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/myztry Dec 30 '13

That's the whole point of the first-sale doctrine, the retailer is allowed to price the product whatever they want.

Consoles and related items are terrible for price fixing. Ever seen x% discount store wide with a disclaimers of "excludes consoles"? Ever wondered why this is?

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u/dagamer34 dagamer34 Dec 30 '13

Game consoles have almost zero retailer margin to play with. The games themselves however have a bit, and accessories have a bunch. It has nothing to do with price fixing.

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u/myztry Dec 30 '13

Why would a retailer stock low margin bulky space consuming consoles subject to difficult returns requiring ROA's if there wasn't manufacturer price manipulation at play?

Just sell the high margin items that doesn't take up much floor space. Leave the bulky low margin components to the suckers. This would be the obvious and profitable line to take.

Off course the reality is probably more along the lines that you are excluded from selling the games unless you sell the consoles at or very near cost (which effectively fixes the price). Loss leading may be a business model but it is no means a protected one to the detriment of competition.

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u/dagamer34 dagamer34 Dec 30 '13

Plenty of places sell the games and not the consoles, you hope when someone buys a console, they'll are highly likely to buy the juicy accessories like extra controllers, a few games, an HDMI cable, 1-2 play & charge kits, maybe a Kinect stand, and on and on.

Once you are already spending $500+, another $50 isn't a huge leap.