1. Used Games
Right, this seems like the big one that everyone has been talking about. It is funny that the hottest topic so far has been something that the conference didn't even reference.
Wired reported that, yes, you would have to download your games onto you HDD, more or less tying your game to your profile and if someone else tried to do that with the same disc, you would have to pay a fee. It doesn't take much forethought to realise that this would have a massive impact on the used game market. If every disc you buy is then married to your Xbox One, then you won't be able to sell it on. There has been talk of the next generation of consoles getting rid of the used game market for a while now. To be fair to publishers, the used game market is a massive problem for them. They see no returns from used games, and the market hurts publishers, developers, and most importantly to me, the artists. However, I have always been against hurting the consumers as a solution to the problem. However, I think people are looking at this a little wrong. I think this is less of an issue of getting rid of used games and more of an issue of Microsoft trying to usher in digital distribution. Discs aren't the games anymore, they are just a gateway to content. I fully expect Microsoft to push the digital distribution of games this console and I see this as a method of offering a more robust format, something akin to Steam and Itunes. I don't think this is as black and white as people are making. There is plenty of room for the costumer to win. First off, Microsoft has responded saying that they have a system for used games and I think they will offer a service to trade in games. Steam have toiled with this idea since it has been deduced that we legally own our digital content. I actually think Sony might well be planning the same thing. They have said they will be lenient with used games and sharing, but that there will be some sort of restrictions. It is possible they are just tactfully keeping their mouths shout for the moment. Now, what I hope is that this will eventually bring down the price of games. $60 is a lot of money, and we have seen in the past, services like Itunes and Steam have drastically cut the price of their content compared to retail. Since I see the PC becoming a major competitor to the consoles in this generation, I don't see anyway Microsoft will be able to charge a full retail price when Steam is selling the same game for $25 cheaper. Well, if they have an sense Microsoft will do that. Although to be fair, publishers and console makers don't have the best track record of making decisions based on common sense. I think this is an incredibly complicated issue that we haven't even nearly begun to figure out and we won't until closer to launch, and maybe even months after that. This is going to be a muddy issue and it is very grey at the moment.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section below.