Sony "unreasonably" restricts PS3 software to two consoles only

[qubit]

It's a shame we can't cover consoles as news, because this is just the kind of dick move from Sony (the consumer friendly company that brought us the CD rootkit ) that royally pisses me off - and I don't even have a games console.

After 18th November, any game bought on the PlayStation Network can only be used on 2 consoles. Previously, the software could be used on more consoles, but the article doesn't say if there was any limit.

For all games purchased on the PlayStation Network (PSN) after Nov. 18, users will only be able to access their content from a maximum of two consoles. The move is ostensibly designed to cut down on illicit content sharing in group atmospheres like college campuses. While most users don't have more than two consoles, we'd imagine this would affect a handful of customers, e.g. people with two consoles at home and a third console at a vacation home.

DailyTech

 

[newtekie1]

I'm not going to loose any sleep over it. I know exactly why they are doing this, and I agree with them. Hell, I personally have 5 PSN users on my PS3, mine and 4 other friends. Every time one of use buys something, we all get it. I guess that will stop, so their move did what it was supposed to do.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Another move to kill off the used games industry, seriously the more companies act like this the more tempting piracy/jail breaking becomes to people, I bought the game, if I want to visit my brother and play it with him and maybe a friend, why can't I?

 

[newtekie1]

Another move to kill off the used games industry, seriously the more companies act like this the more tempting piracy/jail breaking becomes to people, I bought the game, if I want to visit my brother and play it with him and maybe a friend, why can't I?

Kill off the used game market? People are reselling PSN digital downloads?

 

[qubit]

I'm not going to loose any sleep over it. I know exactly why they are doing this, and I agree with them. Hell, I personally have 5 PSN users on my PS3, mine and 4 other friends. Every time one of use buys something, we all get it. I guess that will stop, so their move did what it was supposed to do.

But doesn't it work similarly to a Steam account where the game is locked to that account? If so, then why not allow the game to work on any number of PS3's, like on PC's?

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Kill off the used game market? People are reselling PSN digital downloads?

I don't quite understand what your saying here (no offence intended) but if you are suggesting this is a move to stop that kind of stuff happening it is the wrong move as it will affect a lot more than people reselling digital downloads, as I mentioned, if you buy a game you should be able to take that anywhere with you and play on what you want as long as you are not doing anything illegal, heck some people own 2x PS3 so those people can't take their fav game to a friends and play with them if they wanted to, and I am also of the opinion that if I buy a game disk then when I have no need for it I can resell/trade and buy another, in the end shit like this will only hurt Sony as people won't be able to sell used games on and buy newer ones, so their logic is fail imo

 

[newtekie1]

But doesn't it work similarly to a Steam account where the game is locked to that account? If so, then why not allow the game to work on any number of PS3's, like on PC's?

With the PS3, it is just a simple matter of not connecting the console to the internet(I don't even know if this is necessary, but we do it just to be safe), and clicking on a different user on the PS3 log in screen, and I have access to all the content from that account that I've decided to install on my PS3. We all just set up our PSN accounts on eachothers PS3s, and we all get access to everything that everyone else buys, just by clicking on the other people's usernames at the login screen.

With steam you have to know the other person login info, and if they change it, you are locked out of steam. Plus, steam doesn't allow log-ins from multiple locations(AFAIK), so if I log in as one of my friends, they get kicked out of steam. Unless you use offline mode, which breaks a lot of games.

I don't quite understand what your saying here (no offence intended) but if you are suggesting this is a move to stop that kind of stuff happening it is the wrong move as it will affect a lot more than people reselling digital downloads, as I mentioned, if you buy a game you should be able to take that anywhere with you and play on what you want as long as you are not doing anything illegal, heck some people own 2x PS3 so those people can't take their fav game to a friends and play with them if they wanted to, and I am also of the opinion that if I buy a game disk then when I have no need for it I can resell/trade and buy another, in the end shit like this will only hurt Sony as people won't be able to sell used games on and buy newer ones, so their logic is fail imo

I think you should read the article before making comments, this only applies to PSN digital downloads. It has nothing to do with physical games on disc, so you can still take your games over to your friends houses and play them or resell them.

 

[qubit]

With the PS3, it is just a simple matter of not connecting the console to the internet(I don't even know if this is necessary, but we do it just to be safe), and clicking on a different user on the PS3 log in screen, and I have access to all the content from that account that I've decided to install on my PS3. We all just set up our PSN accounts on eachothers PS3s, and we all get access to everything that everyone else buys, just by clicking on the other people's usernames at the login screen.

With steam you have to know the other person login info, and if they change it, you are locked out of steam. Plus, steam doesn't allow log-ins from multiple locations(AFAIK), so if I log in as one of my friends, they get kicked out of steam. Unless you use offline mode, which breaks a lot of games.

Thanks. That sounds like Sony should just make their system work more like Steam's then, doesn't it? Mind you, offline mode can be activated with Steam too, which can partially get round the restrictions...

 

[newtekie1]

Thanks. That sounds like Sony should just make their system work more like Steam's then, doesn't it? Mind you, offline mode can be activated with Steam too, which can partially get round the restrictions...

Yeah, but as I said, offline mode breaks a lot of games. Perhaps they are getting smart and artificially breaking the games to prevent people from playing them in offline mode...

Perhaps they should make it more like Steam, but then you will have a bunch of whiny console gamers complaining that they have to type in a password every time they turn on their PS3, plus a bunch of people complaining about Sony using constantly on DRM and activations checks every time a game is launched and how terrible that is...

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I think you should read the article before making comments, this only applies to PSN digital downloads. It has nothing to do with physical games on disc, so you can still take your games over to your friends houses and play them or resell them.

Like I said, I didn't quite understand what your point was, not in a critical way, and now you have enlightened me well maybe it's not as bad as I thought, though I have an Xbox 360 so am not fully au feit with how the PSN network works.

 

[newtekie1]

Like I said, I didn't quite understand what your point was, not in a critical way, and now you have enlightened me well maybe it's not as bad as I thought, though I have an Xbox 360 so am not fully au feit with how the PSN network works.

Its cool, just filling in the blanks, because a lot of people(not accusing you) like to jump to conclusions before really having all the facts. If you just read Qubit's title, I can see how you got the impression that it applied to physical games.

 

[n-ster]

Yea you could share your games with up to 5 PS3 before... Now it's 2

This makes more sense then before. Sony was losing sells for no reason because of this

P.S: I didn't bother reading the comments

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I think a steam type DRM would be a lot more beneficial, you have your own PS3 set to always log you in and when you are using a friends/another then you simply sign in to your account. Afterall who is going to give anyone their PSN username and pass? I wouldn't with Steam.

P.S: I didn't bother reading the comments

Hehe

 

[AsRock]

purchased on the PlayStation Network

then just don't buy them from there and just get the hard copy ?.

 

[n-ster]

then just don't buy them from there and just get the hard copy ?.

There are many PSN exclusive titles, like the 10$ ones (ie NHL arcade)

 

[3volvedcombat]

Kill off the used game market? People are reselling PSN digital downloads?

Ill tell you were you thinking wrong and harshly on some people, Meant your opinion is different from other people.

Digital anything is still able to be distributed. Its not money in the factor of used game market(hard x digital), its the capability to share that digital piece of software. When you buy it, don't you have or should have a "license" for that software?

Its like saying that digital download of Windows 7 on my USB stick, can only be installed twice. 2 Different machines(discovered by machine ID, and IP connection online). After that, you need to re-buy 7 ect...

I have some content from the PSN store, and have multiple friends with PS3's. Basically I will suffer from this. Because I can only log on to my PSN Network profile on 2 different systems and no more to use my digital content threaded into my PSN network profile.

THIS IS A FIRST STEP OF LOCALIZATION AND LOCK-DOWN OF FREEDOM when it comes to digital content(via videogames) usability. All they have to do is make it were hard copy's of video game content are only to be played on X number of system's.

AND having to be forced to go "Offline" to bypass some of this "bullshit" is BULLSHIT. It's practically saying that you sacrifice half the ingenuity and purpose of the hardware because of the decisions in corporate.

Example: Itunes online ID(account), they release that your music can only be on 2 of there devices and no more.
Outcome: Fuck apple, I have 4-10 devices @ this moment in my house.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Lets get this over with.

Pro:
Sony gets better controls
Sony loses less money

Cons:
You have a limited number of places to use your games
Sony will not decrease pricing to reflect the need to buy a game 2 or more times
You lose the ability play games conveniently
Sony is screwing with their customer base for no good reason



Looking at this objectively, Sony is headed for another PR butt f**k. They have screwed up the PSN, failed to admit their wrong doing, and have been guilty of the most heinous DRM ever. They want to continue this trend, and give consumers another reason not to buy anything from PSN.... What sense does that make?

Having grown up in a time when Sony was king of the heap, I have to wonder what happened. Gross errors, one after another, have lead to a time that Sony really can't afford any mistakes. The people at the helm of the company see DRM as the way to insure profits exist that keep them afloat, rather than asking what they could do to make products people want to buy. No, I'm not buying every movie I already own on a UMD. I will not buy a Vita if the use proprietary memory cards (and likely won't buy any way, given that Sony doesn't have the best track record when it comes to supporting their products...I'm looking at you PS2/Linux compatibility...). I see no reason to support Sony until they drop a pair and admit that changing their draconian methods is necessary.

Really glad I skipped out on both the PS3 and PSN. My experiences, or more accurately those experiences of my friends, have proven this as an excellent decision.

 

[n-ster]

I don't get why people are so upset... Do you guys really need to play your game on someone else's PS3? How many times do you go to a friends house, want to play a game, say BF3, so you download the whole freakin game to play with him? Not to mention that most games can be bought physically, so now you are crying over PSN exclusive titles. You REALLY need to play a 5 or 10$ game at a friends house? Not to mention that consoles are pretty portable.

People are upset because they can't cheat the system as much as before and share games with other friends

 

[Frizz]

Uh will this effect Pre-owned copies? AFAIK I thought most game retailers made their profit from pre-owned games aka used sales.

 

[Frick]

I have some content from the PSN store, and have multiple friends with PS3's. Basically I will suffer from this. Because I can only log on to my PSN Network profile on 2 different systems and no more to use my digital content threaded into my PSN network profile.

What games are you accessing from other consoles? I'm just curious.

 

[MilkyWay]

I don't get why people are so upset... Do you guys really need to play your game on someone else's PS3? How many times do you go to a friends house, want to play a game, say BF3, so you download the whole freakin game to play with him? Not to mention that most games can be bought physically, so now you are crying over PSN exclusive titles. You REALLY need to play a 5 or 10$ game at a friends house? Not to mention that consoles are pretty portable.

People are upset because they can't cheat the system as much as before and share games with other friends

Thats exactly what it is, people are bothered they cant give it away to their mates. Why would you need to use DLC on more than 2 PS3s? Who the hell owns more than 2 PS3s?

I can put my XBLA games on a USB stick with my profile (you can set your avatar/profile to be on a usb stick) take it with me as i need. Everything is tied to my account, no one else can use it it shows as trials. NOT sure about paid DLC if those show up or not. Im referring to xbox 360 btw, im just failing to see the problem. You can transfer licenses on xbox you just need to phone up or use the thing on xbox.com

 

[KainXS]

Uh will this effect Pre-owned copies? AFAIK I thought most game retailers made their profit from pre-owned games aka used sales.

. . . . . .

This has nothing to do with Pre owned anything

this is about digitally distributed content.


You should only care about this if you use your ps3 content on more than two ps3's(there).

 

[Easy Rhino]

while i understand why they are doing this, i think it is a bad business decision. i really don't see them making consoles far into the future as they constantly work to screw over their best customers and they can't even protect private data and they couldn't thwart that massive hacker attack that took down the PSN network a few months back.

 

[qubit]

while i understand why they are doing this, i think it is a bad business decision. i really don't see them making consoles far into the future as they constantly work to screw over their best customers and they can't even protect private data and they couldn't thwart that massive hacker attack that took down the PSN network a few months back.

+1 The attitude of this company stinks and it will eventually bite them in the ass. I read just today, that their LCD TV's are not selling well and it wouldn't surprise me if the way they treat their customers is a large part of that reason.

Unfortunately, it's outside TPU's remit, so I can't do a news article on it.

 

[Easy Rhino]

you don't have to go far in the internet to find lots of articles about it anyway. im glad tpu tries to stick to hardware news since i can learn about Sony and its crap business in the wall street journal.

since the massive growth of companies like samsung and LG, sony has been really in the crapper. their brand identity is diminishing quickly yet they act like this is still 1985.