Sony is using an "alternative Digital Rights Management (DRM) policy" for the downloadable release of Warhawk on the PlayStation Network.
A statement from Sony over on its semi-official Three Speech blog reads:
In the words "could not play on a different machine for 24 hours" lies the crunch. SPOnG assumes that most of us like our mates enough to allow them access to our PSN account when we're not around, but none of us fancies trying to kick off a game on Warhawk only to find that our free-loading mates have locked us out.
Therein lies the crunch for Sony, too. The company doesn't want gamers paying for Warhawk once then letting their mates have it for free. That doesn't make good economic sense, it would seem.
Some people will no doubt be annoyed at having the game restricted to one account on a given machine, but SPOnG's advice is this: if you don't trust your family/housemates enough to use your PSN account, stop living with them.
The move may well set a precedent for networked games on the PSN. If Sony's prepared to and capable of doing this for Warhawk, there's little to stop it repeating the move with other games.
The move does, of course, raise the question 'why now and why Warhawk?' Answers in the Forum, please.
Warhawk is out on PSN tomorrow. For more information on the game (which is, by the way, much loved in the SPOnG office), take a look at our dedicated game page.
A statement from Sony over on its semi-official Three Speech blog reads:
"The downloadable version of Warhawk... will be directly tied to the registered PLAYSTATION Network (PSN) account that purchased the game. Only that registered PSN account will be authenticated for gameplay. You will still be able to download the game to up to five PS3 systems. However, if a user downloads Warhawk onto a different machine, he/she will only be able to play via the original PSN user account on that machine and could not play on a different machine for 24 hours. This does not affect the Blu-ray Disc version of the game which will be available at retail later in September."
In the words "could not play on a different machine for 24 hours" lies the crunch. SPOnG assumes that most of us like our mates enough to allow them access to our PSN account when we're not around, but none of us fancies trying to kick off a game on Warhawk only to find that our free-loading mates have locked us out.
Therein lies the crunch for Sony, too. The company doesn't want gamers paying for Warhawk once then letting their mates have it for free. That doesn't make good economic sense, it would seem.
Some people will no doubt be annoyed at having the game restricted to one account on a given machine, but SPOnG's advice is this: if you don't trust your family/housemates enough to use your PSN account, stop living with them.
The move may well set a precedent for networked games on the PSN. If Sony's prepared to and capable of doing this for Warhawk, there's little to stop it repeating the move with other games.
The move does, of course, raise the question 'why now and why Warhawk?' Answers in the Forum, please.
Warhawk is out on PSN tomorrow. For more information on the game (which is, by the way, much loved in the SPOnG office), take a look at our dedicated game page.
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Comments
hollywooda 29 Aug 2007 14:38
1/7
is this any good?... looks poo?, funny when u see the concept art then u see the game shots! haha...ummm yer.
Captain Chaos! 29 Aug 2007 15:14
2/7
Warhawk digitally distributed - another nail in the coffin for the independant videogame retail industry.
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Joji 29 Aug 2007 17:33
3/7
Sony, you suck ass. £40 for a freakin download game.
You know what, if you don't want PS3 to be close to a PC, don't use Linux and don't bother with downloadable content. If you want to protect your Warhawk from sharing between friends, just sell the beggar through retail. Doh!
No one wants DRM, don't you remember it was that, that eventually killed Minidisc?
You know what, if you don't want PS3 to be close to a PC, don't use Linux and don't bother with downloadable content. If you want to protect your Warhawk from sharing between friends, just sell the beggar through retail. Doh!
No one wants DRM, don't you remember it was that, that eventually killed Minidisc?
tyrion 29 Aug 2007 17:38
4/7
Joji wrote:
Sony, you suck ass. £40 for a freakin download game.
Did you miss the bit in the story where it mentioned that Warhawk is going to have a retail release? That's because it's a full game. You can download it early, or you can buy it in the shops with a bluetooth headset.
Just because you can download it, doesn't mean it's another Super Rub-a-dub!
Bentley 30 Aug 2007 15:01
5/7
Joji wrote:
Sony, you suck ass. £40 for a freakin download game.
You know what, if you don't want PS3 to be close to a PC, don't use Linux and don't bother with downloadable content. If you want to protect your Warhawk from sharing between friends, just sell the beggar through retail. Doh!
No one wants DRM, don't you remember it was that, that eventually killed Minidisc?
You know what, if you don't want PS3 to be close to a PC, don't use Linux and don't bother with downloadable content. If you want to protect your Warhawk from sharing between friends, just sell the beggar through retail. Doh!
No one wants DRM, don't you remember it was that, that eventually killed Minidisc?
Sony may be an ass, but you're a tit. If you'd done your research you'd see that the plans are to sell the game over PSN for £20 early, or later through retail for £40 with a headset thrown in.
headcasephil 30 Aug 2007 17:00
6/7
as all ready stated its 39.99 for disk with extras plus headset
its 19.99 download and you only get the game
if you were to buy the headset it would cost you 24.99 and as you can preorder warhawk for 34.99 it make the game only 10 and how can you say it looks crap as you have not played it you only seen pics on Internet pos mags and that dose not all ways show how good its is well it like never judge a book by a cover
its 19.99 download and you only get the game
if you were to buy the headset it would cost you 24.99 and as you can preorder warhawk for 34.99 it make the game only 10 and how can you say it looks crap as you have not played it you only seen pics on Internet pos mags and that dose not all ways show how good its is well it like never judge a book by a cover
hollywooda 31 Aug 2007 08:52
7/7
i'm judging it on the pics i've seen....