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Forums - Microsoft - Xbox 720 'will support Blu-ray, might not play used games' - report

Hyruken on 26 January 2012

Personally I can't see it happening just because MS are normally a company that is open in terms of using their products. I don't think they will want to limit themselves, especially in the current financial climate where people can't afford to spend £40 gambling on a game. Because there is no gurantee that your like it.

Plus in the UK I imagine this would break re-sell laws.

I think the next gen will go fully download tbh anyway. Net speeds are so fast now that it wouldn't take long to download a game anymore. If they started making download games a lot cheaper then physical copies then there would ne no need for discs. Look at steam, I really hope Sony and MS copy that for next gen.

However IF it is true then there is no chance I will buy one. Limiting what people can/cannot do is not the problem. They need to realise games cost a lot to buy. If they were cheaper the second hand market would be dead just as selling cd's or dvd's is.



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happydolphin on 26 January 2012

It really beats me why journalists would pull things like this out of their behinds. Really, what's the point? (This is a rhetorical question. I know there are answers but don't wanna hear them. This is more of a gripe)

As for the digital/physical, I believe it will be a gradual curve, leaning nearly 60-40 digital for physical by the end of the upcoming generation. But don't expect full digital until 2 gens from now (not next gen and not the next) due to market presence reasons and rate adoption of technology by both the businesses and the users of the industry. Keep in mind most digital distros nowadays use license keys (PC world mostly). That is a huge leap to make for gamers, and some console gamers only do it for their most beloved franchises that release on other platforms (i.e. Starcraft).



S.T.A.G.E. on 26 January 2012
Reasonable said:
On Blu-Ray I'm curious why people think it won't have it. I can't see any other alternative apart from going fully digital. My reasoning is:

1 - MS are committed to entertainment hub. This means, IMHO, that the next Xbox would still need to play physical entertainment media - which today means DVD and BR. Nintendo with Wii (and by the looks of it Wii U) used a proprietary format but this means the device cannot play DVDs, etc and is a closed environment - not good for a media hub at all. I doubt MS would want to cut themselves off from being able to play physical format films and BR is now a big enough segment they would be foolish to ignore it any longer IMHO.

2 - With increased power will, for AAA games, come higher resolution textures, game assets and content. In short - big AAA games on the next generation of Xbox will almost certainly be bigger than they are now. This means more storage space. If MS stick with DVD again they will be looking at a far higher percentage (probably) of multiple disk games. They need more space but, to point 1) above, I don't think they will take the Nintendo route of going proprietary on the disk format and losing ability to use DVD, BR, etc. playback - the obvious logical choice is BR disk format.

3 - MS need to grow outside US, UK, etc. That means markets that are less able to support a fully digital model, particularly for big games that could easily require a 25GB download. Therefore, unless MS want to commit fully to only highly developed internet infrastructure countries, MS will need physical media for at least one more gen. As per 1) and 2) above I believe this media would need to be larger than DVD but not proprietary to allow for full media hub message. To look at it another way - if the next Xbox was fully digital, then MS would be practically handing the rest of the world to Sony/Nintendo. Likely they would see reduction of marketshare from 360 in many territories. Fully digital to me seems like a very risky route for MS for a 2013/2014 timeframe.

4 - BR is going to be around for a while yet and right now the PS3 is arguably a better media center because it can offer exactly the same services as 360 - online/offline media playback, storage, etc. but it also supports the BR format which is becoming increasingly popular for purchase of latest films while 360 requires you to have a separate BR player which negates the idea of the 360 being your sole media hub. This gen it made sense for MS to not support BR and allow Sony to look expensive - next gen I believe MS will want parity on entertainment hub features (if not superiority) and not supporting the current high end format for physical media would negate that IMO.

To me it just seems the logical and competitive choice for MS to have BR. They have no interest in proprietary formats at all so far as I can see (unlike Nintendo) and they have every interest in growing globally, offering next gen gaming experiences and providing a one stop media/entertainment hub for the home. BR is the obvious choice and would not - despite what some think - line Sony's pockets or help Sony in gaming. MS using BR would be no different from Sony putting Windows on their PCs.

As for the used game stuff and smaller controller, that smells like bullshit. MS would surely know they could throw away their current leadership position in one fell swoop if they cut off used game sales/usage and they also know their controller size is preferred by much of their customer base.

I could see them maybe producing and using a slightly smaller controller in some territories where the 360 controller is seen as large, or having the option to buy a smaller controller, but not committing wholesale to a smaller controller.


Microsoft stated Blu Ray is a product that will be by passed and is not needed. Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead...it's how they will survive. Sony follows Nintendo and Microsoft follows Sony. This time I dont think it will happen, Microsoft will try and find something else on account of their stubbornness.



Rainbird on 26 January 2012
S.T.A.G.E. said:

Microsoft stated Blu Ray is a product that will be by passed and is not needed. Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead...it's how they will survive. Sony follows Nintendo and Microsoft follows Sony. This time I dont think it will happen, Microsoft will try and find something else on account of their stubbornness.

I doubt Microsoft would launch a new game console/media center that can't play blurays. Blurays are simply too popular, and the demand for something better than DVDs means Microsoft have to go and use something like bluray anyway.

As for Microsoft always following Sony's lead, I think you're forgetting who made online gaming popular on consoles in the first place. Just as an example.



S.T.A.G.E. on 26 January 2012
Rainbird said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:

Microsoft stated Blu Ray is a product that will be by passed and is not needed. Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead...it's how they will survive. Sony follows Nintendo and Microsoft follows Sony. This time I dont think it will happen, Microsoft will try and find something else on account of their stubbornness.

I doubt Microsoft would launch a new game console/media center that can't play blurays. Blurays are simply too popular, and the demand for something better than DVDs means Microsoft have to go and use something like bluray anyway.

As for Microsoft always following Sony's lead, I think you're forgetting who made online gaming popular on consoles in the first place. Just as an example.

Microsoft failed with the Xbox because they came in with their own gameplan. They doubled their sales with the 360 because they used Sonys gameplan (which never changes). This caused Sonys marketshare to split. :)



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dr3b on 26 January 2012

Not allowing people to buy used gaems would cost more than it would save through people going over the PS4 or WiiU in protest. I certainly wouldn't buy a console with this type of DRM on it... despite the fact I rarely buy used games.



abhiram_33 on 26 January 2012

Im sure Sony will follow, but i hope they don't. Even though i do no buy used games often I would still like to have that option available



S.T.A.G.E. on 26 January 2012
abhiram_33 said:
Im sure Sony will follow, but i hope they don't. Even though i do no buy used games often I would still like to have that option available


Sony already stated that they will not launch a year behind Microsoft. They want to launch side by side so people can assess their value and Microsofts at the same time this gen.



happydolphin on 26 January 2012
S.T.A.G.E. said:
Rainbird said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:

Microsoft stated Blu Ray is a product that will be by passed and is not needed. Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead...it's how they will survive. Sony follows Nintendo and Microsoft follows Sony. This time I dont think it will happen, Microsoft will try and find something else on account of their stubbornness.

I doubt Microsoft would launch a new game console/media center that can't play blurays. Blurays are simply too popular, and the demand for something better than DVDs means Microsoft have to go and use something like bluray anyway.

As for Microsoft always following Sony's lead, I think you're forgetting who made online gaming popular on consoles in the first place. Just as an example.

Microsoft failed with the Xbox because they came in with their own gameplan. They doubled their sales with the 360 because they used Sonys gameplan (which never changes). This caused Sonys marketshare to split. :)

You're both right. As any player in a competitive market, they get inspired, and also pave the way (see both bolds).

@(Which never changes), again you should recall Sony's imperative to make its game nittier and grittier à la Microsoft.



Rainbird on 26 January 2012
S.T.A.G.E. said:
Rainbird said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:

Microsoft stated Blu Ray is a product that will be by passed and is not needed. Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead...it's how they will survive. Sony follows Nintendo and Microsoft follows Sony. This time I dont think it will happen, Microsoft will try and find something else on account of their stubbornness.

As for Microsoft always following Sony's lead, I think you're forgetting who made online gaming popular on consoles in the first place. Just as an example.

Microsoft failed with the Xbox because they came in with their own gameplan. They doubled their sales with the 360 because they used Sonys gameplan (which never changes). This caused Sonys marketshare to split. :)

I don't care about what Microsoft changed between the Xbox and the 360 right now (though I believe you're wrong in that regard as well). My issue is with a sentence like "Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead" which is blatantly wrong and quite possibly trolling.