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Xbox 720 Could Require Always-On Connection, Lock Out Used Games
MojoKid writes "Sony's next-generation PS4 unveil is just two weeks away, which means leaks concerning both it and Microsoft's next-generation Xbox Durango (sometimes referred to as the Xbox 720), are at an all-time high as well. Rumors continue to swirl that the next iteration of Xbox will lock out used games entirely and require a constant Internet connection. New games would come with a one-time activation code to play. Use the code, and the game is locked to the particular console or Xbox Live account it's loaded on. Physical games will still be sold (the Durango reportedly supports 50GB Blu-ray Discs), but the used game market? Kiboshed. If this is true, it's an ugly move on Microsoft's part. Not only does it annihilate the right of first sale, it'll eviscerate any game store or business that depends on video game rentals for revenue."
Always on always turns me off.
The main problem I see with this is the ability to lend games to friends, or have friends lend games to me! This is what hooked me in with COD 4 and the reason I purchased an Xbox. My mate lent me his copy for a day and boom I was hooked.
That wont be happening again I guess....
No new console for me then *shrugs*
We don't need proof, unsubstantiated blog entries will suffice!
to get themselves out of the console business again
So what you're saying is you WANT to have to go out and replace ALL your DVDs, CD and Games every time you buy a new DVD Player or Console?
I can't even begin to describe the amount of utter stupidity you have posted here.
Dick move? Note even close.
Lesser Evil? My ass.
Just made the next few months so much easier, because all the hype, specs, leaks, teasers and general media d1ck-sucking can be safely ignored.
You've chosen to release a console that's less powerful than the PC I built 2 years ago, so heavily encrusted with DRM that it will get in the way of playing games I have purchased. Router bounces - say goodbye to your game session. ISP has problems - no games for you, you filthy thief.
Here's a little hint, MS - you are not the only game in town. There has never been such excellent choice in the games and console market. I can run MAME on my Raspberry Pi, or Skyrim at full shiniez on the PC. What do you have to offer that's so unique? Halo? No, that's not looking a bit tired at all. Halo 5? Wow, I wonder what you have to do in *that* game!? (hint: shoot aliens...)
My PC plays anything that needs heavy lifting - my 360, Dreamcast, N64, PS3, PS2 and Saturn all still work, and I have plenty games to tide me over your entire current console lifecycle. Really, what are you offering this time around to make up for all this shit?
...only informed, conscious gamers will be dissuaded by this type of asshattery. CoD kids using their mom's credit card at the local GameStop will continue to purchase the regurgitated crap they've been playing for years.
The pool of gamers (and people in general) who actually give a shit is dwindling rapidly.
What else can happen when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?
If I can't own it, I'm not buying it.
The only reason why I own a 360 and PS3 is because I feel like I'm buying a game, and I therefore own the disk that it comes on. I can expect that disk to work in any other console, no questions asked. It's mine, and I can do as I please with it- I can play it whenever I want, trade it to whomever I want, borrow it to whomever I want, doesn't matter. It's mine. I paid for it, I own that disk.
Copyright laws be damned, I don't give a flying fuck about what passes for law in the USA these days. I don't care if I don't "legally" own the data on the disks. I don't even care if it's encrypted or not, as long as I can buy a console, plug it into the wall (sans internet), and expect it to work. This has been the case for nearly every console up to and including our current generation of offerings.
If they want to take that away from me, then fuck them.
Nothing irks me more then spending money on nothing. You think you're buying Halo 5 for the Xbox 720? Think again. You're giving Microsoft a wad of cash and hoping that they'll give you something in return, and if they do- that they'll let you play with it for long enough that you don't feel like you're being totally screwed when they inevitably take it away.
So really, me "owning" anything today is a huge stretch- but this kind of shit just iterates how little my rights matter to these corporations. You keep forcefully reminding me that I'm paying you for nothing tangible and nothing that I can permanently keep- damn straight I'm not going to buy into your newfangled bullshit. How do you think everyone would feel if car manufactures had the legal right to break into your garage and take away your car even if you paid full pop for it? I don't think that would fly very well. How come the same thing is OK for gaming?
The easy solution is to simply not buy the product if you think it's bad.
/.Mattsson - My native language is not English, so please don't whine over linguistic errors. (That's lame anyway...)
On slashdot "most of the world" is a synonym for America. It's like, in the faqs and stuff dude.
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Sony's failure with the PSPgo is partly because they had to compete with their own more fully-featured product and partly because they didn't mandate day-and-date digital releases of retail titles.
Whether doing that worked with the Vita is impossible to tell, since that platform's sales numbers are pretty much crushed under its high price (including separate overpriced memory card) and having to compete with mobile gaming (such as it is), and pulling game sales numbers is a futile exercise anyway, since digital sales aren't usually reported, NPD's given the public the finger, and VGchartz's methodology is a disaster.
Looking at how digital sales on retail PSPs did might be better, but that may not be feasible.
And before you go on with "blah blah piracy": The DS was as wide-open as the PSP was. Developers who weren't fans of good-faith efforts used that as an excuse to develop on just the DS, or more likely have fled to mobile or folded. The 3DS is also suffering from the end of the cash-in, but is sort of weathering it because Nintendo. Pick another argument.
CAPTCHA: euphoria
But that's just it. Publishers *do* get money from resale.
If I know I can pay $60 for a game when it first comes out, play it for a week or two and then sell it, I'll buy it opening day.
But since I can't resell it, I wait for that sucker to hit the bargain bin before I even consider it.
Only $60 per game? I think you're forgetting about that whole DLC thing.
I understand what you are saying, and it's true. They also make money by friends lending out copies, or from rentals. There are many 3rd party channels that lead to sales.
The reality is that intangibles like "goodwill", "word of mouth" etc just don't make it into the all mighty spreadsheets that are the end all be all for corporate decision making. But "estimated annual lost revenue" from resale and rental channels does.
But then, that's how things are in these United States of America.
And here I thought you were talking about Canada. Same deal up here.
Om, nomnomnom...