After weeks of keeping mum about their used game restrictions, Sony has finally given their official stand about it. At the Sony E3 2013 conference, SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton has confirmed that the PlayStation 4 will not restrict used games.
Since Microsoft revealed the Xbox One, they have sparked many a discussion about the future and viability of used games. Gamers are worried that they would not be able to enjoy games anymore at a cheaper price and have even took to social media to have their concerns heard. With the next console generation upon us, it seems like it is a valid concern seeing as how everyone expects the price of next gen games to increase. If publishers and console developers were to impose restrictions on used games, not only will it affect the used game market, it will also effect game sharing among friends and family.
In a recent interview on CVG, Crytek’s director of creative development Rasmus Hojengaard detailed his hopes for the next generations of consoles. First he covered how he would prefer to work with hardware that made the developmental process itself less difficult. As many of us have been made aware over the years by various development studios, some of the current consoles (most notably the PS3), are extremely cumbersome to develop for and can cause needless strain on the creative process. He said: [quote]The worst thing that can happen is they make something that’s very complex for developers, regardless of how awesome it might theoretically be. So getting hardware that allows you to quickly get prototypes up and running, and any kind of scalability they can offer will be great as well, as long as everyone has that scalability and not just a select few.[/quote] Rasmus then went on to talk about the recent widespread rumors that have been popping up lately about Microsoft and Sony implementing a new system to block
Calling Them Out is a new series of featured articles on TheParanoidGamer where we, your favorite tin hat wearing writers, verbally dissect the most fetid and insidious of industry pandering articles being pumped out by the mass gaming media. Up on today’s butcher table is a real stinker of an article written by Slashgear.com’s Don Reisinger, a man who’ll never buy another game used and tells you why you shouldn’t either. Oh boy, here we go. [quote]Used video games have become a desirable purchase for many industry fans. With prices coming in at substantially lower amounts than new alternatives, it simply makes sense to many people to buy used titles. The more you save, the more products you can buy, right?[/quote] Well that’s not really all that true, considering that retailers sell used copies of newly released games for barely $5 or $10 off for the first several months. It’s also quite apparent that given the rising popularity of midnight releases that there are many gamers out there just chomping at the
This article stems from an argument with a friend that took place over Xbox Live. Without giving too much thought about his argument, my friend blindly defended the notion that used games and companies like GameStop are hurting developer’s profits. As a gamer who buys used games occasionally, I felt disappointed that a fellow gamer would be so quick to denounce the used game industry before looking at all the facts.