can’t do stripping away the legal speak and putting it in a few bullet points, a US or EU Blog posting would do nicely, thankyou.
cc_star | 25/11/2009 12:26
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Debate over
3 is a TYPO it’s still 5!!!
http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board/message?board.id=62&message.id=1663618#M1663618
Official!
Watchful | 25/11/2009 12:31
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Apparently it’s 3 for videos.
Vandix | 25/11/2009 12:34
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How can they mix up 3 and 5??? very strange
Gastos84 | 25/11/2009 12:36
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It’s been cleared up now but question would have been: “What happens to people who already have over 3 activations? Would they have been disconnected on 2?”
BadBoyBoogie | 25/11/2009 13:53
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I’ve never gameshared and have no intention of doing so, so it doesn’t bother me what Sony have done.