PS4 will NOT block used games

AUSyTyIN

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
3,026
Reaction score
701
Location
Littleton, Colorado
Post press conference interview:

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida has told Eurogamer that PlayStation 4 will not block the use of second-hand games, contrary to various reports, speculation and even a Sony patent unearthed last month.

I sat down with Yoshida a few hours after the PS4 reveal tonight and one of the first things I asked was whether used games would be blocked.

"Do you want us to do that?" he asked.

No, I said. I think, if you buy something on a disc, that you have a kind of moral contract with the person you've bought it from that you retain some of that value and you can pass it on.

Do you agree, I asked?

"Yes. That's the general expectation by consumers," said Yoshida. "They purchase physical form, they want to use it everywhere, right? So that's my expectation."

So if someone buys a PlayStation 4 game, I asked, you're not going to stop them reselling it?

"Aaaah," was Yoshida's initial answer, but seemingly only because he'd forgotten his line. "So what was our official answer to our internal question?" he asked his Japanese PR advisor. The advisor stepped in but didn't seem to answer clearly, at least to my ears. Yoshida then took control again firmly:

"So, used games can play on PS4. How is that?"

I said I thought that was fine.

Interestingly, I also spoke to a Sony source elsewhere at the event this evening who told me that the anti used-game patent discovered last month was actually nothing to do with PlayStation 4 at all.

The patent suggested that discs would come branded with a contactless tag that could be recognised and read by your console, which would then bind it to you and prevent you from selling it on.

But whatever reason Sony did have for patenting it, it sounds like it wasn't for its next-generation console. Hopefully Microsoft will also avoid this ludicrous technology with its next-generation Xbox as well.

link
 
used Games?

This may be true but you may have to pay an activation fee for used games. The bottom line is no one truly knows how the usage of used games on the next gen will work. We have no concrete details that would suggest used games will be bought and sold as they are now.
 
That article does not seem to clearly state a yes or no answer, unless I'm missing something. I am not yet convinced.
 
That article does not seem to clearly state a yes or no answer, unless I'm missing something. I am not yet convinced.
Agreed.
Right here:
"So, used games can play on PS4. How is that?"
redorlando101 hit the nail on the head, I'd bet:
This may be true but you may have to pay an activation fee for used games. The bottom line is no one truly knows how the usage of used games on the next gen will work. We have no concrete details that would suggest used games will be bought and sold as they are now.
We may be able to play used games, but much like they've done in the current generation with online play, we'll probably be forced to purchase a 'reactivation' code in order to do so. So let's think of a scenario...

Say a new game costs me $60. The same game used at GS costs me $45, maybe more, depending. I buy the used copy and get home to find out I have to pay a $10 activation fee to play this used game on my console. Now I've paid $55 for a game that would have cost me $5 more new and would have been less hassle.

The fact that he had to ask what the 'official' response was tells me he was having to be very careful how he worded that...
 
Right here:
"So, used games can play on PS4. How is that?"

To me, that does not seem like a confident statement; it seems like an unsure response after consulting with his colleague. In short, Mattroid summed up my thoughts quite well in this case.
 
To me, that does not seem like a confident statement; it seems like an unsure response after consulting with his colleague. In short, Mattroid summed up my thoughts quite well in this case.

I read it more like he was speaking through a translator and had to get the correct wording... but I could be wrong.

I do agree, though. It does not rule out having an activation code or anything that ties it to the original console. It also doesn't say you won't have to pay to activate a used game.
 
I hope I'm wrong, though it really doesn't matter to me since I don't generally buy used games. Ever since the first used game I got on PS1 and the disc was effed up when I got to the end well after I could return it, I've been wary of buying used disc games. That's not to say I don't, but I generally prefer to buy new anyway.

If they did that and I didn't support the system because of it, it would be more of a 'principle' thing than anything else.
 
I'm thinking the activation code would only be required to play online. Single player/local multi would still be possible
 
Back
Top Bottom