Game companies have consistently been trying to come up with ways to prevent people from playing their games without paying their dues and Sony is certainly no exception. The PSP has received more firmware updates than games it seems and John Koller, Sony’s director of hardware marketing in America, has revealed yet another preventative measure that will help to ward off pirates, and possibly used game buyers.

Using SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 as its maiden vessel, the new tactic requires gamers to register their game through the PSN before they are able to play online. Each retail copy of the game will come with a code that can be redeemed to unlock this feature, while downloadable versions will update automatically.

Those who want to buy the game used can purchase a voucher to gain online access for the not so modest price of $20. While this seems a bit steep (making the used game and voucher price considerably more than a new copy of the game using current prices), Koller did give some reasoning for this upgraded security.

“Piracy continues to be an issue of concern for the PSP platform. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 is a trial run for a new initiative we are exploring for the platform,” Koller said. “We will continue to explore this as an opportunity for the platform going forward, but we have no announcements to make on future iterations at this time.”

Koller also went on to state that from their research fans will react to this feature “quite positively” and that the security measure will help “keep [the] development pipeline flowing with creative new IPs, well known franchises and pick up and play experiences that all can legally enjoy.” If this trend spreads to more Sony titles it will certainly be interesting to see the reaction of legal used games buyers and sellers.