Glorified G
Member
I didn't say it wasn't real. I don't think you understand what patents are, or why companies use them.
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EDGE: The next Xbox: Always online, no second-hand games, 50GB Blu-ray and new kinect
- Thread starter Hanmik
- Start date
I didn't say it wasn't real. I don't think you understand what patents are, or why companies use them.
Why would Microsoft need online passes for first party games when they have people $60 a year to play online?
i_am_ben
running_here_and_there
I suppose it will be opt in for developers? They'll probably spin it as a positive for niche developers.
I think this is probably worse than $599.
Children don't have much of a disposable income and many parents only buy their kids games on special occasions. If kids can't lend each other games it ends up severely restricting the usefulness of the console.
H_Prestige
Banned
Marketing can't save a bad product.
If this comes to fruition, and with the Wii U floundering out there, I don't think Sony could have dreamt of a better scenario. If you asked me a year ago who would have the most difficulty next gen, I would have said Sony. But things seem to be opening up quite nicely for them. We'll see what they do on the 20th.
BobTheFork
Member
Didn't Sony patent anti used game tech before the PS3 and never use it?
Also, nobody ever talks about this but the price of the Ps3 made that first year the best thing EVER. No fucking kids or assholes. It was just serious gamers that had the scratch to buy those expensive consoles. It was pretty cool.
Also, nobody ever talks about this but the price of the Ps3 made that first year the best thing EVER. No fucking kids or assholes. It was just serious gamers that had the scratch to buy those expensive consoles. It was pretty cool.
I guess we'll see to see what Microsoft does.
GoofsterStud
Member
This always online better not be true.
So I can't play a single games if:
1.) Local Internet Outage
2.) Microsoft location has an internet outage
3.) Microsoft Servers get hacked
4.) Microsoft Servers go down
5.) During Microsoft Server or Maintenance updates (MMO gamers are familiar with this)
If that's the case, I'll just stick to the PC. Hopefully the PS4 doesn't follow suit, I'd hate to skip a console generation.
So I can't play a single games if:
1.) Local Internet Outage
2.) Microsoft location has an internet outage
3.) Microsoft Servers get hacked
4.) Microsoft Servers go down
5.) During Microsoft Server or Maintenance updates (MMO gamers are familiar with this)
If that's the case, I'll just stick to the PC. Hopefully the PS4 doesn't follow suit, I'd hate to skip a console generation.
It's not a tough card to denounce. "And Sony stands for a free and open market, bereft of regulations and draconian checks". They don't even need to mean it, they just have to cast the fear of god into Microsoft.
Well, they have kept fucking up many of their non-OS/Xbox ventures, and I thought Sony was too firmly established to fail even with $599, until release came and went and people actually weren't gobbling up the PS3, especially shocking after how the PS2 came and completely steamrolled the Dreamcast. So you never know what'll happen until it happens, and it may well be that "we can go anti-used always online" is exactly that kind of move that wrecks, maybe outright destroys the Xbox.
Same reason third party games on Xbox have an online pass? To discourage Used Game Sales ?
-Pyromaniac-
Member
I hope you're right only because I don't want gaming to move in that direction, which I consider backwards rather than forwards. But I guess we'll see. Anything can happen really. I don't think it's as open and shut a case as some do though.
Cox Communications in Louisiana is known for their connection dropping on & off...
I'm screwed.
What I mean is, if they really think MS is going to do it, they won't want to discourage them by announcing their plans this early.
You mean they'd never make their most important software with a shitty interface?
BobTheFork
Member
I think it's going to be a case of who plays their cards last. MS is going to wait to see what Sony is going to announce the 20th and Sony is waiting to hear how this plays out with MS.
This kind of game locking or always online tech will be the LASt thing mentioned either way.
rakkadakka
Member
Guise, guise.. no way .. no way sony would do the same thing to use that M$ would. Sony is the standard bearer of the hardcore gamer now.
I mean look, they made little big planet smash brothers, what more do you want!
I mean look, they made little big planet smash brothers, what more do you want!
Deus Ex Machina
Member
It seems more like you pray the god they don't lol
You guys are harping on MS with no official proof.. when actually Sony pursued the idea and patented it.
BobTheFork
Member
I can't even tell if you are joking. Maybe Sony was planning this but if MS pulls the trigger first they will switch in a second and play the 'consumer friendly' card.
Can Crusher
Banned
It's certainly gonna be a doubly awkward press conference. Mattrick is already awkward by default, can't imagine how the whole car salesman pitch is gonna work with such an abundance of delicate topics.
weekend_warrior
Banned
And for as badly as Sony shot themselves in the foot they still sold as many consoles as MS did, even despite coming out a year later. I don't think they're in nearly the same position Sony was in 2005 that they can fuck up. Sony was coming off the most successful console in history.
Baconsammy
Banned
The issue is not them just fucking up, but they need a competitor competent enough to take it from them. That company isn't Sony.
And made absolutely zero dollars this gen, and in the process of making no money they managed to lose the biggest gaming region in the world. But yeah, I'm sure they're holding onto that notion of "Phew, we're only barely in last place."
Sony's definitely questionable now, but they have been able to make a huge splash coming in with the PS1, and utterly steamrolled the Dreamcast, and still managed to rebound from a shitty start to edge out the 360 not just in Japan but in most of Europe. You can't fully count them out.
As a collective we (GAF) have a very poor track record on these matters.
Baconsammy
Banned
Sony's more than questionable now. I hope they can get their shit together, but I have less confidence in them than I do Nintendo at this point. When Nintendo fucks up, they still make money. Sony hemorrhages it.
The idea behind online passes is to make money off of used game sales. Discouraging used game sales is ancillary. Microsoft already locks a portion of their games behind a pay wall, and with 100% of those profits going to them they more than make up any perceived loss from used sales of their games.
weekend_warrior
Banned
You have any facts to back this up? I'd love to know how figure Sony made absolutely zero dollars this gen.
No one is saying Sony is some saintly company. All we are saying is that it is possible that Sony looks at the route Microsoft is supposedly pursuing and decides they want no part of it. Yes, depending on the details, this is a very plausible scenario.
We already knew the entire industry was considering this. Sony patenting the idea is not some kind of smoking gun. We are hearing reports that Microsoft is actually planning to implement this. Sony is up in the air right now. However I do understand that there is a lot of Sony cheerleading going on right now because their console will premiere soon, so I don't blame anyone for being a bit annoyed. Personally I just care about where gaming is going.
I think the fact that even God of War is having a MP component is in a way a good sign. By including an online component they can have online passes to earn money off of used games without banning them
At least that's my hope really
Baconsammy
Banned
You realize Sony releases their financials every quarter right? They're at a net loss for the generation. They're the only one of the three that hasn't made a profit on their console this generation.
It's not just plausible, I think it's a given. That means we won't have two near-identical boxes. That's a good thing, imo.
Carnby
Member
Sony's gaming division always made money. Their losses come from other departments.
iamvin22
Industry Verified
yup!
Sony's gaming division apparently lost billions of dollars on the PS3. They even erased all of the profits made off PS1 and PS2. I don't think they have made up the difference with the recent profits they have made on the PS3. I am not going to go search for all the data right now but this has been covered in many threads.
weekend_warrior
Banned
Holy shit, you do realize Sony does other things besides make game consoles right? God Lord.
Why does it say right here that the PS3 was making a profit starting on 2010?
Baconsammy
Banned
Always? Like in 2010 when the game division posted a 540 million dollar loss? It was worse in the previous 3 years. After June of 2010 they started to make a profit, but that profit was nowhere near the amount of money they lost in the years prior. So it's a huge net loss for the generation.
So you're here to talk about their real estate deals? I thought we were discussing their game hardware.
VGChampion
Member
This is the one reason it always makes me sad. There just really isn't getting around the fact that some people have Live for months / years into the future.
Little wonder Ken got shoved out really, it's like you're losing in a race only for the person in first place to turn around and drive in the opposite direction because fuck you I can. Then Nintendo quietly manages to squeeze past while you stare in amazement.
i thought they started making money like a year and a half ago. same with MS
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
"Making a profit" doesn't mean "made enough money to cover the losses incurred so far." Not sure how they're doing now, but they lost a ton of money those first 3 years.
Baconsammy
Banned
They stopped losing money in 2010. I believe it was late 2009 for Microsoft. For the entire generation, Microsoft has made money. Sony has lost gobs of it. As others have pointed out, they lost more money than they had previously made on PS1 and PS2. The PS3 was a clusterfuck, which is why Ken is gone.
Baconsammy
Banned
This made a liar of me. Apparently they haven't been making a profit since 2010. They made a profit in 2010 and then started losing again.
Agent Icebeezy
Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
Xbox props that division up. Zune, Surface and the like have or are in there with the Xbox, among many other things.
Baconsammy
Banned
That's incorrect. They made a profit even when carrying Zune, Kin, and Windows Phone. That's why I'm saying for them to fuck up as badly as Sony has, they'll need to do it on a huge scale. I won't put it past them, obviously, because of Zune, Kin, and Windows Phone.
