Just posted by Kotaku, there’s been what could be a major leak in the next PlayStation, supposedly on track for 2013. And if half of what we’re reading is true, this will be the last console generation. No, seriously. This really has the potential to kill console gaming.
Its codename is Orbis, which Kotaku insists on over-analyzing. We instead will now christen the new system “Roy Orbison”, or Roy. So what’s Roy packing that will kill an entire freaking subset of the electronics industry?
Roy’s got two very nasty problems: he won’t play used games, and he won’t be backwards compatible with PS3 games. Apparently the system works like this: you can either buy a game from the store on Blu-Ray, or download it (even full retail titles) day-and-date. But it’s locked to a single PSN account. So you’ll just buy games and stay offline? Nice try: the system won’t even start if it’s not connected to the Internet. Any games you trade in will be limited to a “trial mode” and you’ll have to pay to unlock the game.
We’d like to think that this is just games-industry pie-in-the-sky dreaming, but considering the PS3 launch, and all the stuff Sony threw at that, and also that the next XBox is doing the same thing, our gut tells us that this is legit. And that’s bad.
Seriously, if this is going to happen…why buy a console? No, seriously. Why should I buy a console when I can buy an OnLive subscription and an iPad, or a high-end Android tablet, for the same amount of money and get the same thing? Why should developers spend millions of dollars to develop for consoles that deliberately limit their audience? What advantages does a console offer us, the consumers, that we can’t get elsewhere?
As we’ve mentioned before, the entire console gaming industry seems to be screaming LALALALALA WE CAN’T HEAR YOU EVERYTHING IS FINE in the face of some pretty radical changes. When your average high-end TV is going to come with a microprocessor that can easily handle Dreamcast games, and your average tablet has enough power to crunch a PS2 game, your industry is facing a serious and direct threat. And your response is to try and squeeze your target market for every buck they have? Really? Really?!
Don’t do this, Sony. Don’t be stupid. But if you are, don’t expect us to stick around for console games. Oh, and a note to publishers: you might want to start buttering Valve up now. You’re going to need Steam much sooner than you think.
image courtesy badgreeb records on Flickr
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I can understand the gaming industry’s frustration with places like GameStop selling used games and turning repeated profits that they never see a dime of, but this really doesn’t seem like the answer. It sounds like the Auschwitz of gaming.
I don’t understand their frustration. You don’t see car companies pitching fits about secondary market sales. I don’t see the RIAA going after aftermarket CD shops.
If they’re not getting the revenue they expect from distributing content then perhaps they should reevaluate their model.
Dealerships get in on the secondary market by taking trade-ins, which they can resell themselves. The game companies could do likewise but instead leave that money on the table for the stores -or- shoot themselves in the foot with something like this.
I can’t help but think that if they want the used game off the market they could offer a rebate on their next game for each one you turn in. That would kill the secondary market.
So you’re saying this is the final solution to the pre-owned game question?
(sorry, I had to)
Well I bet Jameson Durall has a massive (4 inches!) Boner right now.
This sounds like someone got really high and when asked how to drive up sales they heard drive away instead. Seriously with laptops with the power and graphics that are superior to consoles why would anyone need/want to get another console?Both Sony and Microsoft have had issues with either security or actual performance issues that had negative effects on the brand. Everyone knew that this was the way Microsoft was leaning mainly because if they can rip someone off for more money than they will, just look at the cost of a Xbox Live membership to ACCESS content. I am going to become a true pirate and never pay for a game again because of their greed.
“I am going to become a true pirate and never pay for a game again because of their greed.”
They’re already developing systems to fight this as well. Diablo 3 won’t be playable unless you’re always connected to the internet, so they can presumably verify every copy of the game. No offline play whatsoever.
Not too mention this kills gamefly and all game rental places.
What kills me about the gaming industry’s frustration with the used game market is that it isn’t a problem. There’s no right they have to make money on those secondary transactions. If someone realized one day that it was better to sell a game they were no longer using than to let it sit under a bed or 12 years, that’s not their business. Nor is it their business when someone said “hey, there’s clearly a market here for which the industry has provided no structure – we should do that.”
If the gaming industry wants to be bold, offer significantly discounted prices on digital-only games or set up deals for subscription services. That’s the way the world is moving. People are threatened by companies that offer unlimited access to tons of entertainment for ~$15/mo because consumers are finally starting to realize it’s not worth it to pay $25-$65 for something that you get 2-15 hours use out of.
I agree. These gaming companies need to change their business model to suit today’s technology. If they don’t like that someone buys their game and pawns it a week later then offer an incentive to hold the media such as add on content. Another way is all digital as you mentioned above. The flaw is in their business model not the secondary market.
Agreed. I’ll take it a step further … in you want to offer me a game I can only play on one account, then I ain’t paying full price for it. If you make it significantly cheaper, I might.
I suppose I should start sending Nissan a royalty check every time I let my buddy borrow my truck, or at the very least they deserve a huge cut of the resale.
Matter of fact I think it’s time for automobile manufacturers to sell vehicles as single owner use with special keys encoded to that person’s fingerprints. Secondary owners will need to pay thousands of dollars to purchase a new key encoded to their own fingerprints in order to use the vehicle.
I love this new concept of a world in which we no longer own anything we merely own the rights to use things for a short amount of time.
Oh wait, we have that system, it’s called “renting” or “leasing” not “owning” and the concept of saying someone bought something to own and then trying to dictate what they do with it after the fact (Aside from replicating it for profit) is asinine.
Console manufacturers can be stupid but I doubt they are this stupid. These types of rumors were floating around before the last generation landed as well. Let’s hope it all amounts to nothing.
You’re right about valve. If a new console is going to cost 500 bucks anyway its probably worth it to buy a new pc instead.
Lemme get this straight … a company that was hacked last year and had it’s network go down for 23 days is going to sell a “next-gen” console that won’t work without an internet connection? Good luck with that.
Good call.
Three guys are racing down the road toward a raised drawbridge. The first one guns it and flies off the edge and crashes. The second one watches this and decides he just needs to go faster, and he too crashes. The third one skids out and saves itself and decides to drive another direction.
This is my scenario for the big three. Sony will effectively end itself in that marketplace if they do this, Microsoft may follow with a different but equally lame strategy, and Nintendo will use it as a cautionary tale.
Of course by then we’ll all be playing motion sensor games on our iPads and Apple will be the winner.
Until they can make a game that good controls using just a touch screen and replicate it, Apple will never be a serious gamer’s “console” of choice.
These are the type of idiotic ideas that cause pirating in gaming to be so rampant in the first place. I doubt this is true (the PS3 is suppose to have 10 year life cycle, and Sony really can’t afford to try and produce a system any time soon) but this debate just won’t go away. Honestly someone just needs to come out and say that they will allow used games, but users have to buy some kind of $5~10 pass to fully unlock all the content. It’s not the best solution, but it’s one that doesn’t royally screw over everyone either.
What’s the connection between allowing used games vs pirated games on consoles? Are pirated console games really an issue?
Umm holy shit. Why lord why? Why must these corporate ass-bandits be so anti-consumer? Between this shit and isp providers like Comcast getting probed (hee hee) for looking at charging extra for using xbox live and netflixes on the internet you already paid for… fuck. Fuck you, fuck me, fuck every gamer everywhere.
These fools are sprinting after the music industry to jump of the same cliff. If they actually succeed in implementing these awful anti-consumer tactics in the next gen consoles I wont fucking touch them. It will finally be cheaper for me to just go and get a pc tower for gaming and give Steam a big ol’ hug.
It wouldn’t affect me directly, as I’ve only ever bought, like, two used games, but I do tend to buy games long after they’re released, once their prices drop to $30 or below, and that’d probably happen less often if the used game market didn’t exist. But more than that, this anti-used crusade is just fucking horseshit. These assholes get so focused on the money they wish they were making, they totally ignore the money that they DO make from the used/rental market. Plenty of people out there buy used copies of the first game in a series, then getting hooked and buy the sequels new. And you know a lot of people buy consoles BECAUSE of the ease of buying used games, and sharing and trading games with friends and stuff. You take all that away, and you’re tossing much of what makes consoles special in the first place.
Oh, and the lack of backward-compatibility with PS3 also pisses me off.
So you’re saying you DON’T want to buy games you already own AGAIN just so you play them in HD? And then buy them AGAIN on your new console that wont play the last copy you just paid for?
Sounds like another “ungrateful gamer” to me.
Well, I’m not saying they have to figure out how to upscale old games and shit; I’m not necessarily asking for that (though it would be nice). I’d just like to have less cords and consoles to wrangle.
Roll on ValveBox, that’s what I say. I’m sick of the PSN network and all these threats anyway, the PS3 will be my last console. After seeing BF3 and Skyrim on PC, it seems like a far more attractive idea with all this shite as well. I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground with Valve at least.