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Microsoft Will Launch Disc-Less, 'All Digital' Xbox One S Next Month, Report Says (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

Microsoft's next iteration of the Xbox One may not have a disc at all, and it might be coming sooner than you think. From a report: That's at least according to rumors from Windows Central, which says a disc-less Xbox One S "All-Digital Edition" will be offered for preorders in April. The new device, said to be code-named Maverick, will offer a "disc-to-digital" program, letting fans turn in physical game discs and convert them to digital downloads, Windows Central added.

One benefit of this new Xbox, Windows Central said, would be that it could push the price of an Xbox down. The Xbox One S starts at $299 and is typically bundled with a game. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. The move could mark a turning point for the video game industry, which has sold video games on discs and cartridges for decades. Some people still prefer to buy physical copies of their games, in part to share them with friends or trade them in at retailers like GameStop.

12 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Never own anything, rent everything by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The New Microsoft Feudalism: You own NOTHING, they own EVERYTHING, and you RENT IT from them. Don't like it? Starve, peasant.
    Fuck you, Miscreant-o-soft, fuck you sideways with a rusty chainsaw. So glad I don't use ANY of your 'products' anymore.

    1. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by olsmeister · · Score: 2, Interesting

      but...but...but... recurring revenue! (all the bean-counters get instant erections)

    2. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You do realize they're not the first to do this... Adobe has been successfully doing the Software-as-rental for Photoshop (and related applications) for years now, and artists everywhere just continue to choke it down.

      Now to be fair, most figure 'meh, the company is paying for it!', or rationalize it as a business expense if they're freelance. By contrast, I have no idea what the gaming crowd is going to do with an XBox that's not much more than a coin-op (card-op?) arcade game sitting in their living room.

      If I were to guess? Well, let's just say that if Sony is sufficiently smart, they'll avoid this model and subsequently clean up in the console space - at least long enough for MSFT to panic and suddenly ship free DVD/BluRay readers (and include them with all subsequent XBox consoles sold...)

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    3. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by DarkOx · · Score: 2

      effectively ends the secondary market; ie gamestop / disk-go-round etc. This has been the wet dream of the publishers for a decade or more. Microsoft is finally making it happen for them.

      Sure sites like GOG will still sell discounted older properties but only after obtaining first party licensing ensure a continued revenue stream on old titles.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    4. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by lgw · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The New Microsoft Feudalism: You own NOTHING, they own EVERYTHING, and you RENT IT from them. Don't like it? Starve, peasant.

      Nothing about this is new. You can buy a disc, but the game does not come on the disc - the entire game is downloaded anyway, except maybe a few art assets that weren't patched. Almost every modern game is always-online, so what good would the disc do you anyhow.

      You are longing for a time that has already passed you by, several years ago.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    5. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by Pikoro · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Granted, I'm as anti-SaaS as the next guy, but in Adobe's case, it works.

      Take the photographer's pack. Photoshop and Lightroom for $9/mo. If you were to buy them full retail, Photoshop CS6, the last version you could "buy" was $699. That means that for your $9/mo, it would take you 77 months (nearly 6.5 years) to have paid the full retail price. In the mean time, 4 new versions would have come out, each release costing around $300 to upgrade. Then add Lightroom on top of that.

      In this case, it really DOES make sense to just use the subscription. Plus, it's licensed for two computers at a time, and you can pause your subscription when you want if you pay month to month.

      It my eyes, Photoshop has always been too expensive, but in this instance, it's better than the hassle of switching to Gimp.

      --
      "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
    6. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      DRM is not the same as copy protection or security. Digital Rights Management means managing who, where, when, and how you can get the digital rights. Copy protection is the most minor and trivial things it does, and by all evidence not even treated very importantly. Many DRM games are pirated on the first day or even earlier, so copy protection is relatively ineffective.

      What's game makers consider most important with DRM is that you, the legal consumer, shall not ever resell your game, lend it, give it away, or similar otherwise legal options. Reselling the game is the biggie here, they want you to be paying full price. For movies, DRM means never being able to see it in a different country or at a different time than you purchased it for, for books it means not being able to read it on an unapproved device, and so forth.

    7. Re:Never own anything, rent everything by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Where does it say anything about rentals here? I was under the impression this is using Steam's model, not Adobe's.

      If it's Steam's, then great. If it's not, then, urgh, can't see anyone buying it to be honest.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    8. Re: Never own anything, rent everything by Pikoro · · Score: 2

      As per their website:

      US$2,599 for CS6 Master Collection
      US$1,899 for CS6 Production Premium
      US$1,899 for CS6 Design & Web Premium
      US$1,299 for CS6 Design Standard

      Of course, you can no longer buy those, but it was $699 for only photoshop, which is the number I used in my original post.

      --
      "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
  2. Will become a brick in the future by xack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When Microsoft shuts down the store like Nintendo shut down the Wiii shop. At least with the Wii we still have physical discs as a backup.

  3. Months to DL a game on capped Internet by tepples · · Score: 2

    They'd download content and layers if and when they're needed, not all at the beginning.

    In that case, for gamers who happen to live outside the service footprint of fiber, cable, and DSL, it could take months to play through a game while staying under the monthly cap that satellite and cellular ISPs impose on their subscribers.

  4. I'm confused. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... a disc-less Xbox One S "All-Digital Edition" ...

    Did the previous XBox include a phonograph, cassette or 8-track device?
    Otherwise, wasn't it already "all-digital" with the CD/DVD/Blu-ray (whatever) device?

    [ Yes, I know I'm being pedantic, but I seriously hate marketing people. ]

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .