14 DAY TRIAL // This week was marked by a pretty major report concerning the PlayStation 4 next generation console, which gave it a new name, PlayStation Orbis, and proclaimed that it would have an anti-used gaming feature that will practically eliminate this popular strategy that’s now supported by the current PlayStation 3.
As you can imagine, such a rumor once again started the old used gaming debate, which was already tense after reports about a similar system in the next-generation Xbox 720 from Microsoft.
I already shared my thoughts on the issue, including the good and the bad sides of such a system, so I won’t rehash them.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that a system similar to the one that’s reportedly inside the PlayStation Orbis is already used on the PC and not a lot of people are complaining.
In case you forgot, the report says that any game for the PlayStation Orbis will also be available digitally. This means that even if you buy a retail copy, you must first activate it on the Internet and tie it to your PlayStation Network account.
This has the added benefit that, if you lose or something happens to the Blu-ray disc, you can just re-download it from the online service free of charge.
Such a system is already used on the PC, quite successfully I might add, with Valve’s Steam. Lots of games, including Skyrim, for example, require you to install Steam and tie the game to your account if you want to fully enjoy it.
Sure, some people were opposed using Steam as an anti-piracy and anti-used gaming system, but most PC gamers have gotten used to it, especially since Valve holds all sorts of discounts and periodical sales for Steam users.
If Sony will use the same strategy, of offering extra incentives for buying things from the PlayStation Store and tying your Orbis games to your PSN account, then perhaps people will grow to like the console.
Yes, I know such a system will prevent lots of people from playing all the games they’d like, but at least it’s going to make developers and publishers more money, which could be used, after Sony pressures them a bit, to lower retail prices on games.
As of yet, however, the anti-used gaming feature and the whole PlayStation 4 (Orbis) is still just a rumor, so who knows what it will actually deliver.
What do you think? Will you get another console that’s not opposed to used gaming or are you going to get the Orbis, despite its feature?