Quote Originally Posted by TonyTheTiger View Post
Which I think would only spur piracy if this proves to be the case. This is why I think the comparison to the music industry is faulty. The RIAA being retarded aside, the music industry responded to a significant cultural and technological shift. Generation Y decided to steal music en masse and the industry responded as best it could to get people buying again. There's no social revolution happening with games. Used software is a completely engineered "problem," no more harmful or revolutionary than used cars or hand-me-down clothing. I don't think there is rampant system modding going on today to such an extent that people aren't buying the merchandise anymore. It may be happening on the PC but most consoles require jumping through a few hoops (and sacrificing online) to accomplish it, which makes me think that if they're in such dire financial straights as the industry insiders like to claim then it's their own fault and they should either fix it internally or go out of business and let capitalism function as intended. This business tactic doesn't combat pirates. It combats everyone else. In fact, it doesn't do anything to combat piracy. Pirates don't care about possessing the physical item so none of those people are going to be frustrated by this development.

Among the people who do obtain the physical disc, many will start to think "I have this game...what do I have to do in order to use it?" And anyone with the slightest libertarian leanings is going to wonder "GM and Old Navy have to tolerate used goods, so what makes you so special?" It's kind of like the whole thing about playing imports back in the day. Seems like these companies have gotten wise that if you let people play imports right out of the gate they won't seek out the workarounds that end up leading to flat out piracy in the first place.
Actually, used cars are a significant problem for the auto industry and they always have been. The auto industry tried to reclaim the used market by encouraging dealers to get involved in certified used car programs, manufacturer backed extended warranties and by making cars more difficult to service by creating more custom parts and proprietary systems so that consumers would be forced to either go to the dealer or buy genuine parts. Each of those things had differing levels of success but it's something that the manufacturers struggle with on a daily basis, especially in this economy with people holding onto vehicles longer.

The sad reality is that consumers have already accepted the license model for software as the iPad and PC markets have been long established. I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain that they can't resell their iTunes music or iPad games and frankly, it's been a while since I've heard anyone complain about the fact that PC games can't be freely transferred even if you buy them on physical media. Heck, SimCity was a textbook case of a botched launch and draconian DRM with an always-on requirement and that still sold 1.6 million copies with 800K of those digital.

While I am personally disturbed by Microsoft's news to the point where I won't be buying the Xbox One at launch and perhaps not ever, I am skeptical that the general gaming public is going to care all that much particularly in a world where millions of people regularly buy used games at Gamestop for $5-$10 below the new MSRP and accept half of what they paid when they trade them back in. Those same people probably won't care very much if they are paying that money to Gamestop or Microsoft or anyone else.