A precursor: there’s nothing to suggest this might happen outside of a news story on a Dutch website that surfaced a day or two back. They’re blasting it as an ‘exclusive’ and the rumour has been bubbling around the web since, so it’s worthy of discussion.
Here’s the rub: according to the report, all future PS3 game disks are to carry a special, unique one-time code and players will need to activate that code into the PlayStation 3 itself, or via a dedicated form on the PlayStation Network.
This, as you’d expect, would lock the game to that console, or to that user. And, therefore, disable copies of that game from working elsewhere as the PS3 will be doing little checks to ensure that the disk matches the profile, and will (in theory at least) prevent the game from booting.
Of course, this could massively affect the secondhand market, and would perhaps block out legitimate buyers who don’t have access to Sony’s online services. DRM’s always a bone of contention, but this perhaps is the strictest we’ve ever heard of for a console.
The source suggests that each game (or, rather, each code) can be used up to five times, a little like Apple’s App Store, although it’s worth stressing that this has had no official word from Sony since the news first appeared, so treat everything with a healthy (or not) pinch of salt.
What do you think?
cc_star
Re: The thank Geohot comments:
(This is of course my own personal view and not that of TSA)
I agree with the sentiment, but I wonder if the reality is slightly different.
The PS3 offered development opportunities through the OtherOS, except Sony made a business decision to not allow OtherOS access to the GPU and also only able to access one of the SPU in the Cell, this prevented it from becoming an extremely cheap PC probably detracting from other Sony machines.
The development community wanted access to a lower level of the PS3’s security, so set about doing that. Sony removed OtherOS. The reaction to that was to go even deeper into the PS3 resulting in what we have today – a completely open system with the lowest security ever seen on a home console.
There is two debates there.
1) What if Sony had embraced the dev community and told them they’d look at ways to allow OtherOS to access more of the SPUs & maybe the GPUs, the community would probably have halted their work and waited to see what the outcome was, would embracing the community (who tend to be amongst the most loyal & high spending of customers) have been a better choice of action
2) Do people have the right to do what they want with equipment they purchase, people who side with Sony’s point of view would say that you agree to T&C to be able to use the machine therefore Sony are within their rights to take action.
People of the opposing view say, that unless you’re presented and agree to the T&C at the point of sale then you haven’t explicitly agreed to them rendering them unenforceable. In Europe there has already been a case which renders EULA’s unenforceable.
In addition it could be pointed to that circumventing security measures is illegal or at the very least unlawful thanks to things such as the DEBill in the UK or the DMCA in the US, your point of view on this comes down to the whether you believe you ‘own’ stuff you buy or you merely get the use of it in whatever way the manufacturers agree you can. Perhaps Geohot’s court case will test this in law. There are many other things at stake in that case too that are too numerous to go into in a comment, but they do have far reaching consequences perhaps on everyone’s lives.
As an aside to all of this I’d find it very amusing if the community were able to port the PS2 pc emulator, PCSX2, to the PS3 enabling people to play their PS2 collection on the PS3, would it force Sony’s hand to offer it themselves in official firmware, in the same way that many iPhone jailbreak features find their way into official firmware so as to reduce the temptation to ‘jailbreak’ which as a side effect obviously opens the piracy door
jayjay119
My response to this? Sony has been hacked, yes, but so has the i-phone/touch, 360 and Kinect and more hacks and piracy issues have been made public with them than with the PS3, one of which you yourself made a feature of earlier today. Considering the PS3 has been ‘cracked open like an egg’ there isn’t a wealth of pirated material appearing publically as there has been for other things, for which there was videos online within a few days. MS don’t seem too bothered about this, and it’s not something that is as grave a problem as you seem to be, sometimes enjoying, thinking. Whether by this method (which I doubt will happen) or by some other way Sony will find a way to deal. It’s not going to deter developers, or they would have already stopped deving for i-devices, 360 and Kinect.
Galgomite
Hey cc_star,
1) I know you’re not saying this directly, but the idea that Sony got what they deserved for ending OtherOS continues to infuriate me. Sony was the first to ever offer such an option, and the “development community’s” response was to use that door to allow pirating. And really, no one who wanted linux lacked a PC that could do the job.
2) We’re all familiar with iSuppli’s original assessment of the PS3, right? They lost gobs of money on every console sold for a very long time. It’s not the same as buying a $1500 PC, where you’re paying for the hardware yourself. A gaming console is a heavily subsidized item that relies on software sales to break even over a number of years.
Whether it’s illegal to hack a console is almost irrelevant. It is damaging a system that was working, very well, for gamers. Thanks to the hacking community, the future of consoles is more in line with the Nintendo Wii, which made a profit on each sale from day one by being an underpowered little bitch. And get ready for more OnLive-style streaming experiences where gamers never have a chance to even see a game’s code.
BTW, anyone who gets all moist at the thought of running a PS2 game on their PS3 just needs a $40 PS2 and a roll of duck tape. First world problems…
cc_star
I’m not saying anything for or against just raising the point, but on your first point. None of the people who were digging deeper into OtherOS were doing it for piracy reasons, they were doing it because the hardware limitations were no longer workable, and yes they probably have a PC but that doesn’t have The Cell so it’s not really a point.
On your second point, yes they are sold at a loss initially but they make their money over the whole lifespan… that’s probably only relevant as far as the point that Sony didn’t want to subsidise über-powerful research machines for peanuts, but as the life went on and Sony’s costs plummeted perhaps they could have allowed an extra core to be used? and then a couple of years later a couple more cores or the GPU, that way it will always be gimped in comparison to PCs but won’t be so gimped that it no longer serves a purpose.
Pirates deserve everything they get. Personally I hope they all get bricked consoles & perma-bans, but tarring everyone with the same brush is a dangerous game and to be honest little more than propaganda probably from Sony, a company who started out embracing the development community through OtherOS this time around and Linux for PlayStation2 and Net Yaroze before that.
Galgomite
cc_star,
Your response was very polite and even-handed, thank you.
None of the people who were digging into OtherOS were doing it for piracy reasons? I don’t know that, and I don’t think anyone else does, either.
6 of the 7 PS3 cores were available to Linux from the beginning, putting Sony ahead of your timeline. Meanwhile, to open the GPU while the console is remotely viable would introduce unfair competition to paying developers and impact Sony’s licensing revenue.
Perhaps you’re right, and to paint all console hackers with the same brush is unfair. Here’s my challenge, then, to the “honest” hackers of the world: Now that you have full access to the console, do something that doesn’t allow playing pirated PS3 games, pirated classic games or pirated movies. I’m waiting.
jayjay119
Yes but you bring up the point at every chance you get making it sound like it will be the appocalyPS3.2 whilst conveniently forgetting to mention that this situation has befallen other platforms. you can’t blame people for thinking your posts have an ulterior motive.
DJ Judas
This is essentially Steam without the unlimited uses, and the fact that it’d be compulsory.
Steam works because PC’s evolve, they don’t change the fundamental way they work like consoles.
This would work if Sony guaranteed that every iteration of future console would play every game from its predecessors’ catalogue.
If a console maker could guarantee developers and publishers that they are not only piracy-free but second hand sales-free also, so long as the loss in consumer’s doesn’t outweigh the income lost from the pre-owned market then it’s a no brainer as far as they’re concerned.
Someone has to rock the boat to start with, and be the bad guy until everyone gets used to it, and the other industry players follow their lead.
Unfortunately, something like this is inevitable, I don’t necessarily agree with it, but it’s not as unlikely a scenario as some people seem to believe.
hazelam
i really hope this is not true, i’m totally against any drm because it’s anti consumer technology and it just doesn’t work, not in stopping piracy anyway.
in fact, on pc it lead to an increase in piracy, it could well do the same here.
i’ve feared just this kind of totalitarian drm on console, and i would never support it, though i wouldn’t go as far as piracy, i’d just stick with pc and other non sony consoles, maybe dig out my megadrive, populous and speedball 2 should keep me busy for a while. :)
btime
this sort of DRM stuff was contributing factor in my giving up gaming on the PC and moving to the PS3 in the first place. to many of my game purchases on the PC toward the end were broken by the DRM to the point that after buying it the only way to play it was with a crack. hardly the intended result (although i was actually buying the games)
Greek-BBQ
If this happens, it deserves to get hacked. So I can’t take my games round my friends house? Stupid idea.
Doubt, and hope its not true.
TURRICAN-808
To me, the debacle that SONY are facing with their jailbroken PS3 points in a certain direction. Right about now the bigwigs at SONY will scratch their heads and say well, lets learn from the PS3 and speed up development of the PS4
4lf13
I really don’t think they should be doing it. Firstly, they will lose a lot of reputation just for doing this.
Secondly, the pricing is a lose/lose situation. Too much and then buying pre-owned is pointless because you’ll have to pay loads to validate. This will just infuriate people more; Too little and the hackers can still crack games and pay the small fee for the pass; They might even find a hack to find a way around this. Then everyone innocent loses big time.
Thirdly, what would happen if you don’t have an internet connection. Three out of six people (including me) in my close circle of friends don’t, despite our nagging.
Fourthly, similar to point one, no-one will want to do this. When I unwrap my latest copy of genero-space-shooter-slash-slightly-rpg I want to stick it in and just play. I don’t want to have to validate online, especially with my slow internet. It’s like that for almost EVERYTHING else.
Right. That’s my daily rant and rage done.
3shirts
The problem with this is that they’d be inconveniencing each and every legit customer. I think the loss of goodwill and, thus, sales would way out balance the losses from piracy.
This smacks of an idea someone had and then put on the internet as a fact. I don’t think Sony would go this far, especially since a lot of PS3 owners don’t even play online/connect their console.
hazelam
i forgot that one.
drm means the pirate usually has a better experience than the legitimate user, how dumb these publishers have to be to to think that’s how you stop piracy i don’t know, about as dumb as they actually are i guess.
cc_star
I’d keep mine for my Warhawk/Starhawk machine but buy other games elsewhere if it came in.
I can only afford new games by trading in old ones, so if that stops I’ll either move on or miss out, or buy all may games for peanuts in the Steam sale
yarg2k7
This will never happen. It’s bad enough with battlefield linking the game to one account, I have one ps3 upstairs and one down. If this was true I would need to buy 2 copies of everything, I just can’t see it happening. If this ever happened it would be bye-bye Sony for a lot of people including myself.
minerwilly
Out of about 40 games i own maybe 6 or seven where bought new and only 3 at full price on release day . This would be very bad news for me if it is true. Gaming would become more the pastime of the rich just like what has become of my other great loves football and Driving.