Online multiplayer costs you more?

[alistair_thomas]

In what I believe to be a first for the PSP, Socom Fire Team Bravo 3 will cost $20 US or £7.99 UK if you want to buy second hand, but still enjoy the multiplayer. Supposedly it's been done in an effort to hit the pirates where it hurts, but the arguments (i.e. Gamefaqs) see it as Sony's way of targetting the used buyer audience.

What does everyone think of this? I can see both sides in a sense, in that those who buy used are not contributing to the sales, but then on the other hand, should Sony not be targetting the shops who sell used games rather than the gamers who (presumably) have given their hard earned cash to them at some point or another?

[neoviper]

I could see value in a system where the RRP of multiplayer games was cheaper but there was a fee to access the online component of a game. That way everyone's a winner - the retailers still get new and used sales, the publisher gets a bigger cut of the profit, and the consumer gets cheaper access to the singleplayer game (or the full game for the same cost). The problem is, they wouldn't reduce the RRP - any multiplayer fees would probably be above and beyond the exisiting RRP of £40.

[Magic Knight]

I think this is aimed more at the used market than pirates. There has been a few different methods tried now (the free DLC with DA:O and the drip feed of content for DQ in Japan). If it means more profit for developers and less for GAME / HMV / Blockbusters I am all for it.