Doing the 'I told you so Dance!!'

[SimonJK]

Any one familiar with me is probably used to me by now procrastinating about my projections that based on the market research Microsoft is doing into Direct to Download leading to them cornering the market and creating a non-disc based console next. Well it does seem some of the more professional internet authors have stumbled onto the same thing. Apparently 'industry insiders' have uncovered leaks in which Microsoft is telling it's partners not to expect any kind of disc drive in it's next console.
Here's some links:
http://www.neowin.net/news/rumor-no-...t-xbox-console
This is followed by numerous tech savy posts totally missing the point that Microsoft is now not being run by the likes of Bill Gates, but by board members totally obsessed with the one question "How can we securely make a cr@p load of money for just ourselves"?

Oh and heres the primary rumor link:
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/exclu...xt-xbox/092534

[MarkuzR]

Saw the MCV article the other day and just shrugged, to be honest. Rumours are always just rumours until they're cast in stone... and even then, they can still be overturned before going to market (Nintendo with the CD drive, for example). Doesn't really bother me as it much as it would have done years ago, mainly because I haven't even boot up my Xbox since the summer and seem to have become a PC gamer again. The techie in me is excited though, as a console running quietly off solid state is where the whole era started and then it really just turned into PCs inside a stylised case. Consoles haven't been consoles since the cart was done away with. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with, but I don't think it'll excite me enough to want to buy one or annoy me enough to boycott it.

We'll see what E3 brings... I imagine there'll be some sort of announcement this year, so hopefully we'll be in the room when it happens and we can listen to the opinion-less minions all cheering along happily like they do at every conference, only to bitch about them afterwards.

[Bear1970]

Ooh... there could be freebies!

[etherfiend]

It was just a matter of time until this happened and if not this forthcoming generation then certainly the next will be the one to do away with buying games on media.

Bad points:
- Bandwidth limits on ISPs / bandwidth issues on release dates (may be negated using tech similar to Steam's drip-feed approach)
- Unlikely to be able to lend games to friends
- Will need massive hard disks or life will become a relentless cycle of deletion and re-downloading
- DRM (will it need internet access to start the game or will it 'tag' your gamertag/profile with a key allowing offline play should you be off somewhere like a static caravan holiday or similar)
- Unless opened up or using redeemable codes, MS/Sony will have monopoly over prices
- no pre-owned
- more personal information forced online and ready for hacking

Good points
- no loud disk drives!(which may also mean smaller footprint
- reduced production costs (packaging, disc printing, etc)
- less physical storage space needed for games
- unless MS/Sony go under or are bastards about pulling older games off download servers it'll stop broken/scratched DVD syndrome from making games unplayable after purchase
- if use Steam for inspiration then gifting things would be cool
- no dirty postman stealing my precious pre-orders or delivering them late.

Overall it bothers me neither way, I like both physical media and downloads...having one avenue removed will be a shame but it won't stop me buying games and is unlikely to alter my choice of gaming platform.

[SmudgedHorizon]

My inner hoarder feels really sad about this, if it does come to pass. I LOVE my games collection, I love the collector's edition box sets, the steelcases, reading the manuals, artbooks etc. I have a load of arcade games but they're just a list on my 360 rather than a display on a bookcase in my house. It's just not the same!! Also on a related note; I really hate that EA no longer include physical manuals in games.

I also don't like the idea of strict drm, which I feel automatically comes part and parcel with something like this. I like that I can borrow games off mates or my little brother, play online or offline at will etc.

[SimonJK]

I thought it was just the two last EA games that had ingame (lame) manuals, but I do also see the bad beginning of a trend there. I am also worried about the DRM issue - if people are having to download all their games and have to rely on having a credit card etc linked to their gametag then I expect to see more gamertags being hacked and stolen - don't tell me it don't happen apart from phishing scams. Not only that what if some noob you pwned in an online match decides to get all his friend to mass complaing about you and MS then suspends or bans your gametag (another thing you cannot tell me doesn't happen), what happens to all your games you paid for but don't acutally seem to own? Does anyone recall the RRoD debacle where if you console has to be replaced all of the stuff you bought is DRMed to your last console and you cannot play anything offline or get anytype of refund? Yes I know they came up with a solution you can use once a year!

I also agree with basically every pro/con that Etherfiend writes apart from one! Yes the reduced physical production cost may be lower but is there any evidence to show that MS will pass the saving along to the customer? There is plenty of evidence to show the opposite, just look at the cost of any Game on Demand currectly on the marketplace. I believe one of the decent apperances of a game released in the shops a few months back is showing at £44.99, it may be differant in the US but when has MS ever offered the UK anything but spite when it come to prices, just compare the game prices or even the collector edition prices - some are simply insulting.