We all know that gaming is going digital. Its inevitable. If a gaming industry company refuses to see that now or isnt beginning to take steps towards that then they will be behind the others. We see digital games having huge sales and profits. People like easy accessibility and best value. Personally like many others it will be a sad day when physical media dies. For me its the nostalgia and deeper ownership of it, but its where its all going.

Businesses come and go based on consumer demand. Its about what the consumer is buying and wants. Many traditional gamers like myself don't like seeing physical media becoming more and more a thing of the past. But digital entertainment is faster, immediate and more accessible in almost all cases. The young generation loves to just get on their smart phone and start playing their favorite digital library of games immediately. We see Steam becoming more and more popular. The younger generation are becoming more and more multitaskers and want immediate entertainment.

The problem with all this is that MS has had piss poor PR to deal with this. Sony noticed and therefore took full advantage with brass knuckles to MS's exposed groin. Does this PR flop hurt them? Right now yes to an extent, and if they can't fully combat this and explain to gamers/consumers why this system will actually be very advantageous then their sales will falter some come launch. MS isn't dumb. They were surely unprepared in having a response to the back lash, but now they know how big it is and Im sure are calculating their moves before launch to turn it around.

They created a system ready for the digital reality that is coming. And they are trying to implement policies now so that it won't hurt so much down the line when they would have to suddenly change policies during the middle of their console cycle when people are used to a certain policy standard for their current console.

Essentially MS is letting the community stab them in the butt with a steak knife now rather than putting it off and then having the community stab them in the gut with a dagger later. With releasing a new console they know they need to set policy standards now for it. Making big changes in policy to a console a few years after release will only piss off all the owners who were used to the previous policy even more.

They know where consumer demand is heading. They are preparing now for it. Sony is trying to as well, but it sounds like they are choosing to wait until later...either that or they are just trying to be as misleading as possible to save face and use this opportunity to get a higher install base out of the gate.

MS has even stated that their past systems were more static and so the need for new console generations was the norm. During the interview with many of the console lead designers they stated that this console is not going to be static. Its going to be a dynamic environment and more permanent. They are trying to make this console their last. They envision by the time that normally a new console generation comes they would not need to release any new hardware. This is because of it being always connected to the cloud. Game processing will become almost completely handled by cloud servers so that graphical capabilities are no longer capped by the console's internal limits. Thats basically what the Xbox One lead developers are saying guys.

This is where gaming is headed. In time there won't be a need to upgrade hardware. You will have a box that handles basic things and most of the processing for games will be handled by ever increasing powerful servers.

Sony see is too. Its a big reason why they purchased Gaikai. Im sure they are just being coy about the realization of where physical media is headed even on their platform. Either console makers at some point will accept the change or they will close their doors.

Its all about consumer demand and immediate, powerful yet simple entertainment.

To everyone that is defending Microsofts policies. They might not seem to bad, because for many of us it isn't inconvenient, but that isn't the point, at least not for me.

The point is that we are giving up our rights as consumers, the more we give up the more they will take. If we don't buy the Xbox One and voice our concerns they will change their policy.

"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one" -Benjamin Franklin

Going all digital is fine. I don't even think that is the main argument here.

With all digital you don't need to also have daily check ins and reauthentications in order for those purchased titles to work. Whether a title be digital or retail a person should feel confident that his/her purchased product will work, without restrictions. If years down the line your console can't connect to the net (Could be various reasons), you shouldn't have to worry about not being able to access your purchased content which is stored on that console.

Since your games will work on any X1 with just your login and without the disc, there has to be a check-in system even for single player.

Basically any kind of cloud access, be it to games, saves, or what have you require online.

I actually find the policies convenient. Swapping game discs when switching games on PS4 is going to feel as archaic as listening to music on a CD. Instant switching between games is the future, and having instant access to your games and media regardless of which X1 machine you are on is also the future.

I don't deny that all digital will be the way of the future. I already buy my PC and 3DS games all digital, that's not the issue.

The issue with X1 is what happens in the future. Because unlike the all digital services I use, which allow me to retain some form of offline gameplay, the same can't be said for the X1 all digital service.

Not saying that MS doesn't have the ability, in the future, to drop the verifications and to allow the digital copies to be played offline once they migrate their servers or shut them down, but from what we know now, that's not the case.

I think that's a pretty simple thing to ask, isn't it?.

What a lot of people don't realize is not just that it doesn't have to be online, but for something that's been "plug-in-play" for over 30 years now has to be verified/activated just to turn it on and play offline. That is total bullshit!

Yeah you need an internet connection to surf the web on your PC, or you need a carrier for your phone to make calls. The thing is, is that..........you don't need an connection of some sorts to fucking play your games!. You don't need internet just to listen to your music, watch videos, do photo or video editing.

You don't need internet verification/activation when playing offline. The X1 is basically a giant paper weight without an internet connection to pop in a game. I don't want my console telling me "Sorry but an internet verification is required to operate this game"

Might as well say good bye to "plug-in-play" while you still have a chance.

You can switch to any PS4 game at any time if you download them digitally. You can also do this without the check-ins.

Is it a big deal? NO. But is it an inconvenience? Yes. Last year when Hurricane Sandy hit, I lost internet and my cable TV for 8 days. Being able to play my 360 and PS3 offline helped me pass the time.

The policies are a not great, but the PS4 has decided to keep everything the same and the current system isn't good at all so I like that Microsoft is trying something new. Also there are plenty of advantages to owning an Xbox One. For example, every time you play a game you don't need to put in the disc so that's a nice feature and also, you can share the game with 10 friends through your account so that is a great feature. If only Microsoft handled this situation better then there wouldn't have been so much backlash.

This.

Yes, it is a huge deal. If i buy my games, i want to own them, not rent them.