Will the PS4 limit the functionality of pre-owned games?
It looked yesterday as if the answer was a resolute ''no''. Then this morning that had softened into a ''hmm, no, probably not''. Now that seems to have become a hugely indistinct ''who knows?''.
GameSpot asked Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida in a quickfire Q&A not if PS4 would block used games but whether second hand games will require an activation code on the console.
His answer: ''It's a publisher decision. We are not talking about it. Sorry.''
Now, this could mean two things. One, that publishers are obviously free to step up their existing online pass strategies to block more - or possibly all - game content from those who buy a pre-owned game without a code.
The second option is that Sony HAS incorporated tech into the PS4 that allows publishers to distinguish between new and pre-owned games. It's then up to them if they choose to utilise it.
While seemingly denying the idea of a pre-owned block, Yoshida has certainly been seemingly elusive on the subject. In fact, the only direct evidence that such tech is definitely not included comes from an unsubstantiated comment from an anonymous Sony source on Eurogamer.
In the meantime, of course, rumours persist that Microsoft will adopt a pre-owned block strategy with its new machine.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/pre-owned-games-block-on-ps4-is-a-publisher-decision/0111344
It looked yesterday as if the answer was a resolute ''no''. Then this morning that had softened into a ''hmm, no, probably not''. Now that seems to have become a hugely indistinct ''who knows?''.
GameSpot asked Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida in a quickfire Q&A not if PS4 would block used games but whether second hand games will require an activation code on the console.
His answer: ''It's a publisher decision. We are not talking about it. Sorry.''
Now, this could mean two things. One, that publishers are obviously free to step up their existing online pass strategies to block more - or possibly all - game content from those who buy a pre-owned game without a code.
The second option is that Sony HAS incorporated tech into the PS4 that allows publishers to distinguish between new and pre-owned games. It's then up to them if they choose to utilise it.
While seemingly denying the idea of a pre-owned block, Yoshida has certainly been seemingly elusive on the subject. In fact, the only direct evidence that such tech is definitely not included comes from an unsubstantiated comment from an anonymous Sony source on Eurogamer.
In the meantime, of course, rumours persist that Microsoft will adopt a pre-owned block strategy with its new machine.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/pre-owned-games-block-on-ps4-is-a-publisher-decision/0111344