The Entertainment Merchants Association, an organization that represents North American entertainment retailers, reported in the latest edition of its trade publication, Inside EMA, that point-of-sale video game activations could help save the industry "billions of dollars" in lost sales due to theft and piracy.
Will benefit denial be coming to your video games?
(Credit: Sony)Dubbed Project Lazarus, the organization's initiative plans to determine "the feasibility of deploying 'benefit denial' technology on retail optical discs."
According to the EMA, its study has found that benefit denial, the "concept of denying a shoplifter or internal thief the ability to use stolen goods," could lead to reductions in theft and piracy.
The study isn't complete, and associated costs still need to be analyzed. But the EMA says benefit denial could substantially improve the process of buying games.
According to the organization, games should be shipped to retailers in a "locked state and then automatically 'unlocked,' based on a point-of-sale transaction." So if anyone attempts to play a locked game on a console, it won't boot up. Only after the sales transaction is complete will the game be activated. It can then be played on the game machine of their choice.
The EMA thinks that this is the future. I think that the plan is a loser.
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