Ben-DutkaEA has their Online Pass and although you may not be aware, THQ has a similar program.
And according to the latest Homefront update , the intense new "war at home" shooter will feature this form of online multiplayer monetizing (also designed to combat used game sales). The program was in place for last year's UFC Undisputed 2010 ; like EA's deal, all new copies of the game feature a single-use code that players can use to jump online. If you rent the game or buy it pre-owned, that code won't be in there, and you'll have to purchase it for $10. However, there is a positive caveat to Homefront 's situation: you will be able to sample the online play without the code, but your experience will be limited. You'll have access to all the maps, but you'll only be able to progress up to Level 5…and there are 75 total levels. So it's sort of like a trial without the code. Obviously, the code has no effect on the single-player portion of the game.
Homefront is one of the more promising titles of the year; it'll release for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in March.
Related Game(s): Homefront
I really want this to be good. The multiplayer looks amazing and I read some comparisons to Half Life as far as the story pacing is concerned. Military shooters are so stale and this could be a breath of fresh air.
Im gonna keep my eye on this one. It has potential and has me interested.
Agreed bigrailer.
Game could be special, but with Killzone 3 coming out, I just don't know.
Ive been trying to catch u on medal of honor. I gotta get on more, i dont have anyone to play it with anymore haha!
I am very sporadic on that game, especially with GT5 to play.
But, if I see you playing it, I'll give you a shout.
i remember playing medal of honor, it was great. the beginning was filled with snipers but they left to play black ops so online is a lot better now. i was also playing online without punching in that online code for a few days. didnt realy saw what it was for but i entered it anyway.
getting platinum in MOH was a pain. getting that last offensive killstreak was close. i got it with 3 more deaths left in the game before it ended.
I like this. I rarely buy used games unless its just a killer deal. Like i found bioshock 2 and ratchet and clank future: a crack in time and got both for 25 bucks shipped. But i really dont mind the "online passes" cus as i said i buy most of my games new and its free if done so.
I dont buy used games from gamestop, i have, but decreasing the used price buy only 5 bucks is a joke. Hopefully for those that do buy used often, n think they're getting a deal, gamestop lowers the price on these games that have the online pass by ten bucks. Otherwise your getting ripped off buying used. Well you are anyways from gamestop so…
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/6/2011 11:03:46 AM
I hate that the first post on here is an ad… 😉
I don't buy games used, either. So in that respect, it won't ever affect me.
However, I do often rent a title I'm unsure of. For those, the free online trial for only 5 levels is ideal for me. I only need a taste of the online when I rent. My only hangup about titles with absolutely NO taste for online until you pay, is that I go in not knowing if it's any good. Which sucks if the online component could be a deal maker/breaker.
Here's hoping that anyone enforcing an online pass allows us to at least TRY it out like this title is.
Good points. Trying it out even if it is just to level 5 i think is a good amount of play to know if its good. If you feel the need to keep playing at that point its probably worth buying. If not well…
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/6/2011 12:20:45 PM
yeah but if there going for that approach, if your system breaks down or wish to upgrade you system… oops! you just got screwed for a game you paid for. this is a terrible idea. i'm sure they could hook it up to your ID in some fashion so you would never find your self paying to play your own game.
*crosses game off of must-buy list*
Yes this is a very good solution also in regards to tackling the piracy problem as it does not punish the honest gamer at all – quite the contrary. To get a taste of the real thing like this beats any demo download. It simply is a win:win solution.
Agreed. If there is a need for the pass, then this is an excellent compromise.
I agree with Supergirl.
THQ wants to have a military shooter now? Whether the game is good or not I don't see it doing that well in a world with four thousand CODs on the way and the Battlefield series picking up any slack.
I can't really disagree with the online pass program since these companies need incentive to keep things running, but after a couple years people will buy it only to find there isn't a soul online.
Remember in the 90's and early 2000's how certain developers had a problem with gamers importing games thus denying them sales? The result was console-makers turning more to built -in regional lockouts to prevent the poliferation of imported games only to be thwarted by gamers. Not only that console-makers eventually get the get the fact that the cat and mouse game wasn't worth it and its for that reason why we have so many regionless consoles. The same goes for Dvd which are seeing more and more regionless releases.
Looking at the issue of used games its no different its no different as developers are still playing a zero sum game with used titles.
In the case of these so-called passes to curb used games, eventually they'll die out and consumers will make it happen. Why is this? things like this would do nothing but cause more second-hand games to flood the market.
Last edited by A2K78 on 1/6/2011 1:48:04 PM
Beamboom, how in the world does forcing consumers to spend an extrea $10 help tackle piracy? If you were to ask me its things like this and DRM lockouts which PROMOTE more piracy than prevent. In fact Ubisoft finally came to that reality recently.
Overall looking at some of the responses I see more of an endorsement for corporate greed rather than a support for the average consumer.
In the end if these publisher really want to curb the secondhand market(and piracy), they should lower the price of new titles to a level where people are will not have a problem, but in an age $60 is both and arm and a leg I expect more growth in piracy and the secondhand
For the record, I buy ALL of my games secondhand. Why? unlike gamers who chose to be duped and cheated into paying high prices for games, used allow me to purchase a title at its true market value and this where I say thank you both Ebay and Craiglist.
true say dude, i mean £40 is a hell of a lot… you can go so much in any high street store for that.
depending on where you shop, but £40 is ridiculous. even £30 would be better…
It just means they will make SOME money even off the pirates because if they want to play the multiplayer they will still have to buy a code because presumably the original owner used theirs before dumping the xbox game onto the internet.
get out of my head! lol hit the nail on the head there my friend
And whenever I see someone complain about "corporate greed" so often, all I can think is 'cough' socialist 'cough'.
Doesn't mean I'm right, of course. Doesn't mean you're right, either.
Those "greedy" corporations employ thousands of people. Perhaps you'd rather have the state provide us with our video games?
Remember Ben, this is the same tool who thinks the CIA "created" the Taliban.
"For the record, I buy ALL of my games secondhand. Why? unlike gamers who chose to be duped and cheated into paying high prices for games."
Uh, For the record, if it wasn't for us gamers who are supposedly "duped" into buying games new, you wouldn't have any games to play because the publishers who put out the games you buy used wouldn't have any financial support. I think this is the stupidest thing I have read all week.
I'd like to see a report on the price elasticity of videogames.
I too buy second hand because £40 is too expensive and I dislike the idea that normal natural depreciation is being circumvented by developers when it clearly applies to most other products.
I wouldn't buy 2nd hand if new games were much cheaper and I'd be less likely to trade out what I already own. This has the effect of reducing the 2nd hand catalogue therefore further reducing the appeal of the preowned market.
Please don't make the generalisation that I want something for nothing as that is absolute rubbish. I simply expect to pay a fair price for a quality product. It may just be that my fair price is different to yours.
As a rather simplistic example if pre owned are roughly £30 (slash sales aside) and a publisher put out their new titles for that price no one would buy that title as preowned AND new buyers would be less inclined to trade to recoupe some of the cost. There's a double whack to the preowned market!
Rather than selling 1 mill copies at £40 and maybe half of those being subsequently traded once, and of those half traded a 3rd time, selling cheaper (£30) to overtime eliminate the preowned market could then net the same game up to 1.75 mill of sales PLUS maybe even more from those who wouldn't have bought at ALL under the current price structure but may be tempted buy the 'cheap' new price.
Again, this is massively simplistic example and is just to serve the purpose of summarising my thoughts.
I don't believe the arguement that all pirates want something for mothing. I feel that most simply object to overpaying.
okay so i have to get this new… okaaaay i suppose.
this whole online pass thing is a sham…. alot of these games carry a 60 $ price tag and we get shotty ports, or did get alot of them paying full price…. black ops is a prime example, but they atleast dont charge for online… i dont see myself getting this game at all… not even thinking about it… i rented MOH from gamefly and totally forgot about the online pass… the reason i rented it was to see if i wanted to buy it… without being able to test the whole game i sent that back along with WWE smackdown VS raw 2011 for the same reason
I'm going to pick this up on day 1. Looks really good. Lets hope its the "Sleeper" we are hoping for.
I really like, Love shooters but COD isn't doing anything for me now. I loved COD4 MW but W&W, MW2 and now BO just… suck a lot. I hate COD now and was really looking forward too MOH for the longest time but it just didn't do it for me, plus I missed out on BC2(which I don't know why). Don't worry 2011 will get me my fix of shooters with Homefront and especially KZ3.
Good thing I plan on buying this new. with the line up of games for 2011, I wont be buying a used game for a while.
I think this 'online pass' strategy to combat the sale of used games will have the unintended effect of severely decreasing the longevity of a given game's online component. People that sell they're games generally do so because they have tired of it, and when those games are bought used, the new owner will likely go online. People that would have purchased a game used will be significantly less likely to do so with an additional $10 fee, resulting in a less popular online mode. This might even negatively impact new sales of the game over the long term, as word of mouth spreads about a lackluster online community. But its an experiment, so we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
Last edited by NonProphet on 1/6/2011 9:36:54 PM
Also, those who are buying on a whim rather than desperately wanting the game are less likely to buy if they think the trade in value (their clawback when they get bored of it) will be slashed as it will be harder to shift knowing there's a $10 fee to the preowned buyer needs to consider.
I don't generally purchase used but, On that note I don't pay full boat for new games either. I am a patient man, I have no problem waiting for a special deal or a price drop, the gamers that get screwed are the impatient ones that "HAVE" to get the game upon release and they, Frankly are just screwing themselves over.
the manager at my local EB said shes played the first half of it so far and is really liking it.
im not getting it though, im sick of military shooters!
how many times can we play the same game before we get bored out of our f*cking minds?
as for there online pass, i think its a big mistake what there doing.
there better off doing what EA does, instead of allowing people to play online till a certain cap is hit, THQ should of done what EA did and simply lock it out till you have the pass.
that way people would be like oh i wonder what its like, oh stuff it i have to try it.
now they can try before they buy, so that takes the curiosity out of it, and it also what if they dont like it?
should of just left it how EA had it.
I wonder how many sales of DLC the publisher will miss out on due to less people buying the game used and the people that do buy it used being detered from going online because of this fee.
I wouldn't purchase a copy someone had already fingered for $10 off retail if I knew thast I would still have to fork out that extra $10 to get the full experience.
If I don't wish to overpay at £40 then I don't wish to pay it. Simple as that. Trying to implement a model to get that extra margin out of me will just leave a bad taste in my mouth with regards to that particular publisher.