Xbox 720 Could Require Internet Connection To Play, Destroying Second Hand Market

Xbox or a PS4. But rumours from Edge today are a little bit troubling. I have avoided posting too many rumours up recently, as frankly, they are everywhere. But this report allows me to bring up an interesting point. Edge are reporting that:

Microsoft€™s next console will require an Internet connection in order to function, ruling out a second-hand game market for the platform.

Now many have said that this could kill the console, and on paper it would seem too. Now, I am someone who does understand the destructive and unfair system of second hand games. Developers and publishers get nothing from the purchase and that is a problem. However, I firmly believe that it is not the consumer's fault and they absolutely should not be being punished for it. What is worrying about this rumour though is that if Microsoft actually did implement the function to disallow the second-hand game market, it could in fact tip the scales vastly in their favor. It would be a huge vote of support for publishers and developers, and while there may be a minor sales drop to begin with, if Sony didn't adopt this function, it could move most of the major publishers away from the Playstation. EA are a company that have been trying to come up with ways to work around the second hand market. Ubisoft are another. Could you blame them for making most of their titles Xbox exclusive? Those are huge companies with many loved franchises. Fans would be forced to eventually give in to the Xbox and I can't imagine it would be long until Sony did implement their own restrictions. Also in the UK alone, 20% of households who don't have internet connection. While it is true that the crossover from people who don't have the internet to those who will have the new Xbox will be small, Microsoft would be cutting themselves out of a large percentage of potential customers. And that doesn't even include those with weak and unreliable internet. As I said, this is only a rumour. I don't endorse it, nor deny it but my gut feeling is that it is probably false. That isn't to say that I doubt Edge's have confidence in the report though, and I will give it credit for that. I was just using the rumour to address a prospect that I think is often forgotten about. Let us hope that this does not come to pass, otherwise the console market could have a real mess on its hands.