Would You Consider a Disc-Free Console?

Megalith

Megalith

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Microsoft has finally admitted that its plan for letting game publishers limit the resale of used, disc-based games on the Xbox One was a terrible idea. At some point, Microsoft even thought about making the console disc-free, for some pretty obvious reasons. Going disc-free would invite a number of cons, such as increased publisher control and requirement for fast Internet, but some are wondering whether it could be a good idea for companies to release digital-only versions of their consoles.

With one less bulky moving part contributing to production costs (not to mention reliability issues/support costs), the disc-free versions of these consoles could probably sell for considerably less than their disc-bound counterparts (a decent PC Blu-Ray drive currently costs around $50 or more, for some context). Console makers might be willing to lower the hardware's selling price even further for the benefit of locking players into their online store, where sales don't go through a retail middleman (and where the royalty-free resale of used games, which some publishers compare to piracy, doesn't exist). The lower hardware-production costs could alternatively be folded into more built-in storage for the disc-free system, to store all of those big downloads.
 
Well considering as a consumer you can buy inexpensive OEM Blu PC drives for 30 bucks. I can't imagine the console makers can't put a drive in their systems for 20.

So I think the idea of this being a massive cost saver on the hardware would just be a BS excuse.
 
Yup. The most annoying thing about my PS4 is the requirement of having to physically switch discs out when most of the data is on my hard drive in the first place.
 
Uh... for mass produced systems, that Blu-ray is more like $10-15 tops. $20 I guess for the "deluxe version" with added smell.

The only reason to look at removing it is for style or because $10-15 matters, which often times it does in volume. Marketing/sales can also use this as markup margin gimmick. But these kinds of tricks are always there..
 
I'd be fine with them offering a lower prices, disk free, option.

While I personally haven't bought physical media since the days of the XBox 360, I know that some people love it and others have such shitty internet connections that they have no other choice than to buy physical media.

I think it would be a mistake to get rid of it at this point. Maybe in the future.
 
I cant understand why they haven't already gone disk-less! I mean the last time I bought a disk for any PC game was probably when Halo came out for the PC all those years ago! PC Gaming has been effectively disk less for years now.

It all comes down to how they implement it. If they do something stupid like tie the games to your hardware then they will have totally failed. If they do it right like tie the games to your account (i.e. like Steam, Origin, or the like) then it could be a very good thing I think.
 
i haven't put a cd drive in a computer in ages.

but i do not have metered data anymore.
 
Loaning games out is a big thing. It would be nice however if I could put in my disc, install the game, and then authorize the use of the game without a disc for like 30 days. Swapping is really getting old especially when the games aren't even on the disc anymore anyway.
 
I own maybe 4 disc games on the Xbox one. Almost 200 digital games installed (Xbox one and 360 games mixed). Last 20-30 games I bought on the 360 were all digital. And all my steam games are digital.

I have no problem with all digital as that is much easier than dealing with disc. If I want to take the system somewhere all my games are there on the external HD. If i want to change games I can do it whenever without getting up.

I have actually repurchased games just to have the digital version to not have to put the disc into the system.
 
Probably not. I have a decent Steam library, but I can take that on any PC I have. I can install Steam on a Celeron 300a or a brand new Ryzen PC and have access to those games.

With consoles, I'm locked into that console (or via backwards compatibility). I can't trade or loan out games. Plus, I like having that physical media on the shelf.

However, I think it will go that way. And you'll be able to rent games online. From Steam to Netflix, people are going digital and giving up the physical media. I know when people have a discussion about physical media with movies, a lot of people are going streaming or digital only (on a server, etc.). So, I don't like it, but I do see that as being the direction they will be going.
 
Perhaps I'm crazy but this doesn't sound like a good idea for any gamer groups.

Previously you could have a party, everyone would bring their own games and you could just pop out on old one and put in a new one if you wanted to switch it up.

Something tells me they are going to register these games to accounts like Steam, and they might even tie your account to your individual console to prevent people from sharing.... even though there are perfectly valid reasons to share such as a group of people wanting to gather to play different games.

Plus god forbid someone people wanted to gather around and play a game without internet....
 
This is how steam and origin work currently so what if they made it cross platform and you had Steam for Xbox One / PS4, a true buy it once system.

Blizzard could let you buy Overwatch for the PC and play it on PS4 while you're at a friends house.
 
Yeah, with limited HDD space, data caps running rampant, and relying on the Oh so stable MS or Sony servers for anything, while sneaking in always online DRM... sounds great!


/s
 
I can't wait until they release a digital console, no more hardware just a subscription, it's going to be so AMAZING! /s

You know it'll happen.
 
yes. I almost never buy physical games anymore... too easy to lose, and I live in a tiny apartment with not much shelf space. just get a big external drive/big sd card/etc and good to go!
 
Only if it comes with 2 or more 3.5" drive bays. I gave up on physical media, sometimes a sale will get me but side by side I get digital. Will need more local storage either way though with patching and just loading times alone.
 
They could go disk-less, save some money, and partner with stores like best buy to sell the games on a usb thumbstick for those dwindling number of folks who still want to go the physical route
 
Personally, I wish consoles would just die and instead companies focus on a streamlined living room PC for gaming instead that gets a refresh every couple years. So then every game comes out on every platform, they're just optimized for gamepad + living room or optimized for mouse and keyboard, etc. I know it will be a cold day in hell before that happens, since companies love their exclusives, but I can dream.
 
How big is the HDD going to be? Probably still 500GB so that means you will be limited to about 10 - 20 games. Great idea, NOT.
 
Nope..no Physical media possible = absolute no buy from me. I will absolutely not support a system that doesn't let me choose what do do with the software I buy. I don't give a F what developers want to say, I bought it, I own it. I will damn well resell if it I want to.
 
Shrugs, my PC has been disc'less for a few years now. Seems to be working out...
 
Nope. It should be if you buy it you get the disc and a digital download. Or charge $5 less for the digital.
 
All my games are on steam. Don't even remember last time I put a disc in my own or Xbox one since I buy everything digital. I'd buy a console with no disc drive

Haven't put a optical drive in any of my pcs in the last few years either.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I don't give a F what developers want to say, I bought it, I own it. I will damn well resell if it I want to.
Click to expand...

So, you're not on Steam? Right? :cautious:

The only reason I would want a physical disc is to resale a crap game quickly. You only have a few weeks to off-sale a recent game and make any return. Otherwise the Amazon and SlickDeals sales kill the resale value. Other than that, it can sit in my library until I play it or... well, sit there. Who cares.
 
What, do they mean like this?

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ChadD said:
Well considering as a consumer you can buy inexpensive OEM Blu PC drives for 30 bucks. I can't imagine the console makers can't put a drive in their systems for 20.

So I think the idea of this being a massive cost saver on the hardware would just be a BS excuse.
Click to expand...

It's not just the hardware they'd save on. There would be no distribution of physical media to speak of. No disc, no plastic casing, no shipping.

I think it's a bad idea for consoles to go digital only though.
 
Considering I almost never use the Blu ray drive in my XBox One for games, I would be fine with it. In fact, the only reason I use it is for playing DVD and Bluray movies.
 
Sonicks said:
It's not just the hardware they'd save on. There would be no distribution of physical media to speak of. No disc, no plastic casing, no shipping.

I think it's a bad idea for consoles to go digital only though.
Click to expand...

And why is that, seriously? Other than using it to play movies, why else would it be good to have one? The last time I bought a physical disk for a game was at least 2 years ago or so. That was only because Gamefly had them on sale.
 
Etherton said:
So, you're not on Steam? Right? :cautious:

The only reason I would want a physical disc is to resale a crap game quickly. You only have a few weeks to off-sale a recent game and make any return. Otherwise the Amazon and SlickDeals sales kill the resale value. Other than that, it can sit in my library until I play it or... well, sit there. Who cares.
Click to expand...

I am after years of avoiding it because I generally dislike not having a physical copy of a game. I only have it now because of a small handful of games I have got through gifts and other means that I don't particularly care about their resale value. By small handful I mean my entire "steam collection" amounts to 8 games, compared to hundreds of others I own.
 
No. But what I'd like to see happen is the ability to tie a single digital download version to your own account when you install the disc so you don't have to swap discs in and out every time you want to play a different game. I snagged a download code for Forza Horizon 2 for $5 to convert to digital, and instead of using the data that was already installed from the disc it downloaded the whole friggin thing over again...

Another point for not ditching the optical drive is a lot of people also use their consoles to play Blu-ray and/or DVD movies instead of owning a dedicated player.

Strictly having to download games or stream movies is not a viable option when most people have bandwidth caps.
 
ManofGod said:
And why is that, seriously? Other than using it to play movies, why else would it be good to have one? The last time I bought a physical disk for a game was at least 2 years ago or so. That was only because Gamefly had them on sale.
Click to expand...

On console, I would prefer the games be independent of any type of online service, period. Which means I do not want my purchased games to be tied to an online account that must be authenticated online each time. Steam aggravates me because of this...there have been times where an internet outage in my area prevents me from even playing them in offline mode. But I can put up with it on Steam to an extent...

The more and more we give away to an 'always-connected' mentality the less and less we get when that connectivity is lost. Even aside from that type of scenario, I'm glad I can still play my old games on my Playstation, Dreamcast, Sega Genesis, etc... years down the line whereas a digital only console will have an expiration date. And guess what then? All that money you once spent was basically for a lease.

We may think companies like Sony and Microsoft are too big to fail but once their servers go dead so do all your once purchased digital media.
 
Consoles are starting to feel more and more like a dumbed down PC so honestly I don't even care at this point.
 
Yeah, it's called a pc and i've had one disc free since the millenium changed over.
 
oldmanbal said:
Yeah, it's called a pc and i've had one disc free since the millenium changed over.
Click to expand...

10 years from now you'll still be able to play legacy PC games. 10 years from now, a locked down digital only console will be a brick with no games unless they openly make every successive console backwards compatible. Keep in mind there is nothing stopping the console makers of a theoretical digital only console from giving the thing an expiration date.
 
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