I don't see how I am being condescending. I'm just extrapolating from current trends.
Music
Movies
A quick Google search found these and there's more examples if you need them. Feel free to find your own data to contradict mine.
It's not about saving a few bucks. It's about convenience for most and for me and others it's also about having less clutter.
Game installs to hard drive are happening (on both XBOne and PS4) for performance reasons. Given this necessity, the only way you can prevent multiple people from having simultaneous access to a game with a single disk purchase (something that isn't allowed on current systems either) is to have some form of online validation.
The method I suggested in my OP seems to reasonably cover all use cases except for people who never have access to the internet from their console. So I repeat, what's wrong with it? What specific use case for you does it prevent?
Sorry it's just that I think "you'll have to learn to live with DD" is condescending. It's just YOUR preference, and a large part of the population doesn't have the same preference as you do. Both will continue to coexist, like all other media, as long as there's a market for it.
The flaw in your method is that it still doesn't provide ownership, they are dependent on a remote server, the ongoing maintenance and security of these servers, and the good will of the company which WILL pull the plug eventually (if you doubt any of these points are impactful, look up Microsoft music DRM servers, or the mess they did with Danger Hiptop in 2009, or Sony being hacked and had extreme downtime). It can only be considered long term renting, but legally they don't have to keep your games working beyond the warranty period. It has a remote kill switch. It's a "planned obsolescence" implementation. It also becomes the biggest hacking and DDoS target in the history of gaming (imo), making at least some downtime a real possibility. I won't have any of this.
Music:
In the early days, Apple, Sony and Microsoft were selling DRM music in encrypted AAC, ATRAC and WMA. It needed a server connection to move you files around (which is what you're proposing for games). We started a campaign against that, I fought for this and I'm very proud of what we accomplished. We killed it, and now we enjoy non-DRM music everywhere.
Even then, after all this time, people like me can still buy CDs. Download version are becoming much more popular, but that wouldn't have happened with a DRM'd format. Still every single one of my albums are available on CD.
Movies:
In the early days of DVD, there was an attempt at creating a DRM format called DIVX, which needed a phone line to give you permission to do what you want with your purchase. Once again, we fought it, and we won.
Renting physical films basically died, it's obsolete because we have streaming services like netflix. Physical media ownership didn't die. Bluray sales are still rising 2011 to 2012, new releases are $30 and they still sell like crazy. The "ownership" sales are collectors, and they aren't going anywhere in the DD realm. Who the heck would buy films on the playstation store? We only rent them, because online DRM means no ownership, it's a short term consumption which works extremely great for renting, but not buying.
Ultraviolet is about to become the best of both worlds. Collectors buy a bluray at a high price, and it comes with an Ultraviolet code. People like you who prefer DD exclusively, will only buy the Ultraviolet version, no clutter. We all get what we want, and I strongly support this because it's studio agnostic and hardware agnostic, just like the bluray forum.
eBooks:
Tor Books released their eBooks in non-DRM format, and their sales went UP. I'm glad we have a good guy in this field, and we favor their books. This is an ongoing battle but we're about to win.
I will still be able to buy all my books in hard cover for a long long time (which I do). eBooks are not killing books, they will continue to be a preference.
Games:
We fought them all, and this games DRM is just another one of those.
You prefer DD, you buy DD.
I prefer media, I buy media.
That is what Sony did with the Vita, and that's what they clearly said they'll do with PS4. Giving these choices, we're all happy!
I want them to do the same thing as Ultraviolet. Give a code for the DD version with the physical media, and sell it at a higher price. We'll buy it. Then, we all get what we want.
Sony is doing this with the latest Sly Cooper game. You buy the PS3 version, and it comes with the DD version for Vita, which only works for the first time owner. They can do the same scheme but instead of the Vita version it could give you the DD version of the same game.
Like when you buy a bluray and it comes with a DVD too.
Or a 3D bluray and it also has the 2D version.
Or a bluray and it comes with an Ultraviolet code.
