I'm not going to say your wrong, just that it may require a certain kind of vision, and optimistic hope the industry often lacks in order to think that way. It sure would be nice if these people would make some kind of effort with BC, but their attitude hasn't really been great towards it for awhile.

The single biggest impact on sales will not be people complaining on the internet (though they will claim credit) but from retailers not advertising the product. If the retailer doesn't get ongoing game sales (what is the point when the disc is worthless?) they won't be motivated to sell these.

Advertising asside, huge numbers of purchase decisions are still made at the shop floor, with a sales person convincing the buyer which is the best product to buy.

Microsoft is playing a dangerous move against the retailers. I suspect they are trying to compensate by getting in bed with the TV industry but this has it's own problems.

1: It is highly region specific and as discussed most people expect the service to be rubbish outside of the US.

2: It is highly estabilished resistant to change industry. The most interesting and useful devices are the once that piss the industry off becuase they give the user control. If MS did this they will have the same problem as retail. If they don't do this their entire marketting strategy just failed.

In a cardboard box?

Ooh no, too mean. No one should lose their job over that kind of twitter drama and I don't have a job myself at the moment so I shouldn't make fun of him...

Is the idea that you represent a company on Twitter so don't be a drama queen really that hard? The 'social media' policy for everywhere I've worked for has been pretty clear and simple to me.

He was a dick, but I don't think he deserved to lose his job. Anyway, this is a discussion for another thread (if you feel like necroing it).

Dude! Don't encourage necroing!

Looks like the WiiU may stand a chance afterall.

It's not like the thread is that old! :P

It won`t fail, since the sheep cannot go without their `New Shiny`(tm), in modern terms, the newest Call of Duty, Madden, etc.

What will be interesting is to see if M$ `falling on their sword`, harming their profitability and marketshare in order to eradicate used game sales and piracy will be a worthwhile gamble, and if Sony and Nintendo will follow suit. In essence, after M$ does it this gen, Sony and Nintendo have virtually no reason NOT to next gen, and every reason to do so. Should be interesting. By the way, anyone that buys one of these things is fucking clinically insane.

And as always, that is demonstrable, objective fact.

I don't think Nintendo would give much of a thought on used games. They're a very traditional games company right down to how they operate; developing online infrastructures from other companies in the past decade hasn't influenced them to make their online capabilities advanced. Plus, the used games market in Japan is actually quite significant. Sony, on the other hand, would definitely be likely to make such a decision if it meant more money. Lord knows they could use some right now.

And yes, if this is indeed what the Xbox One will become, then I cannot support it. If this is the case, buying one means you don't mind the destruction of video games as a respectable medium of entertainment.

Game developers and publishers are already doing their best to undermine video games as a serious industry, never mind a respected industry. Microsoft joining the crusade doesn't exactly help though.

*wipes tears*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbWgUO-Rqcw

Indeed, although it's predominantly this customer segment that sells and buys used games and has very little purchasing power. They are probably going to end up buying the console not knowing about the DRM, and then the shit will hit the fan a year later.

I would say I find it difficult to believe that people are that fucking stupid, but unfortunately I've been tech-savvy for far too long and am well aware that people can be that dense. Do you have any links?