20w ago - Previously it was rumored that Sony was planning to combat PS3 piracy with Blu-ray disc serial keys, and today gofreak uncovered a patent (PDF File) which may suppress second-hand game sales on PS4 as well.

Below are the details, to quote: So I believe this is interesting in light of a prior rumor about Sony limiting second hand game sales on PS4. Sony has been working on new technology for limiting used game sales, and has applied for a patent. The patent was filed 09/12/2012 by SCEJ.

Perhaps this work is where the rumor came from. Or perhaps it independently corroborates the rumor. Anyway, here's some of the relevant detail:

"According to the present embodiment, realized is the electronic content processing system that reliably restricts the use of electronic content dealt in the second-hand markets. As a result, the dealing of electronic content in the second-hand markets is suppressed, which in turn supports the redistribution of part of proceeds from sales of the electronic content to the developers. Though in the following description a game application...

208w ago - PC Gaming Alliance research indicates desktop game sales rose 18 percent worldwide last year; installed base stands at 228 million.

According to the PCGA's 2008 Horizon's Report, PC gaming software saw revenues reach $12.7 billion in 2008 which is a rise of $1.9 billion, or nearly 18 percent.

Overall, the study found that the PC software and hardware market stood at $68 billion in 2008, with the PCGA saying that number is expected to balloon to $143 billion by 2013.

More than 42 million PC desktops and 31 million notebooks capable of playing games were shipped during the year. This figure is expected to grow to 59 million and 118 million, in five years.

Gaming-capable PCs and notebooks were also estimated to be about 228 million during the year, and the PCGA estimated the 2013 installed base will grow to 600 million.

213w ago - Sony's Peter Dille has revealed that PSP sales have been severely affected by piracy. Dille noted that piracy is no good for anyone in the gaming industry, and the data from BitTorrent sites on how many copies are being illegally downloaded is 'sickening'.

To quote: It certainly makes business sense for Sony to switch to digital distribution, but one of the motivating factors for the new-found focus on digital distribution may be rampant piracy on the platform.

Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, believes that PSP sales have been severely affected by pirates.

"It is criminal what's going on," Dille tells Gamasutra. "It's not good for us, but it's not good for the development community. We can look at data from BitTorrent sites from the day Resistance: Retribution goes on sale and see how many copies are being downloaded illegally, and it's frankly sickening. We are spending a lot of time talking about how we can deal with the problem."

226w ago - Midway announced today that Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe has sold over 1.8 million units on the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft XBox 360 platforms combined.

The release below also states that Midway is already hard at work on the next version of Mortal Kombat as follows:

Press Release: Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment publisher and developer, today announced that the company has shipped approximately 1.8 million units of Mortal Kombat® vs. DC Universe worldwide for the Xbox®360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

"Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was the result of countless hours of hard work by many people, and seeing the game surpass the million-seller plateau makes it worth all the effort," said Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-founder and creative director, Midway. "We're already hard at work on our next version of Mortal Kombat, and look forward to being able to reveal more details in the future."

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe also continues to set a number of internal Midway records. The game was the most pre-ordered MK title in company history, and more than 3.6 million Mortal Kombat® vs. DC Universe matches have been played online worldwide for the PS3, according...

227w ago - In a recent interview with Gamasutra, GameStop Chief Marketing Officer Mike Hogan tried to defend his company's stance on the used game market by comparing it to the used car market.

He argued that without trade money from used cars, the owners wouldn't be able to afford a new car. Although some people will try to flaw his argument by noting that games aren't that expensive in relation to people's disposable income.

To quote: Starting his argument, he compared the games industry to the car industry saying: "If you couldn't sell your old car - would the industry sell more cars?" He argues that without the trade-in money From The used car, owners wouldn't be able to afford a new car.

He then claimed that 90% of trade-ins take place over 90 days after the release of a game. He said, "We track this fairly closely. We believe we're extending the life-cycles of users."

He continued, "I realize there are other perspectives, but ours is: trades and used fuel growth in the category."