This would be retail suicide.
Xbox Series X [XBSX] [Release November 10 2020]
- Thread starter Megadrive1988
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- microsoft xbox xbox series x xbsx
Well MS is definitely heading that direction. I agree there wont be abrupt end of physical Xbox games as there's still a lot of OG Series X owners, but we're almost definitely gonna see more and more publishers and games not going for physical releases on Xbox as we get later into the generation. It's gonna upset people, and it's just plainly anti-consumer.
Gotta say, I'm not a big fan of where either Sony or MS are going this gen. But for anybody who still values physical, I think Microsoft is making consumers' choice for them. Seems so unnecessary, personally. Anecdotal, but I just dont get the impression that people are attached to the Xbox platform the same way Playstation users are to Playstation. Especially when something like Gamepass are just long-term rentals, where outside of 1st party games, you're gonna lose those games on it at some point, even if you stay subscribed. It makes it easier to drop than something like PS Plus.
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Silent_Buddha
Legend
It would not surprise me if digital game sales on Xbox is now around the 70-80% level. That would be getting close to the savings on not including a physical optical drive being potentially greater than the revenue lost by people opting not to buy a console without a physical drive.
Regards,
SB
Regards,
SB
Considering the lengths the FTC and CMA went through initially to protect "my playstation", and the forced pivot (all about cloud gaming) and very public shaming of the FTC, this leak makes perfect sense. FTC CMA and Jim Ryan to Microsoft: checkmate.
And now it's the 2013 playbook all over again. Every price should be x-$100, all the anti-DRM narratives can formulate both directly and indirectly, all the not-Microsoft marketing from Sony can crystalize just by checking the temperature of the leaks, etc. This will be fun to watch and see if Xbox survives this time.
As an XSX owner with some discs for back compat, I'm not sure how they plan to release an XSX-DE unless they plan to bring back the 2013 license portability efforts that got jettisoned in all the XO noise. Wifi 6 support is welcome. And a controller with haptics sounds nice since ports from the lead development console would be 1:1 then at least for haptics. But unless I missed it, there was no elite controller with haptics in those leaks.
If they can just get the lag out of Dolby Atmos on Xbox and PC, that would be a start. At least we know it's not a SHAPE problem.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Digital only is the future. MS is ripping the band aid off with this one and I think it's fine. Maybe the $499 price is how they appease retailers with this move.
New XBox Series revisions leaked:
New Xbox Series X/S consoles detailed in enormous Microsoft leak
Microsoft will launch a refreshed version of both the Xbox Series X and S next year, according to documentation include…www.eurogamer.net
View attachment 9608
Looks cool, although like a 'smart speaker'. But at the same time, I thought boxes that lie length-ways were preferable to fit in AV cabinets? I guess it could have a stand like PS5's daft wobbly-bottom requires.
6nm accompanied with 15% reduction in PSU power. I take it that's system wide power draw?
Also, MS should be pissed as this screws with their current hardware sales. Anyone interested in an XBSX now is likely gonna hold off. Edit: Okay, release is a year away.
I also would rather see a square /rectangle system like the current one but smaller. However I would likely just wait for 2028 and get the next gen unit. By then I will have enough ms points to get it free.
I also wouldn't get to far into the specs and prices of the system at this point in time. MS will obviously continue reacting to the market. IF a ps5 pro is out at $500 with much better specs they wont put out a refresh at the same price.
I find it really hard to believe they wouldn't sell a model with a disc drive. There are tons of copies of games sitting on shelves across the world. Even if disc users were the minority, it wouldn't make sense to scrap the disc drive option.
Is this going to make a comeback?
Is this going to make a comeback?
I still have my hd-dvd drive ! It works on the pc and I have a large collection of movies on hd-dvd
I wonder if having the drive connected via usb would allow for easier hacking of the software.
Anyway I think there are two ways a company can proceed.
1) Release an external drive like you mention which would keep the second hand game industry alive. The benefit would be allowing customers to continue enjoying their library of games from past generations and also allow them to cheaply buy libraries of games.
The cons here of course is that the company would have to continue supporting the disc drive and likely there would be an uproar when they kill the option either with a new console that doesn't support it or when they finally decide physical needs to die. Also while second hand games are great for the consumer the devs/publishers/platform holder make 0 off those titles.
2) They rip the band-aid off now and deal with any fall out . They can say the phsyical media consoles on the market are the last ones for this generation. The obvious benefit would be all digital sales with the platform holder taking a bigger cut, killing second hand sales allowing games to have a much longer life span and of course making subscription services even more attractive
The obvious con is the inital backlash against this and of course the other issue is breaking the chain of owner ship, there will be a disruption to owners with large previous ownership libraries making it easier for them to switch to another platform.
I am not sure what the answer is because as games continue to grow bigger its obvious that the storage capacity and speed of bluray will not keep up. Bluray is what up to 128GB and a 144MB/s transfer? There are already games larger than 128GB and will likely only continue ballooning in size this generation and then again with the next generation. The only other option would be to add multiple discs which just drives up the cost more
I haven't bought a physical game for my xbox for almost 10 years. I'm actually surprised people still care for them.
Heh, bought the drive for 20 bucks back then just to copy the few movies I had as HDDVD. But I was always too lazy to actually do it.
Though Watchmen and Bladerunner Ultimate Cuts really need a backup...
'Ripping the bandaid off' makes it sound like something we NEED to do, rather than something that is being forced on us by anti-consumer platform owners who simply want to ensure they get maximum revenue from every game sold.
But I'll be fair here and also blame gamers. Gamers suck. We should all know that by now. Gamers are who ultimately let these companies get away with what they do, and fall for blatantly exploitative schemes because scant few people have actual principles and tend to just guzzle down whatever they're told to guzzle down because the alternative of maybe making a small sacrifice is more than this generation of consumerist addicts could even think of doing.
Sorry, bitter rant here, but it really just feels like we're in the middle of a very, very slow train crash and few people are really going to bother to notice til it's too late because it's become normalized and there's no way to protect yourself anymore. And even those of us who do notice are just screaming into the wind, cuz the other passengers refuse to give up their tea time in order to try and jump off before it's too late.
EDIT: Oh, and just to get this argument out the way: "Well PC has been digital-only for a long time now" - yea, and despite the loss of real ownership, we've ultimately still benefitted from thanks to competitive pricing. On consoles, Sony and MS control their own marketplaces.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
I think MS would rather suffer the backlash and suffer slightly worse sales for a bit and not have to deal with physical media anymore. IMO it's the right call. I don't agree that it is greedy like many do. The price of AAA games would be $100+ if not for digital delivery and mtx.
They probably figure that with GP nearing 30 million subscribers and the lineup of games on the way that they will be able to weather the storm. Their fall lineup is AoE IV, Starfield, Lies of Pi, Forza, Persona 5 Tactica. That's pretty good. If the acquisition goes through, next year GP will have Persona 3 Reloaded, Hellblade 2, Avowed, Towerborne, Call of Duty, Diablo IV at a minimum. That means I'm only paying about $20 per AAA game. Amazing value. Why would I care about physical media when AAA games are essentially $20 for me to play?
They probably figure that with GP nearing 30 million subscribers and the lineup of games on the way that they will be able to weather the storm. Their fall lineup is AoE IV, Starfield, Lies of Pi, Forza, Persona 5 Tactica. That's pretty good. If the acquisition goes through, next year GP will have Persona 3 Reloaded, Hellblade 2, Avowed, Towerborne, Call of Duty, Diablo IV at a minimum. That means I'm only paying about $20 per AAA game. Amazing value. Why would I care about physical media when AAA games are essentially $20 for me to play?
I think the majority of the backlash will come from concerned fans of other platforms. Lets face it the majority of xbox sales are digital, they had an all digital console refresh last gen with the one s and they launched with one of their two systems having digital only and its the more popular of the two. Sony this gen has launched a digital only sku and popular rumors suggest the refresh slim version of the consoles will be digital only with an optional optical add on. I am sure even if you look at switch buying habits they are most likely to be moving to digital sales. On a mobile platform it just makes a lot of sense to not have to carry a bunch of little carts with you.
Also like I said in my last post. Bluray is old and limited to 128gigs with slow transfer rates. Games are going to start pushing past that. There isn't a real replacement yet. I would love to see eventual flash based drives or even just purchasing a game on a nvme but I think retail is dead
I've been on steam since its launch and haven't noticed a problem
Do we know that the new models don't support optical media with a separate (optional) player?
They finally got Limited Run to start making physical Xbox games, though. I just don't see Microsoft killing physical games. Having a high end digital only option, yes. But retiring the physical market completely seems silly right now. Maybe at a generational transition, but not mid-gen. They would piss off too many retailers, who sold consoles with little to no mark up with the promise of software sales.
Same. I didn't buy a single game on disc for the Xbox One or Series X. Not surprised they are going digital only. Also, not surprised with the faux rage from the competition. Meh.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Better to do it mid gen after selling 25 million units than taking the PR hit at the next big launch IMO.
Can't say that I'm surprised. The market is pretty much at that point where digital only starts to make sense. Luckily for gamers that they're human and will be able to adapt to the new reality, like it or not. Some people will make a stink of it and decry it, bit they'll get over it. They don't have much of a choice. And this is coming from a gyt that prefers physical media for the collectability.
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