Sounds like a completely and utterly stupid idea, the amount of bitching and whining that something like this will course is going to reach new levels. Buy a used game, take it home.. find out it doesn't work..
And i can see consumer protections groups getting ready to sue everyone to hell and back for doing something this shitty. And while i am using the stupid word, the article itself has a good reason for this being bullshit.
Lets take away customers from our platforms because we are stupid.
I really hope greed will crush them all.
Whilst i think you're grossly overestimating the reaction to a system like this (especially if both MS and Sony implement it - which is very very likely), I do agree that the fact that the proposed system
requires the console to connected to the internet is clear proof that this rumour is bogus... or at least a misunderstood/mistranslated description of an actual system that might be present in next gen consoles.
I think the main point with pre-owned games is that games bought new will still have re-sale value with a system like the one decribed. This is as far as I understand the main concern with gamers that take advantage of the used games industry. Buying used games has never been the issue, as even now, months after a games release gamers can either buy a game deeply discounted
new or for a little less pre-owned. From the gamers perspective they will always have the choice to buy the game new for cheap or pre-owned for cheap but with an added fee to unlock it. Obviously, it benefits the platform holders and publishers as it makes
older games bought new more attractive than the pre-owned versions, but for someone like me who's never needed to buy a pre-owned game this gen, as games prices sink so fast these days i'll just carry on buying new at deep discount and supporting the industry by it.
I think the big thing to bear in mind is that game have always followed a pricing curve. With or without the used games industry, publishers desire to maximise the investment in their products. They understand that they cannot justify trying to flog a game at full price months after its release when gamers will be all eyes on those hyped up new releases. Therefore older games will always be discounted. There's no reason to fear that this will change. A system like this will only attempt to shift the distribution of dollars from the pre-owned industry out of retailers pockets and into the game's creators. It's fair and probably the
most painless system we've heard described so far. Gamers can still sell their old games, using them to offset the cost of new games. This won't change. Those price-conscious conmsumers that buy pre-owned games exclusively however (thus not contributing dollars to the industry at all), will now have more reason to pick up titles new for a similar price. The only thing to change will be the buying habits of
this consumer as they will either have to fork out a little more for the newer games new, buy pre-owned and pay the fee, or wait a little while as the game they want comes down its price curve and pick it up later for cheap. This consumer will have to be a little more patient, but it's a patience that would benefit the entire console industry overall.
The only problem I can see with this system is that it may hurt new games re-sale value, and more importantly it will mean that gamers who play exclusively off-line will be limited to buying new everytime (doesn't have to be at launch though, so won't always be $60).
