DRM situation on downloadable games for Wii, 360, and PS3

[Wolfpup]

This is a serious issue I've seen basically no one talk about. ALl three systems are giving us downloadable games and/or content, but paying for games that way is idiotic unless you OWN the games you buy, and can in some fashion play them on another system-otherwise, if your system breaks, or you get a newer model, or whatever, everything you spent is lost.

So what IS the DRM situation? Here's what I know so far:

-Playstation 3/PSP-Who knows? I've seen NOTHING about the DRM situation for Sony.

-X-Box 360-It's tied to your Live account, meaning it is possible to play them on a different console. The catch is that you can lose a Hotmail/MSN/Live account if you don't use it often enough. I've already lost access to one Live account, and had I purchased any games on it, they'd all be gone.

-Wii-to date, everything I've read says games are tied to a particular console. That if it breaks, you literally have to send it in to Nintendo and get the same console back, or you've lost your whole virtual console library.
Is this really the case? If so, this is completely unacceptable.

The Apple/iTunes model would seem to be superior to the console models so far. They let you authorize multiple computers, and more importantly, you can deauthorize a computer, and then authorize a different one. Had Nintendo done that, it would mean the only time you'd need an internet connection was if you got a new system, just to deauthorize one Wii and authroize the new one-then your VC games would all work whether connected to the net or not. There would need to be a provision so that you could send a broken Wii to Nintendo as proof that it was dead, and have them deauthorize it allowing you to authorize on a new system.

Anyone know more about the DRM situation than that?

[AshesofWake]

It was announced a few weeks/months? ago that the PS3 Downloads can be used on 5 systems if I remember correctly.

[soonersfan60]

Nintendo said you can call them to retrieve games if they get erased/lost, so maybe this will be a bit like iTunes.

[SpazX]

For the Wii you can actually redownload any titles you've bought in case you delete them or lose them, but if the console breaks or you buy a new one you have to call them or something. It might be tied to your MyNintendo account somehow, I'm not entirely sure.

[Wolfpup]

It was announced a few weeks/months? ago that the PS3 Downloads can be used on 5 systems if I remember correctly.

Do you have link to anything from Sony? Not that I don't believe you, I'd just like to read all the details, like whether you can deauthorize stuff, etc. Hopefully they'll just go the Apple route, which isn't too terrible. I've seen NOTHING on how this works with Sony.

For the Wii you can actually redownload any titles you've bought in case you delete them or lose them, but if the console breaks or you buy a new one you have to call them or something. It might be tied to your MyNintendo account somehow, I'm not entirely sure.

So far, it looks like the only option is sending in that specific broken unit for repair. Doesn't sound like there's any other way to get your library back.

Nintendo said you can call them to retrieve games if they get erased/lost, so maybe this will be a bit like iTunes.

Nope, it's tied to your one system apparently. Redownloading stuff doesn't really help much.

[wubb]

Do you have link to anything from Sony? Not that I don't believe you, I'd just like to read all the details, like whether you can deauthorize stuff, etc. Hopefully they'll just go the Apple route, which isn't too terrible. I've seen NOTHING on how this works with Sony.

The latest OPM mentioned this same thing FWIW. That you'll be able to login to your account and redownload any games bought to multiple consoles. Specifically said you could use it to show your friends a game you bought. It didn't give a lot of specifics beyond this, though.

However it also had a short blurb talking about how you can set up multiple user accounts on a PS3 and then all of your save data, downloads, etc. will be tied to the user. So I'm guessing this means if you and your brother both have user accounts and you buy a game, your brother won't see it when he is logged in as himself? If so, that is very lame.

I'm curious about how this stuff will work (at the nitty gritty level) myself. Good topic.

[botticus]

Nintendo has a record of every game you buy, so if your system breaks, there shouldn't be any problem getting them back when you get a new system. It is tied to your system in the sense that you can't use them on other systems, but they aren't lost forever if your system dies.

Definitely used the word "system" too much there.

I doubt it really matters too much, the DRM on all of these will probably be hacked soon enough.

[Wolfpup]

Nintendo has a record of every game you buy, so if your system breaks, there shouldn't be any problem getting them back when you get a new system. It is tied to your system in the sense that you can't use them on other systems, but they aren't lost forever if your system dies.

Definitely used the word "system" too much there.

I doubt it really matters too much, the DRM on all of these will probably be hacked soon enough.

But will that count if you just go out and buy a new system rather than going through Nintendo's repair stuff? Or if you buy a "Wii Lite" or that kind of thing down the road?

[Puffa469]

The Wii will let you redownload any games youve purchased not only if your Wii breaks or you buy a new one, but simply because you can fill up the Wii's onboard memory with vc downloads. Rather than have the memory limit restrict how many games you can purchase, Nintendo will let you delete games to make room for more games. You can delete and redownload to your hearts content. If you buy a new Wii, it should be a simple matter of registering it and redownloading all your vc games.


BTW: I read the user agreement that pops up when you connect your Wii to the internet, and they make it very clear that you are NOT buying these vc games. You are licensing them for your personal use on your Wii. Nintendo reserves the right to revoke that license at any time for any reason.

[Wolfpup]

The Wii will let you redownload any games youve purchased not only if your Wii breaks or you buy a new one, but simply because you can fill up the Wii's onboard memory with vc downloads. Rather than have the memory limit restrict how many games you can purchase, Nintendo will let you delete games to make room for more games. You can delete and redownload to your hearts content. If you buy a new Wii, it should be a simple matter of registering it and redownloading all your vc games.

The problem is we've had no actual confirmation that you CAN just set them up to work on a new console.

BTW: I read the user agreement that pops up when you connect your Wii to the internet, and they make it very clear that you are NOT buying these vc games. You are licensing them for your personal use on your Wii. Nintendo reserves the right to revoke that license at any time for any reason.

That's technically true of any game or software or movie you buy. The difference being if you buy a physical Wii game, Nintendo can't come and take it away from you, and can't stop you from playing it on your new Wii, or your friend's Wii, or whatever.

[Puffa469]

The problem is we've had no actual confirmation that you CAN just set them up to work on a new console.

That's technically true of any game or software or movie you buy. The difference being if you buy a physical Wii game, Nintendo can't come and take it away from you, and can't stop you from playing it on your new Wii, or your friend's Wii, or whatever.

yeah I realize that its the same legalese thats in all user agreements, but if you actually read the user agreement in the Wii, its a little bit scary. The reserve soo many rights... to collect info about you, to use that info in any way, etc. I read that agreement and really didnt want to click on 'I Agree' lol.

[Wolfpup]

Wow. I that's kind of scary. I'm not sure what to think about the Wii. Since playing it yesterday, and realizing I probably can't even take advantage of the virtual console, I've actually been reconsidering whether I want it or not. That's the first time that's happened with a Nintendo console ever.

[myxyplik]

It's probably beyond the scope of this thread, but here's an article on Blu-Ray's DRM. (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1846092,00.asp)

It's actually page 2, but I wanted to quote what I think is the most important part.

If an exploit is published for a particular player, that player may be "turned off," or disabled, according to Setos, a process known as "revocation". He described a scenario where an exploit was published for a particular model of player. The player provider would then be obligated to update the player via BD+, while the serial number of an actual hacked machine could be detected and disabled.

"It detects if the product is properly operating," Setos said. "If it's a hijacked one, it will refuse to play."

Bolded and italicized for emphasis.

This is why I will never get a PS3.

[Wolfpup]

What does that actually amount to though? Is it more of a PC thing? They'd have to include a list of every player on every disc if they were going to block movies from running on some models.

And yeah, the DRM is one of the reasons I won't touch Blu Ray OR HD-DVD (which is just as bad) for movies. But it makes no difference for games on a proprietary system.