Sony out the severely reduce game sharing

[bearhawk72]

If you didn't know, when you buy PSN games for the PSP or PS3, it can be activated on up to 5 different consoles. As a result you could buy a game, give your info to another person, and they could log on to your account and download the game to their console.

As a result online groups formed where 5 people would all split the cost evenly, one person would use the funds to buy the game, and then the other 4 would use the game share account to download the game.

This is most likely considered abuse of the system by Sony(who most likely meant game sharing to be between a couple friends/family members). So as a result they have announced plans to change the system

-Starting November 18th: All games purchased from the PSN can be activated on no more than 2 consoles

-Games purchased before November 18th will still have the 5 activation limit.

Game sharing has been a gray area for Sony. I don't recall them ever officially supporting it, and there have been lots of reported problems of people setting up the game sharing and one of the members going in and changing the info so the others can't get access.

The limit of 2 now seems to be in case your PS3 kicks the bucket you still have 1 activation left to get the game back(I think games are tied to your PSN ID, not the console)

[Dudebro]

Still better than MS. As far as I know they only let you download to one account. I assume sony is only doing this as an incentive for people to choose them over MS. They'll probably be down to one account soon at this rate though.

[Blue Shoe 2]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

Still better than MS. As far as I know they only let you download to one account. I assume sony is only doing this as an incentive for people to choose them over MS. They'll probably be down to one account soon at this rate though.

I think you misread, its one account logged into 5 consoles.

[Dudebro]

I guess I did read wrong. So in other words they're limiting the amount of times you can download something you purchased?

[bearhawk72]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

I guess I did read wrong. So in other words they're limiting the amount of times you can download something you purchased?

No. Anything you buy can be downloaded as many times you want as long as it's to a console the game has been activated on.

There are currently 5 activations allowed per game. So you can download it, as well as 4 people on 4 different consoles.

However, let's assume your PS3 dies. The game is linked to your PSN ID(so you can redownload without repurchasing), but if you redownload the game to a new PS3, the game has to be reactivated. If you game shared it to the maximum number, you no longer have access to it.

So by reducing the activations from 5 to 2, it's really only allowing you to have 1 backup activation in case you need to buy a new PS3 or add another one somewhere in the house.

[Blue Shoe 2]

What does this mean for those who've switched PS3's already?

[Slime Slayer]

This is a tough situation, I'm not sure weither I think Sony is being greedy again, or are they doing a reasonable thing.

---------- Post added at 06:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------

But hey, it's what comes with the territory for digital downloads, so I don't feel bad for anyone involved.

[bearhawk72]

Originally Posted by Blue Shoe 2

What does this mean for those who've switched PS3's already?

Nothing. Anything you bought previously will keep it's 5 activations. Only things purchased after the start date will have only 2.