New PS5 Slim's optional disc drive has DRM.

Sauce.

More steps to kill game preservation.

Thank you, Sony.

I don’t see the issue. The drive needs a one time activation to associate it with your console. If you have an all digital ps5 then you have internet that you’re always connected to.

@Zero_epyon: Not now, but possiblyin the future, especially for collectors.

Not entirely surprising. Though why bother with any DRM on the physical media at all at this stage? The game still needs to be installed to the console. Patches are also needed due to the shoddy state games are released in these days.

Tradition? I'm going with tradition. Still a shame consoles can't just use off the shelf disc drives now though.

I wonder if it will be possible to re-pair the drive. E.g. if I get the disc drive then, later, decide to sell it: Will the new owner be able to pair it with their console?

That's dumb. I get it now, but hopefully when the console isn't supported they drop this or there is a work around.

@osan0: I think the DRM is a thing so 3rd party blu-ray drives won't be made for the Slim.

@pclover1980: what do you mean?

Not good, not good at all.

There's no assurance the servers to verify the disc drives would still be online in the future. At this point, it's all a question of what ifs. It would've been better if there was no DRM at all, but I somewhat get why Sony did this.

Well that’s lame. 🤦‍♂️

This will upset preservationists. Concerns are over pairing long term and worries servers use to pair drives to the console will shut down making it impossible to use down the line.

Reasoning seems to be DMC related. Not sure if the reason but I saw someone claim this is somehow tied to system modding that allows people to spoof a disc drive to run content off an external memory source. Curious how effective this is, after all, system modding community is quite persistent. Then again, perhaps Sony is making this basic step to avoid liability issues as well.

If you try to change the disc drive on any console from PS3/360 onwards, you need to hack it because the drive is married to the console. This internet connection is a way to marry the drive to the console. After the initial setup, the drive is married, and does not need to be authorized over the internet, unless you want to change the drive again.

Every modern console has an irreplaceable disc drive except for this one. Unfortunately it is only replaceable as long as the internet service is active.

The bigger issue here is that the DRM might be used to prevent competition from third parties who could sell their own disc drives, and this is the same issue with the SSD on Xbox Series.

Yup, thus SONY wins.

If I could make love to SONY, I would.

@pclover1980: I’m not seeing the issue here either. Activate it now and it’s done. Obviously the servers will be active as long as the console, and besides Sony are required to do this by law.

I still don't think that'd be a huge issue at that point. By the time those services get shut down we'd probably be all digital by then, sadly.

only once just like 99% of electronics today. even setting up your new phone.

sony your so evil. dam you sony. even a xbox need to be online to set up your xbox.

yet only sony is evil. so pathetic.

I mean, I hope the drive at least ties into the PSN account. Imagine getting a digital-only Slim, it breaks, but now you have to buy another drive cos the initial one is tied to the broken one.

Just curious, drama aside, is this still considered effective at combating piracy? Or is this already an obsolete technique? Seems this methods is years old, just, figured any kind of piracy that might spoof a disc drive has already found a work around. So, is this more like liability due diligence?

@lamprey263: Probably less to do with piracy but moreso with "protecting the hardware." Sony and the other console makers are trying to combat 3rd party stuff the best they can to maximize their own sales.

Nintendo is doing it too, with tournament 3rd party controllers or whatever.

Meh, big deal.

Its so stupid. Buys a digital console, complains ur console needs to connect to internet. Wtf is that.

What if the digital console is all that they release in mass so they can make more profit from the peripheral? My cousin wants to get a PS5 but wants the Slim. He wants the disk but is worried they will focus on the digital and make people buy the disk drive separately.

I doubt they would do this, but at that point, he didn't want a digital console, but still needs to hook this to the internet to tether it to his console. Just a hypothetical, but I do see his point.

My console stays hooked to the internet, but I still don't like any form of drm and do not like supporting it.

Side note, I am liking the PS5 Slim more and more as I am seeing it. I wish I had've waited to get one myself instead of the launch fatboy.

Then I honestly advise your cousin to buy something else if Sony being a dumbass (or your cousin that poor to not be able to connect to the internet for the 1 time setup).

If Sony is smart they follow sales trend which physical version of PS5 constitute around 90% of sales.

Ugh... god damn it! And worse, this might be connected to Section 1201.

It's crazy to me that someone wanting a digital ps5 who want an upgrade to physical will cost £50 more than a current disc machine. It's madness from Sony.

@pclover1980: i think I know what your saying (maybe). When we talk about DMCA and copyright laws it's easy to think it deals with media itself, and not hardware itself, and that includes protecting IP tied to that hardware of all kinds. So, am I right to understand this is more about authenticating the peripherals, as third party peripherals might be circumventing IPs that make up the hardware design (like the many patents that go into hardware design, and royalties paid to use those patents, etc) and not so much the media itself?

I also see some that seem to suggest this is legally compelled as if mandated into law. I'd be curious to see law if that were the case. But aside from regulatory compliance, I'd feel if there weren't some basic degree of diligence exercised to protect against copyright circumvention, there could be some civil liability from parties that can assert damages through the circumvention of that IP.

I also wonder when people argue it's legally compelled by law, I'm just wondering if there's perhaps a design that's inherent in the drives themselves, by wishes of its designer and/or the companies that own the IP it's constructed from, to require this pairing procedure for proper activation and utilization of the device, and thus without doing so would itself be a circumvention of copyright protection, thus compelling this they can say that they're basically compelled to due to the laws against copyright protection circumvention.

I'm not quite sure I understand the connection to the Nintendo article, other than not allowing for third party peripherals at their tournament, as well as limiting cash prizes, concessions at event, player limits, etc. Overall Nintendo is just aggressive in controlling any aspects someone could monetize externally from their IP, even knee-capping reviewers who work within bounds of protected transformative media without their approval, which I think they can be sued for but nobody seems to muster the legal muscle to challenge them on it. Still, a good read. But they also mentioned blocking peripherals for disabled gamers which I wonder if they're skirting legal liability there, because despite inherent user agreements, that might be a moot point with respect to federal laws. I think Nintendo risks lawsuits sometimes with this behavior, yet, nobody seems to challenge them on it. It'd probably take considerable resource to pursue so understandable that many don't.

It's OK, because Sony.

Ugh, who cares. No one is going to care about the ps5 in 10 years.

It sucks to hear about this.

Pretty much. The disc based as of now are just basically licenses so either way, you'll need to use Wi-Fi anyway and its why I also say this isn't much of a big deal.

I'm all in for optional for both physical & digital but the fact is, physical is slowly dying off. It's not a matter of how, but when?

Since its a one time activation, i have no issues with it. And to those saying that it might be a problem for the future, that's like being worried about what's happening with a 360 in 2023, who cares?

The GameSpot article states they're selling the Slim one in a configuration with the drive already included.

@girlusocrazy:

I totally misread the batman's reply lmao, thanks.

Oh yeah that's a good point in fairness. It's a pretty pricey drive as an extra so Sony would make a nice bit of profit from it.

Still just seems bizarre as a concept. Disc drives keyed to consoles. SSDs keyed too. Just lots of waste on the hardware front which is a shame.

Still not the worst offence as long as someone can sell the drive and the buyer can register the used drive to their console.

Most bizarre one for me when it comes to console lock in is the Wiiu Gamepad being region locked. That properly takes the biscuit.

This is on ps5 so it's perfectly OK.

It's only an issue on xbox

Does it need one every time you turn on the system, or only once to register it? If it's the latter then who cares? If it's the former then it is alarming.

Don’t see much of an issue with the one time check in this day and age.

Personally I have more of an issue with the mounting costs (adding everything up) of getting a PS5, it only makes sense as primary gaming device. I don’t see games machines like that.

Gone are the days where it makes sense to own all consoles and a PC, imo.

Going back to the topic, the reliance on the internet is just the norm. Developers don’t even finish games for launch anymore, because they assume you’re online. So this isn’t a big deal to me.

PS5 Digital will work without online at initial startup and you can play games. On the other hand Xbox needs to be online for the first time at the initial startup. Without that, Xbox is a brick. This disc reader add-on is different thing. I get the reason. Around 20 years ago when i've bought old Plextor CD burner, i needed to go online for drivers. I didn't had any damn problem to go online for drivers.

Correct. We wont forget the atrocities MS tried to pull in 2013 when they tried to change the gaming industry on their own for profits and go upwards of 60% with Kinect(lol).

Can the drive pair with more than 1 console?

It's an assinine decision. Demand better.

Two sides of the coin:

1. This is not okay and we should be vocal about it and give Sony shit for decisions like this.
2. It is ultimately foolish to expect a corporation like Sony to think long term about preservation. The future of games preservation has been and will always be those with the knowledge and skills to remove DRM and make things publicly available, regardless of legality.

Hope so at least. It'd be BS if you're forced to buy another drive if the PS5 itself breaks.

You even have to register the drive if you buy the disc consoles. So goofy lol