Sony Changes Account Activation to Two

[Badnik Mechanic]

So if you've got a PSN account and have ever downloaded something, you might be aware that you are limited to using that content on 5 activated PS3's/PSP's.

Well... from November 18th this is changing... to TWO!

The reason for this appears to be a combination of combatting Gamesharing (one person downloads a game, then another person logs in using that account on a totally different PS3, then downloads the game for free, I've never done this but I get a lot of messages from people asking me to do it with them). I think you can guess the other reasons.

Now before everybody starts to panic, because I was quite shocked when I read that (Mainly because I'm on my second PS3), these are the 2 important details.

* This only applies to content downloaded on or after November 18th (so say you downloaded the Bioshock 1 challenge room DLC on November 17th, you still get 5 activations. However if you downloaded the challenge rooms on the 18th. You only get 2

* There will be a new webservice which will now allow people to activate and deactivate a PS3/PSP whenever they want. Previously if a PS3 broke down, the only way to deactivate it was to ring up Sony and ask them to do it, this would often take time and depending how often you've done it they might even refuse to do so.

It's a bit crappy. Mainly because I liked having 5 activations and it would have easilly lasted me until the next wave of consoles came out. Limiting it to 2 is very restrictive. On the other hand... the website to deactivate it yourself is a godsend a lot of people have been asking for that for years.

Source

Edited November 4, 2011 by Hogfather

[Sonic the Hedgehog in 3D]

I could have 3 PS3's what then, Sony?

Oh wait I have to choose 2 to use, thank you Sony, it seems good on paper but it fails in action.

[5had0w5talk3r]

Talk about a dick move. If Sony is so worried about gamesharing, they should just limit a game's use to the account it was purchased on, a bit like Steam.

People may point out to me, "Well what if I want to change my username?", again, like Steam, Sony should also allow display name change and alias viewing.

Until they have it setup in a way like Steam I don't see stuff like this and Online passes doing any good to the end-user, succeeding, in fact, in only hindering the experience ( like in the recent Catwoman DLC in Arkham City).

Guess I'll just never buy anything more on PSN in order to not be affected by this just TERRIBLE and clearly rushed decision making. Congrats Sony!

Thanks,

5had0w5talk3r.

[eXtaticus]

How about if activating a game on one console deactivated it on the other next time the first console went online? Surely that would work better than imposing such drastic measures?

[Yong]

How many people is this going to affect, really? "Oh, now my friends can't mooch off me/pool our cash together to buy and share a download!" Just play on that one or two consoles or stop being cheap and actually buy the download yourself on your own console. 2 active keys is a hell of a lot more generous than Microsoft or Nintendo's one system only setup.

[Dobkeratops]

Surprised they didn't nerf the gamesharing earlier. Doesn't affect me in the slightest, because if I want to share I set up a separate account and I only do it with another buddy.

However, this:

* There will be a new webservice which will now allow people to activate and deactivate a PS3/PSP whenever they want. Previously if a PS3 broke down, the only way to deactivate it was to ring up Sony and ask them to do it, this would often take time and depending how often you've done it they might even refuse to do so.

is a fucking godsend. I hated having a cap, even if it was generous enough (5)... with a little bad luck, eventually they'd get used up and BAM, time to deal with customer support.

Now I can just ride these 2 activations forever with a couple clicks whenever needed.

[Solkia]

... I didn't even know that was possible :U

[Emmett L. Brown]

I hate seeing these developments. The main draw of console gaming for me was escaping the self-defeating idiocy of DRM restrictions on PC games.

[NiGHTS]

I hate seeing these developments. The main draw of console gaming for me was escaping the self-defeating idiocy of DRM restrictions on PC games.

[Random Rhyme]

That 'deactivate system online' feature couldn't have come at a better time, considering my PS3 YLOD'd recently.

Same here.

My PS3 is just there in the background these days.

[LunarEdge]

this kinda sucks cuz my friends and I shared an account we made but we'll figure something out. Also, I planned on hosting my own fighting game tournaments in the future and I was going to buy SSF4 and buy the AE update on the PSN and share it with the 5 other ps3's making hosting the tournament cheaper on my end since copies of SSF4 go for less than $20.

So, will accounts taking advantage of the 5 share spots NOW be affected after this is implemented?

[Emmett L. Brown]

Its not like the old days where you could do almost anything. Now with all the tech, and sadly restrictions going into affect in the near future, things like this will bound to happen maybe worse with the next gen stuff comes around : /

I would be in favour of DRM if it only affected hackers and pirates, but the ONLY people who suffer are those who pay legitimately, because there has never and will never exist a DRM method that is foolproof, because for people to play game they are actually going to have to be allowed to possess a copy of the program, and once they have that copy they can do stuff to it, including deactivating the DRM features.

I know people who paid money for Spore, and then put aside their copy and downloaded a DRM-free pirated version. That's how bad it is that to get the full product honest people are forced to pirate. DRM creates more piracy than it stops in the long run.

But that's me digressing. A lot. Frankly, I was nowhere near being on topic there.