There’s a new rumor going around that Microsoft will debut a fresh Xbox One SKU this holiday. It will sell for $399, $100 less than the current version, and it will arrive without a disc drive.
That means no physical games, no physical movies and no physical CDs (who still uses CDs?). This Xbox One would be entirely digital.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, their current setup doesn’t really create at atmosphere that’s all that conducive for digital gaming. I’m a fan of physical media. I don’t want it to go away. However, if gaming on the Xbox One were more like gaming on a PC, this is a pill I’d be easy to swallow.
There’s a slew of problems that currently stand in the Xbox One’s way of being a proper and good digital-only platform.
The Storage Problem
The current Xbox One’s max capacity is 500GB. This rumored, disc-less unit will supposedly pack 1TB. Great, grand. If you’re a big gamer, though, those sizes might not be enough to support your habit for the next six, seven or eight years.
Let’s look at Dead Rising 3, for instance. That game installed originally at 20GB. There was a recent patch that checked in at 13GB. If you like it and you want all the DLC, there’s another roughly 5GB a piece hit for those. Suddenly, one game can occupy 50GB. Quite easily, in fact.
Now, with the 500GB hard drive, you can have 10 games of this size installed on your machine. Roughly, of course. With the 1TB console? You’ll be able to fit 20.
For most of us, having space for 10 games is just fine. You can delete whatever you need when it comes time to install a new game. It’s not preferable, but it works.
The easy solution here would be for the Xbox One to offer more storage space for an all digital machine. Unfortunately, the Xbox One currently doesn’t let users expand their internal hard drive with a replacement. Even worse? You can’t use an external device either.
That needs to change.
The Internet Problem
A lot of us are fortunate enough to live in parts of the world that feature robust, speedy internet service options. We connect once and stay connected for weeks at a time without a single issue or hiccup.
For some, that’s a dream. They live with terrible connections, slow download speeds and monthly data caps.
If you want to buy two games a month at 20GB a piece, get ready to hit your caps. 40GB on one internet consuming device in your house over a month? Get real.
Folks that have these problems likely wouldn’t want a disc-less system in their lives.
The Pricing Problem
Which brings me to my final big point. Microsoft needs to price their content more appropriately for consumers.
Getting rid of disc drives would save a whole lot of money for the company, make no mistake. Less shipping and less to build the consoles. Not only that, the profit margin for sales on games goes way, way, way up.
Even better, for Microsoft, used games leave the equation. They’re making money on every copy sold, whereas a lot of gamers currently only buy their software used.
The problem? If we go digital only, we’ll have a single place to buy games. The Xbox Marketplace is our only option. The Xbox Marketplace, then, has no reason to be competitive with pricing.
And Microsoft has always shown a reluctance to cut prices over time.
Want an example? You can buy Halo 3 on Amazon right now, used, for $1.06. Xbox LIVE? $14.99.
With places like Amazon out of the equation, Microsoft has no reason to ever go low with digital game prices. We’d only have one choice to buy games: through them.
I’m not opposed to an all-digital lifestyle when it comes to gaming. I do it now with my PC and platforms like Steam and GOG, and I’ve grown quite fond of it. Steam and GOG have competition, though, and that’s why they’re willing to dip the prices of games to obscenely low levels.
When’s the last time you saw just about the entire Xbox LIVE software library drop down by 75%? When that starts happening four times a year, count me in.
