Buzzkill: Third parties can dictate their own DRM, says Tretton

Knew it was probably too good to be true but didn't say anything because I didn't want to jinx it. Guess it didn't matter.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/11/4419476/playstation-4-third-party-publishers-can-dictate-their-own-drm-terms

""The DRM decision is going to have to be answered by the third parties, it's not something we're going to control, or dictate, or mandate, or implement," Tretton added."

Pretty brilliant (and incredibly sneaky) move by Sony. They get their press conference moment that everyone will remember, then slip this in as a clarification later, with fewer people being aware of it. With this situation it's not going to really be that different than what Microsoft has as far as potential DRM. No check ins I'd hope/assume, but it's not like EA is going to restrict on one but not the other.

I think a better question would be to what does that really mean? Is it like Microsoft where they have a built in system for it? It doesn't seem like it. Is it like EA where they required you to enter a code to be able to play online? I could see this happening.

It's too easy to make it bigger than it may actually be. Not worth fretting about it outside of trying to get clarification.

That's like saying EA can't do the same thing on the PS360 or Wii U. 

Developers like EA, etc, could have locked used games on the PS360 by making an online pass code be required to play the full game and not just the online.  They've done it with Alice Madness Returns for the PS3 which included the original Alice on disc.  Attempt to play the Alice and it wouldn't work unless you had the online pass activated on your system.

While Microsoft doing this at a system level might push some publishers to do this.  People just won't buy the games.  The game will bomb, and hopefully those same publishers won't be stupid enough to try it again.

Sony wasn't being sneaky.  They were telling the truth, because it's exactly the same as the PS3 is right now.  They don't want to say that publishers can't do anything though, because publishers can.  They have no control over what the publishers do with passes and such.  To think such would be stupid.  Just like people who think coffee won't burn you, or that cruise control means auto pilot.  Sony just doesn't want to get sued by some idiot out there that doesn't have common sense.

I'd say it means that Sony is passing the buck on the blame for shitty DRM, just like MS did. Sony just did it in a much more clever way.

More clarification would be nice, but if Sony "isn't mandating," it'll probably be a while before we start hearing things from companies about how they are going to restrict stuff. No one is going to want to be the first to say "yeah, your game only works for you" (or whatever they come up with).

kupomogli said:

Sony wasn't being sneaky.

Click to expand...

Uh huh.

If you really think Sony would have presented it the way they did last night if MS hadn't received such negativity, I have some land to sell you. It was total pandering to their audience to get a positive reaction at the expense of being upfront about their policy. The way they presented it was as if "we saw what those dirty bastards at Microsoft did, and no sir, we won't be privy to it! NO DRM!!!"..and don't pretend it wasn't.

don't read any more into this than you should, folks.

3rd parties have the same exact ability to dictate their own DRM on the PS3/360 today.  Sony isn't changing anything about how it works.

Yup. It's the same as it is today. This is a nothing story.

Erad30 said:

Yup. It's the same as it is today. This is a nothing story.

Click to expand...

That's what I'm expecting... I'm sure we'll continue to see online passes and whatnot. Sony already confrimed this before E3 that this was the case. I'm not sure why this is news now...

This is in no way a sneaky move by Sony.  It is just reaffirming the DRM from this gen.  As much as we hate online passes some companies will always use them.  That's all this announcement is saying.

"Rather than speculate, we went directly to Sony to find out what’s going on. Turns out, it’s a very similar system to what’s in place on the PS3 now. According to Dan Race, Senior Director, Corporate Communications for Sony, Tretton’s statements were referring specifically to playing used games online. He told me, The Online Pass program for PlayStation first-party games will not continue on PlayStation 4. Similar to PS3, we will not dictate the online used game strategy (the ability to play used games online) of its publishing partners. As announced last night, PS4 will not have any gating restrictions for used disc-based games. When a gamer buys a PS4 disc they have right to use that copy of the game, so they can trade-in the game at retail, sell it to another person, lend it to a friend, or keep it forever."

It should just read some companies might require online passes. People are blowing this out of the water and making it a bigger deal than it really is.

If I had to guess some butthurt MS Fanboy wrote this.