New Xbox One: The Pros And Cons Of Disc-Less

It is not cheap enough to offset the downsides of an all digital console. It really needs to be below $200. I mean shit, by this holiday i would be stunned if on black friday the regular consoles will not be available for that price or lower.

A digital game has ZERO value after its purchased. You alone own it. You can not trade it, barter it, sell it used, or trade on craigslist for a hand job. And, as we have already seen with some games. Once a copyright or toolset, or lease expires and you have moved the game off your limited spaced console. You may not be able to download it ever again.

Pros and Cons of Digital Purchases and Subscriptions Only Xbox One S and more:

Pros:

1. Convenience

2. Smaller Formfactor

3. Cheaper

Cons plus other considerations:

1. the digital so-called purchases (explained down below)

2. NO way to play your physical copies of Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games. This includes the many backward compatible titles you may have in your personal collections.

3. No way to play CD Music, Blu-ray Movies, DVD Movies.

4. No way to share your games or borrow games.

5. No way to trade in games or buy used ones

6. Hard Drive too small for today’s big titles (2tb should have been Min)

7. High Quality 4k Movies NOT Guaranteed… Streaming movies do not guarantee the same quality as a physical Blu-ray or DVD in some cases due to ISP’s known for throttling bandwidth, bad connections, low speed cheap service, etc.

8. Digital Download and streaming Limits per month due to most ISP’s charge extra now (I saw that coming years ago from unlimited, then 2tb, and now 1tb per month with %50 rate increases) should you go over 500gb or 1TB per month depending on package. (Example I pay 120 per month for 1GB down /30MB up per month with a 1TB Limit per month. It would cost me $50 per month more for unlimited or $10 per every 50g I go over. $170 per month plus fees and taxes…

9. GWG. Continued subscriptions required to play games with gold or Xbox Game Pass or both. Even Games with Gold that you so called got for free are only accessible if you continue paying for Gold. However, if you still have your Xbox 360 those games you got with gold are still available for life on 360 only or until MS kills the service all together like the original Xbox. Thank Sony for giving this idea to MS.

Possible Improvements:

1. Bigger Storage 2tb Min or 1TB SSD instead for faster loads

2. More USB Ports (plenty of room now for more) Granted All Xbox models should have had at least 2 more.

3. Support External Blu-ray drive if you change your mind later (or could sell a separate proprietary drive to make more money off you like the old HD-DVD player) Maybe even offer this option to all future Xbox Models instead.

4. GWG Life time games when dropped to Silver (Just like the 360)

5. User Upgradable Drive option (SSD’s getting cheap now) since Microsoft still won’t listen to customers demanding SSD drives instead.

6. M.2 SSD Slots on bottom of case would be awesome plug and play ? storage. Samsung has 970 Evo PLus 3.5g read and 3.3G Write. Imagine those load times now.

Special Note on ISP’s (internet providers): Prices are going up and services are going down as usual.

Many locations cannot guarantee the speed plus have monthly caps on how much you can download. The old horror stories of giant phone bills have now transferred to the cable companies going backwards. People getting data overage bills up to $1000 or more with their cable internet providers so limits per month on game downloads thru Xbox One services will be limited due to lack of options or cost of ISP prover packages. Remember those Huge digital games will not only fill your 1TB hard drive fast but also may cap your monthly usage depending on your plan. If you watch movies as well thru streaming that cap will approach much faster. Remember the majority DO NOT have unlimited Data Plans anymore due to not offered or high cost. So an all digital solution product due to ISP's currently costing more today just to save $50 on a console does not make much sense. Being able to buy physical copies movies, music, and games new and used can still be much more cost effective.

Gog, Steam, etc. are still way ahead of MS on Games and GOG lets you backup all your games DRM FREE. At least those digital purchases I can backup just in case those digital services disappear someday. Surprised that Microsoft has not tried to buy steam yet :) However I am a Long time gamer, creator, and more. Collecting many games and consoles thru the years going back to Apple II+, IIE, IIC, IIGS, Atari, Commodore, Amiga CD32, and many other computers and game consoles just to name a few. Physical purchases will always be first priority over digital unless digital gives me the opportunity to make DRM free backups.

I stopped all digital purchases thru Microsoft a few years ago as I had already predicted the changes due to their own marketing blunders and habit forming not listening to what the customers want taking on the Apple stance so to speak. Loyalty to the customers is a bit foggy due to license issues, product abandonment, etc.

At least with my physical movie and music collection I can rip and install my own streaming service that Xbox One now currently supports..(about time).

Examples of bad experience thru digital purchases and more:

Thru out the many years of Xbox and Xbox 360 I purchased over 150 plus Music videos and a few movies thru their store. To this day the Music videos purchased cannot be recovered due to their previous license agreements with third party suppliers expired was the excuse. In return they gave me a $10-dollar credit which I never redeemed out of disgust. I did however continue to buy MS product Like HD-DVD Player for Xbox 360 (150 plus HD-DVD movies in my collection), Lumia 1520, 1020 phones, Microsoft Band, Kinect for Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and Music Pass. All of this has been abandoned by MS. I did Cancel Music Pass due to Amazon offering a much better deal with Free Shipping, streaming Movies, Streaming Music, Discounts, etc. all for $99 a year at the time. This is what Music pass cost by itself which showed their inability to compete or making bad deals with suppliers.

There were other digital purchases thru third party like Music Match with over 1000 plus songs lost due to DRM and company out of business. Look at whats happened to Ultraviolet which Hollywood hailed as the push to get people to move to digital which is now shutting down by Jul 31, luckily if you did not delete your account you could transfer your digital collection to another supported provider but be stuck with their terms. Disney shut theirs down in 2011 or 2012 I believe. Now Disney is back with their own service again, round 2.

Now the predicted abandonment and neutering of Groove Music which used to let you Stream your own Music collection from OneDrive while playing games is now gone. Another feature I used regular now gone from both Xbox One, Android Devices, and Windows 10. Yet their own Music player got mostly rave reviews for a change (rare for MS) and now it’s extremely crippled and most likely on the chopping block based on MS past handling of products and services. Now they push you to Spotify which does not support streaming of your own music which would have been nice option, but I will not sign up for another 3^rd party provider with another account to manage if they cannot offer the features I once had on my Xbox One and Windows 10 Devices. Too bad they can no longer have the option to offer a true all in one streaming and discounts service like Amazon does. Another marketing opportunity lost.

Originally the Xbox was marketed as a all in one solution providing Music, Movies, Games, and Multi-platform support with Windows 10 devices all under one banner under one account. My next prediction is their movie services will be going away next and cannot trust them at this point hence why I stopped buying digital movies and have gone back to Blu-ray. I have also recently taken a stance on never buying digital games from MS period until that trust and loyalty could be regained and that’s just a maybe.

So basically, the only loyalty I ever received from MS was a $10-dollar store credit/gift certificate after all of that. Buyer beware on an all-digital purchase-rent solution nothing is guaranteed especially when it comes to Microsoft practices. Just because Apple can get away with it does not mean MS can. Now Apple is trying gaming again with their own proprietary streaming games service (Apple Products Only) offering the same games from iPad-iPhone to Mac Computers being able to play on all their devices. Wake up MS Apple on your heals again and may actually work this time, 3^rd times a charm ? Maybe.

Hint: More Xbox One games on Windows 10 Devices as you promised years ago which would make Xbox Game Pass much more attractable and make up for some of the current and upcoming blunders on the way.

P.S. Shout out for Pinball FX for at least supporting the digital content transfer from Xbox 360, to Xbox One and Windows 10 Devices without me having to re-purchase everything over and over. The way it should be done and also a kudos to Rock Band for the long support thru the consoles of being able to move purchased music to every version upgrade with the exception of some of the greedy artist/labels that would not participate due to license constraints as usual.

There's no upside unless the console is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper and smaller. There is no upside to this. Support physical media folks, it may be a little more convenient (arguable when you ad lending into the mix) but digital has yet to give us a real industry wide solution to DRM free gaming.

I think MS's marketing is trying again to see if people are willing to go disc less. I am not interested in not this console ever now or down the road. This is like when MS initially told everyone that the future of gaming was streaming with Kinect, well that didn't work out for MS and caused a lot of gamers to switch to PS4 this gen. Instead of asking gamers what they want, MS is trying to tell gamers once again where the future of gaming is headed. If the next gen Xbox is disc less, then I won't be buying one. I'll have to see what Sony does with the PS5. So, disc less xbox, no thank you. I'd say to everyone wait and see how much Google's Stadia console will cost versus this disc less xbox, which I'm also not interested in.

That's what she said!



**di(ck)scless

1 TB is not enough. I purchased 1 TB XB1X in January 2019, filled it up first day. I'd say 2 TB is the minimum required for a disc-less system, 4 TB even better.

Internet providers have been steadily raising their rates for broadband while at the same time reducing Data limits. Cable Companies are the largest broadband providers in the country and while people have been cutting the cable the cable companies have been raising internet costs. A few game digital downloads can make you go over data limits very easy. Unless you pay for unlimited data this system will not be as cost effective as it seems. Now had they priced it at $149 or less I could see it as a viable alternative. Right now its a terrible offering.

good video, and it does represent the future. What wasn't mentioned here though is that Game Pass games can be purchases so they are yours. That point should have been made too.

This is a stop-gap product. There are also supposed to be 2 Scarlett consoles released. One will also be disc-less. That would be the one to get.

Even if it was cheaper I DON'T want it.
Because of all the reasons in the comments and because the whole experience before playing a game is completely gone. PC gaming is already ruined. Remember the times when I went to the store browsing all these game boxes on the shelves etc and then finding the game you want, unboxing it and reading trough all the goodies or booklets that came with it making you even more excited to play the game.. Sigh!

USD 250??????

What????

Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars? US Dollars?

Are they joking???

What is the point of this console if it is so damn expensive? Moneysoft has no empathy. This console should clearly be in the USD 200. And by the way, i am saying this to their benefit. It would be much better for MS to have a lower price point because at current one they won't sell much. Everyone knows this. Now haters gonna hate and bash me with comments of "oh no, it is just a choice" or whatever. Seriously, if it is just a choice but has this relatively expensive price tag then (*newsflash*) it is stupid choice :)

I'd never buy digital, just a waste of money... right now I can buy a game and sell it for pretty much the same price the next week when I've completed it.

You don't need a disc drive if you don't have any games.

He’s disc less.

Pros: It's cheap.

Cons: It's not as cheap as the version with a UHD drive

Why would anyone buy a console with less options for around the same cost?

The fact that this thing doesn't offer a discount over the one s with the uhd drive leads me to believe this won't sell that good. Also I don't see why they didn't make it the one x instead of the s, but I guess prices didn't change anyway so that's probably why.

Hard drive space for Xbox One is always the same, for digital download or loading a disc. The disc has to be copied to the HDD before you can play. So saying the 1TB isn't enough, although I agree, you're giving false information here.

Edit: While it is also true that you don't "own" the games that you can have access to while paying the subscription to the Game Pass, it is misleading to say that *all* digital games are like that. Games that you BUY digitally, are attached to your account, and you will own them indefinitely, regardless of paying any subscription fees.

The conveniences of digital are great but unfortunately it is horrible for a number of reasons.

1> You can no longer trade/borrow games with friends.
2> Your locked into whatever the online store wants to charge.
3> You can not re-sell your games.
4> You can not buy used games.
5> If the online service goes down you can not play your games (fast forward 10 years when the store no longer cares about you and your games).
6> You don't get the cool artwork and physical collector piece to put on a shelf and to share with friends.
7> You can no longer take your games on the go to play on your friends systems, instead you'll have to pack up your entire machine.

I'm sure there are more, digital is ultimately only a win for the manufacturers as they control the prices and your access to your games. This is _horrible_ for the consumer. Don't buy it... ever!! I know I wont.

Well first of all, if you're not using a One X, you're selling yourself short. I've been renting and owning games through Gamefly since 2006, (All Hail Gamefly), and with so many drawbacks considering the limitations of the digital-only format, it seems like something most gamers wouldn't appreciate. No more borrowing, sharing with friends, no game buy-back or recycling, no rentals, no option to even watch Blu-Ray or 4k discs? Seems like a pretty bunk deal, I'll keep my disc drive thank you very much, haha!!!

We must be in the Jetson's age, as I whine when I have to hit yet another button. I started off buying only physical on XB1, cuz the digital prices were ridiculous. After they started dropping the prices & providing sales I finally gave in to a few titles. It was the forthcoming of backwards compatibility & the great sales that led me down this dark path and then I started collecting digital games voraciously to build the ultimate library. The other factor that tipped the donkey was the ease at which to backup & transfer ones library from one USB HD to another. So after 2 dozen or so games, I found myself too lazy to swap discs and just played the games on my HD, and off to the races it was and I now have over 500 digital games which I mostly don't play. It gives me great satisfaction though to know that they are there & that I can play them at any time. Without the sale or the other two factors, I don't think I would have caved in.