The War on Used Games

As we plan the coming wave of next generation systems, we should be anticipating improvements on all the good things we associate with the current crop of systems. Moving forward we expect: better graphics, faster processors, more engaging games, you get the idea. However, not everything that we're anticipating is a progressive movement for gaming. At the very least, as far as Sony and Microsoft are worried, you can wave goodbye to playing used games on the systems. Although they are just rumors at this time, it wouldn't be surprising should they came to fruition.  destiny303  is rather plausible, especially when taking into consideration that several game publishers have already fired shots at the used game market.

Perhaps most obviously is Electronic Arts(EA), who became the initial publisher to institute the practice of charging gamers, who bought used games, a fee to gain access to codes that come with the game. To elaborate, Downloadable Content(DLC) codes are incorporated with new copies of a particular game and only with those codes, can that content be accessed. EA expanded its project to include playing used games online. Gamers would now have to pay $10, as well as the cost of the used game that they purchased, to be able to have access to the online the different parts of their game. Ubisoft has since followed suit, requiring an online pass because of its games as well. You can identify the games which require an online pass because they bare the,"Uplay Passport", logo on the box.

Ubisoft decided they'd take things a step further and implement Digital Rights Management, a practice more regularly connected with DVD or CD anti-piracy efforts. Assassins Creed 2 was the initial game to be effected by this practice. So that you can play the PC version of Assassins Creed 2, gamers are required to create an account with Ubisoft and remain logged into that account as a way to play the game. This means that if you lose your internet connection, the overall game will automatically pause and try to reestablish the connection. However, if you are unfortunate enough to struggle to reconnect to the web you need to continue from your last saved game; losing any progress you could have made since then. This will be the case for all of Ubisoft's PC titles, regardless of one playing single-player or multi-player. While Digital Rights Management has been used to combat DVD and CD piracy for quite some time now, this can mark the very first time it's been useful for a gaming. In light of Ubisoft's implementation of DRM, Matthew Humphries of Geek.com, cautions that it is feasible that eventually even console games will require online registration so that you can play them.

So what's the reason for all of this? According to In accordance with Denis Dyack, the top of Silicon Knights, the sale of used games is cannibalizing the profit of the principal game market. He also claims that the used game market is somehow causing the price of new games to go up. His proposed solution is to move away from physical disks and embrace digital distribution. Essentially he'd prefer to see services like Steam or EA's Origin replace traditional hard copies. You can find even rumors that the X-Box 720 will embrace the exclusive use of digital downloads rather than use disks at all. Whether Microsoft will in actuality continue with that plan remains to be seen.

You can argue that Sony has recently laid the ground work with preventing used games from functioning on the future system. At least, they've already made quite an attempt to make used games considerably less desirable. Kath Brice, of Gamesindustry.biz, reported that the latest SOCOM game for PSP, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3, will require customers who purchase a used copy to cover an addition $20 dollars to get a code for online play.