Sony has researched new tech for suppressing second-hand game sales with a new patent that reveals a technology that locks games to user ID.
Sony has researched new tech for suppressing second-hand game sales with a new patent that reveals a technology that locks games to user ID.
There have been rumours of this idea for the next Playstation console floating around for a while but it would appear there is now some truth to the rumour. Used games are very popular on consoles with many retail stores making lots of money from the second hand game market. This new approach from Sony links individual game disc ID’s to a player’s ID when the disc is inserted for the first time. Each time a disc is inserted afer that the console checks for an ID match which could prevent that game from being played on a different console.
The system, according to a patent discovered here, works via a contactless RF tag that is shipped blank and only set once the user inserts the disc into the device for the first time.
Here are some details of the patent.
By employing the game playing system 1000 according to the present embodiment, the use permission tag 220 together with the game disk 210 is supplied to the user, and the use permission tag 220 actively determines the use permit/rejection of electronic content. Thereby, the use of game AP stored in the game disk 210 can be restricted as appropriate according to the attribute of a reproduction device. Consider, for example, a case where used is a game package 200 distributed in the second-hand market. Then the ID of reproduction device for the game disk 210 differs from the legitimate use device ID stored in the use permission tag 220, so that the game disk can be reproduced in a mode which is predetermined for those bought and sold in the second-hand market. Also, for example, a content key may be supplied to the reproduction device 130 and the encrypted game AP may be decrypted using the content key only if the reproduction device ID matches a legitimate use device ID. Hence, use of game APs bought and sold in the second-hand market can be eliminated.
How will it work?
It works by supplying a contactless RF tag with each copy of a game (NFC?), which can (independent of a network connection), remember if a game has been tied to a different machine or user account previously. The system checks with the tag before playing the game.
While this patent doesn’t mean the technology will be used in the next generation Playstation it could something to look out for.
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Source: www.neogaf.com
