Next Xbox to play Blu-rays, block used games - Report

Any updates on this? I for one will not be upgrading to a console that lets me play LESS games and requires MORE hardware to even start..and don't get me started on DRM/online only...

Head to Head gaming:  If used games are blocked than H-to-H play will be diminished as you need the same game disc on both consoles.

The trend is towards downloaded games, which offer no means of transferring to another console or account. That is the route that will eventually lead to the demise of used games.

I don't believe the block used games part a bit.

@ Hubadubalubahu, that article wasn't out when i posted. so kudos to you on trying to sound smart and bash someone, you failed especially because xbox is going to be doing the SAME thing. xbox has always been a crap company for its customers and the system has always been lacking in quality compared to the ps3 anyway. but now that it looks like sony is going to do something similiar with the used game block anyway..i dont know what to do. i'm not going to defend sony pulling a move like this. thats crap. unless they start putting out games as DLC and make them cheaper, like used prices cheaper...because I'd imagine making games without a disc would cost less. i dont know but they need to give someone if they are going to take something. videogame industry isn't what it used to be. i'll be having kids soon, maybe i'll get off this pitfall of a waste of money all together.

Well it seems that Microsoft and Sony have both decided to find a whole new level of greed. The only things we as consumers can do is write to them and express our displeasure with these business practices in a respectful way and don't forget to vote with your wallet. The fact is if their sales suffer due to this heinous decision then they will back track and change their mind.

@altjay88 You might want to check out the article on Sony locking out used games before you continue being a Sony fanboy. Bashing Microsoft is fine but at least be intelligent about your pointless claims

ANAKISSED. YOU TIT!!

geez, I get on to read about the new xbox, mostly curious about how it will affect the PlayStation community. and what i'm seeing is that the PS owners will probably skyrocket. Microsoft from what I can tell (being serious not just ranting) seems to want to run gamefly/gamestop out of town. They have always been a company that does everything to make themselves MORE money at whatever cost to its customers. people, go get a ps3. or hang out for a few years for the ps4 because Sony will always have better products and customer service than microsoft plain and simple. My old playstation still works, not ps2...not ps3. PS. does microsofts first gen stuff still work....doubtful on most cases. But if you wanna send it in they'll be happy to charge you to fix it and slap a 3month 'keep your fingers crossed this time' warranty on it.

Microsoft can kiss their console sales goodbye if they block people from playing used games. Its true, used games affects sales negatively. But face it, the market for used games is too enormous for Microsoft to simply restrict it. Facing competition from Nintendo and Sony in the next-gen, next Xbox will shrivel up and die if they implement this.

I'm not buying that console if they block used games. Simple.

I have been an xbox gamer for almost 10 years now and if they do remove used games that will hurt me very badly (mainly because half of my games are used and even twice used in some cases), If that happens i will only buy one to burn it in it's own box in front of my house.

Why do I rent games through gamefly? I'm tired of paying $60 to play a few hours and then watching it collect dust. Plus I don't have the time and money to devote to gaming as much as I would like. So lets speak really SLOW. I don't buy games now. You blocking used games isn't going to make me buy them in the future. All you are going to accomplish is putting businesses like Gamefly out of business and guess what that means? THEY won't buy your games either. Now you are losing sales AND pissing off your fan base. GOOD !@#$ING JOB. Wow.

I don't understand where game developers get off trying to FORCE people to buy new copies of their games. Big time movie budgets still usually dwarf games', and you don't see movie studios trying to lock DVD players to prevent movie borrowing... They're getting SO greedy. What would happen to Redbox?

for me i get my games new from NZ's version of amazon, when i can get a game at upto 80% off and new (provided i have the money on the one day it's on deal ) but if i can;t sell my games then i might not buy as many as i do. when i was younger i used to get lots of used games (and sometimes still do when looking for a older game, my point is stopping used game sales is only going to hurt the dev when less pll buy games

It would Behoove Microsoft to not get too cocky the next generation as Sony did after PS2

Blocking used games??? Well it looks like Im going to be a Nintendo or PS4 fan this time around. (IF it happens)

A pretty ballsy move for a console that, at it's core, is little more than a half-assed PC port machine, especially considering how utterly pathetic their list of exclusive titles is. Do the actually assume this would boost game sales? PC gamers can't return or resell their games either, and that's helped leaps and bounds with the issue of video game pirac...oh wait. Hell, I rarely use my 360 for anything beyond netflix these days, and with the new dashboard interface it even accomplishes THAT poorly. As for the majority of the game devs, a single tear rolls down my cheek. The ratio for good to mediocre in the gaming world, as far as simple game quality is concerned, is roughly 1 to 37. This fact does not stop them from creating crappy titles at break neck speed, nor does it prevent them from slapping a $60 price tag on it after they do. There's a reason I don't pay filet mignon prices for grade D horse meat at the grocery store, and it's not because I'm an awful consumer trying to "stick it to the man". It's because "the man" in question repeatedly overestimates the monetary value of his own mass produced sewage. If dev's want to stop LOSING money, they should just stop throwing it into the production of horrible games. The combined budgets of Fable 3 and Dragon Age 2 -including ad-budgets- alone could likely recoup the last 3 years worth of fiscal losses due to used game sales at gamestop.

Blocking used games? What about trying before you buy? Well done Microsoft. Smaller control would be good though as current one isn't quite as comfortable as others. Updated Kinect sounds fun too, I'd like to see what they do with that.

Bones9650; It might be possible for rental copies to carry a specific rental ID (like "Rental Copy" movies from Blockbuster etc.), which would allow rental games to be run on multiple machines. I would think that the rental market pays the industry very well 'per disc pressed', in addition to offering a gateway to sales from gamers who are 'on the fence' and want to try the product first. I'd be surprised if the rental market was damaged at all by this move. Personally, I don't buy used. I did in the days of the Nintendo 64, when a new cart was £60 and it was £32 used. But it seems to me that the trademark value-for-money in the used market has been gradually stripped away, over the years. I was in the Birmingham branch of Gamestation the other day, and picked a copy of Skyrim for £37.99 off the shelf. I took it to the counter and the guy muttered to himself, "okay... pre-owned copy of Skyrim...", and I said, "hang on there, mate. That's new, isn't it?". He looked at me like I had a head injury and said, "uh, **no**. The new copies are £41.99". Seriously, now. Four quid? Less than ten percent discount, for something that someone else has used? Doesn't seem enough, to me... ... so I went home and ordered it new from Amazon. For £37.99. Winner. DH.

If they block used games, then rented games will most likely be blocked. I rent from Gamefly. So if that happens, screw Xbox. I'm switching to PS4. And they will have more people resorting to piracy because of that.

If Microsoft decides to incorporate a way not to play used games then my future gaming days are over. I will play and finish the ones I have. I can't be shelling out my cornbread, cheese, cabbage, and baconstrips for every $60+ game. I ain't a billionaire, millionaire, or even a thousanaire. I make $35,000 a year enough to pay bills have my car run, pay insurances, save a little, and splurge when I deserve to. If that means buy a used game so be it. If Microsoft decides to take that away from me so be it too, but remember I only one of millions you will be losing.

Smaller controller? Heck no..... the x360 controller size is perfect and one of the many reasons I like xbox better then playstation.

They SHOULD block the ability to play used games! Developers don't get any money from the sale of used games which I personally think is sickening. Dev's lose out on more money from used game sales than they ever could from illegal pirating. If a dev isn't getting money back for a product they created why the hell would they keep making it? If your not going to buy a game new then you might as well pirate it, it affects the people that made the game no differently. It's simple, if dev's started getting more return on what they made then they would have a larger budget to work with, which should in return result in a better product. But companies aren't taking risks, they aren't trying anything new, they're afraid of losing a lot of money so they just follow the same old formula's that are proven to turn a profit. If used game sales were a non-factor just think of how much more freedom developers would have, they would be more apt to take risks, and create new IP's rather than running a good series into the ground with sequel after sequel.

I don't want a smaller controller, the 360 one is a perfect size for me. Hopefully, the controllers will be backward compatible.

boooooooooooo

I think microsoft will cut in their own skin like that. Yet I can imagine that publishers want to do something about piracy, about 1/3 total of a game product is pirated. About the free to play formula, Zynga can't keep it up, they are losing unfortunatly a high amount of budget, money... Yet a block system makes a console useless. Games that are very old are collector items. Collectors (and nostalgia players) don't want to buy a digital version for a too high price (nintendo ware is crazy expensive for their retro games)... People who get new in the gaming world will never know history of games (that are born in xbox 270 era) and therefore don't know storylines, memories. It's a value that many games have and is the roots of the longelife of their francise (to continue further thanks to nostalgia crf. Mortal Kombat, ...). And ironically there will be more hacked xbox consoles that will use illegal copies, and that has a cardhouse effect on the sales. If you spent money on a game u really want u buy it, but if you have to hack your xbox (or future console) to be able to play a gift from a friend and because of that unable to play legit games, than you're suicidebombing your console, product. conclusion: Good thinking microsoft! Just remember you don't have that monopoly anymore to justify those choises.

I buy new games, but I can't stand companies thinking they can be a-holes for whatever reason. When it comes to Gamestop and companies that use online passes, sometimes it feels like a losing situation no matter who wins. Now maybe this used game lockout could lead to something good. NextBox gets hacked to bypass the used game lockout, which could lead a lawsuit, and with any luck, a ruling will be made that destroys anti-used measures.

Blue Ray's rights are not owned by Sony. Sony is just one of the members in the board of directors. Apple is one too, LG Electronics plus a dozen or more companies too. As for the used games...What is the next step? Pay-by-playthrough? Having a net-cop over your head when you want to play a game? What?

In Other News: Due to next generations systems blocking of pre-owned games, console piracy reaches an unprecedented high.

I know that consumers love the used game option but it is absolutely killing the video game idustry just as piracy killed the pc software industry. Most publishers don't even bother to stock games older than a year anymore or reprint as they just can't sell the inventory. It probably doesn't matter anyway though as I suspect we're only 3-5 years from all games being pay to play anyway and no physical products. Maybe this will kill off EB/Gamestop. I won't be shedding any tears. If you like being able to buy physical games then you need to buy new ones so that the industry makes money not just EB/Gamestop. If you love games open up a store. It's been almost 10 years since I spoke with a video game store owner under 30. Is this what you want ?

Wow, blocks used games... I can hear Sony rubbing their hands in glee and waiting for this to be real.

The feature that Blocks used games can out a company like Gamefly out of business.

The XBox 360 controller is the reason I chose the 360 as my primary gaming platform. The controller is actually big enough for me to use properly. If they make it smaller, I might as well be using the junky / itty bitty PS3/PS2 controller of years gone by... *sigh* It ain't broke size wise Microsoft, so don't fix one of the things you actually got right!

@steveguttenberg I buy used games almost all the time. I swear, the last game I bought new was Shadows of the Damned and, before that, Peace Walker. I've literally bought 90% of my games used. Why? Other than the obvious reason that I'm broke as a third world beggar when it comes to buying a $60 game, I tend to play old games. I'm talking NES, Genesis, and almost any system up to the PS2, but I do buy a new game on a very, very rare occasion. But really, is there a reason beyond that? Why yes there is! I like to go to local used game stores (not Gamestop or anything like that, mind you - but rather stores that are like record shops for games) and they do honest business. They refurbish discs good-as-new right in front of your face, they know how to price a game and they're just awesome people to talk to about video games or anything in general. Now, if they refuse to buy back Xbox 720 games, they're not going to dissuade me from buying more used games from their store. In the end, I'll just avoid the Xbox 720. I make no excuses for buying used because there's absolutely no shame in buying used.

i hope this report is false

make the controller smaller? thats how i decide between cross platfrom games :(........if this is true i expect alot of dilema in my future

Why change the controller? All they should do is fix the dpad. As for the used game thing, all the more reason to game on PC.

@BryanParksSuper So how do you explain Samsung having blu-ray players, and alot of other brands. Sony has a majority of the patent together with Philips and Panasonic.

I see a lot of you complaining the next Xbox not playing used games. You should consider that the price of a new game may be substantially lower.

The next big thing is the Free-To-Play model. It makes the concept of used or pirated games obsolete. Does it make sense to pirate Angry Birds or to buy a used copy of World of Warcraft? Also, developers are finding they are making more money off of micro-transactions than direct game sales.

Blocking used games will hurt GameStop more than anything else. That is where they make their money!

@BryanParksSuper Sony doesn't own blu-ray! Perhaps you should do a bit of research first! :-)

@SuperSandwich5 Nah. While nontransferable digital content may not be as bad as blocking used games, I still can't get behind that. I think they should be more like Nintendo is with the used game issue. Offer a rewards system where you can register your games online for free points that can be traded in for some cool merchandise. What XBox fan wouldn't want cool merchandise from their favorite games just for registering their new games online?

lmao! block used games... wow.. So what if we borrow a game from a friend?