The response to the XO has been completely negative, I haven't heard anyone defending MS' decisions So the question is, will MS back away? will it change its used games policy, its online activation crap? or is already too late?
Way too early to call this, E3 hasn't even started yet! I too wasn't a fan of the conference and how they are dealing with the used games situation, but I'm reserving full judgements until they actually show their exclusives ( ones I hope to give a damn about ). The conference felt like it was just there to keep their stock holders happy, whilst trying to appeal to the casual market, Its something that shouldn't be taken as harshly as alot of people are treating it as in my opinion.
With the launch date approaching the E3 is the point of no return date: after that MS wont have the time to redesign the One
Yeah definately, Microsoft really really needs to grab the gamers attention at E3 and truly convince them that its a console worth going through the bothers for, although I have a feeling that Sony's going to shine at E3 considering how gamer focused the PS4 truly is, not to mention we haven't seen what the console looks like.
Expect at E3: - Forza 5 - New Gears of War - New Halo - Rare Title (Possibly a new Killer Instinct) - Quantum Break explained - Call of Duty time exclusive DLC - Battlefield 4 exclusive mission - Some Kinect games (insert random pop artist dancing on stage) - Unreal engine 4 new title (by Peter Molyneux) - Age of Empires - New IP - A zombie game - A Star Wars game
They have apparently said the used thing is all wrong, if you take a game to a friends house - it will deactivate on your console and activate on his. When you take it back to your house, it will reactivate there. Selling the game is easy as selling it to someone else and they install it, then it will remove it from the original owners account. Technically this means you could trade in a game and still play it until someone buys it... However, this seems like they just decided this after all the negative reactions. If they DID go through with the whole plan - I can imagine publishers LOVING it (in the short term at least, until they realise people trade in games to buy new ones - no easy trade in, no money for new games) and if Sony didnt follow MS - a lot of games going xbox only, which in turn means more people buy xbox for the games... Its going to be interesting to see how it plays out IMO.
It seems like are pretty much set up for either failure - or success, while pissing off every remaining reasonable gamer on the planet. I say with a press conference this big, it wasn't just "testing the waters". What Sony did in February was testing the waters, this is a product presentation that backfired up their asses how they never imagined, I'm sure. Probably the wrong people making decisions... if it is successful, we never know. MS might as well rely on their analysts (who will have approved of this step prior to announcing it) and may even remain very competitive throughout the next generation. After all, everyone is happy with their Steam-ripoffs, their $1 iTunes-ripoffs and playing shitty mobile games for $7.99 which, 10 years ago, nobody would've liked even if they were free on the Internet. Consumers are full-on fucktards and trust me, they can fuck everything up. Their stupidity and short-sightedness (Steam et cetera) is the SOLE reason why companies think they can do something like the Xbox One right now.
I like steam. They have sales often, I have no problems with digital distribution (or not being able to resell it) - as long as the price is right. They are saving money on not sending physical media, storage, shipping, printing, etc - so digital sales should be A LOT cheaper. Steam sales do this. Look at renting a game/movie - its much cheaper, but you dont get any return on it. Digital sales need to be priced less than physical media else it makes no sense at all. Steam also adds value - auto updating etc, which on the PC is a disconnected process - i.e. each game having its own way of doing things. If the xbox came out with games being £15, but digital and locked in - id have no problem buying those too. But they wont, they will try to charge the same amount and pocket the extra, while also trying to kill resale.
Microsoft is on a dangerous road. The intention is obvious, to block second hand market on games. It seems like the game industry feels that they lose a lot of money on Second hand games. Personally I don't think it's true. I think most who buy second hand games wouldn't buy them new or are unable to do so. But one question that no one seems to ask. What will happen in the future when Microsoft stop support Xbox One and shutdown all Xbox One servers? Will you be able to play your Xbox One games?
Its not just about the people buying the used games. The people SELLING the games are often investing that money in a new game. If you kill used, you will hurt sales of new games. This is why they need to be much cheaper - as you cant count on selling your game once you complete it to buy another.
I dont buy when its full price, I buy in their common sales or various other sites that have deals on - but activate on steam. I dont think 3rd partys will have access to sell digital games on Xbox - unlike steam, which allows competition on price.
i am not a digital distribution fan personally, mainly due to the lack of resale value plus as a collector digital stuff just cant have a place on the shelf which is annoying also does this not apply to us: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/03/eu-court-rules-its-legal-to-resell-digital-games-software/
Lets say you buy a retail game for £40, but you can resell for £20. If the digital game is £20, there is no lost resale value. This is my point about steam sales when games are like 75% off etc. And this is how digital distribution SHOULD work, but obviously isnt what everyone is trying to do Do see your point about something for the shelve, but I am not a collector and I dont like clutter.
very good point, hadnt thought of it like that, you are already saving the money that you would have gained from resale so its not a loss as such
And really, how much money would you get for a used PC game? It seems like they're almost worthless on the secondhand market unless it's a rare title. That's probably due to serials and activations, people are probably afraid that they won't be able to install the game.
Also very true from a collectors and archival point of view. However, that's not the majority and likely little to do with if this plan will succeed or not. But I do agree with your point.
Who here even resells their games? After a few months that game will be 'old' and will be worth £5-10 on the second hand market so you may as well keep it. Sure, when I was a kid I had to sell my games in order to afford the next big title, but these days I keep them as I know I'll want to play them again down the line... There are plenty of other ways to encourage people to buy new games. Take what the record industry have done to (successfully) boost sales of a dying format - bundling other shit in with records; gig tickets, T-shirts, art books etc. I'd buy more new physical games if they came with models, action figures, comic books, and other cool shit. These don't need to be £100 hardcore collectors editions either... the special edition of Skyward Sword with the golden wiimote was great at £50.
