Next Xbox Will Not Have Disc Drive [Rumor]
We’ve heard some rumors before about how the next Xbox will include a feature that will prevent people from playing used games. Up until this point, the only speculation we could come up with would be that there would be use of a CD-key type of system. It turns out that our thinking was a bit too limited, as we’re starting to hear more rumors about how the next Xbox will not have a disc drive at all.
According to MCV, the console will not feature a disc drive, but rather, it will have compatibility with some form of solid state card storage. My guess is that it’s going to be some sort of proprietary format. After all, if Microsoft is looking to limit second-hand sales, then it stands to reason that they are really looking to limit piracy. Let’s say that Microsoft were to use regular old SD cards. It’d be somewhat easy for people to make and distribute some sort of hack that will let their Xbox played games downloaded from torrents. Microsoft and the publishers won’t want that to happen, so don’t be surprised if they come out with something like Sony’s Memory Stick. With that being said, though, I see this working more like the cartridge systems of old, one game to one card, and with that, there’s a bit of an upside you might remember with cartridges: How often did you see loading screens on your SNES, Genesis, or N64?
Of course, MCV seems to think that the next Xbox will be a purely digital affair, one that involves purchasing and downloading your games. I don’t think it’s going to work like that, if only because of the variances of internet speeds in the USA. Most gamers will already have broadband internet, I’m sure, but the USA is globally ranked fairly low when it comes to broadband penetration rates, and in the average measured speed. Though vast amounts of money can be made with digital downloads, I’m willing to bet that Microsoft will do two things to distribute games. First, it will use the sort of “cartridge” setup, selling games on cards in the store. Second, it will sell games through the Marketplace. Will they sell the same games in both the Marketplace and in the retail store? That’s hard to say, but that wouldn’t surprise me. PC’s have been doing that for years, so why can’t consoles do that? Allow for blank cards to be sold, and download the games to them. Retail stores won’t be too happy if the games can be made available online as well as through their store, but then again, they’re not likely to be happy about the lack of used games to begin with. No matter what happens, though, I bet we’re going to see the next huge shift in gaming in 2013, as it’s rumored that the next Xbox will be released next year. This is easily the biggest shift in gaming since the move from cartridges to discs. It’s funny, though, that the pendulum is swinging back in the opposite direction now…
