Bye Bye Second Hand Games

by essem SEE, on Jan 4, 2013
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According to Gamespot, Sony has researched and filed a patent for new technology that could be implemented to block previously used games.

blocked game e1357335749255 Bye Bye Second Hand Games

A patent application, No. 20130007892 for an “Electronic Content Processing System” and “Use Apparatus” would associate individual game discs with matched user accounts. The patent’s abstract more specifically states

“A game playing system includes a use permission tag provided for use in a game disk for a user of a game, a disk drive, and a reproduction device for reproducing the game.”

It further states,

 ”The disk drive reads out a disk ID from the game disk. When the game is to be played, the reproduction device conveys the disk ID and a player ID to the use permission tag. The use permission tag stores the terms of use of the game and determines whether a combination of the disk ID and the player ID conveyed from the reproduction device fulfills the terms of use or not.”

While no gaming console has been specified in the patent application, it is speculated that the patent is intended for Sony’s as of yet unreleased Playstation 4 system. This patent has sparked debate in the gaming community about the issue of  the second-hand gaming industry, and gamers’ best interests versus corporate profitability.

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