Current Gen Console Discussions (PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch (Pro?) OFFICIAL THREAD

Steam has done a very good two front assault on the used game market- first, by being all digital, it of course makes re-selling the games impossible, but at the same time it is delivering a market where people care less. Games are always available, always supported and, most importantly, relatively cheap. Super cheap if you wait for a sale. When buying games feels like good value by default, the used market is less relevant.

The only time I've bought used games is when I literally cannot find a copy of the game available by normal retail- and that's certainly a sales loss that no publisher, writer or designer can blame me for or claim they should have the money from. But Steam has done away with that by having older games both available and, generally, at a good price.

I think one point we can't ignore here is that, based on the technology of the Xbox One, Microsoft simply cannot allow open re-sales. That's because the games run off the hard drive and not the disc, so if game re-sales were allowed, people could sell their games and still keep them, which loses both the legal and moral justification (the first sales doctrine involves the re-seller in turn losing his right to the product).

So the only option they have is to build re-sales into their system somehow, which I believe they have said they will do. I think it would have been a much better PR move, though, if they had gone down a specific "XBox One will support re-sales!" pitch.

Actually, it would be very easy for Microsoft to allow resales, and I remember Steam saying they wanted to have a way for people to resell their games they weren't playing any longer (though nothing came of it): The game may be installed, but it's the license that lets you play. Transferring or revoking the license would not be a difficult thing at all for them to do.

But yes, if they stick to what they say they'll be doing (at this point, with the amount of negative feedback and backlash they're seeing I would not bet money on them doing), the only way they could support that is if you resold your game through them.

I would not say that most games on Steam, unless they are on sale, are relatively cheap, though. For the bigger titles they still cost the same as a boxed copy or a console copy of it, with very few exceptions...and frankly I'll still always go for a physical copy of a game over a digital one.

I've certainly found them cheap. Certainly no more expensive and much more convenient, and the very regular sales have saved me a ton. Physical game copies are becoming increasingly irrelevant- even useless in many cases.

And PC games are generally cheaper than console ones anyway, often by a considerable margin. Little wonder, as that's where the console makers tend to make their margins, a factor irrelevant to the PC.

Retail sources are claiming that Microsoft and publishers will take a percentage of every used Xbox One game sold, with a rumoured preowned activation fee of £35. http://l.gamespot.com/11iKfqT

Originally posted by Ushgarak
I've certainly found them cheap. Certainly no more expensive and much more convenient, and the very regular sales have saved me a ton. Physical game copies are becoming increasingly irrelevant- even useless in many cases.

And PC games are generally cheaper than console ones anyway, often by a considerable margin. Little wonder, as that's where the console makers tend to make their margins, a factor irrelevant to the PC.

I only buy games on Steam when there's a sale because if I'm going to pay $50-60 for a game I may as well get it for my 360 or PS3. Most of the games I have on Steam I only do because they were on sale - I paid $15 for Borderlands 2, when it was 75% off. I paid $7.50 for Saints Row 3. And so on. Those aren't games I'd buy at full-price.

The games aren't cheaper - as I said, the big titles are generally the same price. It's the fact that they have a huge variety of cheap games that makes it seem like they are cheaper in general.

Originally posted by Zack Fair
Retail sources are claiming that Microsoft and publishers will take a percentage of every used Xbox One game sold, with a rumoured preowned activation fee of £35. http://l.gamespot.com/11iKfqT

The activation fee things I've seen have said it'd be the full retail price of the game.

The full price activation fee would be for a copy over, not a re-sale. They've not given any details on how the re-sale process works yet.

Until we hear the details on how their re-sale policy works, all this really has been is a PR cock up for Microsoft. Like I said, with games running off the hard drive, they literally had no choice but to block an open game resale market.

Originally posted by Peach

But, again, it doesn't actually cost them any money. A lost sale is not money cost by the publisher; it's simply a lost sale. There are a huge number of reasons as to why someone wouldn't go for a new copy; ranging from it simply not being available (new copies of games are not printed forever, after all), to it being too expensive, to not wanting to be stuck with a game that was shit.

Game publishers do not need more power. If anything they need less, because it's publishers like EA and Activision that are strangling the industry and has caused gaming to stagnate so much in recent years.

My choice of words may have been poor. I think we are on the same page though, I'm just saying from the POV of the publishers losing sales means they could potentially make more money.

And I do agree with you that they don't need more power, I'm just saying that it gives them more power.

And if it's true that publishers get a cut of used game sales means that there is more likely a chance that publishers will develop for XBOX One. This could mean more games for it because the publishers are now making money from new and used games sales unlike previous generations.

And that means people are more likely to buy the XBOX One because of it. History has shown that people buy consoles based on games (Wii being the exception).

For me, I rather have Steam like system on consoles now. I don't really care about physical disks. I'm an avid user of Steam (I think about 200 or more games) and it's a much better system than any local store can offer.

You and Steam need to get a room <_< >_>

I already have got one. It has a computer in it. But who wouldn't want a system where you can pay less and download a game right away?

Do you guys think MS will get rid of the always on and fee by E3? (Hey, that rhymes)

It's not always on, it's need to be connected. Always on implies that the system won't work if the connection ends. XBOX One needs to be connected to the Internet but connection can disconnect and you will still be fine (outside of MP for obvious reasons).Probably not.

The "fee", there could be a chance but I would think if it was going to happen, it would be an update after the console is released.

But MS hasn't released any information about the fee outside that it might happen. So who knows.

It isn't "always on" by technicality. You still need to connect every day if you want to be able to play your games so it can check that the licenses are there.

Which of course, completely screws over people who, for whatever reason, do not have an internet connection. The broadband infrastructure in the US is terrible, a decent internet connection is quite expensive (if you can get a good one), and a lot of colleges block ports that would allow a console online.

I'm looking forward to being unable to play games whenever my isp has issues

Originally posted by Peach
It isn't "always on" by technicality. You still need to connect every day if you want to be able to play your games so it can check that the licenses are there.

Which of course, completely screws over people who, for whatever reason, do not have an internet connection. The broadband infrastructure in the US is terrible, a decent internet connection is quite expensive (if you can get a good one), and a lot of colleges block ports that would allow a console online.

Well, it depends on how many packets are being sent. I agree that if your Internet is terrible, you won't be able to play online. But that's been a problem since the original XBOX and PC gaming so nothing new here.

But....depending on how many packets are being sent, which I don't think will be a lot (probably in the kb range), you can probably be fine with dial-up, or very basic Internet.

If you don't have Internet...well, that sucks but in the next ten years, you might want to get Internet. In Canada, most people that leave near any sort of community can at least get dial-up. So I think everything will be fine.

As for universities and colleges, again, it depends on what port the authentication packet is sent. If it's a well known port, everything should be fine. Who knows about MP but it's no specific XBOX One port.

Everything is going to be web based. How many people who do not have the web are really going to buy a console to play video games? I expect very few.

Originally posted by Peach
It isn't "always on" by technicality. You still need to connect every day if you want to be able to play your games so it can check that the licenses are there.

Which of course, completely screws over people who, for whatever reason, do not have an internet connection. The broadband infrastructure in the US is terrible, a decent internet connection is quite expensive (if you can get a good one), and a lot of colleges block ports that would allow a console online.

It depends on what packets are being sent from the console. I don't think a lot of colleges block consoles going online. If they don't block personal computers, they wouldn't block consoles. Also, let's say 25% block them and out of that population, how many people are using consoles and can afford the XBOX One? I don't think it's a big enough population to even worry about it.

It depends on how the console connects to the network. If it connects the same way as a computer, well, it wouldn't be blocked.

Playing online is a different story.

Originally posted by Smasandian
Well, it depends on how many packets are being sent. I agree that if your Internet is terrible, you won't be able to play online. But that's been a problem since the original XBOX and PC gaming so nothing new here.

But....depending on how many packets are being sent, which I don't think will be a lot (probably in the kb range), you can probably be fine with dial-up, or very basic Internet.

If you don't have Internet...well, that sucks but in the next ten years, you might want to get Internet. In Canada, most people that leave near any sort of community can at least get dial-up. So I think everything will be fine.

As for universities and colleges, again, it depends on what port the authentication packet is sent. If it's a well known port, everything should be fine. Who knows about MP but it's no specific XBOX One port.

Everything is going to be web based. How many people who do not have the web are really going to buy a console to play video games? I expect very few.

Current console online services (Xbox Live and PSN) require high speed internet. Do you really see them lessening that to dialup? I sure don't.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
Is playing a game console on a college campus supposed to be a common practice?

...yes? Kids go to college and bring their consoles all the time.

Originally posted by Smasandian
It depends on what packets are being sent from the console. I don't think a lot of colleges block consoles going online. If they don't block personal computers, they wouldn't block consoles. Also, let's say 25% block them and out of that population, how many people are using consoles and can afford the XBOX One? I don't think it's a big enough population to even worry about it.

It depends on how the console connects to the network. If it connects the same way as a computer, well, it wouldn't be blocked.

Playing online is a different story.

It's pretty easy for them to block it, actually; it's like how many campuses are able to block torrenting programs. Block the ports that they commonly use, and you're SOL.

Originally posted by Peach
I can tell you right now that that story is bullshit, unless it was broken and you were looking for cash...and even then it still sounds like a gross exaggeration to me 😛

Sounds unbelievable, I know, yet I don't see it past them. They can get that ridiculous. And gamestop doesn't take broken consoles. And it was a (good) Elite, after all. (The black xbox 360 in the original model that came out in '07) He went to gamestop with it around 2011 or something.

Originally posted by Peach

...yes? Kids go to college and bring their consoles all the time.