Sony has confirmed what we were all assuming – they’re bringing out a network pass program called PSN Pass. You’ll remember we brought you news about this brand new service yesterday evening – although at that stage it was mostly guess work on our half.
We were half right.
[drop2]It looks like PSN Pass is per game, and thus works like similar services from EA and other publishers – games will come with a code you enter to unlock multiplayer modes, meaning second hand copies will require a seperate purchase to activate such features.“We are always evaluating new programs for our online offering, and starting with Resistance 3 this September, we will be instituting a network pass program for PS3 games with online capabilities,” say Sony.
“This program will be game-specific. Games that are a part of this program will include a single-use registration code that grants the account holder redeeming the code full online access for that title. This is an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio.”
Resistance 3 is the first game to official go under the PSN Pass moniker, although obviously it’s hardly the first game from the publisher that needs a code to use certain features of a game – some PSP games like ModNation Racers had this last year.
So, go on – what do you think? Is this a serious knock to the second hand market?
Yahavage
Cool. So I’m guessing after forking out £35-£40 for a new release game, we are going to have to fork out another £10 so someone else in the household can have access to online? I’m going to assume these things are account specific and not console specific.
quinkill
Jeez! these comments are getting a bit heated. I’m not sure I really agree with the online pass situation. I mean, when I bought my first CD in 1995, listened to it and then sold it down the local CD/Record fair, i’m pretty sure the next guy who bought it (for cheaper than new), wasn’t asked to pay something back to the record studio. I’m not saying that’s ok or fair, it’s just the way things work(ed).
Torquemada
No I wont pay to play online. It hurts enough to pay for Live, but I will never buy these online passes. I’d rather go without. Two things could happen now. The cost of 2nd hand games will be even cheaper to offset this new cost, which means people will still buy even without the online portion as its so cheap. Secondly, the cost of new games will drop, mainly because the 2nd hand markets been eroded away and a large portion of gamers just cant simply afford to buy new. Where in the past these people might have bought 2nd hand, any DLC purchased wouldve definitely been 1st hand, so again another lost revenue channel for the developer.Seriously bugs me all this; you dont see Vauxhall or Waterstones trying to stitch up the 2nd hand market, so why do game developers think theyre something special??
iamsmithies
So basically to play online you will need a code ??? Yes i know a rather nooby question :S