New Console Always-Online Requirements and You 435
An anonymous reader writes "The new Xbox is almost here and the details appear to strongly suggest 'always on' is the way forward. We all know that this is an artificial requirement and certainly there are plenty of people on all sides of the table. To paraphrase the user 'tuffy' who commented on this issue at Ars Technica recently; if you're trying to sell 'always online' as a feature of the future, there needs to be some benefit for me the customer. There is not one. Or, rather, there is no sign yet of any actual clearly compelling reason why any end user would support this limitation to their purchase. So, what's the best way to express this? Spend your money on an Ouya? Contact the Xbox team? These are all valid options but they also lack visibility. What we need is a way that could help actually quantify the levels of discontent in the gamer community. Maybe E3 attendees could turn their backs in protest like some did during Thatcher's funeral procession. Or gamers could sign some useless petition. What do Slashdotters think? Is the upcoming Steam box a reasonable plan? As a gamer, I'm of two minds about the whole thing. I really don't like it but I may roll over eventually and join the herd because I could get used to it. Then again part of me is rankled by this slow erosion of access to me and my data."
Steambox (Score:2, Interesting)
Steam basically requires an internet connection. Offline mode exists, but you need to switch it over while you have a connection, so its useless if you go offline suddenly.
I have no reason to believe that the steambox will be any different.
Or you might just (Score:5, Interesting)
Use a PC for gaming and vote with your wallet (refuse to buy games that require internet connection).
Re:Or you might just (Score:2, Interesting)
Until you realize that almost all of PC games are sold on Steam, which is always on-line incarnate (off-line mode never works).
Re:The only winning move.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Sony already do this. Many games now come with a code that you redeem from he Playstation Store. You get very basic features such as arcade mode or you can only play to certain levels unless you download the unlock file. Now you can buy an used game and purchase a new code, but you may as well purchase a new version as it may work out cheaper that way.
Re:The only winning move.... (Score:5, Interesting)
It shows how bad at economic these companies are. It all depends on the total cost. The cost to play a game is what you pay minus what you can sell it for. If a game coss $70 new but you can sell it for $40 in a month the cost to you is $30. That is what you are willing to pay. If they kill the second hand market then the real cost will be $70. You will now sell a lot fewer games because if the higher price. If they kill the second hand market but drop the price to $30 they will sell about the same as before. Now the trick is to figure out which gives you the highest total revenue. I don't think DRM is going to help.