PS Vita games have Online Pass too ? Video Games Reviews ...

The PS Vita arrives in the U.S. and across Europe before the end of the month, and with it comes a whole host of new games. That?s great news for gamers, but retailers must also be rubbing their hands together at the thought of a new used games section in their stores.

Publishers have got wise to the profits being made from used games sales though, and some PS Vita games will be shipping with Online Pass from launch. If you didn?t know, Online Pass blocks some content and/or multiplayer aspects of a title if bought used. In order to unlock it the ?new? owner has to pay an additional fee direct to the publisher. Typically it?s around $10.

Online Pass poses a big problem for retailers who buy back PS Vita games early. The high used price they want to charge will have to be lowered in order to account for the additional fee gamers have to pay to unlock the full experience. For example, the RRP of PS Vita games is $39.99, so a used copy with Online Pass can?t cost more than $29.99, and even then no gamer in the know would pay that. So used Vita games really can?t be priced higher than $20. Even then, with online stores like Amazon selling new copies for $29.99, you can see there?s little room for profit selling used. Of course, the more unscrupulous retailers may put the onus on the used game buyer to realize this, and keep used game pricing high regardless.

The two games confirmed to be shipping with Online Pass are Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational and Wipeout 2048. Even if the other launch titles don?t carry it, expect Online Pass codes to be a more regular inclusion with new PS Vita games.

The market for used PS Vita games will certainly be hit by the use of Online Pass, but releasing the digital version of a game on the same day as the boxed copy will certainly have an impact too. I don?t expect the used games section at my local games retailer to expand very quickly.

via Joystiq

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/games/ps-vita-games-have-online-pass-too-20120214/

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