Another thing about used games... I really feel that they could make them almost nonexistent without actually blocking used game and rental use. If they make a 500GB or larger hard drive standard on all consoles and do the occasional steam style download sale I think the market would take care of it for them.
PC gamers have been getting their games in downloadable form almost exclusively for years now and used games are basically nonexistent on that platform. I'm not saying to do away with physical copies for those who want them but every retail game should be available on day one at competitive costs. One of the problems with downloadable retail games on the current consoles is that PSN and Xbox Live are too slow to drop prices. A game should never cost more in downloadable form than on a disk when they don't have production costs or split revenues with brick and mortar stores. That often isn't the case on current consoles. Another problem is that not every retail game is available in downloadable form on the current systems. Often the ones that are aren't available on day one.
If they made their online marketplaces competitive like steam does I would be happy to go 100% downloads on the next gen consoles. Bye bye used games market. Think about it. They could make your pre-orders download and install in the background or when your system is in sleep mode days before release date and set them to activate at midnight on release. They could be seamlessly available and waiting for you the second they release without a midnight trip and lines at a store.
They could sell them at a lower price and still make more money for themselves and the developers by cutting out the retail middle man. I know, I know... I'm dreaming right?
PC gamers have been getting their games in downloadable form almost exclusively for years now and used games are basically nonexistent on that platform. I'm not saying to do away with physical copies for those who want them but every retail game should be available on day one at competitive costs. One of the problems with downloadable retail games on the current consoles is that PSN and Xbox Live are too slow to drop prices. A game should never cost more in downloadable form than on a disk when they don't have production costs or split revenues with brick and mortar stores. That often isn't the case on current consoles. Another problem is that not every retail game is available in downloadable form on the current systems. Often the ones that are aren't available on day one.
If they made their online marketplaces competitive like steam does I would be happy to go 100% downloads on the next gen consoles. Bye bye used games market. Think about it. They could make your pre-orders download and install in the background or when your system is in sleep mode days before release date and set them to activate at midnight on release. They could be seamlessly available and waiting for you the second they release without a midnight trip and lines at a store.
They could sell them at a lower price and still make more money for themselves and the developers by cutting out the retail middle man. I know, I know... I'm dreaming right?
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