Kotaku: We asked 3 questions to Sony about DRM and Used Games

I'm pretty critical of Kotaku. But honestly, I don't really see a problem with this article. I actually appreciate J putting pressure on Sony to get answers to a topic that will impacts us all greatly. The gaming community came together for the NODRM campaign. But that's just ONE side of the equation. Journalists that also care about this issue (regardless of the side they fall on the used game debate) - should also be asking questions and putting pressure.

I do get that if you have a mistrust for Kotaku, you might view this as an empty article just to get clicks. And really, that has to do with what you feel was the intention of the article/writer (and again the trust you have with the author/site). So I get it, I understand why some might feel the way they do.

I guess the only thing I question is, who is it that they asked? What is the standard procedure for asking these questions? Are they just sent to a generic PR/ email for the company? And if so, isn't there an expectation that the PR will respond with a generic statement like this?

I've worked in the film and music industry, and it seems pretty common for PR reps for major companies to not answer important topics (that usually would be answered by the execs/ or via an official statement from the top). So did Kotaku really expect to get a real answer from this PR (have they in the past on other issues?).

Just my thoughts.
 
Not a good sign unless Sony is waiting for a huge E3 announcement to stick it to Microsoft, which I doubt.
 
EA killed their DRM. That should be telling.

Did MS every said all games would require the connections?
Maybe both MS and Sony will let publishers decide.

Oh god I didn't even fully piece that together till I read your post, the thoughts were floating around in my head but you put them all into place. EA killed their online pass because next gen consoles have a forced online pass system, that has got to be the biggest reason.


It is so obvious, and it was probably stated a billion times but I was oblivious. I just wanted to believeeeee.
 
By that logic, you could email any publisher 50 questions and once you get the standard 'no comment' reply, you can update your own blog site with 50 articles a day.
If you think no news is news, you're doing it wrong.

This wasn't a standard no comment and you're not exactly using a comparable example.
 
It would only be a backlash if it was bad news.

Define bad news...

Maybe it's not exactly "No, we don't have any DRM" but it's something close. Most likely someone (probably at Kotaku) would take it and run with a sensationalist story that bashes Sony for being worse than Microsoft when in reality, the DRM was something trivial like you need to register your game with only one Vita at a time or something (just making this up as I go...). Now Sony has to have their PR guys quell the masses and calm everyone down when in reality they should have just kept their mouths shut.

...which is what they are doing right now.
 
Because they see how much shit Microsoft is getting and don't want to receive it too. Better for it to remain nebulous to keep hype levels high until after E3. They're going to drop the bomb then.

I think that would be even worse for Sony especially after the twitter campaign. Its gonna seem like Sony stabbed their fans in the back after praising how passionate they are. Sony is between a rock and a hard place now.
 
If they leave it up to publishers, that likely means they will have to implement their own system and put resources on the line just like on PS3. That alone will guarantee that many publishers won't bother with this.
 
If they've got negative answers to these questions, keeping quiet will only help until they break the silence, and at that point there will be even more of a backlash because we'll be aware that Sony were just humouring us.

If Sony announce at E3 that they're taking the same measures as Microsoft, then I'm sure I'll find the capacity to hate them both equally. If they announce it now, I'll still be super annoyed, but at least Sony would have had the balls to let us know before E3.

They should get it all out the way now anyway so that everyone is clear on the message before E3. Microsoft should do the same, because I'm still not sure what's going on.
 
I don't know why some people are giving shit to Kotaku for that article by saying they were "trolling" or "fishing for hits" when the title of said article is "Sony Won't Answer These Questions About PS4 DRM and Used Games... Yet".
 
If they've got negative answers to these questions, keeping quiet will only help until they break the silence, and at that point there will be even more of a backlash because we'll be aware that Sony were just humouring us.

If Sony announce at E3 that they're taking the same measures as Microsoft, then I'm sure I'll find the capacity to hate them both equally. If they announce it now, I'll still be super annoyed, but at least Sony would have had the balls to let us know before E3.

They should get it all out the way now anyway so that everyone is clear on the message before E3. Microsoft should do the same, because I'm still not sure what's going on.
They probably can't, because they don't have the resources MS has. It will be just like they said a publisher decision. If a publisher wants to do it he has to provide his own servers and software.
 
I'm pretty critical of Kotaku. But honestly, I don't really see a problem with this article.

Same. Schreir has been trying to help us keep attention on this issue, and help us keep pressure on Sony regarding DRM. I'm very critical of a lot of his stuff, but he's been great on this issue. Posted support in the thread, wrote two other articles about it and now this.

Ironically, people will probably still look at Giant Bomb more favorably despite their massive let down on this, the most critical gaming issue of our time.

"WHY AREN'T GAME JOURNALISTS ASKING ENOUGH QUESTIONS"

"ASKING QUESTIONS? YOU MUST BE TROLLING FOR HITS"

In this case, I agree with you. People are really acting like idiots here.
 
If they leave it up to publishers, that likely means they will have to implement their own system and put resources on the line just like on PS3. That alone will guarantee that many publishers won't bother with this.

Well I wouldn't count on that. If it's important to the publisher, they will take the time to do it, because it only needs to be done once.

However, I actually don't like that... That means games by different publishers will have different ways of activating and there is a higher chance their system will have issues. What I think Sony should do is create the system themselves, so its consistent and known to be of good quality, but still leave it up to the publishers to decide if they want to use that or not.

Anyways, I'm glad Kotaku is asking Sony the tough questions. Hopefully we get some clarity at E3. I do expect their used games to be similar to the One though, because I'd guess that you will activate even retail games, so you don't have to switch discs, and you still have the game even if you lose your discs or they break. If not, then they probably will do something like the 360 has where you install it to the HDD, but you need the disc in to verify.
 
Loltaku meltdown!

Seriously though, your site is a joke.

seriously?

God I hate the attitude of some posters around here.

Results or not, He did what we all asked him to do.

i rememeber the why isn't anyone asking Sony posts after the XBone reveal...so to see this reaction is just sad. He said they JUST got a response back.

wtf guys. Attack Kotaku when they actually post a reactionary bad article not when they are just reporting back what they heard...for fucks sake.
 
I don't know why some people are giving shit to Kotaku for that article by saying they were "trolling" or "fishing for hits" when the title of said article is "Sony Won't Answer These Questions About PS4 DRM and Used Games... Yet".

I understand why people detest Kotaku. I do most of the time too for certain articles but this article is fine and actually worth looking at.
Sony's blatant secrecy is troubling. If they really had nothing to hide then they wouldn't answer like that
 
Anyone know if the 24 hour drm has a connection with the used game stuff? Like what is the possible reason for that? I know for used games its for publishers but what about the 24 hour drm?
 
Pretty much this.

If we are going to give Kotaku crap when they deserve it, we also should give them credit when they deserve it as well.

Agreed.

It's important that people know that there are still many outstanding questions, even for the PS4 and its policies.
 
Sony is never going to comment on this directly. Not even during E3. This is not the kind of thing anyone would ever address during a conference either.

Or, if Sony leaves this up to individual publishers (which I suspect will happen), they will comment to that effect.
 
Loltaku meltdown!

Seriously though, your site is a joke.

I mean come on Kotaku. 10 days before the biggest PR-circlejerkfest in recent entertainment history and you expect companies like Sony, who have a lot at stake, to become loose-lipped? Did you guys honestly expect answers and found it worthy to post an article about the standard rephrased non-answer you could get? The twitter action from GAF got some "hey cool guys" posts and a troll post from @yosp. That's all you will get until June 10th.

I can somewhat understand you get chewed out for that by some users. You also stated some rumors that Geoff Keighley spread around, but you could have easily made articles about other insiders GAF provides like Crazy Buttocks or the user who predicted Ubi's line-up in February.
 
It's almost certainly going to be "the publishers choice" and they will get a free pass from gamers because it's not their fault.

If that turns out to be the case, why shouldn't Sony get a "free pass"?

If some publishers have really convinnced themselves (and their shareholders) that all their financial woes are due to used games, Sony wouldn't be able to strongarm those guys into not implementing DRM anyway. How could they? If they were to say, "Uou can't publish titles with DRM on our platform", those pubs would just drop PS4 support and throw all their weight behind Xbone instead. It's not Sony's fault that these guys are convinced all their problems will go away if they could just get rid of Gamestop. If Sony doesn't make DRM mandatory for third parties and doesn't implement it in their own titles, at least more enlightened publishers have the option of not going that route. And maybe after we see some non-DRM'ed titles outsell similar games with DRM on the same console, the DRM-happy types might change their tune.
 
seriously?

God I hate the attitude of some posters around here.

Results or not, He did what we all asked him to do.

i rememeber the why isn't anyone asking Sony posts after the XBone reveal...so to see this reaction is just sad. He said they JUST got a response back.

wtf guys. Attack Kotaku when they actually post a reactionary bad article not when they are just reporting back what they heard...for fucks sake.

I should have been clear, I'm mostly laughing at the notion that Kotaku is special enough to have questions like this answered less than 2 weeks before E3. You'd have to be a fucking moron to think they would answer these questions clearly after dodging them for this long.

I mean come on Kotaku. 10 days before the biggest PR-circlejerkfest in recent entertainment history and you expect companies like Sony, who have a lot at stake, to become loose-lipped? Did you guys honestly expect answers and found it worthy to post an article about the standard rephrased non-answer you could get? The twitter action from GAF got some "hey cool guys" posts and a troll post from @yosp. That's all you will get until June 10th.

I can somewhat understand you get chewed out for that by some users. You stated some rumors that Geoff Keighley spread around, but you could have easily made articles about other insiders GAF provides like Crazy Buttocks or the user who predicted Ubi's line-up in February.

Exactly this.

I understand they have nothing to write about, that's not my problem.
 
I don't expect either MS or Sony to say any more about any of this until E3 floor shows are over. And I don't expect Sony to come out of this completely clean either, it seems inconceivable that only MS would be doing this all by itself otherwise surely Sony would've gladly chimed in by now with a big shit-eating grin on it's face.
 
I have a bad feeling about this. Pretty sure Sony will have some sort of DRM, the industry will make sure they will. Maybe not their first party games but the rest will have DRM.

Anyway, will wait for E3 in 12 days.
 
Well I wouldn't count on that. If it's important to the publisher, they will take the time to do it, because it only needs to be done once.

However, I actually don't like that... That means games by different publishers will have different ways of activating and there is a higher chance their system will have issues. What I think Sony should do is create the system themselves, so its consistent and known to be of good quality, but still leave it up to the publishers to decide if they want to use that or not.

Anyways, I'm glad Kotaku is asking Sony the tough questions. Hopefully we get some clarity at E3. I do expect their used games to be similar to the One though, because I'd guess that you will activate even retail games, so you don't have to switch discs, and you still have the game even if you lose your discs or they break. If not, then they probably will do something like the 360 has where you install it to the HDD, but you need the disc in to verify.
And they will probably drop it as soon as they notice it doesn't help at all. I can see EA sticking with it. Ubisoft and Activision both don't really care about used games, they will leave it alone after a while I'm almost 100% sure. Just not worth the trouble if it doesn't increase your profits. Publishers will soon realize this.
 
I mean come on Kotaku. 10 days before the biggest PR-circlejerkfest in recent entertainment history and you expect companies like Sony, who have a lot at stake, to become loose-lipped? Did you guys honestly expect answers and found it worthy to post an article about the standard rephrased non-answer you could get? The twitter action from GAF got some "hey cool guys" posts and a troll post from @yosp. That's all you will get until June 10th.

I can somewhat understand you get chewed out for that by some users. You stated some rumors that Geoff Keighley spread around, but you could have easily made articles about other insiders GAF provides like Crazy Buttocks or the user who predicted Ubi's line-up in February.

So no one should ask them questions? What is the point of asking them questions ever then? There is always something "coming up".

I don't get the finger pointing at Kotaku here. Sony is the one ducking and dodging.
 
Anyone know if the 24 hour drm has a connection with the used game stuff? Like what is the possible reason for that? I know for used games its for publishers but what about the 24 hour drm?

Probably so the console can phone home and make sure the authorized content is still authorized. For booth reselling games and doing license transfers between consoles--like if you transfer your 360 licenses, but pull the old console offline first , your XBLA games keep working. Forcing a checkin daily limits how long you could play content offline before it forces a check.
 
"WHY AREN'T GAME JOURNALISTS ASKING ENOUGH QUESTIONS"

"ASKING QUESTIONS? YOU MUST BE TROLLING FOR HITS"

This is getting a little silly now. That's not most people's problem, and you know it. Your problem is, your interviewer asked a question, got a lukewarm/non-news response and tried to make a big deal over it.
 
I mean come on Kotaku. 10 days before the biggest PR-circlejerkfest in recent entertainment history and you expect companies like Sony, who have a lot at stake, to become loose-lipped? Did you guys honestly expect answers and found it worthy to post an article about the standard rephrased non-answer you could get?
Posting another article about it helps keep pressure on them, and helps keep DRM in the spotlight leading up to E3. Highlighting their silence here puts more pressure on them to answer at E3.

The article is probably written just to help those of us who care about this issue. That's why attacking him for writing this one is extra stupid.
 
So no one should ask them questions? What is the point of asking them questions ever then? There is always something "coming up".

I don't get the finger pointing at Kotaku here. Sony is the one ducking and dodging.

They didn't get real answers. So why post the article?

That's my main point.

Posting another article about it helps keep pressure on them, and helps keep DRM in the spotlight leading up to E3. Highlighting their silence here puts more pressure on them to answer at E3.

The article is probably written just to help those of us who care about this issue. That's why attacking him for writing this one is extra stupid.

If this was true Microsoft would be on their knees by now but they are not.
 
Anyone know if the 24 hour drm has a connection with the used game stuff? Like what is the possible reason for that? I know for used games its for publishers but what about the 24 hour drm?


The 24 hour connection is because of used games and the ability to move your account. If you didn't have to connect , then you could sell a game and just continue to play offline indefinitely.
 
I should have been clear, I'm mostly laughing at the notion that Kotaku is special enough to have questions like this answered less than 2 weeks before E3. You'd have to be a fucking moron to think they would answer these questions clearly after dodging them for this long.

I understand they have nothing to write about, that's not my problem.

I don't think it is crazy for questions to be asked at any time. Especially ones concerning the future of DRM in the industry. It will have a big effect on gaming, whatever side of the coin you are on.

And Sony is dodging questions, so everyone should just stop asking them according to you? That shouldn't be how it works. I am more apt to keep questioning the person who doesn't answer.
 
The 24 hour connection is because of used games and the ability to move your account. If you didn't have to connect , then you could sell a game and just continue to play offline indefinitely.

Pretty sure it's ensure that multiple people can't install and play the game from one disc as all games install and run from the hard drive without the need of the disc.
 
Anyone know if the 24 hour drm has a connection with the used game stuff? Like what is the possible reason for that? I know for used games its for publishers but what about the 24 hour drm?
To enforce it? Games have to be installed on the hard drive. If there isn't a 24 hour check, you can install the games on as many consoles as you like if they're all offline. The check ensures that if you install the game on second console, that the license will be deactivated on the original console in the next 24 hours.
 
What effect has it had?

Dramatically increased awareness of the issue. Multiple Sony employees already commented that it had a huge effect, and that the message was heard at the highest levels.

Considering your posts on this whole topic, I know debating any of this with you is going to be pointless.

Yes, there's no proof it had ANY effect as of yet.

I remain skeptical.

And you guys say Kotaku is a joke? Great job being hostile to someone trying to help you keep some consumer rights.
 
I don't think it is crazy for questions to be asked at any time. Especially ones concerning the future of DRM in the industry. It will have a big effect on gaming, whatever side of the coin you are on.

And Sony is dodging questions, so everyone should just stop asking them according to you? That shouldn't be how it works. I am more apt to keep questioning the person who doesn't answer.

That's cool, I'm just pointing out how out of touch you'd have to be to expect an answer on this less than 2 weeks before they plan on answering it.

The fact that they turned it into an article is just icing on the cake.
 
Dramatically increased awareness of the issue. Multiple Sony employees already commented that it had a huge effect, and that the message was heard at the highest levels.

Considering your posts on this whole topic, I know debating any of this with you is going to be pointless.

Which Sony employees said it had a 'huge effect'?
 
Dramatically increased awareness of the issue. Multiple Sony employees already commented that it had a huge effect, and that the message was heard at the highest levels.

Considering your posts on this whole topic, I know debating any of this with you is going to be pointless.



And you guys say Kotaku is a joke? Great job being hostile to someone trying to help you keep some consumer rights. I hope Schreir writes more articles like this.

We are the minority,if they planned to do it then they will do it.
 
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