Playstation Sony Makes PSN PASS Official

Raiiyokuu

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Eurogamer said:
Sony has made the PSN Pass, first spotted this morning, official.
It launches this September with PlayStation 3 exclusive Resistance 3.
In a statement issued to Eurogamer this evening, Sony said PSN Pass will grant "full online access" to participating games.
"We are always evaluating new programs for our online offering, and starting with Resistance 3 this September, we will be instituting a network pass program for PS3 games with online capabilities," Sony said.
"This program will be game-specific. Games that are a part of this program will include a single-use registration code that grants the account holder redeeming the code full online access for that title.
"This is an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio."
The implication is that second-hand copies of Resistance 3 will not include PSN Pass, forcing pre-owned buyers to pay for full online access.
With PSN Pass Sony is following the lead of EA, THQ, Codemasters and Warner, all of which have implemented an Online Pass scheme.
Will other upcoming PS3 exclusives, such as Uncharted 3, use PSN Pass?


UPDATE POST BY GAMEINFORMER

Game Informer said:
psnpass7.6610.jpg


UPDATE: And it's official. Eurogamer reports that beginning September 6 with the launch of Resistance 3, Sony will begin a new PSN Pass program. Operating similarly to online pass programs used by EA, THQ, and other publishers, online-capable Sony games will come packed in with a single-use code granting users "full online access" to the game. Presumably this will operate similarly to other online pass programs, meaning gamers picking up used copies will have to pay a small fee of some sort to access online functionality, but Sony has yet to reveal specifics for pricing and availability of passes if you're picking up a pre-owned game.
ORIGINAL STORY: A German video game forum has a screenshot that seems to indicate that Sony will debut its long-discussed PSN Pass with an upcoming Resistance 3 bundle.
Poster Darko on German forum Konsolentreff.net has posted what appears to be a screenshot of a Resistance 3/PS Move bundle that features an advertisement for the PSN Pass.
The pass is Sony's version of the increasingly popular online add-on subscription fee that companies like EA and THQ currently use. What comes with the Pass and how much it costs is unknown – as are any further details about the bundle.

Sources -
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-06-sony-makes-psn-pass-official

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/07/06/asdf.aspx


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What do you all think. :hmph:

I for one despise this idea. So, that means, in the future games of SONY, and other First Party Games (Sony Entertainment), you will need to have an online pass to play online. :rage:

/Rips hair out.​
 
Wtf like these games are worth it paying to get online muwhahaha fuck tht shitt.. That means fifa will follow? All EA publisHed games? Fuck tht!!!! No way I would pay... This will bite them in the ass.. I sure hope not too many publishhers will follow cause that would be a disaster.. Imma keep a close eye on the eu blog cause this is freeking fishy!
 
Seriously bro.

This is getting out of hand. I know companies are trying to make money in this economy, but damn, if everyone's gonna follow this trend, the companies who don't do this are bound to be more successful, the way I see it.

And it's a good thing the Sony Entertainment mostly makes First Party Games that don't really play online, Like God Of War, but it also suck for the Uncharted III people, because it comes out after Sep. 6
 
It'll be like White Knight Chronicles 2 I'd imagine in that everyone who purchases the game new will get the code for free and the only people who'd have to purchase a code would be those who bought it 2nd hand. In regards to EA though, they were ALWAYS going to end up doing it regardless of whether Sony made it official or not and they'd already started implementing such features in FIFA11 anyway.

It doesn't overly bother me that much since any big title that is released that has online functions I end up buying new anyway. Call of Duty will be the big one.
 
It'll be like White Knight Chronicles 2 I'd imagine in that everyone who purchases the game new will get the code for free and the only people who'd have to purchase a code would be those who bought it 2nd hand. In regards to EA though, they were ALWAYS going to end up doing it regardless of whether Sony made it official or not and they'd already started implementing such features in FIFA11 anyway.
This is more or less what I think. It's only going to effect people buying second hand games, the new Mortal Kombat has it, if you buy it second hand you have to pay to play online.
I think it's just a way for companies to make money from second hand game sales, I can't see any other reason besides that.
 
Judging by the tone in this thread, I'd guess many of you buy games used. I DON'T buy used games, so this will NEVER affect me. I'll get my online passes pretty much free. Oh darn, I have to take a minute or two, go to the PSN Store, and redeem my online pass. Not a big deal.

I'm actually kinda surprised it has taken this long for other companies to do online passes.
 
I have bought games second-handed..I only buy the better games new...lol many people buy second-handed games and if they have to buy the online code it will cost almost as much in total as a retail new game...wtf thats bollocks..decline in MP..They want to regulate the second-hand game market better...no wonder its booming business and they losing money because of it.....why? because there is a reason those games are returned for less than half of the freeking release prise..

Shitty games no one wants to keep as an collectible..many games these days are far from memorable...and people want to try those out games for a low low price..most of the time they are not worth full price...except uncharted 2 which I bought second-handed :ohoho:
 
That's the thing, companies lose little money off second hand games. Games will sell in either one of two ways; retailers will buy the batch of games off the developer and then distribute it at whatever price they wish, which is why game stores tend to cost more than supermarkets when games are first released - because they're reliant solely on game sales whereas supermarkets are not, thus as long as they still make a profit they can be more lenient on how much of a profit they need and therefore can lower the prices. OR... they'll pay the developer on a unit by unit sale which is highly unlikely otherwise the developer would control the RRP.

I highly doubt any developer sees much, if any, of the second hand sales - however, they have to be sold to begin with before they can be returned to be second hand. You can't sell games second hand if they haven't been sold new to begin with. It's solely another way to make money, none of this whole "loss" thing.
 
Well I've seen numerous articles about publishers and what not , complaining about the loss they be making and its true imo..

Every second hand game sold is 1 less full price retail game........but I get your point now its the retailers themselves that have losses ..but in the end the less copies the less they order from the game publishers..so its a cycle..

Wether they want to minimise their losses or just try to make more money its fishy nonetheless..

I could lend my game to a friend and he wouldnt even be able to go online xD......
What about renting shops..games can be rented but wait not online mode...

Shit shit shit....some games are not worth 60 bucks.....so I would get a 2nd hand copy cause its cheaper and meh do I want to check out the MP ? Well...it looks nice but costs 10 bucks (Rumour).....not worth it...screw the MP haha.....

Its just the principle I guess.........,sigh.........
 
Tbh, I can't blame them at all for making us pay for this. Developers having been sucking it up and dealing with the loss for years, but now that used games are getting to be so big (and they get NO revenue from used sales) it's understandable to put in a system like this. Tbh, I thought this was already rolling out with all the games that already require and online pass for multiplayer. All in all, I'm not the least bit shocked about it. As gamers, we need to support the developers.
 
This isn't THAT big of a deal.

If you buy the game new, you're not paying any more than you would normally pay. The online is free. If you buy the game used, you'll have to pay a small one time fee and then you'll be able to play forever.

This is a way for the the developers to combat the used game market, and see a return on their investment into having an online multiplayer mode. A lot of times, people will buy games used and the developers won't see a dime. This includes the online multiplayer.

So now, at least, they'll see a $10 investment if someone who bought the game used wanted to play online. I usually buy new anyway so this doesn't affect me much, but I don't necessarily agree with it. Punishing the consumer is never a good idea, and it almost always bites you in the ass later on. Still, this is no reason to stage a coup.
 
Judging by the tone in this thread, I'd guess many of you buy games used. I DON'T buy used games, so this will NEVER affect me. I'll get my online passes pretty much free. Oh darn, I have to take a minute or two, go to the PSN Store, and redeem my online pass. Not a big deal.

I'm actually kinda surprised it has taken this long for other companies to do online passes.

WE AREN'T ALL Rich like you are, oh mighty one. Good for you, so you don't have to worry about not playing games online. That's not the point.
 
It is kind of disappointing to see that I'll have to go for a new copy of a game if I want access to the online features, but personally I don't think it's that huge of a deal; GameStop rarely has that large of a discount on the newer pre-owned games anyway. It depends on how much the online passes will be (or are generally now, I have yet to need to purchase one) but companies like GameStop might lose out on pre-owned sales since people will rather pay for the online pass than get a small discount on a used game.

I buy used games quite often but I'm not that shocked nor upset. When we start seeing old, highly discounted games with online features is when it's going to be annoying.
 
The online passes for the games that have them now usually come for 9.99 off the PSN store.

I buy used-games frequently and have always relied on their 7 days to return policy. So I usually beat a game in 7 days and then return it ASAP, or keep, if I really like it that much.

But it still sucks that Sony's following this ungodly trend.
 
I used to do the same, Seiji, but the truth in this is that by avoiding paying the full price of a game (wether by returning or buying used games) you're cutting the sales of that game down. If the game doesn't see enough revenue come back, then the developers can't get the go ahead for another game or even a sequel (or at least have to kiss enough ass to get it).

With the increasing popularity of used games, it COULD eventually get to the point that music is at. When albums (or games) hit shelves, they will see initial sales, but these will drop off way faster than normal when enough people have it to share it around (or trade them back in). This is a move to keep the gaming industry alive. It hurts us as consumers, true, but it beats some of the alternatives.
 
I have to say though, the thing about these online passes is that there are certain games where buying a game used, then buying an online pass is pointless. Take most, if not all, of the EA Sports games. Sure, you can play multiplayer in the previous year's game, but it'll probably be pretty empty. I would say they probably have a life span of a year and a half. After that, you might as well just buy the newest game.

In general, while this doesn't affect me, I still don't necessarily think it's right. I understand why they do the online passes, but as someone else said, that just means there will be less people playing multiplayer.

Oh well, what can you do.
 
Game developers aren't losing from second hand sales. That sounds like an argument that a game developer came up with. If people are buying the game second hand then they don't think the game is worth whatever the price they'd have to pay if it was new. Or they simply cannot afford to pay however many dollars it would be new. Sales for new games are likely to decrease to if people won't be able to sell games as easily after they've finished with them.
 
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