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XBox One's real issue is game life

My biggest fear about Xbox One isn't even about used games. It's about how long these games will live. I can still play every Atari 2600 game I bought. All my NES games (battery still works somehow). Game boy.

The biggest one being PC. I can still play just about all those old games on new PC's!

This is spanning 30 years of my gaming history. Every game I ever bought, aside from Final Fantasy 7 PC version which is a bugged game, can be played today.

I can't say the same for Xbox One. Once the servers get shut off, it's done. You're stuck with frisbee's.

This will also hurt collectors.
 

dankir

Member
My biggest fear about Xbox One isn't even about used games. It's about how long these games will live. I can still play every Atari 2600 game I bought. All my NES games (battery still works somehow). Game boy.

The biggest one being PC. I can still play just about all those old games on new PC's!

This is spanning 30 years of my gaming history. Every game I ever bought, aside from Final Fantasy 7 PC version which is a bugged game, can be played today.

I can't say the same for Xbox One. Once the servers get shut off, it's done. You're stuck with frisbee's.

This will also hurt collectors.

You can't play Ps3 games on Ps4 but nobody brings that up. Only the Wii U is fully compatible and that's always left out of the conversation.
 

RoadDogg

Member
My biggest fear about Xbox One isn't even about used games. It's about how long these games will live. I can still play every Atari 2600 game I bought. All my NES games (battery still works somehow). Game boy.

The biggest one being PC. I can still play just about all those old games on new PC's!

This is spanning 30 years of my gaming history. Every game I ever bought, aside from Final Fantasy 7 PC version which is a bugged game, can be played today.

I can't say the same for Xbox One. Once the servers get shut off, it's done. You're stuck with frisbee's.

This will also hurt collectors.

They could offer some kind of unlock at the end of the consoles life to let disc games play without install/online check. But that won't help the digital purchase only people.
 

rawk

Member
I wonder if, before shutting down the servers, they'll send out a patch that turns off the mandatory online check-in and all that crap?

I highly doubt it.
 

rawk

Member
You can't play Ps3 games on Ps4 but nobody brings that up. Only the Wii U is fully compatible and that's always left out of the conversation.

Yeah, but you can still play them on a PS3. With the new x-Box #1 setup, once the servers are down, you won't be able to play them at all, on anything. The discs will be trash.
 

whitehawk

Banned
Yeah I'm worried about this too. Earlier this year I went to a Tetris Attack (SNES) tournament. What will happen in 15-20 years? Will these game be unplayable?
 
You can't play Ps3 games on Ps4 but nobody brings that up. Only the Wii U is fully compatible and that's always left out of the conversation.
That's not what the OP is talking about.

One would like to expect the Xbox One to be able to play Xbox One games for as long as you have the system and the game. With online activation and 24 hour online checks that may not be the case.
 
The biggest one being PC. I can still play just about all those old games on new PC's!

This hasn't been my experience at all, either historically or today. Heck, I can't get GTAIV on steam to launch on my new mac mini running W8... Some incompatibility issue that is unsolved.

With many old games you can eventually get them to run on a new PC with some tinkering, compatibility settings, or special drivers... but it's not always easy. Also, if your new PC doesn't have a diskette drive or a CD Rom drive... I don't know how you'd install many old games without downloading a rip.

not trying to criticize PC gaming, I love PC gaming, but it's just not true that PC's always support back libraries. With new systems like Steam or GoG this may be the case, but even then, you could run into the future proofing issue that you're alluding to with the One or PS4 (if they go with a similar method)
 

Ranger X

Member
That's what happen in a digital and connected world. You don't have the control over "keeping" your goods. While you could take care of your old games and NES, you can't decide to care and keep games that would need online identification for the as long as you would like, content owners will.
We embraced digital gaming and those online shortcomings though so --- blame yourself.
 
Xbox One is another repeat of Circuit City's divx player.

Divx failed because it needed to communicate with a server to verify you are authorized to play the movies you "own".

If MS ever decides to pull out of the console market, don't expect any Xbox one games to work, divxs disc don't.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
What if MS said they had a DRM kill switch like Steam?

I'm pretty sure that, at this stage, that DRM kill switch is more myth than reality. I really doubt that, were Valve to go out of business and Steam shutting down becomes an inevitability, they could flip a switch and then make all of the millions of non-Valve games they have sold become DRM-free forever. The other companies would have a thing to say about that.
 
Xbox One is another repeat of Circuit City's divx player.

Divx failed because it needed to communicate with a server to verify you are authorized to play the movies you "own".

If MS ever decides to pull out of the console market, don't expect any Xbox one games to work, divxs disc don't.
DIVXBox
 

Minions

Member
One of the reasons I refuse to invest in the Nextbox. In the past, the games I've purchased (even if I have not played them yet) I know even 30 years down the road I could if I wanted to.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
I'm pretty sure that, at this stage, that DRM kill switch is more myth than reality. I really doubt that, were Valve to go out of business and Steam shutting down becomes an inevitability, they could flip a switch and then make all of the millions of non-Valve games they have sold become DRM-free forever. The other companies would have a thing to say about that.

I've never understood why people have bought into that line, even when Valve said it. Do you honestly think that if Valve goes under, they're going to flip a switch somewhere and make it happen? No, employees are going to show up at the office, see a sign on the door telling their asses to go home, and that's the end of the story.


Oh, and whoever brought up DivX is kind of insane. That was like... more than a decade ago, and the market was a completely different place then.
 

LCfiner

Member
yup, once you require a server check-in to play, you've added an expiry date to the game. Not something I like - especially when looking at the idea of archiving games.
 

Linkified

Member
He's talking about the XBONE, and the online requirement to play games, so that in 10-15 years when the servers that allow you to play goes down you'll never be able to play your XBONE games again.

That would be Xbox Live account servers seen as it would just be license tied to that kinda like how all 360 consumables are tied to you Xbox Live account. They won't be getting rid of Xbox Live accounts.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
What about emulation and/or hacking?

Yes. I was just thinking that. I hope it's the first thing that hackers sort out is to remove the requirement for the console to phone home everyday.
 

NeoUltima

Member
Yep, this is my fear as well. I personally care little about a 24hr online check and it killing used games, but I do care about this unintended side effect. Of course it could just be paranoia and the server connection will never go down.
 

ymmv

Banned
yup, once you require a server check-in to play, you've added an expiry date to the game. Not something I like - especially when looking at the idea of archiving games.

That's the big thing. Without that check it would have been possible to play the games installed on the Xbone's HD as long as it kept working, but in this case Microsoft decides how long the games you bought will remain playable.
 
Xbox Two will kill legacy games - and that's good. May 21st, 2017 by Ben Kuchera

Just announced, the Xbox Two will not play Xbox One games, in fact, the Xbox One will not play them either, as the servers are being switched to the next platform. But wait, that's a good thing. You see, the only people still playing Xbox One are filthy poors or nerds in their mothers basements. The rest of us are good consumers, and instead of allowing our money to lie fallow in our bank accounts or to be used to buy old, useless XBONE games, we can funnel our wealth into supporting the NEW games. Only three publishers survived the last gen, and they need your support!
 

Tenrius

Member
I wonder if, before shutting down the servers, they'll send out a patch that turns off the mandatory online check-in and all that crap?

I highly doubt it.

It wouldn't be even possible with games relying on cloud computing.
 

Arkos

Nose how to spell and rede to
My biggest fear about Xbox One isn't even about used games. It's about how long these games will live. I can still play every Atari 2600 gName I bought. All my NES games (battery still works somehow). Game boy.

The biggest one being PC. I can still play just about all those old games on new PC's!

This is spanning 30 years of my gaming history. Every game I ever bought, aside from Final Fantasy 7 PC version which is a bugged game, can be played today.

I can't say the same for Xbox One. Once the servers get shut off, it's done. You're stuck with frisbee's.

This will also hurt collectors.

mindblown.gif

This is so important, every thread about this issue makes me happy. And yes, it does look like dark times ahead
 

CDX

Member
this is my biggest fear too.

Today, I can buy old NES, Genesis, or SNES cartridges and play them still.

After the servers go down will I be able to play any XB1 games?

I don't like this at all.
 
My biggest fear about Xbox One isn't even about used games. It's about how long these games will live. I can still play every Atari 2600 game I bought. All my NES games (battery still works somehow). Game boy.

The biggest one being PC. I can still play just about all those old games on new PC's!

This is spanning 30 years of my gaming history. Every game I ever bought, aside from Final Fantasy 7 PC version which is a bugged game, can be played today.

I can't say the same for Xbox One. Once the servers get shut off, it's done. You're stuck with frisbee's.

This will also hurt collectors.


If they made some promise that future xbox's were backward's compatible I wouldn't care. I find it funny that both PC's and the Xbox One run on Windows (on a x86 platform no less) but only one promises BC for future machines.
 

DigitalOp

Banned
Buy Xbox One

Invest over $3000 in 8 years.

Have worthless junk when its said and done.

Yay, Digital Future!!! But its got cloud computing! Isn't it 2013? Doesn't everyone have internet? Whiners...
 
You can't play Ps3 games on Ps4 but nobody brings that up. Only the Wii U is fully compatible and that's always left out of the conversation.

You misunderstand. This isn't a BC issue. XBO games are reliant on MS servers to function - once those shut off 10-15 years from now, those games become glorified drink coasters. The same cannot be said of current-gen games. Plug in your PS3 and you can play your PS3 games, even 50 years from now. The XBO just becomes a plastic brick.
 

steveovig

Member
I wonder if, before shutting down the servers, they'll send out a patch that turns off the mandatory online check-in and all that crap?

I highly doubt it.

They could but they probably want you to re-buy all your games on the XBox2.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
This hasn't been my experience at all, either historically or today. Heck, I can't get GTAIV on steam to launch on my new mac mini running W8... Some incompatibility issue that is unsolved.

With many old games you can eventually get them to run on a new PC with some tinkering, compatibility settings, or special drivers... but it's not always easy. Also, if your new PC doesn't have a diskette drive or a CD Rom drive... I don't know how you'd install many old games without downloading a rip.

not trying to criticize PC gaming, I love PC gaming, but it's just not true that PC's always support back libraries. With new systems like Steam or GoG this may be the case, but even then, you could run into the future proofing issue that you're alluding to with the One or PS4 (if they go with a similar method)

If you're really concerned about preserving compatibility with PC games, there are certain things you can do to tilt the odds in your favor. Running brand new OSs is generally not one of those things.

You can buy usb drives to load almost any kind of media imaginable, so no worries there, unless you don't have USB ports, which would be weird. I dunno. I have very little problems running older games on a Windows 7 64-bit PC. Sure, maybe there's a handful out of thousands... but on the whole it's very reliable.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
There is a good chance all three of these happen:

Backwards compatibility on next platform
Cloud streaming
MS will patch the platform ala steam and divx to accept titles


This is the start of DD generation through X1
 
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