There seems to be a lot of confusion out there regarding what Microsoft's policy on used games really is. After months of seeing many rumors become true for the PS4 and Wii U as well as the X1, it was only natural for many of us to assume the worst when second-hand information from many gaming-media outlets seemed to confirm the rumor that the new Xbox console would not allow consumers to trade, share nor buy used games.
Let's be fair however, as far as this topic, nothing official has been said by Microsoft directly to us beyond few things like these: http://news.xbox.com/2013/0... (6th question). I understand Microsoft has had us "core" gamers feeling abandoned with the lack of exclusive games for the last part of the generation (plus things like the Kinect 1 that didn't really target us to begin), so at any sign of a bad move, most lash out against them. I do believe Microsoft does plan to allow users to trade/sell/buy used games in some way but I am also certain that the traditional game trading system we're used to is gone.
Consider this: you buy a new game and obtain a digital license for such said game where the ownership of this license can be transferred. Let's say you go to your friend's house taking the game with you: you sign into Live and play. If your friend wants to keep on playing the game, s/he could either buy her/his own license or simply (in the best case I'm hoping for) be given away your license if chosen to (which would be given back to you based on word-of-mouth just like the lending of any game). You could also trade your game for another one or an agreed amount of Microsoft points with any other user a la more advanced version of "Steam trading." What if you can't or don't want to trade with anyone yet still desire to get rid of the game? Could you still go to (for example) GameStop and sell it? According to GameStop President Tony Bartel, you can ( http://onforb.es/12sGpaU). How would this work? Possibly like you would with any other user. You'd give your license to Gamestop who would then become the owner and who would also compensate you with games, Microsoft points or cash (which would have to be done at a local store).
So why make the regular game-trading system more complicated? Well, it would definitely be frictional and drive away consumers. In addition however, and since transactions with retailers would be done trough Live, it would be possible for the publisher to make profits from used-game sales but still keep second-hand retailers around such as GameStop/FYE/etc. If this indirect way of making profit were to offset enough the profit from people giving up on Xbox for making matters alien and complicated, then it would have been a successful move.
There cannot be success without risk and Microsoft has already taken bold risks in the past (starting 7th gen with Live even as an underdog and introducing the negatively received Kinect). I know I'm just speculating and playing devil's advocate here but beyond that I'm simply trying to picture a sound scenario. In truth, we have no idea what Microsoft is planning and how it would work or if they're willing to keep such system with the backlash we've given them at all. Regardless of what they may end up implementing, nothing will be set in stone until the whole market reacts with their wallets after the X1 and PS4 have come out, and we "core" gamers are definitely not the whole market.
The friendly folks over at Razer recently sent us their full size Kishi Ultra mobile gaming controller, and this thing didn't disappoint.
VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "Upon finally finishing Devil May Cry 5 recently - after it spent several years on my “I’ll play that soon” list - I considered giving it a fittingly-named Late Look article. However, considering that this was indeed the final piece I was missing in the DMC puzzle, I decided to instead take this opportunity to take a look back at the entirety of this genre-defining series and rank the entries. What also made this a particularly tempting notion was that while most high-profile series have developed fairly evenly over time, with a few bumps on the road, the history of Devil May Cry has, at least in my eyes, been an absolute roller coaster, with everything from total disasters to action game gold."
3,1,4,5 to me, never played 2. 5 gameplay is amazing but level design was really disappointing to me, just a bunch of plain arenas, the story felt like a worse written rehash of the 3rd and the charater models looked weird ( specially the ladies ). Another problem with 5 was that there was not enough content for 3 charaters so I could never really familiarize with any of them
2.
Dmc.
4.
5.
1.
3.
God DMC2 was an awful game.
And in case this isn't obvious it goes worst to best
TSA go hands on with the beta for Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, but how is the game transitioning to the post-stylus era?
Delusional....I didn't see a single good point made in your entire argument. Not one. All you did is reiterate what we already know about how this used-game lock-out will work, and then you try to claim that it is somehow ingenious.
I'm scratching my head at your "logic". I suspect you have a bad case of MS fanaticism, if you think these are good points...
Anyone who buys an XBox One is funding the death of gaming.
There's no other way of putting it.
Go ahead and pay $60 for a physical disc that comes with Microsoft's gracious permission to play that disc on your console. Go ahead. Burn down everything that makes gaming wonderful. Destroy the very concept of a "legacy" console that you can take out in 15 years to play with your kids.
You draw at least one incorrect conclusion. There is no way that Microsoft is going to allow users to transfer their licenses so freely. I users could do that then there would be no reason to restrict their usage. If I could just transfer my license to you, then I don't have to give Microsoft or anyone else a cut. I could just give you my license to Gears and you could give me your license to Halo and we both keep rolling. The whole point of this entire excercise is to eliminate that type of transaction so the Microsoft can get a cut.
I guess I will write my own blog about my theory.
P.S.
Microsoft is going to be vague on the issue until AFTER E3 because they don't want the gamers to know the truth. They want their faithful Xbox live subscribers to fall into the trap. So they are not going to give any clarity by E3 because the media machine would broadcast it to the heavens and ruin their strategy.
Honestly if Microsoft and other big gaming companies wanted to get a cut of the used game market they could do it a better way without having to rely on such a silly system.
They could buy back their consumer's games and offer a better price than Gamestop. Why go to Gamestop and buy a used copy of Madden 14 for $55 dollars when you can get a used copy from EA for $45 with free shipping?
Bullshit strategy is bullshit!
MS is really hellbent on taking over the second hand market.