Sources: The Next Xbox Will Play Blu-Ray, MAY NOT PLAY USED GAMES (And Will Introduce Kinect 2) (Xbox 360, PS3)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Microsoft will upgrade its disc technology for its next Xbox from DVDs to Blu-Ray discs, catching up to rival Sony, games industry sources tell Kotaku. Sony's PlayStation 3 currently supports Blu-Ray, which can contain 25 or 50GB of data compared to DVD's 9GB.
But that disc detail could be far less impactful to the next generation of game consoles than the assertion I've heard from one reliable industry source that Microsoft intends to incorporate some sort of anti-used game system as part of their so-called Xbox 720.
It's not clear if that means that the system wouldn't play used games or how such a set-up would work. Obvious approaches—I'm theorizing here—like linking a copy of a game to a specific Xbox Live account could seemingly be foiled by used-game owners who would keep their system offline. My source wasn't sure how Microsoft intended to implement any anti-used game system in the new machine.
A push in any way by Microsoft against used games would likely be cheered from publishers sick of seeing retailers like GameStop crow about their revenues from the sale of used games. But it could potentially anger consumers who rely on buying cheaply-sold used games or even pass games to relatives or friends.
One source familiar with Microsoft's plans for the new Xbox said Microsoft plans to ship their new Xbox with a new version of its red-hot Kinect hands-free sensor system. The new Kinect would contain an on-board processor, a feature originally intended for the first Kinect. That processor would enable a new Kinect to more effectively detect users' motions.
I'm also hearing that Microsoft is interested in making a smaller controller for its new console.
And what of gaming site IGN's report that the machine could be six times more powerful than the Xbox 360? From some industry sources I'm hearing that that's the right ballpark and that Microsoft is estimating they might even get to 8x the Xbox 360. But another insider clarified that no one in the industry has development kits yet and that any talk about specs right now is still hypothetical.
Mind you, these are still rumors, but imagine if Microsoft doesn't allow used games to be played on their next system... There will be hell to pay!
But the biggest question of all is; would you still buy the new system if this rumor becomes true?
Each game will probably have a similar licensing agreement just as if you were to buy CD/DVD ROMs of any Microsoft program. Not sure how I feel about that since there are two Xbox 360s in my household. Would not want to buy two of each game. Right now, we just take whatever disc/game we want to play and put it in whatever xbox that is available.
Hopefully they will allow for two licenses per game.
Each game will probably have a similar licensing agreement just as if you were to buy CD/DVD ROMs of any Microsoft program. Not sure how I feel about that since there are two Xbox 360s in my household. Would not want to buy two of each game. Right now, we just take whatever disc/game we want to play and put it in whatever xbox that is available.
Hopefully they will allow for two licenses per game.
Not just MS products, most software products.
As far as owning multiple Xboxes, the solution if they do it (and the speculation is accurate), would probably be a combination of what they do now, a signed in GT has access to all of their content including on disk, games on demand, live arcade, and DLC, and something along the lines of NetFlix or Hulu, where devices are approved according to the owner. This would give you access anywhere when you're signed in with your GT, AND access on any of your owned consoles. 99% of this is already implemented in the Xbox Live system anyway, so wouldn't need much extension.
Hopefully on the positive side though if this is done then when you install the game to the hard drive, you can not need to disk swap the original disk in when you want to play that game, this currently makes the whole purpose of installation pretty pointless beyond an often barely marginal speed increase.
I wouldn't be surprised if the new Xbox wasn't backwards compatible... Who even used that feature on the 360?
I actually wanted to use it for a few games - games that just happened to not be compatible. My original Xbox is dying, so I was hoping to transfer everything to the 360 like what I did with my PS2 games and transferring to the PS3.
All the time. You think I'll pass up on replaying KOTOR?
Or Halo, Halo 2 (although they've been recently ported to the 360), Jade Empire, Beyond Good and Evil (another recent port and on Live Arcade), Morrowind, GTA:SA (or any of the GTAIII series) and a personal favorite The Bards Tale.
But the biggest question of all is; would you still buy the new system if this rumor becomes true?
No, I will not. 100% serious, I will NOT buy this system if it won't allow used games. Or any system, I'll be done with games. It's BS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chango
I wouldn't be surprised if the new Xbox wasn't backwards compatible... Who even used that feature on the 360?
I did, quite a bit for the first few years after the 360 came out. Sold my original xbox system after I got the 360 but kept the games. I still fire them up occasionally.
No, I will not. 100% serious, I will NOT buy this system if it won't allow used games. Or any system, I'll be done with games. It's BS.
Why? Would you object if you could buy used media, but it required a one time activation charge?
The reason I ask is that the current system of used games provides ZERO return to the developers, licencers, and publishers, it only benefits the retailers, who are making obscene profits on re-selling used games. The game that you sell back to GameStop for $10-$20 goes back on the shelves for anything from $55 to $30, none of that goes to the people who actually invested in the game or console, but goes directly into GameStop's pocket.
It's crazy, because the seller gets fleeced by selling a $50-60 title for $10-20, the new buyer gets fleeced because they're often only saving $5-$10 on new, and the publishers and developers get fleeced because they don't get any money from that sale, and it may even prevent someone buying full price new, for a $55 used copy. Then people say things like "if this is implemented I'm done with that console", and I'd like to understand why? More pertinently I'd like to understand why that market system is not just acceptable but defended.
In the used game market everyone is losing, except for the retailer. If that retailer was making $5 or $10 on resales, that's reasonable, that's a 100% mark-up in most cases, but paying someone $20 for a game that someone bought a week ago (that's $40 down on a $60 title for the original owner the retailer also makes between $20-$30 on that sale too, wholesale costs are normally $30-$40 per game), then flipping it for $55 (making $35 pure profit) is pretty cut-throat. At best case a retailer can easily be making up to $65 profit on a $60 title with one resale, that's for a $30 investment, the same game will yield as little as $7.50 to the developers who's investment could be well above $20M.
I've mentioned it before and I'll say it again, if the bottom fell out of the used game market tomorrow it would have no impact on game developers, and publishers that is detrimental, it could have some positive effects on overall profits (people may buy a new game rather than used especially in the high end of the used game market of recent AAA titles). How it would affect the console manufacturers would be difficult to predict, it may reduce losses on sales of new generation hardware that's typically sold at a loss, that loss is recouped in license fees (which used games do not pay) which is why high attachment rates are so important in the first few years of a consoles release.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My original Xbox is dying, so I was hoping to transfer everything to the 360 like what I did with my PS2 games and transferring to the PS3.
