Microsoft Gives Free Games to Owners of Faulty Xbox Ones

[Arnoxthe1]

Actually, people might find a way to abuse this by deliberately messing up their system and then calling up Microsoft to have it replaced. So they'll get a console AND a free game. As to how one can mess up an X1 without making it look like it was done on purpose, I have no idea.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Then learn to take care of your property, I've got every one of my games, from my first on PSX (V-Rally and Abe's Odysse) to my PS3/Xbox 360 collection. I have no issues with digital as a cheap option, it's the fact the industry wants to force it.

So you have never had the issue of a disc drive screwing up and maiming your disc or anything similar? You are either extremely lucky or I am extremely unlucky. The only disc that doesn't work due to me not taking care of it is my original age of empires disc which never came with a case.
As for the industry forcing it, I don't see why they shouldn't try to force something that is an improvement in most ways.

 

[RicoADF]

So you have never had the issue of a disc drive screwing up and maiming your disc or anything similar? You are either extremely lucky or I am extremely unlucky. The only disc that doesn't work due to me not taking care of it is my original age of empires disc which never came with a case.
As for the industry forcing it, I don't see why they shouldn't try to force something that is an improvement in most ways.

No I have never had a disc fail/die/whatever on me.
An improvement ay? All digital is nothing but downsides the only improvement is cost, and that's thanks to steam's 75% off sales. With all digital once the servers are turned off (and with a console they will be, just look at the original xbox), your now stuffed, at least with physical my games last as long as I take care of them. Also don't be so foolish to think the industry is trying to do this to improve it for the customer, they are doing it so they can switch off your games when they don't want to support them, Microsoft admitted themselves that anyone who wants to play older games are 'backwards' and they don't care about supporting them. No medium in the history of mankind has ever been at the mercy of the publishers like Microsoft wanted to set games, and no medium has ever been so eager to kill off it's history like the big name publishers of today just so they can make a quick sale on next years edition.

 

[Strazdas]

Microsoft giving free games? what sorcery is this?

Uh, i see now....

snip

I have lost far more physical copies of games then I ever have or likely will digital ones. Either from my disc drive screwing up, losing them while moving houses or something or just carelessness. There are far more safeguards for your digital games then is practical to have for your physical ones.

Anyway, on topic, it was a nice gesture from Microsoft. At the very least it focuses on games rather than the media centers consoles seem to be becoming. I would have been annoyed if they gave out movie vouchers or something for Netflix. Well as annoyed as people giving free stuff out can make me.

I have never lost a physical game but i lose a digital one once. Then again, i would have lost more digital ones, but i make my own backups into physical disc. And yes i know im overdoing it when i backup a game from steam into a DVD.

So you have never had the issue of a disc drive screwing up and maiming your disc or anything similar? You are either extremely lucky or I am extremely unlucky. The only disc that doesn't work due to me not taking care of it is my original age of empires disc which never came with a case.
As for the industry forcing it, I don't see why they shouldn't try to force something that is an improvement in most ways.

Once, around 15 years ago, the drive crashed. The disc still worked in another drive, though there was soem damage (not beyond readability).
You sould extremely unlucky. The only discs i heard of fallnig apart are ones that are broken by the time you put them in (and its easy to not notice it and make confeti out of your drive). Discs do have "rot" from time though. the cheaper made ones sometimes refuse to work after a decade or so, like my GTA3 CD2. but then, i dont remember last time i needed it.

They should not force. they should show the benefits (steam does it, rest do not) and give people a choice. If its truly as beneficial as you say, the audience will switch over by themselves, like they did to DVDs from VHS.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

So you have never had the issue of a disc drive screwing up and maiming your disc or anything similar? You are either extremely lucky or I am extremely unlucky. The only disc that doesn't work due to me not taking care of it is my original age of empires disc which never came with a case.
As for the industry forcing it, I don't see why they shouldn't try to force something that is an improvement in most ways.

No I have never had a disc fail/die/whatever on me.
An improvement ay? All digital is nothing but downsides the only improvement is cost, and that's thanks to steam's 75% off sales. With all digital once the servers are turned off (and with a console they will be, just look at the original xbox), your now stuffed, at least with physical my games last as long as I take care of them. Also don't be so foolish to think the industry is trying to do this to improve it for the customer, they are doing it so they can switch off your games when they don't want to support them, Microsoft admitted themselves that anyone who wants to play older games are 'backwards' and they don't care about supporting them. No medium in the history of mankind has ever been at the mercy of the publishers like Microsoft wanted to set games, and no medium has ever been so eager to kill off it's history like the big name publishers of today just so they can make a quick sale on next years edition.

It will take quite a lot to convince me that not having to leave the house, not needing to find space for discs, never being sold out and being safe from scratches are downsides. Feel free to try though.

Steam is the only one I can think of that requires an internet connection to play after the first download, unless you are counting multiplayer. But the same goes for a physical copy there. I don't know about PSN but I can play my downloaded Fable 3 on Xbox just fine without an internet connection.

Microsoft said that in response to no backwards compatibility for DISCS in the new console. There are downloadable versions of old games.

So your argument seems to boil down to: Digital is worse than physical despite being cheaper, safer from damage and more convenient because its a good thing for big bad Microsoft who seeks to control our games?

The only thing I can think of you might be trying to say but not really getting it across is that you can't continue to download games for a console once they stop supporting it? Well they stop making dics eventually too, good luck finding a Gamecube game in a shop these days.

 

[RicoADF]

The only thing I can think of you might be trying to say but not really getting it across is that you can't continue to download games for a console once they stop supporting it? Well they stop making dics eventually too, good luck finding a Gamecube game in a shop these days.

Basically this, the difference being that my CD's will continue to work long after servers are down where as the digital copy will be gone if you uninstall or replace the hard drive (which is the part most at risk of failure in a computer/console). Also you can't have a collection of digital games, I have all my physical games on shelves that I like to own and collect, digital games have no value (either financially or personally/emotionally), which is fine on steam at $10-20 but for a new game at $80 I expect a physical copy with my money's worth.
As for your pros for digital:

"Not having to leave the house" - besides that just being laziness, you can buy games online and have them shipped. I prefer to get my games from stores near where I work so convenience isn't an issue for me.

"not needing to find space for discs" - for me having the physical item is the advantage, I like having something physical for the money I pay, I like having my collection of games that I can see and physically handle, the list on steam doesn't have the same "money well spent" feeling. This is subjective though.

"never being sold out" - As with the first point, with online stores and ebay there is literally no game you cannot get, even in new condition, I picked up 'Corsairs' a few months ago, a 90's game I once played the demo of but was not able to get as a kid, off ebay in new condition without any effort. That aside just any game in the current and previous generation will be quite accessable.

"being safe from scratches" - Well I already said this isn't an issue, at least I haven't and neither has Strazdas, if you put your discs back into their case and onto the shelf (and keep them out of the sun light) they won't die on you. Your more likely to lose a digital game to servers being turned off and your hard drive failing than a CD keeling over, and if your paranoid then just make a backup of your disc, it's legal (atleast here in Australia) to make 1 personal backup.

I'm not saying digital is bad or that I hate it, I have 600 games on steam and many more on GoG/Gamersgate etc so I can't hate digital, what I do hate is this stupid attitude of "digital is the future everyone MUST go 100% digital or get lost" attitude that the industry and some of the community have, there is literally NO excuse why a game can't be digital and physical as they already are then it gives choice to the players weather they want a library of cheap and convenient but risky digital, a more expensive but safer physical or a mixture (as I have done). The industry wants it digital so they can charge the same amount but save in the production so they have a higher profit margin.

Regarding the turning off the servers killing your games, I was refering to what Microsoft had setup for XBO originally and what they say they still have as their vision for the future, where they would turn off the servers and the console would be bricked since it was going to require a server connect once a day to play games. I will agree using a disk to play previous gen games on the XBO is a good idea, and PS4 also does this (both are limited to certain games that publishers choose).