I can understand the rationale. But you can't escape the consequences.

If you have to verify used games to play them -- then there will not be any value to old games once the servers are off-line.

If you have to check-in periodically (once a day) on line to play the system -- then there will not be any (much) value to old systems when the servers go off-line.

In other words, you no longer own your hardware or sofotware. You use it so long as the company sees fit to have servers running.

To me, if I am interepreting this correctly, it makes spending $400 or more on a lnog-term rental of a machine that will be useless (and have no disposal value) in 5 or 6 years a very questionable investment.

Mike from Morgantown

No people will bitch and moan but in the end they will buy the consoles anyway

Not the end, but a huge blow to consumers if (read: when) it becomes industry standard.

Ideas like this are poison to this Industry. All for the sake of a few whinny bitchy companies

People will get used to it.

Would be funny if something would happen to 'the internet' and ya'll had to go play outside for a change.

If Sony does indeed do something like MS is doing, then I can safely say we are looking an another video game crash. PC will survive, and maybe Nintendo (if they don't go the same route). If either the Xbone or the PS4 become a success it will NOT be because of gaming, it will be because of the entertainment stuff (which so far MS is taking the lead).

In the end this will change how we game today, and for the worse. Guess we just have to wait and see.

lol

I certainly think that PC gamers -- who are used to technology advances rendering their games virtually unplayable -- will not see this as an issue.

I certainly think that those who play older systems and collect older systems will be apt to ignore restrictive systems.

This idea is overly dramatic and simply inaccurate.

Few things:

1. This has been the case for multiplayer games for the last 10 years. When SegaNet went down, so did most of the online MP games supported by the Dreamcast. Considering that more than 50% of gaming today is done with MP in mind, servers shutting down can indicate the end of that game as we like to play it. Even Halo 2 on XBL had a similar fate few years ago.

2. We don't know how this "online check once every 24 hours" works and what it applies to. People are still able to play single player games offline on Steam once its installed and authenticated on the internet. There is no reason to think Microsoft won't have a similar approach.

3. Even if the game is 100% dependant on servers and verification even for single player, Microsoft/Sony and anyone else implementing this DRM is looking for a major lawsuit if the game is shut down completely when the servers aren't available. At worst, if they are shutting down support for a game when it comes to server authentication, they are able to remove the limitation and allow the game to be played without authentication.

4. This type of a DRM and business model is designed for an ecosystem and long term gaming in mind. Thnk 4 generations down the road. There is no reason to think these games won't be playable on whatever x86 hardware is being used...X86 is the final frontier in computing so I doubt Microsoft and Sony will be changing platforms from here.

Essentially the only way a game library will become completely unplayable is if an ecosystem completely fails or a company goes out of business and can't support its ecosystem anymore.

Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, to be honest. People will complain at first then eventually cave. I can't even play some of the games I own on Steam on my Windows 7 PC.