EA Sports Locks Out Multiplayer Modes On Used Sales

[Wagewar47]

from ign.com...

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/108/1088634p1.html

EA tackles used game sales with new one-time only code.
by Jim Reilly

May 10, 2010 - EA Sports is going after the used game market.

Starting with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the publisher will introduce a new Online Pass, a one-time registration code included with each brand new copy of the game. The code allows players to access "online services, features and bonus content."

Those who purchase the game used can buy an Online Pass for $10 or sign up for a free 7-day trial. The pass will be implemented for NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, Madden NFL 11, NBA 11, FIFA 11, and EA Sports MMA as well. The pass offers different features for each title, however, players will not have access to basic multiplayer features if purchased used.

"You will be unable to play multiplayer online game modes or use your downloaded content in online game modes," EA says. Online leagues, dynasty and franchise modes are also only available with the Online Pass. The break down for each title can be seen on the publisher's official website.

"This is an important inflection point in our business because it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhance premium online services to the entire robust EA SPORTS online community," said Peter Moore, President of EA SPORTS.

Despite being the leader in used game sales, retailer GameStop, which acknowledged it plans to focus on digital content in the future, supports Electronic Arts' new direction.

"GameStop is excited to partner with such a forward-thinking publisher as Electronic Arts," said Dan DeMatteo, Chief Executive Officer of GameStop Corp. "This relationship allows us to capitalize on our investments to market and sell downloadable content online, as well as through our network of stores worldwide."

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My take on it. Since I'm paying $15/mo on FFXI, I usually only buy used games since I try to keep myself on a gaming budget. I will buy new games once in a while, but not very often. I'll survive not playing "Old Used EA Rehashed Sports Game 11" online.

It was only a matter of time before someone did it, not suprisingly EA. Now I think they did price it correctly. If you really, really, really, want to play your 1 used game online, $10 isn't really a big problem.

I don't like the thought that all other companies will begin doing this. Seeing the fact that the game was $59.99 new to start with, the companies lock content on the disc and then sell the locked content as a "downloadable map pack" or "expansion" for $5-$15, and now tack on $10 (or possibly more) for an "online-rights" privilege. Lower the price of the game and maybe more people would be willing to purchase new. And the last comment by the Gamestop CEO sounds corporately sleezy, as I'm sure they already have a deal with EA to sell the online pass at point-of-sale.

Maybe its because I'm old and scared of change, but I don't like where this is going.

 

[Raesvelg]

To be honest, I approve of EA's approach.

People decry steps taken against the used games market, but realize that the used games market is noticeably different from, say, the used video market that it's usually compared to. With DVDs (and VHS in ye olden days), people who buy a used copy are typically buying one to keep, else they'd just rent it for less money, watch it and then return it.

Most used games on the other hand, still have a fairly high chance of coming back to the store after a few weeks. Games take longer to complete than films, obviously, and renting Fallout 3 for a couple days in order to beat it is only practical if you're unemployed and utterly lifeless. So renting isn't nearly as cost-effective in this instance.

Hence there are people who get their games used, complete said games, then return the games for store credit and get more used games to play through, ad infinitum.

So you wind up with a glut of used games, and the more there are the more they get marked down, and so on. This kind of thing does hurt the bottom line of game companies, so it doesn't surprise me that they're taking steps to make the used game market either less appealing, or to get their cut from it.

 

[CidBahamut]

The only reason I'm not horribly opposed to this is that ideally it means fewer piles of rubbish sports games to sift through in the used games bin. The principle behind it is somewhat unsettling though.

 

[Wagewar47]

Another positive/negative side effect will be that used games (especially on eBay), in theory, will be cheaper due to the online pass limiting re-sale value a bit. Also the used price, again in theory, would drop in a shorter amount of time. Positive for the buyer... not so much for the seller though. But probably still better than selling your used game back to Gamestop for $5 in store credit so they can re-sell for $40.

 

[Skaw]

And the last comment by the Gamestop CEO sounds corporately sleezy, as I'm sure they already have a deal with EA to sell the online pass at point-of-sale.

You're right. It's the same thing as Mass Effect 2. Every new copy of ME2 comes with a code you activate to get a bunch of free DLC. They also sell the same thing on the Microsoft/Sony Marketplace for used copies. It's a way for developers to get money off used games, which would otherwise be a profit-less exchange for them. It's about time someone has manned up and realized Piracy isn't the big money blackhole they make it out to be, it's the second hand market.

So, yes. Every new game of EA <Sports of your Choice> <Year of Edition> will come with a code to enable online play already inserted in the case.

 

[Xalioniaf]

The newest PSP SOCOM title did this too.
Honestly, as long as retailers in the used game market make it clear to buyers that the online function will run them a bit extra, I see no problems with this.

 

[Raesvelg]

No, piracy, particularly on PC games, remains a huge black hole.

One recent bundle of indie games was released on the "pay whatever you think it's worth" scheme.

The publishers figure something like 25% of the people with the bundle pirated it rather than pay the single cent they could have to get it legally.

 

[CidBahamut]

No, piracy, particularly on PC games, remains a huge black hole.

One recent bundle of indie games was released on the "pay whatever you think it's worth" scheme.

The publishers figure something like 25% of the people with the bundle pirated it rather than pay the single cent they could have to get it legally.

There is of course a flipside to that argument. There are people who wouldn't have bothered to purchase/play the game at all if they didn't have the option to pirate. Not every copy of a game that gets pirated is a lost sale. It's a sizable hole, but it's not as big a problem as the industry would like us to believe. I suspect in many ways it's similar to pirating music. Sure I might not pay for everything I listen to, but if I hear something I really like I'll probably go out of my way to throw money at the artist later on because I enjoy their work.

That's not to say I approve of pirating games though. Unless we're talking about games that are really old and hard to find, in which case the best chance of actually getting ot play them is to pirate them rather than waiting for that elusive $600 collection of floppy disks to show up on ebay only to have them sniped away from you in the last 30 seconds of bidding.

As for the collection you're referring to, my friend showed it to me about a week ago. I can't honestly say I'm surprised because nothing in that collection looked all that great.

 

[Tristam Green]

if it's released on a "pay what you think it's worth" option, and if there is a "free" option (which it is in this case), then it's not piracy. it's just taking advantage of good faith.

 

[Skaw]

No, piracy, particularly on PC games, remains a huge black hole.

One recent bundle of indie games was released on the "pay whatever you think it's worth" scheme.

The publishers figure something like 25% of the people with the bundle pirated it rather than pay the single cent they could have to get it legally.

Here's an interesting article by one of those very Indie developers.

http://kotaku.com/5533615/another-view-of-video-game-piracy

Basically he says the main reason piracy is high on the PC end is because of games being developed foremost for Consoles, and ported over to PC in the end, resulting in a less interesting product. And it nails home pretty true. Most recent multiplatform titles developed for Consoles end up having less customization when it comes to keybinds and mouse options, or even hardware. One of the very big selling points on PC. And nobody wants to pay $50-$60 on a program that runs like shit, if it runs at all, that turns out to play or look terrible.

Theres also the whole mud pit of Online-required DRM thats enforced on the PC titles, which makes cracked pirated version more appealing. A good bit of people play PC games on laptops. Not by an access point when you want to play Mass Effect 2? Heh, good fucking luck. And good luck trying to play games with Online-required DRM when your cable internet gets knocked out for whatever reason.

Is Piracy a problem? Yes. It's not the primary issue though. Treating customers like criminals by default and just not making a good product are.

 

[Raesvelg]

Entertaining, if utterly full of shit.

Let's be honest; the reason piracy is rampant on PCs is because it's disgustingly easy to pirate PC games.

Not because the product is somehow inferior (or at least not superior, which is more often the complaint), or because of DRM, but because it's just really easy to steal it.

Want a game? Download it.

DRM arose as a response to piracy, and now the pirates are claiming it as a reason to pirate games. The irony and hypocrisy are feeding off of each other here.

 

[Skaw]

You're right, DRM arose because of piracy, but it's been taken way too far. When you can't even use the software if you're not connected to the internet, what the hell is the point of owning the software?

Valve did a smart move with Steam and their games(as well as most of others) by having that offline mode. But that only really helps if you know you're going to be offline, since it has to get permission from the Steam Cloud servers to use the software offline. If you've suddenly lost internet, you still can't play Steam games. But it's still up to the publishers to encode a hard connection requirement in to the software.

The problem with gauging piracy is it's not as simple as saying a stolen install is a lost sale. Most pirates are students, who don't have the money to be spending on video games in the first place. Very few pirates are actually doing it to avoid spending income. While it's no less excusable, the college/high school student wouldn't be paying for it either way.

 

[Tagrineth]

I actually like it. The second hand market is out of hand (lol) and needs a kick in the ass of some sort.

Developers making money off secondhand sales = a-ok in my books.

 

[Strid]

Then we come to that age old wisdom that if you can't afford it, you don't get it. It really is as simple as that, especially when it comes to entertainment items. While it's true that some piracy is not any cause of a lose of income, it also remains true that stealing is wrong and piracy, no matter the reason, is stealing. I know I wouldn't like it one bit that some snot nosed kid is enjoyin' my hard work for nothing, whether he could afford it or not. I don't agree with how companies are handling DRM, not in the least bit, but I stand firmly behind what EA is doin' with "Project Ten Dollars" on the consoles. I think the solution to PC piracy is being overcomplicated right now by these companies with strict DRM standards. If you're losing money or not gaining enough money on the PC platform, then don't sell to the platform. Considering they keep pounding out games on the PC, while bitching and moaning, it leads me to believe they are making enough money that it is profitable, just not as profitable as they would like. Really they have nothing to complain about, they could simply shut out the PC market (if it's as dangerous as they like to play it off as) and probably make a huge "this is what you get" sort of deal and overtime leading to a sort of "you never know what you have until it's gone" sort of thing. Unfortunately for the PC market, it holds true that the few ruin it for the masses in this instance and that's what DRM is doin', but mostly ONLY to those who have respected the market, which is unfortunate. Kind of makes you wonder what kind of idiot it takes to come up with that kind of "solution" and why they still have a job.

Anyway, more on the OP, as I already stated I love this kind of stuff. The buying and selling of used games is legally stealing from everyone involved in the game making process. It's really infuriating to see a place like GameStop profit off of the sale of used games. At the very least laws should be in place that some percentage of a used game price goes to the staff of the game, again at the very least and really, I wouldn't even be happy with that. I strongly believe that used game sales is the reason why I have to spend $65 for a damn video game. I remember when used games started up gettin' really beefy, around the time the N64 hit but a little before, and how much games went up at that point, hell, I paid over $100 for some games on the N64, most notably $125 for Extreme-G 2 and $110 for Killer Instinct Gold. Around 1995 games started hikin' up a bit, but nothing like Nintendo's pricing. Maybe I'm thinkin' a little to much about that, but it just make sense that if they'd cut that shit out new game pricing would go down as sales would have to increase. This of course would take us back to having to trade games with friends or at swap meets, but that's a lot better than the way it is now.

 

[Raesvelg]

The problem with gauging piracy is it's not as simple as saying a stolen install is a lost sale. Most pirates are students, who don't have the money to be spending on video games in the first place. Very few pirates are actually doing it to avoid spending income. While it's no less excusable, the college/high school student wouldn't be paying for it either way.

That's an additional pile of bullshit.

No offense, of course, but that the rationalization that people use to justify stealing.

And yes, for some people it's true to an extent. I think you'll find that the number of people who cannot buy at least some of what they steal are, in fact, very few and far between.

And therein lies the rub. They're making a choice, to steal the game and spend that money elsewhere, rather than, say, earning the money they need to get the things they want.

Do they steal more than they can afford? Typically. That doesn't make it okay, however, and companies are fully justified in taking whatever means are necessary in order to protect their rights. The pirate would be forced to choose which games they want to spend their disposable income on, rather than just stealing all the ones they want and can get.

 

[CidBahamut]

Whatever happened to the strategy of simply making a game/franchise that was so damn good it inspired a legion of rabid followers who would continue to pay for the products out of a sense of loyalty and support for the company? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I believe in rewarding good game design with my money and telling folks who crank out shovelware to piss off.

 

[Georgebobbilly]

Whatever happened to the strategy of simply making a game/franchise that was so damn good it inspired a legion of rabid followers who would continue to pay for the products out of a sense of loyalty and support for the company? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I believe in rewarding good game design with my money and telling folks who crank out shovelware to piss off.

A new generation came along with a sense of entitlement instilled in them by their parents and society which told them that if something existed, they deserved it even if they couldn't afford it.

 

[Bajaratt]

Piracy is only a major issue on PC. On consoles, where it is significantly more difficult, it is far, far, far less common. That's why there is such a big surge for console games over PC games by the developers, because there is a huge difference in the piracy rate. Only PC games are pirated enough to cause massive losses in sales.

 

[Tristam Green]

A new generation came along with a sense of entitlement instilled in them by their parents and society which told them that if something existed, they deserved it even if they couldn't afford it.

Quoth Linus Torvalds, "what the fuck did you kids do to my good idea?!"

 

[Reya]

I remember working at the ol' GameStop and having 100's of used copies of Maddens, NHL, FIFA, (insert other sport here) games piled up in bins and the shelves of past years. $1.00 Madden 2006's! ....I think a lot of my old co-workers will be happy with this.