Xbox 720: More used game ban evidence emerges

[stp007]

The Xbox 720 remains unannounced, but today, some more details have emerged about the next-gen console, and they don’t paint an entirely pretty picture for gamers. A new leak suggests that games won’t run off discs themselves, and will have to be installed first – which could be part of a rumoured plan to block used games on the machine.

Website Vgleaks has published screenshots of the Xbox Development Kit, the software which guides developers through making games for Microsoft’s next console, and several sites including The Verge have also confirmed that these are legitimate. The details in the screenshots confirm that you won’t be able to play games straight from a Blu-ray disc on the Xbox 720: they’ll have to be installed onto the hard drive first (“Play from the optical disc will not be supported,” says the XDK).

Now there are pros and cons to this set-up. Games will boot quickly, and the XDK says that it will be possible to begin playing part of the game while it installs – something we’ve heard about before. But it also makes it much easier to block used games: Microsoft could use this and always-on internet verification to make sure that games can not be played on more than one system, something Sony says it will not do with the PS4.

Used games are a major source of contention in the industry – gamers love being able to sell on their completed titles so that they can buy more, but some publishers view second hand game sales as lost revenue. If Microsoft uses this technology in the Xbox 720 – and it’s worth noting that the XDK shots are dated from last year, so things could have changed – it could find itself very unpopular with fans.

source :gadgetshow.com

[Jgrayson]

No way can they go through with this and have success... For one how big would the hard drives have to come w/ for the blu ray size demand, and also companies like gamestop, and gamefly, redbox who rely on the used game market would join the fight against it. I personally would not buy it if it had these restrictions

[oblivion9794]

Agreed. This will have a reverse effect in sales, and if it's true I'm sure they won't make this widely known. I already didn't plan on getting a 720 but if it's true, this just makes me want one even less.

[maddogtime]

Once again let us sit down in the front row and watch the industry point a shotgun at its own arse and gleefully pull the trigger. They will turn away so many gamers and drive them straight into the arms of the very pirates that their crappy DRM schemes have done for years already. Someone needs to wake up and smell the fraggin coffee.

[CloudStrife7x]

this is really stupid if microsoft decides to actually do this, they really think this will help any they are wrong

[SiN]

Thanks, for the share...
But I don't see this happening, used games is multi billion dollar resales market...
Can't see this happening

[Tsuiokuhen]

Don't forget that Microsoft signed a partnerships contract with EA. EA only wants one thing which is money. They hate it when people buy their games pre-owned cause of that they don't get any money out of it (besides adding a stupid online pass). I'm pretty scared that something like this is going to happen. Maybe a DRM or "online-only" to play games...

Even though EA's CEO John Riccitiello resigned does not mean that EA's world will become a paradise for gamers who buy pre-owned games or want to be able to access to all the content from a SP game without needing something like an online pass (Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning).

As for me I really hope they don't pull off a stunt like this.

[stoneraz]

I agree a move like this will just cause people to jump ship.