MS releases Xbox One S All Digital edition (No Optical Drive)

[Tkumpathenurple]

A tiny, discless device is a great idea, and should be able to sell for a good few years into the next generation.

Streaming's ramping up, and subscription services are already running full pelt. A cheap device that's easily capable of any streaming needs, but can still store and run games locally, is exactly what they need in order to... well... behave like a smack dealer and get you hooked

The X1X is already small enough, but it'd still be beneficial to shrink it or use a cheaper cooling solution. But any benefit of either of those depends on their next-gen plans e.g. if they intend on a two tier launch, involving RT, in something like 2021, then just keeping the X1X ticking along until then seems most likely to me.

But a tiny XBoxOne just seems like a good idea no matter what they're doing next-gen. If they could get it cheap enough, I'd certainly buy one just for the occasional month of Game Pass.

And looking further down the road at their streaming service, it'll perfectly serve people like myself, who don't want to buy a secondary next-gen console, but would still like to play next-gen's Quantum Break etc

Is there any general consensus around when 7nm will become cheap, how long that'll last etc?

 

[BRiT]

What if ... they only got half the information?
What if ... the discless Xbox One is also mobile handheld?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

What if ... the discless Xbox One is also mobile handheld?

Day one purchase for me, unless Sony came up with a similar proposition.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

What if ... they only got half the information?
What if ... the discless Xbox One is also mobile handheld?

That you could connect to a TV if you wanted?

That you could connect to additional storage if you wanted?

And supported KB/M? With games actually using KB/M?

I'd be hard pressed not to buy that.

If it also came with Steam, I'd ditch PC in a heart beat for gaming. With AMD offering very little competition to NV in graphics accelerators, and NV ramping up prices to ridiculous levels, I'd drop the PC for gaming in a heartbeat if this device offered all the games I want that are on PC but don't exist on consoles, or don't exist on consoles with a good (KB/M) control scheme.

Regards,
SB

 

[Jay]

The more I think about it the base is an obvious no brainer, but an X version could be very interesting.
With the 4pro being $100 cheaper, a discless 1X then being only $50 more expensive would be very tempting to many people.
Example, someone who was going to upgrade to a pro from ps4 as just bought 4k tv, may choose to get the x and keep base ps4 as it's really still performing well.
But may not of thought paying $100 is worth it.

I think discless sku's should be offered throughout the stack, and don't know why they are waiting.
Bring in the game upgrade service later if that's a delay, and make it available to everyone.

 

[Jay]

what's peoples thoughts, would the trade in be for a limited time so not to undermine digital prices, or would getting the game off the streets instead of being resold many times be a net benefit for new games.

 

[iroboto]

If there is a new SKU then I would expect a trade in deal. This is normal as it’s fairly profitable. As per another post about the actual costs to produce a console, when you do trade in you have a direct path to profits as you only buy when consoles are traded in and what you sell in the difference in price is profit.

 

[Jay]

If there is a new SKU then I would expect a trade in deal. This is normal as it’s fairly profitable. As per another post about the actual costs to produce a console, when you do trade in you have a direct path to profits as you only buy when consoles are traded in and what you sell in the difference in price is profit.

I was talking about the disc to digital game trade in, not the console

 

[turkey]

what's peoples thoughts, would the trade in be for a limited time so not to undermine digital prices, or would getting the game off the streets instead of being resold many times be a net benefit for new games.

I assumed it would be a one shot transfer but they may want it on for longer, it's a physical copy no longer available for the second hand market (even if it was to that owner) which may be seen as a benefit. Also it's making that user further invested in the platform which must have some cost benefit to Microsoft.

They could give you the first trade for free and after set a fixed price for the service. I think they did something similar for gamer tag renaming.

 

[iroboto]

I was talking about the disc to digital game trade in, not the console

Oh lol. Sorry I read over your post so quickly limited time in my life where I get a small
Window to post while my kids are playing.

I imagine it makes more sense to launch with the discless sku just to ensure the messaging is together. A new type of console is always big news, so it’s inportant for them to ride together

 

[Jay]

Oh lol. Sorry I read over your post so quickly limited time in my life where I get a small
Window to post while my kids are playing.

I imagine it makes more sense to launch with the discless sku just to ensure the messaging is together. A new type of console is always big news, so it’s inportant for them to ride together

The two things doesn't need to be tied together, would be better to get the sku out and selling before running up against next gen Imo.

 

[Jay]

I assumed it would be a one shot transfer but they may want it on for longer, it's a physical copy no longer available for the second hand market (even if it was to that owner) which may be seen as a benefit. Also it's making that user further invested in the platform which must have some cost benefit to Microsoft.

They could give you the first trade for free and after set a fixed price for the service. I think they did something similar for gamer tag renaming.

Yea, I can see merits in both.
Could stop games being resold multiple times.

 

[iroboto]

The two things doesn't need to be tied together, would be better to get the sku out and selling before running up against next gen Imo.

That’s based upon a lot of assumptions if this SKU does actually launch in 2019 I’m pretty sure they have thought of the same thing you are. So either this fits well into their product line or the market for this definitely exists

 

[Jay]

That’s based upon a lot of assumptions if this SKU does actually launch in 2019 I’m pretty sure they have thought of the same thing you are. So either this fits well into their product line or the market for this definitely exists

reasonable assumption next gen is around the 2020 mark.

It's like you said about marketing, except in this case it's better to give as much space as possible for it to find it's legs before next gen rolls in. When streaming services, maybe a diskless PS sku hitting the market also. One of those is definite.

Their data also told them that bundling Kinnect was a good idea.
I definitely think there's a market for this.

 

[rokkerkory]

Make it $199 with 1TB

 

[Deleted member 11852]

That’s based upon a lot of assumptions if this SKU does actually launch in 2019 I’m pretty sure they have thought of the same thing you are. So either this fits well into their product line or the market for this definitely exists

This is a final deep-dive for those very budget-conscious people who would like to play games but their budgets are prohibitive for saving for the device and the games. I do wonder how this meshes with folks in that demographic generally not having the best internet which will be the only delivery mechanism. Of course, that could be part of the business model; selling to folks who can't exploit it to the fullest therefore cutting your own costs - assuming Microsoft pay publishers on a per-play basis.

 

[mrcorbo]

This is a final deep-dive for those very budget-conscious people who would like to play games but their budgets are prohibitive for saving for the device and the games. I do wonder how this meshes with folks in that demographic generally not having the best internet which will be the only delivery mechanism. Of course, that could be part of the business model; selling to folks who can't exploit it to the fullest therefore cutting your own costs - assuming Microsoft pay publishers on a per-play basis.

In the US, the quality of internet available to you is more often dictated by where you are geographically than it is by where you are economically. There is a large population of people with lower incomes who live in large metropolitan areas that have access to adequate broadband at (relatively) reasonable rates. It's mostly the rural poor who wouldn't be able to use this, but the other limitation would be providers with data caps. This page has some info on that. Note that the population covered isn't a subscriber number, but instead indicates the number of people who have access to the service.

So, whether you will be able to exploit this service is going to be largely dictated by where you live and therefore what ISPs serve your area.

 

[BRiT]

Hopefully things drastically change once the wireless providers roll out their 5G networks. Verizon and AT&T say their network is 300mbit to 1gigabit from a speed perspective. They are offering 5G with no data caps for $50 in the cities they rolled out to now. Even T-Mobile says their 5G will be 100mbit and upgraded to 300mbit in a year or two.

I don't normally like the wireless companies, but if it means real competition to the locally granted monopoly to the cable providers, I'm all for their attempted market stealing for internet broadband! The cable providers days are numbered.

 

[iroboto]

reasonable assumption next gen is around the 2020 mark.

It's like you said about marketing, except in this case it's better to give as much space as possible for it to find it's legs before next gen rolls in. When streaming services, maybe a diskless PS sku hitting the market also. One of those is definite.

Their data also told them that bundling Kinnect was a good idea.
I definitely think there's a market for this.

I was touching on a few more items than just release date.
As per Alberto’s tweets on console costs, if they launch this console how many were they intending it could possibly sell this close to next generation. 1 - 2 Million units right before next gen already seems aggressive. And I actually disagree with the concept that this device is for the absolute bare bones folks, because they can't afford the type internet to continually download games. Its certainly cheaper and easier to buy used titles in that regard or just borrowing titles.

No, this console is for the consumer who is heavily connected and its totally into the subscription/game pass/streaming lifestyle. They already have heavy backbone lines, and they're comfortable with having large external hard drives. They don't need to borrow games because they can buy them all online.

So one has to ask if Xbox One is carrying over into next generation because that would reduce the risk/impact severely to the buyers. The other thing that we have to ask is whether this device will also be a 'streaming' device.

lastly, I would ask what is the true nature or purpose of this device? When they launched 1S, they upgraded the clocks as a proof of concept for compatibility for upgrading clocks on X1X approximately a year in advance and we see there are no issues.

Is this disc-less SKU a proof of concept for launching disc-less for next gen right off the bat?
And weren't we all in agreement that MS is desperately trying to get away from Xbox One because of the negative press? Why continually invest? This would be their 3rd SKU of this generation, and that can't be cheap.

A lot of questions I have, and very few answers. That's what i mean by a lot of assumptions.

Then we have the whole disc-to-digital trade in portion that's a new box of worms. There are a lot of communications and moving parts here and being able to market and tell that story correctly is paramount.

 

[mrcorbo]

Hopefully things drastically change once the wireless providers roll out their 5G networks. Verizon and AT&T say their network is 300mbit to 1gigabit from a speed perspective. They are offering 5G with no data caps for $50 in the cities they rolled out to now. Even T-Mobile says their 5G will be 100mbit and upgraded to 300mbit in a year or two.

I don't normally like the wireless companies, but if it means real competition to the locally granted monopoly to the cable providers, I'm all for their attempted market stealing for internet broadband! The cable providers days are numbered.

I agree completely. The increased availability of competitive fixed wireless broadband services has the potential to be very disruptive. My ISP/Cable provider is actually one of the more consumer-friendly ones, but faced with more competition they could be even better.