Abolishing second-hand game sales, an anti-consumer scheme

A new patent filed by Sony last month is set to cause plenty of controversy among gamers as this plan looks set to abolish the second-hand games industry, and will be regarded as an anti-consumer scheme. If this is implemented to their next generation console, we can see many loyal Sony system owners turning their back on the next PlayStation.

With speculation surrounding the release of the PS4, we could be waiting anywhere up to a year and a half for this console to come out, and going by reports if the 720 comes out sooner many gamers may make the transition over to the new Xbox because of this. In an article on Gamechup.com, they highlight Sony’s new patent that was filed on the 9th of December 2012, although it could take two or three years to implement this new tech.

According to Sony’s Japanese division, SCEJ, this could get rid of the second-hand market, as the current situation is not seeing the money redistributed among the developers. In addition, those buying second hand games are putting themselves out of the market of potential buyers, although we feel that publishers and developers should only be entitled to the earning they get from the initial sales, not continuous reselling of items.

There is a long way to go before this sort of idea can be implemented, and many say this will take away consumer rights to resell their games, especially when games are being credited and sold for a fraction of the launch price. In some cases, many gamers may feel that a game they paid over 40 pounds for is rubbish and we understand that they should be able to get back some of that money they lost by selling it on to whomever they choose.

A large majority of gamers will feel this is outrageous and those having problems with their system may find that their games are deemed useless as well, so we are taking this news with a pinch of salt, while Sony sit down and contemplate how this will or won’t work. On a personal note, I feel that once you buy a product it is yours to do what you want with, and the only reason I have accumulated so many games is because I would sell them, but certain retailers will only offer a few quid for them, so I would rather give them to a friend.

There are many people out there in the comfortable position to pay over £40 for a game, but if it is rubbish, many of us will refrain from spending money on further games, regardless of whether developers continue to make money on existing titles. Putting this into perspective, this doesn’t happen in other trades, the likes of BMW don’t receive additional money every time their used cars are sold on, because the initial price covers this, and those buying a second hand motor are not really potential customers for their brand new vehicles. Do you feel this is commercial suicide for Sony and any other company that decides to implement this?