The Playstation 4 Rumours, Innuendo, and Speculation thread

[mmntech]

Fresh rumours aboud about the PS4. You guys can read the article for more details but here's the condensed version.

-It is codnamed Orbis
-It will have an AMD x64 CPU
-It will have an AMD Radeon "Southern Islands" (HD 7000 series) GPU
-It will still use Blurays, but all games will be downloadable as well
-It will have DRM to lock gamers out of purchasing used, renting, or borrowing games
-It will not be backwards compatible with PS3 games
-It is scheduled to be released in Q4 2013

Sony has yet to confirm any details, so take this all with a grain of salt.
http://kotaku.com/5896996/the-next-playstation-is-called-orbis-sources-say-here-are-the-details

 

[Gooberlx2]

-It will have DRM to lock gamers out of purchasing used, renting, or borrowing games
-It will not be backwards compatible with PS3 games

I wouldn't be surprised about the DRM, but that's going to cause a lot of bitterness if true. Also how will one deal with replacing or owning multiple consoles?

I guess if it's not a cell CPU, no backwards compatibility shouldn't be a surprise either (guessing an emulator would be too inefficient). But that's also going to cause a lot of ire.

 

[ApexBoost]

I wouldn't be surprised about the DRM, but that's going to cause a lot of bitterness if true. Also how will one deal with replacing or owning multiple consoles?

I'd imagine that it will be tied to your PSN account, similar to Steam. Otherwise it'd be absolutely ridiculous.

I'd also be very upset with the lack of PS3 backwards compatibility, I don't see how it'd be hard to implement that compared to PS3 - PS2 backwards compatibility.

These are all rumors as it is, everything should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

 

[alent1234]

i don't play on my PS3 but no resale means i will only buy games with a high replay value like Mass Effect for regular price. or buy the GOTY edition with all DLC included

everything else will be on clearance at $10 or $20

 

[purbeast0]

i also heard the following rumors about PS3

- it comes with 3 free blowjobs, the rest will be DLC that cost $8.95/each
- for a $20/month fee it will clean your house once a week, but only for the subscription based users.
- the core one will grant you 1 wish, while the premium one will grant you 3 wishes
- price of console is unknown at this time but suspected to be $8000 - $10000

link below:

http://www.stupidrumorsarestupid.com

 

[mmntech]

I'd imagine that it will be tied to your PSN account, similar to Steam. Otherwise it'd be absolutely ridiculous.

It would be easy to add a unique ID to each BD to tie it to your PSN account.

I don't like it just as much as I don't like the online passes. I think it would alienate a large segment of the gaming population. Especially those casual gamers who have been conditioned to 99 cent games. Publishers want it but it doesn't make a lot of sense for hardware manufacturers. If the pubs don't like it, buy stocks in EB. Problem solved.

 

[arredondo]

To the OP, your DRM summary is wrong. The speculation is that the PS4 will allow used/rented games to be played, but they will be gimped unless you purchase some type of update over the PSN to fully unlock it. They will not be banned.

 

[mmntech]

To the OP, your DRM summary is wrong. The speculation is that the PS4 will allow used/rented games to be played, but they will be gimped unless you purchase some type of update over the PSN to fully unlock it. They will not be banned.

This is true, but to the extent that they're basically limited to demos and you have to pay for the full version. It basically kills used/rented games.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

I wonder how much it'll cost to "re-activate" a used copy. If the game cost $60 MSRP and Sony charges what, $20-30 to unlock everything on top of the used price then what's the point?

I also heard Microsoft is gonna do the same thing with the next Xbox. Screw console gaming if all the rumors turn out to be true. And I wonder how Gamestop/EB Games/etc will fare since used items seem to make up a large part of their sales.

 

[arredondo]

This is true, but to the extent that they're basically limited to demos and you have to pay for the full version. It basically kills used/rented games.

Your information is factually wrong, period. Banning rented/used games is one action, allowing gimped rented/used games to be played with the option to upgrade is a completely different action.

Some current PS3 games that aren't new force the purchase of an Online Pass for full access and they are still rented out and sold used, so even your main argument falls flat. Simply post up the facts and let people think for themselves.

 

[gorcorps]

I wonder how much it'll cost to "re-activate" a used copy. If the game cost $60 MSRP and Sony charges what, $20-30 to unlock everything on top of the used price then what's the point?

That's exactly what Sony wants you to think. "What's the point" will get them more new sales.

 

[hans030390]

Eh, not too worried about games with DRM/being tied to your account. I mean, I can't sell the games I get on Steam...

 

[Via]

Watching an entire business continue to implode is weirdly entertaining.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

That's exactly what Sony wants you to think. "What's the point" will get them more new sales.

Yeah, so f*** this next iteration of consoles. I haven't touched my 360 in the longest time, I've got a computer that can play games far better than that thing.

Sony (and MS) are shooting themselves in the foot with a freaking Howitzer if they're really going to implement this.

 

[alent1234]

Eh, not too worried about games with DRM/being tied to your account. I mean, I can't sell the games I get on Steam...

steam has ridiculous sales on good games

i rarely see good sales on digital copies of console games

 

[CountZero]

I kind of hope they do completely lock out used games.

I doubt it would happen but I'd love to see it play out as follows:
1) They lock out used game sales
2) Someone with money like Gamestop takes them to court for violation of the First Sale Doctrine
3) Sony (and publishers) lose thus reversing the idea that you buy licenses to play games instead legally locks down the idea that you have bought the game and can do with it what you please outside of distributing copies.
Optional 4) Sony losing leads to a wave of class action suits against every company that instituted online passes as a way to circumvent used sale leading to punitive damages against every company that participated in such a consumer unfriendly practice.

I love gaming but I am somewhat tired of being treated as a second class citizen by publishers that can barely hide their own contempt for the industry they make money off of.

 

[alent1234]

except it will never happen, online passes don't violate the first sale doctrine and neither do lack of used game sales

 

[CountZero]

except it will never happen, online passes don't violate the first sale doctrine and neither do lack of used game sales

How does a system wherein I buy a game but can't sell it not violate the first sale doctrine? I bought a copyrighted work and can't sell it as I see fit, that is the essence of the first sale doctrine. I know they get around it by calling it a license but that is the problem, it shouldn't be a license.

 

[alent1234]

you buy ME3 new, register the online pass and sell it
new buyer has to buy the pass
or in ME2 one of the characters is only there if you register the code.


perfectly legal since they are buying the game and the online pass is a service. and you can argue content like extra characters are extras for people that buy the game new

has anyone sued steam or itunes for lack of resales?

 

[CountZero]

you buy ME3 new, register the online pass and sell it
new buyer has to buy the pass

perfectly legal since they are buying the game and the online pass is a service

has anyone sued steam or itunes for lack of resales?

I was referring to the system wherein you can't resell. Of course technically speaking there is no reason that first sale shouldn't apply to steam games or itunes mp3s or just about anything with DRM the problem is there is very little financial incentive for any end user to bother. This is why having a company have a vested interest in pursuing the legality of the various DRM practices in play would be a good thing. To say that the first sale issues that arise from such restrictive DRM are open and shut is just not true. Right now no one person has any reason to push this in court as the costs are just too high however if it impacts the largest revenue stream of a big company then you might actually see it pushed into court.

For an example of first sale doctrine defense used on the resale of software see:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...odesk-affirms-right-to-sell-used-software.ars

Of course there are cases that have gone the other way but none (that I am aware of) around video games and/or consoles either way.

The online pass was a follow on that was more wishful thinking than anything else that if you met the legal hurdle of proving non-transferrable game licenses are illegal you could possibly make the argument that making resold copies incomplete violates first sale as I can't resell the product I bought.

The only reason that these cases aren't a slam dunk is the claim that software isn't sold it is licensed, any method to defeat that once and for all for video games would make non-transferrable games obviously a violation of first sale.

 

[sb.0326]

Hopefully this means that the architecture AMD designs and sells to Sony is much more "PC friendly" then they have been in the past. Would allow developers to port games between platforms faster and more effectively. Without sacrificing so much to do so.

 

[exdeath]

I heard it was going to have a 8192 core CPU, run a 10,000 THz, be more powerful than 1000 super computers, and will have multiple 1080p outputs... Sony said so.

 

[exdeath]

I predict a massive increase of pirating and cracking. These fools never learn.

Making people resent you isn't going to increase sales, it's only going to get more people angry and looking for an alternative. People who previously had no interest in it will be introduced to pirating and cracking.

 

[Medu]

Why would Sony put a GPGPU into a gaming machine? As Kepler has shown there is a big decent performance advantage in stripping that stuff out.

 

[Cuda1447]

I predict a massive increase of pirating and cracking. These fools never learn.

Making people resent you isn't going to increase sales, it's only going to get more people angry and looking for an alternative. People who previously had no interest in it will be introduced to pirating and cracking.

If the PS4 locks out buying used games, I will absolutely never buy a PS4. If the new Xbox does the game thing, I may buy one of the two consoles, but I can guarantee you I will pirate a lot of games. I have never pirated a game before on console. Mostly because I can rent them and if they are trash like most games, I only wasted a few bucks. But there is no way I will shell out 60 bucks for a game I know I most likely won't like. Instead, I'll pirate it and try it out. If it turns out to be good, no need to buy it, I've already got it.

My point, DRM is a REALLY REALLY bad idea. There are many more people like me. Its going to do a hell of a lot more harm than good.