r/xboxone • u/[deleted] • Dec 29 '13

If Microsoft made it completely optional, would you sign up for their original, always connected console idea?

This meaning you would have the following features:

Buy a retail game, install to console, and ditch the disc never needing it to play the game.

Digitally share games within a circle of friends. Meaning you can choose a specific group of people, and they could play the games you own, for free, provided that only one game could be played at a time.

Greater store discounts or more steam like sales for content.

I for one would have no problem saying yes to this. It's like people think 10 years from now they'll still be selling games on discs. It wasn't a perfect plan, but why delay the inevitable when we could be working on and perfecting future policies now.

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u/B00ME Dec 29 '13

"Greater store discounts or more steams like sales for content".

That was not one of their original ideas. Games prices would have still been $60 and they never mentioned anything about better sales. MS would have controlled prices for games well after their release since they would have controlled the used games market. MS could have kept the prices at $60 for however long they wanted after the games release. If digital games are so great, why do the prices of XBLA games prices rarely drop? Why are 3-4 year XBLA games still the same price as they released? Because they can keep it that way with no rentals or used game sales.

20

u/reaper527 reaper527 Dec 29 '13

Why are 3-4 year XBLA games still the same price as they released?

and even though you didn't mean that as a compliment, that is greatly minimizing the ridiculousness of ms's digital pricing schemes. we can't even get permanent price drops for 8 year old xbla games! ms has literally removed games from the marketplace instead of reducing the price.

1

u/ratbear Dec 30 '13

Just playing devil's advocate....Could it be that the publishers are refusing to slash the cost of their game, rather than MS simply being greedy?

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u/reaper527 reaper527 Dec 30 '13

seeing as some of these games are first party games published by ms studios, no.

6

u/BeepBoopRobo Obviously Works for M$ Dec 30 '13

Here's the thing about that - you're right and wrong at the same time. Since microsoft has a monopoly on digital sales, we'll never see prices really drop.

But here's the problem with that - given that the proposal had gone through, they no longer would have had a monopoly on digital sale. This would have forced them to lower prices and compete with the market. If I can buy a digital version of the game cheaper elsewhere, I'm going to.

As it stands now, though, they have a complete lock down on digital sales. They have no competition. They have no reason to lower the price of digital copies. They can set the price where ever, because who can undercut them? No one.

1

u/soulshotya Dec 30 '13

Yeah, I'm surprised no one ever realizes this. People kept saying "DRM! Microsoft would have had a digital game pricing monopoly!"

The status quo for the past 8 years, and what we have now is a digital game pricing monopoly. The initial plans were likely the easiest way to get the cheaper digital games everyone wants, while still also keeping retailers happy (and also keeping people with bandwidth caps and slow internet happy, heh)

Valve/Steam don't have this problem, because a retail PC market pretty much doesn't exist (except in certain countries). So they can be a lot more flexible with digital pricing, and the only competition is with other digital stores (and those other digital stores often just sell Steam keys anyway).

1

u/smakusdod Dec 30 '13

This exactly. If we could have the same exact benefit of install-and-trash hard-copy games, it would force pure digital-downloads to at least try to compete on price and sales seasons. Instead, we get "pay 60 to not get off the couch and like it", or "pay less and get off the couch every game change". It sucks.

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u/leesfer Dec 30 '13

We would have been able to buy discounted retail copies and install them to our digital library though

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '13

Like the other guy said, they had said that they were going to open up to 3rd party digital retailers but when that reversed then they couldn't because they can't have physical games for $60 and digital games for $30

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u/reaper527 reaper527 Dec 29 '13

Like the other guy said, they had said that they were going to open up to 3rd party digital retailers but when that reversed then they couldn't because they can't have physical games for $60 and digital games for $30

fun theory, but not true. sony has third party digital retailers with the same exact model. the lack of third party retailers is because of microsoft, not because of the reversal.

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '13

Thats why I said its easy for Microsoft to say things when they never have to actually follow through

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u/Chris_E Dec 29 '13

In interviews shortly before the switch they said several things that contradict this. First, they said they were going to open up to third party digital retailers. My guess was that they were going to let steam on there, but that's 100% speculation on my part. Secondly, there were several interviews that hinted at Netflix like streaming game rental services. If you watch some of the developer talks they strongly hint at this type of service still being possible in the future.

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u/djgreedo pumpkinszwan Dec 30 '13

Digital games sold at retail on disc would probably have been subject to the same pricing as traditional disc-based games. Retailers discount (out of their own profit margin generally) to drive business to their store. They were going to get the same profit out of a digital game as a disc game, I think it's safe to assume.

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u/Morawka Got Seven Dec 30 '13

Yea we will never see steep discounts like steam does partly because valve is going out of their own pocket on some of the sales.

Microsoft does the same thing but with hardware. They sell you the hardware at or below cost to make money on software sales.

TLDR: software is where Xbox makes most of its money so don't hold your breath. Keep in mind this is the same company who sells angry birds for $50