Not what most gamers want regarding Future consoles.

Edge magazine and online connection

Next-gen Xbox games will require an internet connection in order to function and block second-hand use, according to a new Edge report.

Seems both Sony and Microsoft are hell bent in killing the second hand market when it comes to games,not only will this kill most of the high street game shops as we know them,but i for one will not be buying the same quantity of games i do at present if I'm lumbered with a game that fails to meet my expectations and becomes a useless coaster with no trade in value whatsoever.

I can see the retail industry dying in the next few years and all future distribution will be downloaded from the stores.

We have already had major problems with Game last year and Blockbusters are shutting shops each week and HMV is in financial meltdown.

Seriously can you actually see where we will be buying actual retail hard copies of games in the future given whats happening on the high street and Microsoft and Sony intentions regarding second hand copies of games.

Big problem with this is they are going to have to come up with at least terabyte hard drive and not the meagre amount that we have at the moment and what expected with the new next gen consoles which isn't much.

Edited by time2die (Wed 06-Feb-13 13:28:21)

The high street has been dying for year's, HMV/Waterstones/Game have not adapted fast enough to online retail.
The console companies have wanted a slice of the second hand market for years as its lost revenue to them, if they got a cut then they would be happy to let it continue- why u have game reactivation keys etc.
HDD are not a problem to add to any console, they will just further add to the cost, the main problem with online distrubtion is you need a broadband network that can deliver- for alot of the UK it does not atm but come 2015/2016 when the first phase of the BDUK funding has finished then it will have improved greatley.

It�s one thing having nails put in the coffin another actually supplying the nails and hammering them in.

The market was there for seconds because of how it was. I also won�t be buying as many either. For example; absolute no way I would have purchased BF3, saw it last year in blockbuster for £4.99, ok at that price of Mag I gave it a go, played it for a bit and actually liked it then went on to buy online pass, premium etc. Anyways some months later I did purchase a new BF3 on another format, however that�s another topic. Without that second in the first instance no way would i have purchased it.

Not really made up my mind if its really worth investing in the next batch of consoles they are becoming strange variants of another fruit named product, perhaps we could call them the Exeter Cross & Shinsei.

Im all for next generation consoles and can not be bothered with the hassle of PC gaming and the constant patches and upgrades required.

But personally i prefer a hard copy of my games and not a digital download that I'm lumbered with once i have finished with it.

If they have a trade in value for that game i bought digitally and they offer me x,y,z for it in a similar way that shops do trade in then that would be and ok idea.

But i doubt that will happen because there greedy as it is,there are games out there in the shops second hand and brand new for prices ranging from a few pounds to a full retail price of £39,99,but for some reason Sony in there wisdom thinks it can charge £59.99 for the same game in a digital format.

Beggars belief to be honest and i have seen this on the store on many occasions,if anything the game should be way cheaper and not £20 dearer .

Patches and PC, I read with amusement your other thread on the time it takes the PS3 to do its stuff and the mathematical lesson, its true it�s awfully slow and I was quite glad my obese PS3 had the yellow death in early December, though the 360 dash load is getting near windows load these days and leaves tapping the thumb stick. I have not got anything against consoles I have always purchased consoles ever since flogging my Amiga gear to fund a Playstation.

Greed, yes you�re right, however don�t think they will get anywhere near the market share of seconds as they think they will. I believe the money seconds generated will just disappear as quickly as it started. I quite enjoy, in sadistic way, the agonising of which game/s to trade in for further funding of purchases. There is no way I would spend £59.99 on a game.

No doubt this one purchase one console is led by game developers too. Can�t help feel the golden age has been, time for a new brand console.

Definitely not going to buy the xbox now
I think killing second hand sales will kill console sales as well

I may well stick to my PS3

Yeah suppose your right as we are now patching games on consoles regular as clockwork,even when you have just taken the wrapper of.

Basically a lot of this is done automatic and i don't have to search mirrors for the download like i did many moons ago with PC gaming.

It may well be easier now i don't know,i just like what consoles give me as i have got older and i can not be bothered to be tethered to some desk in some office as you need far more space when PC gaming and its another reason why i packed it up.

If they went purely digital in a few years and i think this is where we are going here then i think game sales will halve .

I'm just curious as to what 20th Feb brings and Microsoft reply.

Edited by time2die (Thu 07-Feb-13 00:09:03)

Indeed the 20th will be interesting; I would hope Microsoft is leading Sony up the path of doom with internet connection only and killing the second hand market off. The one that fails to do this gets my money.

Any one of those Company's that makes that decision to block the second hand market needs to fail and be a Gaming outcast.

And the person/persons responsible for such a shambolic decision sacked on the spot.

Personally i don't think neither would have the balls to make such a drastic,stupid incompetent decision.

Game has a very large chunk of money invested in 2nd hand games, last year it was something like over £100 Million they made with 2nd hand,

Also lets not forget game rentals as well with Lovefilm, Blockbuster etc.

If anybody goes down this route they will have to take on their major distributors including Amazon as they own Lovefilm.

It could be that the new console is released at the Supermarkets as the rest of the industry blacklists them.

Given that GAME and EA have had a long running disagreement it is very easy to see how it could happen.

As for me I think I will drop consoles full stop and go back entirely to PC gaming, the higher cost of console games were offset by them having some 2nd hand value but I might as well get my games off steam if that is what MS is proposing anyways for their console.