Sony might have already done this on the PSP with SOCOM and ModNation Racers, but this, as far as we know, is the first time they’ve done it for a PlayStation 3 game: apparently White Knight Chronicles 2 requires a Geonet subscription, and although there’s one in the box when you buy it new, this won’t be the case with pre-owned copies, assuming the code has been used, of course.
According to a moderator on GAF, the license for Geonet, which is required to play online with the game, will be tied to a single PSN account, and anyone else that wants to play the game online (which is the whole point, really) will need to buy another unlock code from the PSN. It’s worth mentioning that this might just be the Japanese version, and the local release might not be so locked down.
It’s also worth noting that we’ve not seen the current box for the game, so cannot verify this information. Still, if true, this is Sony following in the footsteps of EA, Ubisoft, SEGA and everyone else that, financially at least, need to put a dent in the pre-owned market.
Update: relevant part of the box-art added above. Note that this is portion of the ‘dummy’ box and may not reflect the final game.
stonyk
If this starts happening to large numbers of games then I will be cancelling my gaming Lovefilm subscription. This will mean I will be less likely to play a game I am impressed with and subsequently buy (Most recent example being ModNation Racers which I loved enough to go out and buy).
This will also in turn mean Lovefilm will not need to stock as many games anymore – so less games purchased at Rental prices (Which is far higher than purchase prices).
Therefore me, as a single example, will pass on less money than previously. It has certainly put me off possibly buying a 360 if I’m paying £40 a year to not get to play online so much.
hazelam
this industry is slowly heading towards a bullshit scenario like that onlive travesty.
you pay for games but never actually own them, you have to keep paying and paying and paying to retain access to something you’ve bought.
that’s what they’d all like to see, you know why? greed.
i’ve been saying it for a while now and i still believe it, this overwhelming greed displayed by an ever increasing percentage of the gaming industry is going to cause another crash, you simply cannot keep treating the customers like a resource to be exploited forever, keep pushing and something’s going to give.
and it’ll be the big publishers who suffer the most.
but it can be stopped.
people just need to remember that they hold the power here, not the publishers, they need us more than we need them.
their whole business is based around selling us a product, if we aren’t buying they’re screwed, we can live without their games i’m sure, but these publishers will die without us.
force them to see they can’t get away with treating us this way.
next time you see something like this and you don’t agree with it, remember you have what they want in your wallet or purse, they do something you don’t like, don’t support them, please, for the good of every gamer and this industry, remember that when you pick up that game case or click on that icon and you’re thinking about whether or not to buy.
eirekun
Soldner X – love it, but requires persistent net connection.
Soldner X 2 – I’m not buying it for exactly that reason.
‘Gaming’ the purchase options of gamers, priceless.
jikomanzoku
Not neccessarily directly relevant but it occurred to me whilst I was reading all this, anyway.
One of next years biggest games is highly likely to be Dead Space 2 in my opinion, it’s generating a huge amount of positive hype and a real groundswell of excitement amongst punters.
The original deadspace wasn’t a massive commercial success (to my knowledge) and most would agree that it is a hugely underrated title. If it wasn’t for word of mouth and then preowned sales and rentals giving people the opportunity to chase it up and find out that they’d missed a gem then I doubt a sequel would ever have been greenlit.
So for all the moaning about the preowned market being damaging to the industry I think deadspace 2 is probably a pretty good arguement to the contrary. I reckon it owes its existence to that market.
ivycrew
The worse thing about this is that Geonet servers suck!!!!