GameStop: 'high degree' of confidence that PS4 will play used games

During a post-earnings financial call today, GameStop CEO Paul Raines explained that he has met with various Sony executives and has a "high degree of confidence" that the PlayStation 4 will play used games.

Sony said in February at the PS4 announcement that the platform is capable of playing secondhand titles but that the decision to block or permit used games will ultimately be at the discretion of individual publishers.

Also during the call, GameStop executives spoke about the Wii U launch. The retailer said that though the launch in November "exceeded our expectations," sales have been "disappointing" since the beginning of the year. According to the company, there are two reasons the Wii U has fallen short.

First, GameStop claimed Wii U marketing has "not broken through the way that it needs to" thus far, noting that consumers are having a tough time understanding the system's features, namely the GamePad. "We still have an education process we need to go through," the company said.

The second reason the Wii U has come up short thus far is due to a lack of blockbuster, system-moving titles, GameStop said. Raines said New Super Mario Bros. U was a compelling first-party launch title, but a dearth of intriguing titles has kept system adoption low since.

"We're seeing the ramifications of that today," GameStop said.

Wii U sales will "take off" when blockbuster titles arrive, the company said. Nintendo is currently developing a new 3D Mario, a new Mario Kart title, two Zelda games, and a new Super Smash Bros. title.