Industry analyst Michael Pachter has some strong words to describe the rumors swirling around the used game compatibility of next-generation systems. The idea has been circling that the PlayStation 4/Orbis and Xbox 720 will feature a lockout system that would prevent players from playing used games. Whether it’s a simple online pass to pair a game with one console or going completely discless, there has been a lot of conjecture as to what will be happening with DRM in the future consoles.
Pachter provides a convincing argument that fear of competition will keep used games on the shelves and in your new next-gen console. He believes that if one of the consoles takes the chance on barring used games, the others will reap the reward by simply allowing them. It would be death for any new console to alienate such a huge base of gamers right out of the gate. Or, in other words, “so stupid as to be laughable.”
“Unless you believe in collusion – unless you believe that all the console manufacturers are going to get together and scheme to screw the consumer, and at least in the U.S. we have laws against that, so probably none of them would do that – then if one of them did that unilaterally (any one of those things), the others would say, “Hey wait a minute, we have a disc drive. Ours will play used games. Buy ours instead of there’s.”
“[It’s] not happening. Not even a prayer of that.”
Those words are music to the ears of every gamer on a budget. If everything happens like he says, used games will be here to stay and you won’t have to worry about your wallet being raided by your controller.
[Source: Game Informer]
