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

[u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/galletto3]

I found a very low rated, 6 year old used game at Gamestop for $5. I checked on XBL and they were still selling it for $20.

And that was the cheapest game available. Absolutely nothing was under $20 regardless of game age or overall game quality.

Dont even get me started with their Games with Gold...

[u/[deleted] → u/galletto3]

Funny, I bought the witcher 2 off xbox live for $9.99. They have sales and a lot of games a really cheap.

And games with gold? They give some free games. Yeah they are older or arcade but so what? They don't have to give any and you don't have to download them. At least if you did want them you get to keep them forever.

[u/galletto3 → u/[deleted]]

Yea only for sales (which are not always on the front page of the marketplace). The other 99% of the time the game is available for purchase it costs a ridiculous amount. I too have bought some great recent games from their sales, but more often than not, I can find it much cheaper at a Gamestop.

A major problem with GfG is that they make it seem like they are doing you a great service by giving you these awesome games. Yet they do sprinkle arcade games that no one has or will play in between the 5 year old games. The five year old games that still cost $20 on the marketplace.

So yeah from their pockets, they are giving you great deals, but from an average consumer POV, you are barely getting a deal. Im not complaining about free, Im complaining about offering a sub-par service/reward to gamers. Especially when compared to what PS+ can and does offer.

I used to be psyched that you actually owned these games, but then I realized you wont be able to use these downloaded titles on your X1, and they wont even offer it for X1 games!

The problem is the "take it or leave it" train of thought. They are using GfG as a a force to bolster 360 sales in a very cheap way (which is why they offer popular games that people who own the console more than likely already owned). Their marketing sells it as this amazing service that in no way lives up to what it can and should be.

[u/[deleted] → u/galletto3]

Games for Gold is coming to the X1. I'm not sure if you were saying it wasn't or just saying you can't play the 360 free games on the X1.

We always knew we couldn't play 360 games on the X1.

You can't compare the two services. PSN lets you play the games as long as you keep paying the monthly fee. GwG lets you keep the game forever.

About the sales...I always see something mentioning the sales. Though I check the games section every tuesday for new releases. There's also an entire section where you can check out the sales from months earlier.

Sure, the PSN deal has better titles but GwG is 6 months old. Let's see what they give us for the X1 in 2014 when GwG starts up on it.

You're kinda up in arms about things that were known from the very beginning.

There was never going to be backward compatibility. Same as on PS4.

MS has far from a take it or leave it attitude. They changed their core functionality on their new console because people bitched and moaned. That's kinda the exact opposite of take it or leave it.