Sony’s Answer To PS3 Piracy: Serial Codes?

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Maximuss

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VIA Google translate :

Exclusive: Sony's next move in the fight against piracy

Sony will respond to the recent publication online of PlayStation 3’s root keys by shipping new games with a unique serial code.

Dutch website PS3-Sense says a source has told them that all future PS3 game discs are to carry a unique code, with players forced to input it onto the system for the game to launch. The source claims a similar system already exists on Sony’s online service, PlayStation Network.

The code can reportedly be used up to five times, a move that will not only prevent piracy but will also impact on the increasing trade in pre-owned games, as retailers will have no idea how many times a code has been used when a customer tries to trade the game in.
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That'll end in tears.
 
As long as the code is not one time use like ea games. I didn't purchase need for speed hot pursuit for that reason.
 
Oh, this is going to be good.

People thought DRM on PCs were bad when it limited you to 5 installs... this is almost worse. If I had to deal with this, I'd probably grab some hacked firmware just to get around it. It's bad enough I have to wait for a PS3 game to install, now you have to put some key in and authenticate online before it'll work?

ffs, why don't they just go pure digital distribution already and be done with it.
 
Demon10000 said:
ffs, why don't they just go pure digital distribution already and be done with it.
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This will hurt Gamestop in selling PS3 USED games. I never liked buying New from them unless it's pre-ordered. I hate they unwrap the games b4 me, takes the joy out of it GS!
 
I think we all knew this was the next step on consoles. The only question was when. This may just be a rumor for the PS3, but will happen eventually.
I can't wait for digital release only.:rolleyes: I'm scared to think what might be comming to an online console market place for day 1 releases:(
COD MW25 Demo -$14.95 Buy Now
COD MW25 Single Player -$39.99 Buy Now
COD MW25 Multi Player -$69.99 Buy Now
COD MW25 Complete Edition - 149.95 Buy Now
COD MW25 Map Pack 1 - $24.95 Buy Now
COD MW25 Map Pack 2 - $24.95 Buy Now
COD MW25 Map Pack 3 - $24.95 Buy Now
 
Feels like every day consoles get a little closer to PCs. CD keys seem like a decent idea to me although I would guess that similar to PCs regardless of their intent they will only work on preventing multiplayer access.
 
TheGreySpectre said:
Feels like every day consoles get a little closer to PCs. CD keys seem like a decent idea to me although I would guess that similar to PCs regardless of their intent they will only work on preventing multiplayer access.
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I play more on PC than console. Last 3 Years I've just bought Digital on Steam, much easier to do and my games are never lost, not dealing with CD's, steam will forever keep all my games there's no 5 limit rule on reinstalls, and I know which steam freinds are playing what games - vise versa.
 
Tricky2ufellow said:
This will hurt Gamestop in selling PS3 USED games. I never liked buying New from them unless it's pre-ordered. I hate they unwrap the games b4 me, takes the joy out of it GS!
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Sony doesn't care about Gamestop. In fact, if they could make them disappear, they probably would because Gamestop ruins their bottom line.

Adding a serial code is no different than digital distribution like steam. No gamestop is going to buy a game that is open because they won't know how many times it's been used. So you might as well lock it to the original person who bought it and send it to them over the internet and be done with it.


I don't think anyone is ready for pure digital distribution, and I don't know that a company is going to be a strong contender with this proposed method.
 
lgestle said:
I think we all knew this was the next step on consoles. The only question was when.
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True, and this provides them with the perfect opportunity. Now they can blame it on pirates, instead of admitting they want to screw their customers by trying to kill the used game market.
 
and here I thought the answer would be just banning hacked consoles. If this means I can play the entire PS3 library on PSN as it exists today I'm all for this. I never buy used anyway.
 
Finally, console gamers can feel the pain we PC gamers have been going through for oh so long!
 
Tricky2ufellow said:
I play more on PC than console. Last 3 Years I've just bought Digital on Steam, much easier to do and my games are never lost, not dealing with CD's, steam will forever keep all my games there's no 5 limit rule on reinstalls, and I know which steam freinds are playing what games - vise versa.
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Hate to burst your bubble but there ARE SEVERAL games on steam which still have multiple layers of DRM, including install limits and constant connection requirements.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17037164&posted=1#post17037164

That's one issue. The other is the fact that you are trading digital convenience for loss of consumer rights and ownership.

Personally I would rather the inconvenience of physical media (which I can in any event bypass) over loss of my right to lend, borrow, sell something I have paid hard earned money for.

I also hate being at the mercy of the content providers who can decide to revoke your or alter your software for vexatious reasons, or could otherwise become insolvent.

It would be one thing if there was an appreciable difference in price by buying the digital version, but the fact is that digital prices are identical to the physical versions. The only people who benefit from digital are the devs/publishers who laugh all way to the bank whilst stomping all over consumers.
 
pigwalk said:
So now I'll have to buy my single player games on 360, and anything I want to play online on PS3.... Can't there be a single fail-free console?
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You sir are 100% different in your thinking than me!

Xbox 360 has live! Way better than PSN! However, it is often argued that PS3 has the better single player games! Uncharted, god of war 3, metal gear solid. Etc
 
I don't understand why this is such a huge issue. It's not like your PS3 is going to RRoD 8 times and fuck you over having to use it more than 5 times.

If Microsoft and Nintendo were to copy this (they probably would) it would kill game rentals though (gamefly) which in my opinion is the bigger issue. It's not like a PC where you have to switch stuff out, format, reinstall OS's, etc. Your console will be the same for the entire time you own it.

I'm a huge Gamefly fan so this does concern me, just in a different sense then omfg 5 installs for different PS3's ;)
 
Archaea said:
You sir are 100% different in your thinking than me!

Xbox 360 has live! Way better than PSN! However, it is often argued that PS3 has the better single player games! Uncharted, god of war 3, metal gear solid. Etc
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I refuse to pay for Live just on the principle of it. I only use my 360 for the exclusives I can't get on my PS3 or PC. But if Sony were to institute this serial code so many activations system, then I'd definitely game a whole lot more with my 360 instead.
 
This will be great for all the people who don't have broadband. How in the hell do you "activate" the game if there is no internet connection? Since it has a 5 time limit, it must need to make a call home to Sony.
 
brom42 said:
This will be great for all the people who don't have broadband. How in the hell do you "activate" the game if there is no internet connection? Since it has a 5 time limit, it must need to make a call home to Sony.
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How do you play new games when they want you to upgrade the firmware now?
 
Dirk13 said:
How do you play new games when they want you to upgrade the firmware now?
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I didn't think the firmware upgrades ever affected the games playing and if it did, I thought it was included on newer game discs?
 
Walk into Game Stop

Hi I have these PS3 games I'd like to trade in.

Sorry we can't take these since you've used the activation code already.
 
This reminds me of the phrase "The beatings will continue until morale improves". They're not going to curb piracy like this; they're going to create new pirates. Keep putting hurdles in front of legitimate customers who want your product--after a while they won't want it anymore and will seek alternatives.
 
I think the "no more used games" isn't as big of a deal(still a big one, see below). What is a big deal is no more rentals, which will kill a lot of games because a lot of games are under the category "rent" instead of "buy".

I am sure a lot of people will buy less because of this as well. Many friends buy games then sell them when they are done, usually within a month. They can't do that anymore if this happens. They will stop buying games or limit to 1 game every few months. It's not about "I don't buy used games", it's about not being able to sell your used games.

Unless they now charge 10 dollars per game, this can't be good for sales. Another counter measure that totally screws the legitimate users.
 
I couldn't care less to be honest, I'd just buy it and if I don't like it, I can still re-sell it. Let other people worry about the activations.

There is a reason Sony is doing this, blame all the exploits leaked I guess.
 
Signal said:
I didn't think the firmware upgrades ever affected the games playing and if it did, I thought it was included on newer game discs?
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Some games require new firmware to play. However you are correct that at, least in my experience, (360 & Wii) it is included in the disk.
 
This is already happening to a certain degree. Fifa'11 and Hot Pursuit both have online keys that when bought new obviously work fine but if you buy second hand and the key has already been used then you have to fork out extra to play online. Hard to swallow for the PS3 but an absolute disgrace when your already paying to play online with the 360 anyway.

I got burned with a second hand copy of Hot Pursuit on the 360, just so happened the next day I saw an offer for the PS3 version brand new so chopped it.
 
This will be good for stopping pirates from going online but that's about it.

And even then, it wont stop the rampant cheating.

In regards to single player games, hackers will still create a program that 'listens' for the code validation request, captures it and then returns a 'code valid' response and the console wont know the difference - similar to the way the assassins creed 2 hack on the pc worked.
 
Wow, kind of short-sighted on Sony's part, and an overreaction.

IMO the key based protection will probably also be broken since the console itself is hacked. Piracy can't really be stopped at this point.
 
I wasn't even giving CFW a though, don't have any interest in installing it whatsoever.

But I would DEFINITELY install to circumvent potential activation key issues.
 
pigwalk said:
I wasn't even giving CFW a though, don't have any interest in installing it whatsoever.

But I would DEFINITELY install to circumvent potential activation key issues.
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Its a nasty dance for sure... one pc gamers are all to familiar with. I suspect this dance will continue until the next gen of consoles come out when at that time Sony will have a new solution in place.
 
pigwalk said:
I wasn't even giving CFW a though, don't have any interest in installing it whatsoever.

But I would DEFINITELY install to circumvent potential activation key issues.
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+1
It sounds like a digital piracy cliche but this stuff is only going to punish paying customers, not the pirates.
 
Someone brought up a good point about this killing rentals and in effect really hurting the PS3 sales in general. It is hard for me to justify spending 60 bucks on a game that lasts 15 hours or less and most console games clock in at that or under. However I could go rent them for a week and be done with them, or find out I should purchase it instead. With this new system in place that will never happen and the games people are on the fence abot will go unplayed.
 
Dirk13 said:
Someone brought up a good point about this killing rentals and in effect really hurting the PS3 sales in general. It is hard for me to justify spending 60 bucks on a game that lasts 15 hours or less and most console games clock in at that or under. However I could go rent them for a week and be done with them, or find out I should purchase it instead. With this new system in place that will never happen and the games people are on the fence abot will go unplayed.
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You haven't been able to rent/sell/trade PC games in nearly 15 years. Console software have taken too long to catch up, I've been saying it for over a year now but the second hand market is going to vanish in the next several years. Stuff like serial codes, DD only and streaming games is going to pretty much eliminating that market. People dont want to believe it, I get it. However we are living in the transition times right now.. this moment. XBLA, PSN, Games of Demand, Steam, GOG, Impulse, Apple App Store, Android Store ... this is all step 1. Now we have serial codes rumored for console games, services like OnLive where you stream games online and the like. Everywhere you look there is digitized security drenching software and ultimately the market (consumers) really aren't the ones pushing for it. Publishers are drooling at the day they can essentually eliminate the second hand market. People are willingly paying for software they can never resell, there are a few of you out there resisting ... resistance is futile.

They are getting closer and closer every year. Its not going to be the same in 5 years, it simply isn't.
 
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u can't only have digital distribution because alot of ISPs are capped at 60GB a month.. after a new games and movies, you are screwed.. stupid ISPs
 
theNoid said:
You haven't been able to rent/sell/trade PC games in nearly 15 years. Console software have taken too long to catch up, I've been saying it for over a year now but the second hand market is going to vanish in the next several years. Stuff like serial codes, DD only and streaming games is going to pretty much eliminating that market. People dont want to believe it, I get it. However we are living in the transition times right now.. this moment. XBLA, PSN, Games of Demand, Steam, GOG, Impulse, Apple App Store, Android Store ... this is all step 1. Now we have serial codes rumored for console games, services like OnLive where you stream games online and the like. Everywhere you look there is digitized security drenching software and ultimately the market (consumers) really aren't the ones pushing for it. Publishers are drooling at the day they can essentually eliminate the second hand market. People are willingly paying for software they can never resell, there are a few of you out there resisting ... resistance is futile.

They are getting closer and closer every year. Its not going to be the same in 5 years, it simply isn't.
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This is true, there really isn't a way to stop it. Anyways, the hackers really screwed with Sony this time. I can't really blame Sony for doing what they are doing -- If I were CEO of a company and hackers did that to me, I'd do something as well to protect both my company and investors as best I can.
 
can somebody now tell me the difference between a ps3 and a pc?

i can brose the internet on ps3, play movies, look at my photo's go on facebook, play games, install games and now enter series to register and play my gameS? i mean wtf lol
 
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