Rumor: Next Xbox Will Feature Blu-ray, Anti-Used Games System

[Vigormortis]

I highly bloody doubt this is true. Rumours are often bullshit. Remember half the stuff we heard about the 360? How much of that was nonsense?

Nope. Still don't give a damn. I own a 360 and a Wii. They are likely the very LAST consoles I ever buy. Console gaming literally offers me nothing I can't get on my PC. And what it does offer, I often don't care about.

ALL HAIL THE PC MASTER RACE.

Yeah. Because that's exactly what I said.

Why is it the only time that stupid fucking term comes up it's from a console fan trying to demean a PC player?

Oh yeah, now I remember, it's because it's the only thing they can use to insult the PC gamers.

Can't say our hardware's worse then yours. Can't say our games are more expensive. Can't say our exclusives are crap. Can't say our controller sucks, since we can use anything. Can't say you don't have to deal with installs or DRM like we do, at least, not any more.

So what's left? Implying that all PC gamers are elitist pricks. It's kinda sad really. I mean, come on. At least TRY to think of something new. It's getting old. :/

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

Anti-Used Game System Idea: Instead of BD drive, make it a BD-Burner. Those aren't a hell of a lot more expensive these days anyway.

Then jig your publishing requirements to be on WORM (Write once, read many) Bluray discs, and require a small bit of the disc to remain unwritten.

First time you shove the disc in your Xbox it looks for the code of another Xbox. If it finds it, it drops out with a message of, "The person who sold you this game violated the licence agreements on it when they did. Please contact them for an immediate refund." If it doesn't find any code, it writes the code of your Xbox on it, and throws up a EULA requiring you to click-through and agree that you'll only play the game on this Xbox. If it finds your code already on it, it proceeds as normal.

Thus, no online connection required, no having to thumb in some sort of code (which is generally one of the easiest security methods to bypass) and used game sales basically wiped out for any new game.

And then, when my Xbox fries itself and makes me buy all my games over again, in addition to replacing the system, I burn their factory down.

Good plan.

Edit: Seriously though, it's a good way of accomplishing the goal. I commend you for it.

It's just that the goal is horrible, which isn't your fault.

 

[Something Amyss]

I highly bloody doubt this is true. Rumours are often bullshit. Remember half the stuff we heard about the 360? How much of that was nonsense?

For that matter, remember how this EXACT rumour (The anti-used game one, I mean) was rampant before the launch of the Playstation 3.

 

[Sparrow]

I highly bloody doubt this is true. Rumours are often bullshit. Remember half the stuff we heard about the 360? How much of that was nonsense?

Nope. Still don't give a damn. I own a 360 and a Wii. They are likely the very LAST consoles I ever buy. Console gaming literally offers me nothing I can't get on my PC. And what it does offer, I often don't care about.

ALL HAIL THE PC MASTER RACE.

Yeah. Because that's exactly what I said.

Why is it the only time that stupid fucking term comes up it's from a console fan trying to demean a PC player?

Oh yeah, now I remember, it's because it's the only thing they can use to insult the PC gamers.

Can't say our hardware's worse then yours. Can't say our games are more expensive. Can't say our exclusives are crap. Can't say our controller sucks, since we can use anything. Can't say you don't have to deal with installs or DRM like we do, at least, not any more.

So what's left? Implying that all PC gamers are elitist pricks. It's kinda sad really. I mean, come on. At least TRY to think of something new. It's getting old. :/

As PC gamer myself I was actually making a little joke, but feel free to come off as a giant jackass and insult anyone who likes consoles. What in the actual fuck man? I mean, seriously. What's wrong with you? Here I am making a joke and suddenly you're all guns blazing, assuming I'm some kind of retarded CoD lover (because clearly those are the only type of console gamers) and spouting your love for PC like a crazy Jehovah Witness talking about their religion.

PCs are great, consoles are great, I was making a fucking joke so let's all move on.

 

[Vigormortis]

I highly bloody doubt this is true. Rumours are often bullshit. Remember half the stuff we heard about the 360? How much of that was nonsense?

Nope. Still don't give a damn. I own a 360 and a Wii. They are likely the very LAST consoles I ever buy. Console gaming literally offers me nothing I can't get on my PC. And what it does offer, I often don't care about.

ALL HAIL THE PC MASTER RACE.

Yeah. Because that's exactly what I said.

Why is it the only time that stupid fucking term comes up it's from a console fan trying to demean a PC player?

Oh yeah, now I remember, it's because it's the only thing they can use to insult the PC gamers.

Can't say our hardware's worse then yours. Can't say our games are more expensive. Can't say our exclusives are crap. Can't say our controller sucks, since we can use anything. Can't say you don't have to deal with installs or DRM like we do, at least, not any more.

So what's left? Implying that all PC gamers are elitist pricks. It's kinda sad really. I mean, come on. At least TRY to think of something new. It's getting old. :/

As PC gamer myself I was actually making a little joke, but feel free to come off as a giant jackass and insult anyone who likes consoles. What in the actual fuck man? I mean, seriously. What's wrong with you? Here I am making a joke and suddenly you're all guns blazing, assuming I'm some kind of retarded CoD lover (because clearly those are the only type of console gamers) and spouting your love for PC like a crazy Jehovah Witness talking about their religion.

PCs are great, consoles are great, I was making a fucking joke so let's all move on.

Then...maybe next time don't just all-caps your words. Especially since you go out of your way to quote me and then only type "ALL HAIL THE PC MASTER RACE".

Seriously, what the fuck did you expect? You basically put in a trollish response. If you expected a different response back then you either aren't fully aware of how you're coming off in your posts or you're just trying to rile people up.

A quick glance at your profile, which I did before I posted by the way, yielded all the info I needed. At least five mod warnings, and only an Xbox Live account linked to your Escapist account. That, combined with you obvious pension for confrontation (given your post towards me) and it seemed pretty obvious you were NOT trying to make a joke. Even if you think you were, you weren't. Maybe try a little harder next time.

Oh, and for the record, I love consoles too. That's partly why I just don't give a fly shit about the next generation. They're taking all the best parts of what made consoles fun and ripping them out to add the worst parts of PC gaming in.

Also, seems I'm not the one who's making gross, inaccurate assumptions. You seem to like to put words in others mouths. Something else you might want to try harder to not do.

 

[Sparrow]

Then...maybe next time don't just all-caps your words. Especially since you go out of your way to quote me and then only type "ALL HAIL THE PC MASTER RACE".

Seriously, what the fuck did you expect? You basically put in a trollish response. If you expected a different response back then you either aren't fully aware of how you're coming off in your posts or you're just trying to rile people up.

A quick glance at your profile, which I did before I posted by the way, yielded all the info I needed. At least five mod warnings, and only an Xbox Live account linked to your Escapist account. That, combined with you obvious pension for confrontation (given your post towards me) and it seemed pretty obvious you were NOT trying to make a joke. Even if you think you were, you weren't. Maybe try a little harder next time.

Oh, and for the record, I love consoles too. That's partly why I just don't give a fly shit about the next generation. They're taking all the best parts of what made consoles fun and ripping them out to add the worst parts of PC gaming in.

Also, seems I'm not the one who's making gross, inaccurate assumptions. You seem to like to put words in others mouths. Something else you might want to try harder to not do.

All I did was make a joke, which was meant to be construed as a sort of "ha ha, very funny" type of banter between two people. You responded in a less than humourous way, which is why I was semi-pissed. Of course, if you still want to debate this (not really sure if you'd call this a debate, to be honest) then PM me, I don't want to clutter up this thread with a stupid PC vs Console war.

[sup]By the way, my "record"? A) Dick move bringing that up and B) I regret nothing of those. Well, maybe two, Maybe. Possibly. Maybe not.[/sup]

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

Whats that Microsoft? Don't buy your new system? OKAY!!

 

[VanityGirl]

There is no way that people will stop buying the xbox 3 because of these measures. People didn't stop buying games from Steam when their copyright procedure became cumbersome and ridiculous

No exactly. You have to remember, whether you like it or not, rentable games and used games are a part of the console world. Taking out the ability to play a used copy would seriously cut their market.
Why? People would no longer be able to rent games or buy a used game.

This means that console users can no longer pass a game amongst friends and family. That's a HUGE deal. And for many people I know, it would be a deal breaker.

Heck, it'd be a deal breaker for me. My boyfriend and I both have an xbox and often swap games with each other. It's cheaper and we can both enjoy the game. Instead of both of us playing a game and only paying $65, we'd have to pay $130 to both enjoy it.
Fuck that with a giant molten stick. Hell no.

My game buying is generally 80% new and 20% used. Why should I be punished?

 

[viranimus]

Well im sure others have already said similar, but I will weigh in. Personally I vow that if the 360s sucessor is either online only, Anti Used or purely subscription based I will NOT buy it. The same goes for Sony and Nintendo.

I will not give any organization the ability to pretend like a product is a service so they can get around laws they dont like, and unlawfully eliminate legitimate competition. I wont buy the console, I wont buy the games.

Its sad that the situation is getting to the point where people would hypothetically have to essentially give up their lifelong hobby due to corporations pushing the boundries of their customer bases conviction, but if gaming EVER becomes 100% net required/subscription based/anti used I will give up the hobby and perhaps then I can finally start working through my backlog. Hopefully it will last me long enough.

 

[Stormz]

Just another great example of the game industry fucking over all it's consumers, just another days work (If it's true) What happens when the games are discontinued? I'm not buying digital and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I like my physical media and Canadas Internet providers are trash so...

 

[Racecarlock]

I don't know what to say. "Their logic hurts my brain" or "There is no middle finger big enough". Oh wait, I just said both. Well, that's how I feel.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Well im sure others have already said similar, but I will weigh in. Personally I vow that if the 360s sucessor is either online only, Anti Used or purely subscription based I will NOT buy it. The same goes for Sony and Nintendo.

I will not give any organization the ability to pretend like a product is a service so they can get around laws they dont like, and unlawfully eliminate legitimate competition. I wont buy the console, I wont buy the games.

Its sad that the situation is getting to the point where people would hypothetically have to essentially give up their lifelong hobby due to corporations pushing the boundries of their customer bases conviction, but if gaming EVER becomes 100% net required/subscription based/anti used I will give up the hobby and perhaps then I can finally start working through my backlog. Hopefully it will last me long enough.

I'm with you on that entirely. I already have gotten to a point where it feels like investing in another game console is in diminishing returns territory and older games are becoming more and more appealing. I'll gladly build up a collection of old games - many of which would likely end up being used because they'd be older - than invest in another generation of consoles if the corporations' only intention is to strip away originality in favor of milking customers for every penny in a hostile economic environment that they purposefully establish.

I don't really see this happening all too soon, and certainly not all at once, but it is a possible future that could come gradually as the PS4 is established. By then, the big three could hypothetically play a game of matching the other guy in a drive to combat used sales. Until all three are out, competition would make it pretty difficult to implement, as others have stated. All it would do is give people a reason to just buy a 360/PS3/Wii/better PC depending on what they already might own ans save some money on an expensive, restrictive "upgrade" console.

 

[viranimus]

I'm with you on that entirely. I already have gotten to a point where it feels like investing in another game console is in diminishing returns territory and older games are becoming more and more appealing. I'll gladly build up a collection of old games - many of which would likely end up being used because they'd be older - than invest in another generation of consoles if the corporations' only intention is to strip away originality in favor of milking customers for every penny in a hostile economic environment that they purposefully establish.

I don't really see this happening all too soon, and certainly not all at once, but it is a possible future that could come gradually as the PS4 is established. By then, the big three could hypothetically play a game of matching the other guy in a drive to combat used sales. Until all three are out, competition would make it pretty difficult to implement, as others have stated. All it would do is give people a reason to just buy a 360/PS3/Wii/better PC depending on what they already might own ans save some money on an expensive, restrictive "upgrade" console.

Honestly, I think the solution here is fairly easy. We need an open source console. Some may see that as a PC, but in a windows or MAC environment its not, and Linux does not have wide spread appeal or even enough ease of use to be that. What we need is a console that utilizes one specific architecture, and allows developers the freedom to develop for the console. If you create that, you can foster and grow that community. Hell its already happening with opensource handhelds like the Cannoo, Pandora, GPX, etc.

 

[Orange Monkey]

Wait so even if me and my buddies want to borrow each others games, we can't because of that new system? Errr, that would suck big-time, as we usually only get one copy of each game between us and pass it around.

 

[Artemis923]

Meh. I really don't care what they do, I'm not buying a brand new console and starting at square one with my game library again. I'd be paying top dollar for...what? Better hardware and a Blu-Ray player? I have both already in my laptop.

 

[FamoFunk]

OK, someone may have said it, but am I correct in thinking Sony own a large part of Blu-Ray, therefore Microsoft would need permission off them to use it, which I doubt they'd give.

Am I talking out of my arse?

 

[GonzoGamer]

Hmmm....

Interesting rumors. Especially if they're true.

And six times as powerful as the 360? My, that's impressive! It's like we're in the far-flung future of 2009!

Wait...what's that? Could it be? Might I actually care about this new console gener...

Nope. Still don't give a damn. I own a 360 and a Wii. They are likely the very LAST consoles I ever buy. Console gaming literally offers me nothing I can't get on my PC. And what it does offer, I often don't care about.

I'm feeling the same way (except I own a ps3 & a wii) about the consoles. I'm definitely not getting one if all I have to choose between is one with defective hardware or one with horrible support. The speculation is probably based on the fact that consoles have been adapting the frustrating parts of pc gaming like punching in codes and hardware requirements but without the benefits like mods and tweaking.
BTW - Love the Calvin avatar.

Thanks. It was supposed to be animated. Shifting between at least a dozen different classic Calvin expressions/faces. But the upload derped and I haven't been arsed to fix it.

Also, and let's face it here, what do we really have to look forward to on the new Xbox or Playstation? Halo 4, Gears 4, more COD, Uncharted 4, God of War nextnextgen....

Yeah, no thanks. I'm completely burned out on consoles now-a-days. Just like you said, they're adopting all of the worst aspects of PC gaming being forced on us while STILL being the limited, overbearingly closed systems consoles have always been.

So...yeah. SIGN ME UP! Especially given that I would still have to pay monthly fees to play online. I just LOVE that! Paying a company to not support it's system and to gain the "privilege" of playing along side annoying, childish, racist, sexist twits. Because, you know, it's amazing to pay $60+ a year to be called a "******" and a "noob" all the time.
(I mean seriously Microsoft, it's been 7 years. FIX YOUR DAMN PARTY SYSTEM ALREADY!)

Okay. Rant over. Move along people.

At least your avatar is frozen on a good one. I?ve been a fan of C&H since they first popped up in the funny pages years ago. I always love the philosophical discussions they have while careening down a hill on a sled or a wagon.

Got to agree with you on that. One of the things that turned me off to the 360 is the online fee. I don?t regularly play online so it probably would?ve been something I paid for all year while only using it for several months out of the year. Besides, I already pay TWC more than enough for ?online.? However, I have to say that as a PS3 owner, I envy the support the 360 has gotten. Sure it?s not spectacular but the firmware does seem to offer a lot of features and they actually add a few now and then. On the PS3, we?ve been just losing features; either through firmware updates (like the OtherOS) or by just not maintaining it properly like the web browser which can crash a PS3 as frequently as a Bethesda game. That?s the other thing I envy of 360 owners: devs actually try and make the 360 versions of games playable while the ps3 ports are obviously afterthoughts that the publisher/devs didn?t put much effort into. Crappy ps3 ports of Bethesda games alone are enough to make me wish I had just put up with rrod & that fee. Maybe the grass is just always greener but I can?t help but feel a little buyers remorse.
The PC has been getting pretty crappy ports lately too but at least there are modders who try and fix it. Still, my PC actually does do everything...it?s not just a tag line. Another alternative that I?ve been trying lately is OnLive. It?s not great yet and it?s only useful if you have a solid connection but it?s certainly a hell of a lot cheaper than a console (both in equipment & game prices) and I can actually play PC games on my phone. A lot of potential there.

 

[Sir Prize]

Getting rid of used games would be good for the publishers and Microsoft, so in theory it could happened. However if that is the case, then they might as well go fully digital and hopefully lower the prices, though there's more chance of pigs flying to the south pole.

I buy used for a fair amount of games and honestly do not give a rat's arse about most of the big publishers. If I'm a fan of the series or the makers then I'll buy new, but I'd like the choice and ability to not fork over £50 or close for something I MIGHT like.

 

[Atmos Duality]

they could include a small burner that would tag new disks for your system id number only.

Bingo.
I was going to reply with that, but waited to see if someone else picked up on it first.
I would also expect extra DRM enforcement like "One game registered to one account" and "One account per system".

Get out your wallets kids; you're about to get gouged by monopoly and proprietization.
HARD.

 

[Blatherscythe]

Microsoft can kiss the darkest part of my white ass if they believe I'd ever buy a console that forces me to buy every game for it new. The rest is just sounds like them trying to make console as powerful as the PS3.