Moves like that will kill the market. I honestly believe it will bring a third crash.
Gamers are impulsive. The screaming that was brought about because of the DRM is starting to make some waves (see: Stardock's efforts, and the painful effects it's had on sales for every PC game other than Spore, where the target audience was the mouth breathers), and if someone were to buy a game used, take it home, then find out that they cannot finish their game without paying a tariff... oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth gives me wood.
It would cause a domino effect:
1) It would be a tremendous PR hit to any developer that impliments a scheme like this. Not many people are screaming about EA, but you can still play the core games involved (Live, FIFA) without those codes. Keep someone from finishing the game without paying a ransom? The blogosphere will EXPLODE.
2) Used game retailers - see, Gamstop - would then see a massive hit to their own profits. Gamestop historically charges $5 less than new for their used games, with 10% off of that price depending on whether or not you have the stupid card. That means that a $55 game, with the plan that twat has, would then go to $75. Gamestop isn't going to charge less, and they're likely to tell you you're shit out of luck (though there is the 7 day used game return policy). Gamers are slow, but they'll get it; Gamestop's used games business - where they make most of their money - will take a beating. That's going to lead to them reacting against the publishers, which is going to lead to...
3) A greater focus on exclusivity. Some developers would rather make deals with other companies that are nicer to selling new product - companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, FYE, etc. - than deal with a pissed off hornet in Gamestop. That's going to leave a lot more games only purchasable at certain stores. That's going to lead for a greater call for...
4) Digital Distribution will increase. On the surface, this is a good thing; download a game while I sit at home in my underwear with my hand on my balls? Sign me up... right?
Not so fast. Most PC games are already purchasable online, but also come with obstructive DRM schemes; SecuROM and Star Force are the worst. This puts gamers in a precarious position: if you want to play that new game, you have to give up your computer to software that is widely known to disable anti-virus programmes, permanently affect CD emulation and copying programmes (Daemon Tools, AnyDVD), and disregard the security settings of a local PC while injecting itself so deep that I can't get rid of the software that I've taken on without getting into safe mode (and I didn't know I took the software on until a couple weeks later).
But console games don't have that issue, right? Not so fast.
First off, there have already been DRM issues with certain games, such as the XBox games; I had to change systems, and as I learned last night when my net died, I'm going to have a hell of a time transferring my rights to the new console, as if I'm not online, the games are read as demos. But what about downloading entire XBox 360 games? Sure! Sounds good, right? It's just a 6GB download here, a 7GB download there...
This causes two problems: IF you have a high-speed connection - not a guarantee - then you're going to have issues with your ISP for downloading so much data, as most ISPs cap usage for residential customers. If not a data limit, then it's definitely going to cause bandwidth issues.
After that, you have to worry about storage. This is where consoles are at a massive disadvantage, and it's their fault. I can't speak for the PS3, but I can definitely state that with the 360, a 120GB hard costs $150. Yes, an IDE based, 7200RPM, 160GB hard drive costs
$44 at Newegg, but that doesn't work with the 360, because in development, they took great strides to ensure that the 360 only accepted proprietary hard drives, passing on that development cost to the consumer. 6GB here, 7GB there... hell, my collection would require two hard drives, and two sets of DRM issues to be corrected should I have to replace my piece of shit system.
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I'm already almost out of the PC game market because I don't know if a piece of software I'm buying is going to open up my computer to intrusive DRM that isn't even listed in an EULA, and soon enough, game licenses, forced installs, overpriced hard drives and the death of third party sales are going to take me out of the console market. Even the DSi is going in the wrong direction. Where does that leave me? Back with my ancient NES emulator?
It's going to crash the market. This market will no longer be sustainable for the end user, as they find something else to entertain them.
