One of many sources.We've
previously discussed the potential of an all-digital console. A quick recap:
Pros:
-No trips to retail for software purchases
-Easier to find a given game - no artificial supply restrictions, no "you didn't preorder this game so you'll never be able to play it unless you pay $80 for a used copy or pirate it" snafus with niche titles
-Less physical space being taken up by games, and no pesky disc-switching
-Prices should be lower, especially with sales
-Publishers should be more willing to take risks, since they don't have the same concerns about shipping a set number of units and such
-Piracy should be more difficult
Cons:
-No reselling a title, lending a game to a friend, or chancing upon a used copy for far less than a new copy years after a game's launch, and rentals through services like Redbox and GameFly would be impossible
-Prices
won't be lower, if the existing console download platforms are any indication (look at
Mass Effect 3 on PS3, or digital versions of PSP and Vita titles that cost
more than a retail copy, or the fact that Games on Demand releases on 360 almost always cost more than new retail copies at time of release), and sales have already proven to be pathetic on any service that isn't Steam
-With physical distribution most likely out of the picture, it'd be unlikely that we'd get any more physical limited-edition bonuses
-As proven on iOS by anyone who hasn't paid their yearly App Store rent, and on PS3 and Wii by Irem, it's easy to pull a game from digital shelves, preventing people from buying it and sometimes even preventing existing paid users from maintaining permanent access
-"Publishers taking risks" really won't be any less of a joke than it is now, because risks don't make money
-Piracy won't be more difficult, unless you want to play online (and even then, good luck)
-Speaking of, just looking at my own country, millions of Americans don't have stable uncapped broadband Internet, and most of them won't any time soon (hi, Sam), so they'd be completely locked out of this console
-With
everything reduced to an account-based service, it's entirely possible to have your account closed and be screwed out of your entire library, with no justification legally necessary due to the EULA you signed when you opened the box (and if you don't think this would happen, look at EA's PC-based digital distro system, where if you're banned from their forums you're also banned from your Origin account and locked out of your purchased titles)
-Instead of on-disc paid content, we'd get extra paid content that's part of the initial download we already paid for access to, just like on iOS and Android
-And we'd probably get more incomplete games sold at full price and completed with enormous amounts of DLC, under the pretense of "episodic content"
-Unrelated to the all-digital thing, but Microsoft's already trying to show with the 360's current advertising line that games aren't the focus for their game console, and I see no reason why this would get any better on a new platform
Honestly, there are far too many reasons this will be a bad thing if it comes to fruition as described, and I won't support Microsoft or anyone else on it if it does. If this means missing out on a few "must-play" titles, so be it.