Well, now there's no more 24 hour check, no more region lock, no more used games block. Oh, and also we got offline play now. Pretty much everything that the PS4 is providing. I guess they were really feeling the pressure this time. Still, I understand what they were trying to do. I'm actually
for a more digitalized gaming.
In my opinion, what Microsoft could do right now is to allow gamers the freedom of sharing, lending and reselling games digitally just like they do with their physical copies. For example, let's say I bought both the digital and physical copies of one game.
First of all, they could release that digital copy of the game at a, let's say 25% cheaper rate than that of it's physical copy. There will be no special authentication needed since the game is bought digitally. The gamer can then just install and play his game offline, if he wants to. Obviously he'd need internet to lend the game to his friend, but it'll be more like "hey xbox, this guy is my friend, so allow him to download this game from your server and play it". You could even do this on your phone. Just get on your account and tick the box next to the friend you want to lend the game to, and press share or something. And then maybe a notification will come up that your friend won't be able to play online. That's all right. Heck, it'd be even better if they let us choose which one of us can play both offline and online modes and who can't(you could do this on Steam if you're sharing an account with your friend). I mean why not? Maybe I'll buy a game that I like single player more but don't use the multiplayer part of it, so why not let my friend have access to it, since I'm not using it. And when I do try to use it, it could block me but could provide me with an option to switch it up. Meaning my friend will get the offline only mode and I'll get full online access to it. And then, if he's too bothered about that, I can just tell him to go buy his own copy of the game. This way, gamers save a lot of money, and you'll have more and more people turn to buying the digital versions of their games. As time goes on, people will slowly stop buying used games from companies like Gamestop.
Secondly, digital copies don't die, don't get lost, or in some cases, won't stay with your friends like physical copies. I remember the times when my friends took my PS2 game discs, but never returned them to me. Most times, I just forgot whether I gave the disc to somebody or just misplaced it. Maybe I do remember that I lent it to somebody but can't remember who I lent it to. I don't know if it ever happened to any of you, but during these times, my friends would just keep it quiet. They'll spout crap like "you gave it to me? Hmmm, you know what Max, I think you did, but I clearly remember giving it back to you"
. Anyway, all I'm saying is that the games are always available on your account, if you bought them digitally, and that kind of crap will not happen to you.
Give people an option of whether gamers can allow their friends to view their online game libraries and send you requests of wanting to trade games or just lend it. My point to all this is that if digital games can have similar methods of sharing as physical versions do, then they will almost always be the chosen method of shopping. I got a 2mbps connection, so buying or lending digital copies is going to be hard for me, but that's why I still got the physical copy option. That doesn't mean I'll stick to it forever. The moment I get a better connection, I'll immediately start getting all my games from the online store. Microsoft just needs to
encourage people to buy digital copies over physical ones by showing them the aforementioned advantages of owning the digital versions(while also providing them), instead of forcing people to change their ways immediately, and taking away the freedom of choice from the gamer.
I see a lot of people posting online, how the gamers "won". Not really. If anything, it's companies like Gamestop that really won. In the long run, thanks to the used game market, gamers and publishers will still get hurt, while Gamestop will continue to make money off of both of them. Still, if Microsoft can provide valuable services to people owning digital copies like the ones I mentioned above, they won't need to worry about the used game market.
It's got Killer Instinct for free... done deal, I'm sold!!!!
