That's right, an old-school combination of letters and numbers. Players who buy new Playstation 3 games will reportedly have to dig up a unique code - from where is not totally clear, but presumably a slip of paper inside the Playstation 3 game box - and dial it in to verify that the copy is legit. Each code, the rumor says, will be valid for up to five authorizations.

As incredible as this rumor seems, I can't resist: According to a "very reliable source," Dutch website PS3-Sense reports that Sony will fight Playstation 3 game console piracy with serial codes.

I'm skeptical that Sony could pull off something like this. Serial codes aren't a very high-tech way to stop pirates, and they aren't very effective either. Key cracking is a hallmark of PC piracy, and as long as Playstation 3 game console hackers can create their own software, serial codes on the Playstation 3 game console would eventually be cracked as well. [source:http://www.pcworld.com/article/217424/will_sony_go_oldschool_to_fight_ps3_piracy.html]