PlayStation 4 'Orbis' Rumors: AMD Hardware, Hostile To Used Games 371
silentbrad writes "Kotaku reports some 'details' about Sony's next console given to them by a 'reliable source.' They say that the console's codename is Orbis, and it is planned for release by the 2013 holiday season. Developers are reportedly being told to plan for an AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU. Further on, they mention that there will be no PS3 backwards compatibility and, like rumors about the next Xbox, will have anti-used game DRM. Specifically, 'new games for the system will be available one of two ways, either on a Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download (yes, even full retail titles). If you buy the disc, it must be locked to a single PSN account. ... If you then decide to trade that disc in, the pre-owned customer picking it up will be limited in what they can do. ... it's believed used games will be limited to a trial mode or some other form of content restriction, with consumers having to pay a fee to unlock/register the full game.'"
Re:Say it ain't so, Sony! (Score:5, Informative)
Why, because there's a rumor that the next generation of consoles might have the same restriction that's been standard on PCs for a decade?
A decade? Hell no. The last one I, personally, sold, was my copy of Oblivion to a friend (mostly because I don't tend to do the whole used-game thing, I like to keep my games around if I want to play them in 5 years again). However, except for the online activation systems (which have, granted, become popular recently), you've been able to trade any boxed PC game since forever. Many of them you still can. In fact, you can trade most of the on-line activation ones too (you just have to deactivate it or not install it more than the activation limits).
Steam obviously prevents that, but steam wasn't "standard" until 5 years ago or so. Up till then, every single PC game (except MMOs) could be freely traded used. If there are any exceptions, I don't know of them (Counter-strike, maybe? Didn't play the original).
Re:Can't wait! (Score:4, Informative)
That lawsuit should be epic.
Except that Sony's EULA, which you will now be forced to agree to as you have to have a PSN account to play any game, means that each person must sue separately and then only if they opted out of arbitration. And that later bit is only if they are aware of what they are signing. I had to get a buddy who's a lawyer explain what my options weren't in signing the latest PSN EULA. Luckily, he doesn't think that the "No Class Action Lawsuit" clause will hold up in court.
Re:Say it ain't so, Sony! (Score:2, Informative)
I didn't buy a PS3.
I don't see a need for a PS4.
I do own an Xbox360 but it is mostly used for streaming movies to my TV from my Desktop.
and let me guess, it's going to cost $900?
no thank you, Sony.
Re:Revolt! (Score:4, Informative)
Meanwhile, kids trickle in during the majority of the time gamestop is open. They might be selling back a game they bought two weeks before at $60. What gamestop gives them in return depends on supply and demand, but it's likely the kid will get $20 for it. Gamestop will then put the game on the shelf for $55. Someone else will come in for the new game, the cashier will point out that they can buy it gently used for 5 dollars less. Gamestop has therefore made $35. Moreover, that $20 is store credit. If the kid wants cash, then gamestop will give him $16, so the kid takes the store credit. Which, of course, means that gamestop keeps that too. Gamestop essentially made $55 on reselling a two week old game.
This is no secret. Bring any game into a gamestop, ask how much you will receive for it in cash, and compare that to how much they're selling it for used. It's less than half of what they'll get. They do not make that profit margin on new game sales. The cashier or manager can and will confirm that.
They make very little comparatively on new game sales. In fact, the only reason they sell new games at all is to get people going into the store so they can advertise to them and try to get them bringing in lightly used games. Gamestop is, essentially, a used game store, despite the fact that they occasionally sell a lot of new games at once.
Re:Say it ain't so, Sony! (Score:4, Informative)
With Steam, you can send games you have not redeemed to friends. There's no trading of used games. Any boxed game that uses Steam activation (there's a lot of them now) cannot be traded to friends after you've activated it on your account.
PC games have been definitely been doing online activation like this for longer than console games. The first I can remember buying is Tribes 2 in 2001, which required an account tied to a CD key. That's more than ten years ago, nearly a decade before I'm aware of any console games doing their current soft version of it (buy used and you need to pay ~$10 to get all the features). Most single player titles weren't doing it until Steam started to become popular, though.
Now, of my recent purchases which can be physically purchased, Skyrim, Civilization 5, Shogun 2, Mass Effect 3, Batman: AC, and Assassin's Creed 2:3 are all tied to a single account once activated, and they're all single-player games.