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SvennoJ on 04 August 2014
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Zanten said:

The question then becomes how do you distinguish folks like you, who paid full price and own the game and simply want to upgrade, from folks who bargain binned a copy of TLOU PS3, used, last week? Or folks who borrowed it from their cousin long enough to upgrade before giving it back so their cousin could upgrade too? Obviously it's much easier with Digital, (and no digital upgrade option does suck big, dangling ones, and all I can really do is facepalm about that,) but things get a lot hairier when discussing physical copies.

Requiring the PS3 disc to be in the PS4 console to play the game might work to prevent 'shared upgrades,' i.e. a guy with one copy helping his five or six friends all get discounted copies of the PS4 version with no restriction, but given how many veeery cheap PS3 versions are no doubt floating around, used, right now, the 'screwing over' basically becomes the customers screwing over the publisher. x_X "Hey, I own a copy of the PS3 version! Discount me! No, I didn't buy it from you guys, but don't care, DISCOUNT ME!"

The only thing that comes to mind that would have allowed those who paid for new copies the first time around to get an upgrade fee would be if the PS3 version had included something similar to an 'Online Pass' code when it released, only it's more like an 'Upgrade Pass.'

To be fair, of the options, an Upgrade Pass WOULD be the best way to pull off that kind of thing, and if Sony likely knew by the time TLOU PS3 version went gold that they'd be doing a PS4 port, I believe that they either should have gone with that option, or included on-disc 'serial numbers' that kept track of which disc copies had been used for an upgrade, and which haven't.

It all kind of boils down to whether Sony knew TLOU would be a smash hit months before it even released, (thus prompting TLOU:R) when they were still working on printing off the discs. If not, then the only way they could moderate physical copy upgrades would be some pretty strict DRM to prevent the inevitable flood of 'Five Minute TLOU owners.'

....again, though, no digital upgrade option is a big, stinky pile. Dx

Good points. They originally announced it at $60, while looking into an upgrade option. Since that would be far too complicated and unfair if it would be based on digital purchases, they decided on $10 discount for every one.
They probably also figured that the ps3 version would be greatly devalued by the flood of trade ins this would bring. Shops are basically providing the upgrade deals, like the $25 Gamestop offer.