The past few years have seen a battle rage as video game companies tried to limit or discourage the sale of second-hand titles. As the conflict continues, however, Sony may have possibly found a way to enforce its will: It simply won't allow used games to run on its hardware.
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan recently filed a patent for technology that could prevent people from playing used games on its consoles.
As Eurogamer reports, video game discs sold in stores would come built-in with a near field communication tag that a game console must recognize in order to be played. Since this tag would be recognized by the console itself, no Internet connection would be required for authentication. The game would only work again when inserted into that particular system. In sum, the tag structure resembles the system that banks use to identify individual cards.
"When the game is to be played, the reproduction device conveys the disc ID and a player ID to the use permission tag," said Sony in its patent document. "The use permission tag stores the terms of use of the game and determines whether a combination of the disc ID and the player ID conveyed from the reproduction device fulfills the terms of use or not."
Sony's wish to deter and overcome the sale of used games is clear, and the patent goes on to state that the company believes past efforts to deal with the second-hand games market, such as the use of codes, have been insufficient.
"Users may communicate to share the password between them and therefore the second-hand sales and purchases cannot be eliminated reliably," read the company's patent.
Many video game developers claim the sale of used games has hurt the industry in a number of ways. When games are re-sold by companies like GameStop, the developers see none of the profits. Should this patent become reality, the fate of retailers depending on used game sales may come into question. The mere revelation of Sony's patent sent GameStop's stock down 5 percent.
Sony hasn't indicated whether or not it will use this technology in its next generation PlayStation system, or if it will use it at all. New information on the company's next console is expected this June at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.
