I don't agree with your table argument either; once you "sell" something (whether you're the creator or not) it's done. Should the person decide to resell it, you're not entitled to the money.

I agree that my previous example just proves that retailers like Gamestop profit most from the used game market and not the consumer. If you want proof, just look the prices of most used games at Gamestop versus Ebay or some other site. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly certain that most of Gamestop's profits come from used trades and used game sales! That's pure profit for them.

However, if a gamer has $100 to spend on games every 3 months, they can just as well purchase 5 older NEW games for $20. Games that have been on the market for about a year and are purchased new at a discount. Revenue is based on buyers budgets and Microsoft probably doesn't care just as long as they get your $100 regardless of whether the gamer has to buy 5 older games or 1 new game and some combination of the remaining $40.

So the consumer/gamer just loses in the end. They can't rent games anymore, and there's no discounted used game market for them to go to which equals game prices are going to stay up for longer periods of time (i.e. no more $40 games that were released at $60 just 2-3 months before).

Microsoft wants the Xbox One as an all-in-one entertainment box with "T.V. T.V. T.V.!" that requires a online check-in every 24 hours. Next to limited use of used games, the always-online is what irks gamers most.

Why not compromise with irate gamers by allowing gaming to be always available regardless of online connectivity?

If you want DVR, streaming, T.V., and bunch of other crap then you need an Internet connection since you're not just using it as a gaming console anymore.

That seems fair in my mind, but I could be neglecting something.

Also, the Xbox One should play Blu-ray movies or other physical media such as a CD without being online.

So if someone wants it to be an all-in-one entertainment box and only use it as a physical media players (Blu-rays and CDs) and as a gaming console for $500, they can. Personally, they would almost be better suited in just buying the PS4 for a $100 less, but whatever. Maybe they want some exclusive game available only on the Xbox One (Halo?).

Nevermind. After the disclosures from just before E3 and what "awesome games" they showed off at E3 along with the price I would have to say that gamers generally shouldn't buy an Xbox One until Microsoft changes a few things.

$500 is too much considering the always online, no used games thing.

I can't imagine what killer app they can add to the console and Xbox Live service that would prompt someone to buy it.

I have a feeling that the Xbox One can crash and burn and end up like one of those failed consoles that are selling for $50 after 2-3 years. Or, Microsoft will try to prevent something like that form happening by allowing used games not requiring it to be online.

I don't think this will be the case of PC gamers attempting to boycott Call of Duty by joining a boycotting group on Steam where 90% of its members purchased the game on release. Gamers are really going to avoid the XBox One this season.

If I bought all my games first hand I wouldn't have three quarters of the games I own. That would be the case if this restriction was implemented across the board next gen. It's not the case of, oh I'll just go and buy new release today, I simply don't have the money to support this hobby to that extent.

Sadly that's just the way it is for these companies. Sony aren't restricting me of that privilege so I'm jumping ship, it's as simple as that.

ElectricEchoes

Exactly!

It almost seems like basic microeconomics. If Johnny has only $100 to spend every 6 months on a game, he can either buy 5 games for $20 each or a new release at $60 and spend the remaining $40 on something else (2 older games?).

The common sense prediction would be that without a used game market the price of games will go up a lot and stay up for longer periods of time. Gamers are limited by the number of games they can buy with the budget they have. So the outcome would be less games played for the same amount of revenue.

And one only needs to compare the price of games on Steam to downloaded games on Xbox Live and PSN to see that (for whatever reason) games are a lot more expensive on the console.

A bit TLDR, just get to the point. You make another argument that the used game market allows retailers like Gamestop to profit and leave the actual developers or publishers out of that.

Fair point.

What you seem to neglect is how preventing used games ultimately harms the consumer. You can't even lend a game to a friend to play for a bit.

Would you make the same argument that lending a game to a friend is bad because that's one less sale the developer or publisher would make off of the game?

I agree with your comment about DLC though. Yeah, it was crap at first, but DLC got better and better and gamers need to realize that if it couldn't be sold as DLC, it wouldn't exist at all. They only make it if they can make money off of it. Generally, if you enjoyed a game and wanted more from it the only way would be to pay for it through DLC.

Also, I don't like Gamestop; it's another scam for the gamer. Sell a new copy of COD for $60, a gamer returns it after a week for about $20 or $30, and they put it on the shelf as a used game at $55. Yet, look at average price of it on Ebay; it's not $55 even if it's new.

And how about Gamefly or Redbox? I think those services are a great deal for gamers, and I've played a number of games through such services.

Finally, you make a point of the movie business being different, but how would it work out if all Blu-rays were linked to your Blu-ray player and the disc becomes almost worthless. No, you can't give your friend a copy of a Blu-ray movie. It kind feels like Netflix streaming in that you have an online library of movies or television shows linked to your account that you can access anywhere (which actually sounds kind of good), but buyers are going to hate the idea of not being able to lend a friend a favorite movie to watch.

With the way things are going this could actually occur with movies, but people will still raise a fuss because in the end they probably lose if all physical media disappears or there isn't a point to purchase physical media anymore (it's just a disc that becomes useless after installation or linking to some account).

Strange that there hasn't been a post since 6/8.

Does anyone remember when the 360 launched and the blades and what Xbox Live service was like at the time?

It was all very "primitive" in comparison to what the console and the service is now. I'm pretty certain it didn't have movie trailers, music, downloadable movies (to own AND to rent), downloadable games, HBO-Go, Netflix, etc.

The 360 currently is a far different entertainment system than what it was at launch. At launch it was just a gaming console with online gaming.

Some people miss the blades, but other than a sense of nostalgia I don't really miss it.

So with the new Xbox One about to come out shouldn't we wait on passing judgement until:

1. E3 - where they have more gaming related announcements (no T.V., no sports)

2. Actual release - where we can get our hands on the console and see for ourselves AND where some techies can take it apart and tell us what hardware Microsoft actually put in the system.

3. Software updates to the O/S - we might see changes/advancements comparable to the blades to current O/S of the 360

Simply put the 360 at launch is nothing like the 360 we have today.

However, I'm wondering what more can Microsoft add to the Xbox One other some form of intergration of cable television...downloadable games, movies, music and streaming - already have that on the 360

Cable television integration seems interesting, but lower rates on the cable bill or a la carte programming (just ordering Breaking Bad, Mad Men and getting rid of 100+ channels and thousands of hours of programming you have no interest watching) is probably wishfull thinking on my part.

Somebody can correct me, but it seems like cable-T.V. integration on the Xbox One is just pluggin your cable-box into your Xbox so you don't have to pickup your remote control to switch which input to display. To me that seems just a step below the level of innovation as the original remote control. It's surprisingly annoying to have to pick up a remote control to switch the display input whenever you want to switch from your Xbox to cable-T.V. or your PS3, but nothing you can't manage to do everyday.

It's a gaming console, not a sex-toy.

Some how I doubt that can happen, I imagine you would need your login details to get the gamertag onto the xbox one. Or if you just mean that they will make an account with the same gamertag, the two consoles are unlikely to have a separate service, the user name will still come up as used. I hope that made sense because I wasn't entirely sure what you were getting at.

Yeah, that makes sense. Basically, current Xbox 360 gamertags are ALL set aside to be activated on the new Xbox One. No one can simply "steal" the same gamertag that already exists on the Xbox 360.

I think you understood what I was getting at. Let's say you have a pretty simple (and good?) Xbox Live gamertage like "Gamer." You want to keep this gamertag for the Xbox One, but you have no plans to get the new console at launch or even in the first few years. You're kind of a late-adopter in that you wait for the first price-drop before purchase. I think I got my 360 sometime around November 2007 actually.

I used the word "camping" because I remember the word they used when the Internet was exploding and people registered certain domain names just to resell at a profit. I think they used the word cyber-squatting. They would register something like cars.com in the hopes to sell it for thousands of dollars in the future when some car company or car-seller wanted it for their web address.

Regardless, what you write makes sense. It's not definite and you never know, but it seems very likely that any gamertag currently taken won't be available for use as a gamertag on the Xbox One other than the current holder of the gamertag. So "Gamer" can only be registered for the new Xbox One by the current holder of the gamertag on the 360