Xbox One - General Discussion (NO DISCUSSION REGARDING PS4 - MOD WARNING Post 6903)

ShiverinEskimo · 20-11-2013 5:17pm

Batesy wrote: »

I could never get my head around the pricing of digital games. There's no incentive for customers to go digital with the prices on offer. €69.99 is ridiculous compared to say €45 from Amazon when they also have to ship a physical copy of the game leaving the customer with a hard copy that they can trade or sell when finished.

How can they justify the prices when they don't need to package anything or post anything. It surely must cost next to nothing to make a game available to download.

It will only ever really take off when the digital prices drop.

If bricks and mortar shops and online retailers were undercut they would die, and hardware doesn't store, sell and ship itself.

Also I'm sure some poxy suit thinks the 'convenience' of digital downloads is worth paying a premium for despite as you say the huge savings in not having to produce, stock, ship and sell physical copies.

Batesy · 20-11-2013 5:23pm

I'm not saying undercut the stores but at least make the prices on par so people have the option. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would still rather the physical copy in their hands.

I think the only game I'd go digital for is maybe FIFA as I'd play it all year and the physical copy is pretty worthless after that anyway.

ShiverinEskimo · 20-11-2013 5:24pm

Batesy wrote: »

I'm not saying undercut the stores but at least make the prices on par so people have the option. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would still rather the physical copy in their hands.

I think the only game I'd go digital for is maybe FIFA as I'd play it all year and the physical copy is pretty worthless after that anyway.

My only guess is that there are enough people who don't give a crap about price and do think paying the extra is convenient.

See full-price steam releases for proof.

DK224 · 20-11-2013 5:26pm

Mr Freeze wrote: »

4 Stars, I think MS will let this one slide. :pac:

Especially when it was one of the higher ups at Microsoft Studios tweeting about it!

Pushtrak · 20-11-2013 5:33pm

They could release the games for a bit less on digital than brick and mortar and be fine. Seriously, think how many people buy games with the intention of selling them to fund newer games. You aren't suddenly going to see people buy a new game because it's a bit less than full price retail. They'll be looking to buy second hand which would be cheaper than that. People want their physical copies to sell on.

Edit: I'm not going to go digital even if its a little cheaper. Downloads are just not something I'm going to go with for a number of reasons. I'm going to stick with physical copies. Unless the price was so ridiculously cheap as I'd be dumb to pass up on it.

ShiverinEskimo · 20-11-2013 5:38pm

The end goal is the steam system, digital-only, no trades, persistent library etc.

PC gamers don't give two shíts about reselling but the games in general, even steam codes, can be gotten very cheap.

The problem with Xbox and PS4 is that they are closed-platform and all codes are controlled by the parent companies instead of a myriad of distributers just using steam as a DRM platform.

20-11-2013 5:45pm

Put in a pre order for Forza after reading the reviews

tok9 · 20-11-2013 5:58pm

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

The end goal is the steam system, digital-only, no trades, persistent library etc.

PC gamers don't give two shíts about reselling but the games in general, even steam codes, can be gotten very cheap.

The problem with Xbox and PS4 is that they are closed-platform and all codes are controlled by the parent companies instead of a myriad of distributers just using steam as a DRM platform.

Amazon.com actually opened a Playstation Network Store last week! Hopefully the Amazon UK will follow suit and same with an Xbox store.

While I wouldn't expect major sales immediately... it's a start.

DARK-KNIGHT · 20-11-2013 5:59pm

Pushtrak wrote: »

They could release the games for a bit less on digital than brick and mortar and be fine. Seriously, think how many people buy games with the intention of selling them to fund newer games. You aren't suddenly going to see people buy a new game because it's a bit less than full price retail. They'll be looking to buy second hand which would be cheaper than that. People want their physical copies to sell on.

Edit: I'm not going to go digital even if its a little cheaper. Downloads are just not something I'm going to go with for a number of reasons. I'm going to stick with physical copies. Unless the price was so ridiculously cheap as I'd be dumb to pass up on it.

Games for download need to be 35 or 40 to encourage those of us to go digital... surely a price like that would suit studios better than handing hefty profits to gamestop etc with trade in policies

Cheerful Spring · 20-11-2013 6:07pm

Xbox One Pre Launch UI and Hardware part 2
Chris and Danny are back at it, showing off the new Xbox One console, UI, Dashboard, Apps and games!

2 hours from now it starts. Part 1 is already up.
http://www.gamespot.com/videos/xbox-one-pre-launch-part-2-ui-and-hardware/2300-6416225/

Danny unboxing xb1. Danny is an Irish guy working for Gamespot.

http://www.gamespot.com/videos/xbox-one-unboxing/2300-6416197/

Pushtrak · 20-11-2013 6:10pm

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

The end goal is the steam system, digital-only, no trades, persistent library etc.

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

Games for download need to be 35 or 40 to encourage those of us to go digital... surely a price like that would suit studios better than handing hefty profits to gamestop etc with trade in policies

And what do ye see in the way of buying systems with that being the case? Do ye see the Gamestops etc having a future with such a system?

dor83 · 20-11-2013 6:16pm

Pushtrak wrote: »

And what do ye see in the way of buying systems with that being the case? Do ye see the Gamestops etc having a future with such a system?

They were willing to kill off the 2nd hand market when they announced the console and that would probably have killed off the likes of Gamestop as that is where they make the biggest profits.

DARK-KNIGHT · 20-11-2013 7:44pm

Pushtrak wrote: »

And what do ye see in the way of buying systems with that being the case? Do ye see the Gamestops etc having a future with such a system?

I couldnt care less if gamestop we ere to go bank all of our priorities should lie in the studios and developers making money as without them gamestop would have no existence.

Am I right in saying smaller studios struggling sales wise from the second hand market..

Nolimits · 20-11-2013 8:30pm

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

I couldnt care less if gamestop we ere to go bank all of our priorities should lie in the studios and developers making money as without them gamestop would have no existence.

Am I right in saying smaller studios struggling sales wise from the second hand market..

And what about when the likes of Gamestop go out of business and the only place to buy is the Microsoft or Playstation stores.

How much do you think you'll be paying then?

Pushtrak · 20-11-2013 8:33pm

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

I couldnt care less if gamestop we ere to go bank all of our priorities should lie in the studios and developers making money as without them gamestop would have no existence.

Thing is, there is more involved than just that. If the Gamestops, et cetera went out of business, that'll be a whole lot of people out of a job. That isn't really a good thing. Besides, the consoles at the moment are not what gives great profits to retailers. If retailers are going to go on and sell consoles, they'll need to be making more of a profit than they had been. So, either the manufacturers will make less than they might, or the retailers will have to price up.

How is it you envision the selling of consoles would be altered with the elimination of the dedicated gaming retail section?

Am I right in saying smaller studios struggling sales wise from the second hand market..

The net gain or loss, I'm sure varies according to developer and game. A lot of people today would fund new purchases on the back of selling their preowned games. I pretty much only buy new, though not entirely. I might buy a game that I'd not have picked up at all except I saw it for cheap. An only digital future of games is only going to see mass take up if the prices were to be similar to Steam in sales.

Oh, and just saw this about getting the system update: support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/system/emergency-offline-update

DARK-KNIGHT · 20-11-2013 9:03pm

Nolimits wrote: »

And what about when the likes of Gamestop go out of business and the only place to buy is the Microsoft or Playstation stores.

How much do you think you'll be paying then?

There are multiple companies online and stores selling games new and used and there are plenty of competition.. im talking about the used game market you ciuld throw game, xtra vision into that too

DARK-KNIGHT · 20-11-2013 9:06pm

Pushtrak wrote: »

Thing is, there is more involved than just that. If the Gamestops, et cetera went out of business, that'll be a whole lot of people out of a job. That isn't really a good thing. Besides, the consoles at the moment are not what gives great profits to retailers. If retailers are going to go on and sell consoles, they'll need to be making more of a profit than they had been. So, either the manufacturers will make less than they might, or the retailers will have to price up.

How is it you envision the selling of consoles would be altered with the elimination of the dedicated gaming retail section?

The net gain or loss, I'm sure varies according to developer and game. A lot of people today would fund new purchases on the back of selling their preowned games. I pretty much only buy new, though not entirely. I might buy a game that I'd not have picked up at all except I saw it for cheap. An only digital future of games is only going to see mass take up if the prices were to be similar to Steam in sales.

Oh, and just saw this about getting the system update: support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/system/emergency-offline-update

I see your point but surely a steam system would work well if the prices of games were lowered.

Stone Deaf 4evr · 20-11-2013 9:17pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y51zatx9qs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Good video review of the hardware there. Shows the pros and cons of various features

Pushtrak · 20-11-2013 9:25pm

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

There are multiple companies online and stores selling games new and used and there are plenty of competition.. im talking about the used game market you ciuld throw game, xtra vision into that too

I don't think an all digital future would work. There would still need to be those retailers selling games and consoles in my opinion. Not everyone is ready for an all download future. I know where I'm at now, I'm not. The limited space on the One is not going to matter much to me as I'll have the disc.

If I want to go and play something again, I can just get the disc, set it to install and play it while it is installing. It'll be pretty fast to get even up to 50% if the game calls for that. However, if I have to rely on downloads, it'll be really annoying when I want to go back to play some older game, and doing no favours to my bandwidth.

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

I see your point but surely a steam system would work well if the prices of games were lowered.

Honestly, MS and Sony could have put forth a good faith attitude. They haven't though. Now, we can say 'it's the publishers' as a reason for why downloads on the systems haven't been at a low price. Ok, fine. And why would the publishers change so much? I mean, look at the price of games for the 360/PS3 when you download 'em. Logically, the prices of downloads should be lower than retail. But the higher prices are being justified on the grounds of convenience.

There are forces at play there, the system manufacturers, the publishers, the retailers. What do they want, and how much power do they have to get their way? it doesn't seem either of the other two want the retail section gone. Else, the prices of the downloads would be lower on the respective marketplaces. We aren't seeing a price war because the retail segment suits the system manufacturers.

We have to look at more than, if we do away with second hand sales then games can be sold cheaper and developers/publishers get more money. There is that, but it seems theres a lot more to consider going on.

DARK-KNIGHT · 20-11-2013 9:44pm

Pushtrak wrote: »

I don't think an all digital future would work. There would still need to be those retailers selling games and consoles in my opinion. Not everyone is ready for an all download future. I know where I'm at now, I'm not. The limited space on the One is not going to matter much to me as I'll have the disc.

If I want to go and play something again, I can just get the disc, set it to install and play it while it is installing. It'll be pretty fast to get even up to 50% if the game calls for that. However, if I have to rely on downloads, it'll be really annoying when I want to go back to play some older game, and doing no favours to my bandwidth.

Honestly, MS and Sony could have put forth a good faith attitude. They haven't though. Now, we can say 'it's the publishers' as a reason for why downloads on the systems haven't been at a low price. Ok, fine. And why would the publishers change so much? I mean, look at the price of games for the 360/PS3 when you download 'em. Logically, the prices of downloads should be lower than retail. But the higher prices are being justified on the grounds of convenience.

There are forces at play there, the system manufacturers, the publishers, the retailers. What do they want, and how much power do they have to get their way? it doesn't seem either of the other two want the retail section gone. Else, the prices of the downloads would be lower on the respective marketplaces. We aren't seeing a price war because the retail segment suits the system manufacturers.

We have to look at more than, if we do away with second hand sales then games can be sold cheaper and developers/publishers get more money. There is that, but it seems theres a lot more to consider going on.

Great post... I suppose currently this gen isnt ready and ms and sony are too fond of charging... would you eventually like to see a download system fair to all part I es?

Pushtrak · 20-11-2013 9:52pm

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

Great post... I suppose currently this gen isnt ready and ms and sony are too fond of charging... would you eventually like to see a download system fair to all part I es?

Eventually, I can definitely see it getting to a point where more people will be able to happily switch to all download. I mean, in some places, that is already the case. I heard somewhere that a line was used by someone, the future is here it's just unequally divided. I think that's kinda nail on head when it comes to downloads.

I mean, look at DVDs and blu-ray. By the analysis we're having of games and downloads, using the same logic, we shouldn't see DVDs or blu-rays any more. There is so much competition. It isn't the closed system of consoles, so it's taking heat from all angles, but its still going along fine at least as far as I can see.

Edit: Sorry, I misread the "would I like to" as do I see it happening. Would I like to see an all digital? Well, if my speeds were up to scratch, I'd be a lot more likely to accept it. Ideally, consoles would adopt a system where they themselves didn't focus too much on costs of storage so they can invest more in other aspects of the system so that we'd buy our own storage. This would work in terms of storage, but I wouldn't advise it for any other component to make it more similar to a PC. The benefit of a console is developers are building to spec. You couldn't have everyone going for whatever graphics card as a for instance.

The thing with devices being so connected, it will make ISPs motivated to offer better services which would make a download only future something more and more people will be willing to jump on board with. Can I see myself liking an all download future? I definitely can imagine such a thing happening. The employment stuff isn't ideal, but would be better suited to another thread in another section though.

Lamposts · 20-11-2013 10:08pm

Any idea if you can connect an external HD and watch videos on it like on 360??

Mitch Connor · 20-11-2013 10:09pm

Lamposts wrote: »

Any idea if you can connect an external HD and watch videos on it like on 360??

No, you can't. You can seemingly stream from another computer though.

brav · 20-11-2013 10:09pm

Lamposts wrote: »

Any idea if you can connect an external HD and watch videos on it like on 360??

Not yet, external HDD support coming later

ShadowHearth · 20-11-2013 10:16pm

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y51zatx9qs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Good video review of the hardware there. Shows the pros and cons of various features

I though it was Crapy Review and I do love their channel. All they were talking was TV TV TV Kinect and TV. Like it was barely a gaming device at all.

20-11-2013 10:27pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I though it was Crapy Review and I do love their channel. All they were talking was TV TV TV Kinect and TV. Like it was barely a gaming device at all.

ps4, or if you watch lots of tv or want to skype on a couch get xbox .. ouch