Rumor: Titanfall Limited Edition & $399 Disc-Free Xbox Ones Coming Soon

[Riff Moonraker]

I personally really hate this continued push to go all digital. I despise it. I will always prefer having a physical copy in my hand, always. To me, it just feels like I am paying for air.

 

[misg]

While the console is supported yes, but once they drop the XBO for the nextbox (Xbox Two?) then the live servers for the XBO will go down and you wont be able to redownload them. For now yes you can, but I'm talking 10+ years from now. It may not matter to you but to me being able to play the game whenever I want where ever I want without relying on servers that will go down someday is an important thing. I still play my PS1 games, and my PS2 games, but in 20 years time would I be able to play my digitally bought XBO games? I highly doubt it.

See I don't know about that, the reason we can play our pc games backwards compatible is our architecture is based on x86. Making using the old software easy. With both PlayStation and Xbox switching to x86 the next system will probably be based on x86 as well. Due to the resounding desire for gamers to be able to play their old games I could see this being a huge selling point next console. Now whether they do it or not only time will tell but it should be a lot easier this time around.

 

[Raziel]

Well that confirms that Microsoft learned absolutely nothing with the online fiasco, nor that they understand that a console that dumps discs is utterly useless. Oh well atleast this gives players a choice so hats off to them there I guess. Too bad they didn't drop another part of the console instead, the part with a camera that alot of people don't want or like to make the savings, ah well that'd be too intelligent.

Speak for yourself - I don't think a disk-less Xbox is utterly useless. I haven't had a disc drive on my PC for years, because, well, physical media is pretty much on the way out. I buy all my games through steam, or other online stores. I even purchase most of my 3DS and Wii U games via Nintendo's online store.

Chopping $100 off the cost of a device by removing a feature that I honestly never see myself using makes the Xbox a lot more attractive to me, and i'm sure many others.

You might be able to do so on your pc. But how many 37 gig games do you download? How long does that take you. The xbo at launch had too many games available to install them all at once and you cannot change the harddrive on it. And there is no external at this time. Imagine having to delete 37 gb games you've downloaded every month to keep up with new releases. Also perhaps you personally have fast limitless internet. But most people have slower connections and in many places companies are throttling highend users and talking about imposing data caps.

They'd have to make the discless system $200 for me to risk buying it. I'd download the 1 or 2 M$ exclusives I want a year and buy everything else on the ps4.

 

[Raziel]

Seeing as I don't do business with PawnStop, a discless XB1 sounds fine to me. And while the HDD size is concern-worthy, it's no different for the original XB1 and PS4, both of which install the game to your HDD already.

What this article doesn't mention is the potential complication - on the ISP side - of downloading 20-50GB of game content on a semi-regular basis. On the other hand, I already do it with Netflix and the other streaming video services.

As for obsolescence: the XB1 version of "my discs all still work" is that eight years from now when the XB1 is on its way out, you'll pay $50 for a 5TB external HDD and download all of your XB1 games onto it. Maybe buy another for redundancy. It'll sure take up a lot less space than a shelf full of clamshells.

LOL $50? From M$? THe ones who still ask $130 for the 320 gb 360 harddrive?

 

[Rad Party God]

Oh Microsoft, you're up to your draconian DRM shenanigans again?

Wait, you say this time you mean it?... and you seriously are hell bent on screwing up your consumers?... oh... I'll just back away... slowly...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Ah, Microsoft is pushing for their grand vision of the future. Pretty soon the daily online checks will be back and the Kinect will be mandatory again.

 

[SomeGuyOnHisComputer]

This probably how they plan on coping with the DRM 180. Full digital on a closed platform is about as evil as the always online. I mean, think about it, it gives them full control over pretty much everything, completely wipes out used games, likely will make it impossible to play all your games in ten years.

Microsoft is completely eschewing the preservation of games, literally against games having any importance in the future. It is beyond me that anyone could be fine with that. Maybe the typical gamer just doesn't care about the future of the medium?

 

[Foolery]

And Microsoft just went full retard. Again. Disc-less? Well that fucking nullifies one of the main points of a console. If I wanted to download all my shit, I'd just use my PC with its 2 TB hard drive and snag some titles through Steam, GOG, Greenmangaming, etc.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

You know, I think this rumor is BS. Or at least some of it. I remember reading this interview with Microsoft and they said that while they did consider a discless Xbox One, games would get to be just too large to be downloaded over a standard crappy American broadband connection. The disc drives had to be put in. So, for them to go back on that decision now would be incredibly weird.

 

[Ichigo]

Besides from prefering REAL things like BlueRays and beeing able to buy them for less then half the price used or because Amazon thinks to sell them cheaper then everyone else does, i also like to use my PS3/4 to be able to play Movies (on discs) that i can watch whenever i like say when the internet is temporary unavailable.
Seriously removing the BlueRay player from the console seems really stupid. Especially because the console doesn´t posess the hardware to store many games in the first place. Just imagin deleting and reinstalling games all the time that are 50 GB big, something that also sucks on steam already. Installing games from the disc takes already too much time on consoles but then it adds also the download. if i go to a friend with a new games everything i need to do is upload my savegames to ps+ or on a stick and i can play further showing him the game.
I guess the Discdrive desaster and the fact that MS has to pay money to Sony because they own the BlueRay Trademark drives them to fuck up the shitty toaster they build even more. People are afraight of DRM even though its already in use anyway. THE CLOUD!!! is nothing more then that. What happens to the games when you can´t acces THE CLAOUD!!! temporarily anyway? Did MS ever say something about that? Disc free consoles just mean that everything is account bond and can´t be sold. So they achieved everything they wanted (and people didn´t) and some idiots will be greatfull for it.
I have no idea why someone would ever buy this console for the hand full of REAL exclusives (NOT TITANFALL) it will get and encourage MS to come up with even more crap ideas.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Question: is there anywhere you can buy digital copies of Xbone games besides the Microsoft App Store? For instance, if you buy a game from JB Hifi or EB with a disc, does it also come with some kind of code you can use to activate a digital copy of the game?

Because if so, a $399 Xbone sans disk drive sounds reasonable. But if not, they're basically trying to be Apple.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Considering that the optical drive in the XB1 is crap, I don't see how excluding it could reduce the production costs by $100. So either Microsoft is skimping in other areas on the disc-less unit, or they're grossly inflating the price on the current units.

This was my first thought. How the fuck does a disk drive cost $100? The reason they might do this is because people will be forced to buy all their games off Xbox Live which means a bigger slice of the profit for them. They may not have 24 hour drm checks but it's the same bullshit Microsoft has been trying to do for a while, make completely gated systems to remove any competition and any control from their users

 

[Steven Bogos]

Well that confirms that Microsoft learned absolutely nothing with the online fiasco, nor that they understand that a console that dumps discs is utterly useless. Oh well atleast this gives players a choice so hats off to them there I guess. Too bad they didn't drop another part of the console instead, the part with a camera that alot of people don't want or like to make the savings, ah well that'd be too intelligent.

Speak for yourself - I don't think a disk-less Xbox is utterly useless. I haven't had a disc drive on my PC for years, because, well, physical media is pretty much on the way out. I buy all my games through steam, or other online stores. I even purchase most of my 3DS and Wii U games via Nintendo's online store.

Chopping $100 off the cost of a device by removing a feature that I honestly never see myself using makes the Xbox a lot more attractive to me, and i'm sure many others.

You might be able to do so on your pc. But how many 37 gig games do you download? How long does that take you. The xbo at launch had too many games available to install them all at once and you cannot change the harddrive on it. And there is no external at this time. Imagine having to delete 37 gb games you've downloaded every month to keep up with new releases. Also perhaps you personally have fast limitless internet. But most people have slower connections and in many places companies are throttling highend users and talking about imposing data caps.

They'd have to make the discless system $200 for me to risk buying it. I'd download the 1 or 2 M$ exclusives I want a year and buy everything else on the ps4.

Yes, i have very fast and limitless internet. Like I said, for me, personally, it's a very attractive option, and I know of plenty of other people who think the same way.

Just because you, personally, wouldn't use it, doesn't mean everyone else won't.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

The reason they might do this is because people will be forced to buy all their games off Xbox Live which means a bigger slice of the profit for them.

That makes sense. They're loss-leadering the console and making it the difference with a forced increase in digital sales. There's no manufacturing, shipping, or stocking costs involved with digital sales, but the price point for is the same as retail. So there's greater profit in the digital-only market.

That, and I'm under the impression that Microsoft gets money for every game hosted and sold on Xbox Live in addition to the fees required for every console game

 

[Yopaz]

I personally really hate this continued push to go all digital. I despise it. I will always prefer having a physical copy in my hand, always. To me, it just feels like I am paying for air.

Sure, all digital would be bad for the consumer, but if it's all a matter of choice where is the problem? I prefer digital distribution because I got a stable high speed connection and very limited room in my shelves. This seems like a good deal for me[footnote]If it wasn't an Xbox One that is[/footnote].

You want a console that plays standard discs. The standard edition is more your fit.

Yes, i have very fast and limitless internet. Like I said, for me, personally, it's a very attractive option, and I know of plenty of other people who think the same way.

Just because you, personally, wouldn't use it, doesn't mean everyone else won't.

YOUR OPINION IS WRONG AND DOESN'T MATTER! ONLY MINE DOES!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, I'm with you on this. As long as they don't make it the only choice I see nothing wrong with offering a budget version for those of us who prefer digital distribution. I can't remember the last time I bought a physical release on PC.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

I personally really hate this continued push to go all digital. I despise it. I will always prefer having a physical copy in my hand, always. To me, it just feels like I am paying for air.

Sure, all digital would be bad for the consumer, but if it's all a matter of choice where is the problem? I prefer digital distribution because I got a stable high speed connection and very limited room in my shelves. This seems like a good deal for me[footnote]If it wasn't an Xbox One that is[/footnote].

You want a console that plays standard discs. The standard edition is more your fit.

Yes, i have very fast and limitless internet. Like I said, for me, personally, it's a very attractive option, and I know of plenty of other people who think the same way.

Just because you, personally, wouldn't use it, doesn't mean everyone else won't.

YOUR OPINION IS WRONG AND DOESN'T MATTER! ONLY MINE DOES!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, I'm with you on this. As long as they don't make it the only choice I see nothing wrong with offering a budget version for those of us who prefer digital distribution. I can't remember the last time I bought a physical release on PC.

I'm certainly not knocking your preferences, or anything. If thats your thing, thats all well and good, but what concerns me is that whats being presented as a "choice" right now, is actually just a step in the way of getting rid of the physical copy altogether. THAT, I have a problem with. My connection is fine, and my space is limited as well, but I still want to have that physical copy in my hand. Now, if they were only trying to give us a world where both your preferences and mine can both exist, sure, I have no problem with that at all. I just think that it would be the start of slowly weeding out physical copies until they simply cease to be, which obviously I have a serious problem with that option.

 

[Yopaz]

I'm certainly not knocking your preferences, or anything. If thats your thing, thats all well and good, but what concerns me is that whats being presented as a "choice" right now, is actually just a step in the way of getting rid of the physical copy altogether. THAT, I have a problem with. My connection is fine, and my space is limited as well, but I still want to have that physical copy in my hand. Now, if they were only trying to give us a world where both your preferences and mine can both exist, sure, I have no problem with that at all. I just think that it would be the start of slowly weeding out physical copies until they simply cease to be, which obviously I have a serious problem with that option.

Oh, I'm not disagreeing with you. Removing physical completely would be a great fuck you to consumer rights and I am against it. As much as I like digital it can only exist if there's competition and that is something we don't have on consoles. If they truly release a console without a disc tray as an option to one that got one then I am all for it. I am in complete agreement that removing it from their range of products completely would be unforgivable.

Also I guess I can relate to your feeling at least to some degree when it comes to physical titles. There are some games where I want the collector's edition despite not having enough space to store it and that would disappear with the death of physical.

So please, if you thought I was disagreeing that's my bad. I was simply offering a different viewpoint on taste, but I agree with all your core arguments completely.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Why on Earth would anyone buy a discless console? The only thing it has compared with its disc-enabled brother is a disadvantage. Namely no possible way to play a game bought in a store, borrow a game from a friend or the like. More so, without a drive it cannot play DVD or BD movies either. Maybe MS are unhappy that Sony take a cut of every XBOne disc sold.

This is a bad move for the consumer. There will only be *one* single outlet from where to buy games, and that's MS themselves, using a service fraught with hackers and thieves.

It has one other advantage for MS I suppose, which is that the XB360's weakness to modding was its drive.