News Blips: EA Sports Online Pass, U.K. Developer Woes, Walmart & Used Games, and More

Doesn't GameStop make something like 56 percent of its annual income from reselling used copies of Madden NFL?

News Blips:

EA Sports announces new measures to limit online access for used games. The company plans to implement an "Online Pass" in-box code that players need to play their sports games online. People with a used redeem code can choose to pay an extra $10 for a new code. This in theory would drastically reduce the resale value of titles that use the pass. EA Sports' Senior Vice President of World Wide Development Andrew Wilson said in an interview that they "want to reserve EA Sports online services for people who pay EA to access them." Those are some on-point fighting words if I ever read them. [GamePro]

Things are a little rough for British game developers. Codemasters alleges that the new company Playground Games, which the publisher's ex-chief executive started, essentially stole key employees in order gain access to trade secrets. Elsewhere in the U.K., a woman who claims to be the wife of an ex-staff member of developer Rebellion's Derby branch (Alien vs. Predator) alleges that the company won't pay its recently laid-off employees for the month of April and that it may be trying to file for bankruptcy to get out of paying some of its dues. Can we go a week without hearing about backstabbing and scandals among video-game developers?

Wal-Mart attempts a return to the used-game market. The retail giant said in a statement to IndustryGamers that they "are currently working with Game Trade, a startup services provider, in a lease agreement to test their Game Trade stores in five Wal-Mart locations." Previously, Wal-Mart tested a buy-back program that involved user-operated kiosks. Wal-Mart said they don't have plans to expand past the five stores for now, which leaves something like 999,999,994 Wal-Marts throughout the world without this new service.

A court sentences the 17-year-old hacker of the PlayStation website to 12 months of probation, 250 hours of community service, and fines of $5,000 to Sony Computer Entertainment. In November 2008, the Pennsylvania boy hacked and temporarily took down the PlayStation website, reportedly as revenge for receiving a ban from the PlayStation Network for cheating in SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals. Sony wanted over $33,000 from the teen, but Judge John Driscoll deemed that amount to be "too excessive." Imagine how dysfunctional the Internet would be if every troll knew how to hack websites and was constantly out for revenge. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

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Tags: Madden, News Blips, Aliens vs. Predator, SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals

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Rakim Reid

May 10, 2010

EA's "On-line Pass" is messed up. I am all for consumers having a right to resell the product they bought. Telling someone they can't access a game's features (an integral component of the experience at that) if they got the game new is a low blow. Forcing them to pay an additional $10 for a new code is an even lower blow. This is something I could see happening when digital delivery reaches 60% of market share. Right now, is far too early for something like this.

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Keenan Myers

This is anti-consumer. You see this all you self professed hardcore gamers? That's those companies that "care" about you soooo much. They care sooo much, they're gonna make you pay more and more, and sucker you in by calling it a work of "art".

This will NOT help. If companies want to reduce used game sales, they need to investigate how they can get these used game buyers to buy new. One way would be to SCALE back their games, and make them more affordable. After all, before EA got an exclusive contract with the NFL, 2K Sports was making BETTER SPORTS GAMES FOR HALF THE PRICE, and you can't tell me sales didn't increase for 2K Sports. This is not going to get anymore bleeding hearts, or win over any consumers to this so called "cause". It will only enrage customers, and hurt their overall sales.

Screw EA Games, and any company that uses these tactics to punish consumers. Game companies SHOULD revolve around the consumer, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

Alejandro Quan-Madrid

May 11, 2010

@Rakim and Keenan, excellent points!