Sony to Charge $20 to Used SOCOM PSP Buyers

Bullshit. It has nothing to do with Piracy. People will still crack and copy the game, while Legit owners and potential buyers of a used copy will get bent over by Sony. Wasnt their an article about this not to long ago, where game companys wanted profits from used games? EA I think it was.

Again, NOTHING to do with piracy.

This has nothing to do with piracy. If it was only piracy, they would require you to register at no cost or very minimal cost. $20 is crazy! The game has been paid for; it doesn't matter if it is one user using the game for 2 years straight or 5 different users using the game over 2 years.

Measures like this will kill the used game market and will not generate many more sales for Sony. It's all supply and demand: users that pay for used games WOULD have bought the game new if they could have afforded it or if they thought it was worth the amount of money.

Last I checked games were not only sold to 1 end user only. Sony should be happy people are BUYING a used copy and not pirating! This will only increase pirating!

I guess Gamestop will not like this idea much...lol

So does that mean... that $37 is only for the license to play the game... and it is non-transferable?.... what if I happen to upgrade my PSP3000 to PSPgo? I have to pay $20 extra on the game I own?

hmmm... that does not sound right to me... >_<

Not sure if this one was smart Sony. But what if someone don't use their PSP on internet access.

This is going to completely destroy the game. This to me has nothing to do with piracy so much as just making more money on the games.

@Pharge: If you bought the game then upgraded then you would still have to re-buy the game anyways.... but with the voucher idea then Sony MIGHT be able to have a way for you to transfer the game over to the PSPgo, although I doubt it...

Money hungry Bastards!!!!! This BS sickens my stomach. Pepto anyone .... It wouldnt help anyway.

You're actually going to save $17 since you would need to rebuy the game anyway to get it on the PSPGo just like every other game on the PSP. "Upgrading" from a PSP 2k or PSP 3k really isn't an upgrade...

I don't mind this since I do not resell any game I buy and vehemently hate GameStops used game resale policies not to mention how they train their workers. It's sad for the Mom and Pop shops, but if you have a gamestop move into the area the mom and pop shop isn't going to last much longer (I know there are exceptions but they are few and far between).

It's not wrong for a company to want to make more money. If the car industry could make $ on private used car sales they would (and since taxes are involved I guess they did make some $ back). The difference between cars and games though, is when you buy a game, the manufacturer (developer) can expect $0 ever. In the car industry they can at least count on some cash from replacement parts.

I think this is the right move. I wish they would do this for every single multiplayer game out there - it would seriously cut down on cheaters as well, since they could ban the account(which would lose your $40 investment in the title). Right now, PSN and XBL are barely enforcing restrictions on modded consoles or cheaters.

I don't understand how everyone is so upset about this - look at Steam. You don't even get a disc, and you can't transfer the purchase. Consider that console makers take a hit on selling the hardware, in the attempt to get you to buy software, then they get licensing fees to compensate for the lost hardware money. Piracy is only one half of the equation for this change, the other half is revenue on 1st time purchases.

This won't fly. The Supreme Court ruled this last year that software is owned by the people who buy it (though it's still subject some licensing). The right of first sale will prevent Sony's little test run from working. They'll have a big ol' lawsuit, pay a bit of money, and everyone will forget it ever happened.

Sony can charge to use the network, they cannot charge for used software sold by 3rd parties. If they actual network has no charge, then neither does the used title. That's just how these things work.

Given the nature of prior PSN access, I think Sony may be treading into some legal gray area. One must remember that when you purchase a copy of SOCOM, you're not buying a license; according to US law, you're buying that game. EULAs have zero legal weight whatsoever for a purchased product. The only legal "protections" a maker can have are through copyright law alone. (DRM itself is in legal gray area; it potentially can violate a buyer's own rights under copyright law)

I know one thing, at the very least; very few people will be willing to go along with this. Sony will certainly make close to nothing off of this ham-fisted attempt at money-grubbing. I'm not sure how it'll go legally, since it'll be a ONE-TIME fee, which could potentially be classified as a "sale" rather than "license."

Yes, EA wanted to profit off of the used games market, but theirs was a more acceptable attempt. (if of questionable chance of success) Their tactic basically equated to offering a special discount on DLC available to used-game buyers; i.e, it actually semi-screwed over NEW game buyers, as the used buyers got the disc for less, and also got DLC cheaper. Something that they can still be lauded for, even though such a program may be liable to fail to gain much ground.

Sony's attempt is far more unacceptable and malevolent; they're basically taking stuff away from used-game buyers. Depending on how they phrased the terms for PSN, it COULD be considered a legal violation. (EA's method was perfectly legal) Potentially unlikely, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sony finds themselves in the courtroom over their tactics. (for the umpteenth time...)

PSP's are popular?

Steam is completely different Most people who buy a non-VALVe game via Steam do so because they know and understand they cannot sell it off. VALVe games are theirs to do the way they prefer.

This is just insane. A new PSP title costs $60 to the original buyer. Then sold used fomr $40-50 depending on the title popularity and age. So if you wanted to get one thats $40, you pay $20 and Sony has just made another 33% on that game.

Its not a right move. Its all about money and thats it.

All PSP games should be offered on PSN (many of the good ones aren't), and all should cost $20.
I have already spent $170 on games for my N1000, and I will spend more, but the most I will spend on a single game for the platform is $20.

Sony, get your head out of your asses before you turn out like EA (everybody hates). The PSP is a wonderful platform, why won't you let us use it?
EA, what happened to you? You used to be a great company. Now you are by far the worse. Go screw yourself.


I've spent over $500 between the PSPgo itself, games, and accessories, but its become nothing more than a Sony labelled MP3 player for me.

LOL, consoles are next, at last you console/handheld fanboys will feel the pains of the pc fanboys (not that it's really a good thing, it's a sad sad terrible thing), join us in our rebellion!!!! Boycot em biches =D

I'm a PC gamer by heart, but I use a hand held for when I go to work.
I work with dangerous and heavy machinery, I'm not going to bring my Crysis rig with me. =)

Sorry I don't see what that has to do with me stating how fanboys of all types will eventually be burnt by things like this o.0

So now I can legally pirate this game if I want a 17$ discount?

To those that criticize steam. I'd also like to point out that games purchased on steam are almost always discounted. Sometimes substantially. I own many steam games that I purchased for less than half of their retail price.

This move is directly targeting the used game market. I think it has little to do with piracy.

If pricing is a problem you have another option. Do not purchase games. Do not play games. It will not cost you anything.

How is this news? Other game manufacturers already do crap like this. I bought a used copy of NBA Live 09. You can't use the 'special' features without paying, whereas otherwise you get them free for a ~ year when you register the game the first time. I paid to import my GH Smash Hits songs into GH5. The product code is only valid one time, though. So, if I ever sell my GH Smash Hits disc to someone, they would not be able to import those tracks into GH5.

The charges for add-ons, DLC, and other CRAP is no different. It's all about milking the custom as much as possible.

I hate how the gaming industry tries to vilify the used game market. Car manufacturers, books and the movie industry seems to have gotten along fine for years with the used and rental services around.

For those of you who are trying to justify buying a used to to buying a used product and first right of sale, they are two completely different things. The fact of the matter is:

You can easily copy, and reproduce any form of data (Ex. a game)

You cannot easily reproduce a car.

The games are too expensive - this in my opinion, is not the solution.

Sony doesn't seem to make very many smart decisions lately.

Excuse me while I fire up my torrent (download) server.

Sony is and has always been dumb. While they have been known to innovate the innovations are lost to time for lack of adoption, DAT as an example. After the PS2 fiasco, 4 of them in a year, absolute garbage, I will not buy another console, or anything else with the Sony logo on it.

I have always looked at Sony's computer products as "apple" light, pretty, shiny, proprietary, expensive.

I still have my walkman from high school and I still have my discman and they both still work, at least some things they made are quality.

I hate how they have basically made this game unrentable now too. With the price of games, alot of people rent a game before they buy it to make sure that it is something worth purchasing. With this form of 'piracy protection', renting a game would roughly equate to $25 or more.

With 8 billion loss lats year they (Sony) have to make the extra cash some how.

Throw it in the local harbor and think nothing of it. The more they charge the less they will get in the long run.

Honestly if I was gamestop or some other company who dealt with used games I would refuse to carry this game at all. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you lol

If they are worried about pissing off Sony, then just make sure to order very limited quantities and make sure its sales suck so bad that no one would ever think to do some crap like that ever again.

I have no interest in this game and don't even own a PSP, this makes me angry because one day in the future I probably will own one (I like to collect old systems and games) so me "Ohhh cool a nice PSP game for 1$ at a yard sale woot!!!" *goes home to play it* "GGRRRR Sony now you want me to pay another $20 for something I picked up for $1 ????" I can see these becoming somewhat collectible after 99.99% of the ones that do sell end up in land fills.

Well if Sony doesn't cancel this "idea" then i won't buy any sony products. Completly innapropriate, I might write a letter