PS4: EA's New Best Friend

By now almost everyone has heard the rumors about why Gamestop's stock has dropped today. Sony announced yet again that there next gen console would have on-disc protection from trade-ins.
Long before Gamestop became big, back in roughly 2002 Sony also tried this and that continued until again today. They have filed numerous patents on the subject, but nothing has ever derived from it. When looked at from a consumer perspective it seems completely illogical... wait scratch that. When you look at it from almost every perspective it seems illogical, especially when Gamestop is a huge part of the gaming community. Which is confirmed when you realize they make less than 10% of their profit from first party software. None the less here are a couple reasons it will never see the light of day:

• The Destruction Of Gamestop Or Any Second Hand Retail

Not only would they be hated by every single person that has ever truly loved games, but they will seriously make a lot of marketing enemies especially in America. Good luck finding a PS4 or PS Vita in Gamestop or Best Buy after they try slapping RF Tags on all of their games.

• The Death Of Middle Class Gaming

I know it seems very political, but it is also accurate. A move like this would drastically decrease sales for every title released for the PS4 and completely kill any PS4 exclusives they might have.

• Obliterates Any Niche Title Japan Tries To Ship Overseas

Games like Disgaea and Hyperdimension would never see the light of day unless they dropped their sale price below $30.00 at launch which is Publishing suicide. Thus pretty much absolving any J-RPGs we might ever get again.

• Other Platforms Will Not Jump Onboard

PS4 Sales would almost be bottom-line and probably get outsold by the Wii-U...which is terribly sad. Business 101 is to make money and attract consumers...not the opposite.

• They Would Lose Almost Every Publisher and Developer That Makes Games

No one is silly enough to force DRMs onto consumers even EA and Ubisoft had to step back after all of the out-crying and boycotting they received...and EA is considered the Worst Company In America, partly because of that. Simply put it would be gaming suicide especially for smaller companies that are already struggling to compete.

So while yes it may be startling at first anyone with common sense would see the pointlessness of forcing on disc restrictions. While Sony will more than likely make it optional for publishers to use this technology I highly doubt anyone looking to make a profit would step up to the plate. 

Article by: Larry Harris