No Optical Disc Drive for Xbox 3

[Estebang]

It's just deluded to think that the Xbox 3 won't have a disc drive. Microsoft isn't ready yet to jeopardize their relationships with Walmart, Best Buy, Gamestop, and so on.

A more serious and uncertain issue is whether it will be released in Japan.

[Friendly]

It's just deluded to think that the Xbox 3 won't have a disc drive. Microsoft isn't ready yet to jeopardize their relationships with Walmart, Best Buy, Gamestop, and so on.

A more serious and uncertain issue is whether it will be released in Japan.

I think you didn't look at the article. It didn't say there wouldn't be any physical games at all, just no discs.

Although the console will not include a disc drive, it will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage

Which would make it easy to implement the rumoured anti-reselling mechanism by locking each game to the console it is first played on.

[Benjamin]

That's what I'm saying though, that digital distribution is a bridge towards having a more homogenized platform. With PlayStation Suite reportedly using C#, we may be nearing a point where developers can develop one game that'll work across multiple, similar platforms. I'm thinking of how iTunes/Play software remains compatible across multiple hardware upgrades.

Developers have incentive to keep digital distribution going since it effectively provides games an infinite shelf life. It stinks how some titles become rare and have their prices inflated due to scarcity. It's win-win as far as I'm concerned -- low prices for the consumer and lower development costs with longer revenue spans for the company.

[burgerkingdiamond]

who cares. If it wasn't for CAVE deciding to release their whole library (practically) for the 360 I sure as fuck wouldn't have one. The game industry blows.

[sjewkestheloon]

This could be disasterous for smaller developers. If I had no option to resell I would be very very cautious about buying anything untested, and in fact I would be more inclined to just play older games that I already like and pick up one or two new titles each year that were from trusted sources. That is, of course, unless pricing gets a big shake up.

Will probably end up with one of the 'next gen' consoles but I never buy at launch as I like to want at least 10 games on a system before I commit.

[Estebang]

You're right, I didn't read the article. However, this...

Developers have incentive to keep digital distribution going since it effectively provides games an infinite shelf life

...is completely wrong. The availability of out-of-print physical games persists for decades through niche retailers and internet sales channels. Digital downloads are gone once the service is discontinued, the servers are hacked, or they're de-listed by their publishers. We've already seen this with Irem's games, the original Xbox's Arcade games, and several 360 XBLA games.

[Benjamin]

Developers have incentive to keep digital distribution going since it effectively provides games an infinite shelf life

The availability of out-of-print physical games persists for decades through niche retailers and internet sales channels.

Since when have developers profited from used game sales?

Digital downloads are gone once the service is discontinued, the servers are hacked, or they're de-listed by their publishers. We've already seen this with Irem's games, the original Xbox's Arcade games, and several 360 XBLA games.

The delisting to which you refer only applies to is an extremely small minority of games (a dozen or two against tens of thousands) where the developer or publisher removed them from being available for purchase for whatever reason, typically IP dispute. This does not prohibit such games being relisted for sale in the future, and purchasers who bought such games while they were available can always download them as needed (the Wii's terrible, account-less system excluded).

This does not negate my statement; for those who wish to sell their games indefinitely, they can via digital distribution. Brick and mortar stores do not allow this. If you compare the active listing of games by developers on digital services compared to retail, you'll find the numbers blow away what you'll find on retail shelves. There is no argument which can be made where developers prosper more from the old retail system than they do digital distribution. This is why everyone is moving toward it.

[Estebang]

You're certainly right that publishers don't make any money off used sales, multiplayer vouchers aside. I shouldn't have quoted the "developers have incentive" part of that sentence. I'm speaking about the preserved availability of games, not profit. We've already had this discussion in another thread.

Someday in the future, Xbox Live and PSN will be discontinued. They will bring thousands of games down with them. It may be sooner than you think--we're already a couple years past the closure of the original XBL, and the loss of its DLC and Arcade games. Even Steam isn't safe if Valve somehow goes out of business or is acquired. Physical releases are the only way to ensure that games will remain available a decade from now. Of course, I can't deny that publishers simply don't care about this. In fact, it works in their favor: it helps sales when they re-release the games on newer platforms and distribution services, maybe with an "HD" attached.

[BPzeBanshee]

This does not prohibit such games being relisted for sale in the future, and purchasers who bought such games while they were available can always download them as needed (the Wii's terrible, account-less system excluded).

I could be wrong but I think I read in BulletMagnet's post about the R-Type games getting removed from the Wii that they were going to remain available for download for whoever actually bought them.

[Drachenherz]

It's just deluded to think that the Xbox 3 won't have a disc drive. Microsoft isn't ready yet to jeopardize their relationships with Walmart, Best Buy, Gamestop, and so on.

A more serious and uncertain issue is whether it will be released in Japan.

A good read on this matter:

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... xbox-rumor

[Friendly]

We don't need to read a huge article to know that going digital distro only is not an option at this point.

Once again: The article this topic is about said there would be physical distibution, eg. something like SD, just no optical discs.

[Drachenherz]

The last rumor stated that the new Xbox console may get rid of a disc drive in favor of memory cards, but Pachter doesn’t believe it for a second. “Flash memory costs at least $10 for 15 GB to manufacture, versus the $0.70 for a DVD and $2 for a Blu-ray DVD. The rumor is complete crap,” he said.

So, as long as the cost for flash-memory doesn't come down quite a bit, it just isn't feasible to give up on optical media.

[Friendly]

"at least $10 for 15 GB"

lulwut? Pachter talking out of his ass, as usual. Furthermore, Xbox 3 won't be released for more than another year. Does he expect the price of flash memory to go up? Why do people keep quoting this moron?

Yes, flash memory is more expensive than optical discs, but maybe it's a price they are willing to pay in order to gain complete control (=no used games).

[Drachenherz]

The cost per gigabyte is a factor that should not be negliged.

Are those websites also "talking out of their asses"?

http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/11/consum ... 2-gartner/

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ssd-hd ... 14336.html

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/a ... s_idc.html

Those articles are about ssd's which use flash-memory...

So if you want to distribute your 15 GB+ games by means of flash, you (as a distributor) have significantly higher productions costs than distributing your games on disc.

It is a valid point.

[Friendly]

And why would they use SSD? (Hint: they wouldn't)

Sony isn't using SSD for PS Vita, either.

[Drachenherz]

What kind of memory is used in a ssd to store data?

Read my post, it's not about the ssd themselves, but the cost of flash memory used in the ssd.

But yeah, actually we barking up the same tree, so I stop arguing for arguings sake.

[KBZ]

I think it's high time we create our own console.

[Never_Scurred]

So basically, I can look forward to being nickel-and-dimed to death next generation? No thanks, asian 360's aren't that expensive to replace if I had to. Plus, i'm not that much of a storyfag/graphicswhore to give a shit about the next-gen anyways.

[Friendly]

So basically, I can look forward to being nickel-and-dimed to death next generation?

Next generation, you say?

[Never_Scurred]

So basically, I can look forward to being nickel-and-dimed to death next generation?

Next generation, you say?

Good thing I don't play current-gen fighting games