Xbox One Xbox 720 Won't Play Used Games?

[Peterparker]

I don't even understand how this will work? How will the system even know the game is used in the first place? The game can only be played in one console? Help me understand this concept, i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this.

 

[Claptrap]

I don't even understand how this will work? How will the system even know the game is used in the first place? The game can only be played in one console? Help me understand this concept, i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this.

It's not too hard to do, it would be possible. Perhaps the game could require some unique activation code and once that code is used up the game is locked to whichever console the code was used on. Kinda like how PC games work with serials and stuff, I'd guess.

One thing is for sure, though, if they do want to screw customers over then they WILL. Even if it seems impossible, they will come up with new ways to screw people up if they feel like it!

 

[BitesizeCrayons]

While this is a widely-speculated rumor, it's best to stick around for confirmation. While the Durango SDKs that were leaked are quite likely legit, I'm thinking this is a feature that wouldn't be finalized until the manufacturing of the new consoles, and I'm not thinking there are many that are welcoming the rumors about it. I hope Microsoft makes the right call, this is one thing that will make me jump ship if it turns out to be true.

 

[SkintTight]

Bad idea! Microsoft would do well not to pi55 off its gamers by going ahead with this crazy idea (if there's any truth in it.
We as gamers call the shots at the end of the day and companies like MS work for us the consumer we will vote with our wallets.

 

[LALucien]

As many of you have said, blocking used games is just going to kill the gaming community. Something that I've been doing since primary school is swapping and borrowing games with my friends. Sometimes they got games I wanted for Christmas and sometimes I got what they wanted. Guess what, we swapped and no one was hurt, not at least the games companies!
I love going down to CEX, trading in the games I've completed and being able to pick up a few used games (new to me) or being able to put the money from my used games to buying a more expensive new game. If developers keep going with this whole ban on used games then culture of gaming is going to change a lot. I think it has been coming for a while now though in that have you noticed that in order to play multiplayer with your mates on most games nowadays you have to be on your own console with your own copy of the game. Classic game styles like side scrolling beat-em ups which were one of the most popular styles of games and most responsible for multiplayer action amongst me and my friends/family growing up are all but out the window. Its part of the 'NO Sharing' future we are going further and further into. Maybe we should blame peer to peer?

We are taught from such a young age to share what we have with people only to grow up to be told that sharing is wrong and bad and that we will be punished if we do

 

[lightsout]

I don't see this ever happening, to many of their fans have spent a lifetime worth of cash on those games to get them where they are today. Nahhh, it's my belief that the old games will still play.

 

[tradein]

If this is true then XBOX will be crushed in the next generation of gaming. That is just an absurd concept. So much of the gaming community purchases almost exclusively used games. And look at services like Gamefly, that just goes right out the window. I don't think there is any chance Microsoft would commit such a folly, and if they do, they are only hurting themselves.

 

[bobbilu]

I don't think even Microsoft are that greedy to be honest, and they've not really confirmed anything else about the next xbox anyway let alone this feature.

Moreover the game developers have noticed that used games make a lot of money that they're not getting so they've added this "Online Pass" thing. If anything they'll add this to their games but after making customers pay for an online service and to play only brand new games is a bit much.

The game developers would have a large say in this too unless Microsoft are the company publishing their game. Imagine companies like EA releasing games that only can be played brand new instead of just asking for £5/10$ to access the full game? They'd have great losses to deal with.

Also people have been trading games for years. I doubt that will stop soon. So no, I don't believe this will happen. I will eat my words though if they decide to do this.

 

[steam455]

I think if Microsoft doesn't allow pre-owned games, it will definitely increase pirating on their systems. A lot of people can't always afford paying full retail price for games, so they rely heavily on paying the pre-owned prices. Most people mowadays, instead of excepting that they can't afford to game, they will resort to not paying for their games. In essence, instead of losing a small amount of money towards pre-owned games, they won't earn any money. Anyone with common sense could see that a little money is better than no money at all.

 

[djgoesnomnom]

I personally respect their choice to proactively fight piracy. That being said, I do think banning the sharing of used games(offline) or even restricting them is a little excessive. The current failsafe they have in place(licenses) seems to be enough of a deterrent to at least make most of the gaming community have to decide between playing alone with pirated copies, or playing online with buddies. Most people I know choose online in an instant.

 

[Claptrap]

I personally respect their choice to proactively fight piracy.

That's good and all but making it so people can not play used games is more likely gonna lead people into piracy instead of preventing anything.

 

[Joshhat08]

That's a huge turn off for me. Does that mean we also can't borrow games?

 

[djgoesnomnom]

That's good and all but making it so people can not play used games is more likely gonna lead people into piracy instead of preventing anything.

I know, the rest of my post addressed that. I only agree with the fact that they're interested in combatting it. As we all know though, the devil is in the details, and executing a decent plan to do it is nearly impossible without some pretty decent security advances for gaming in general.

 

[kateric99]

We can all agree that the main problem the gaming industry wants to tackle is to stop companies like Gamespot from getting money out of their own games and products.
If they limit the use of a game, those stores won't be able to sell used games, increasing the profit for developers.
What if, instead of making the games unusable, they ban the used market altogether?

 

[SadUnicorn]

I guess no more renting games then, huh? That really sucks. I also hate the idea of not being able to borrow games from friends.

 

[djgoesnomnom]

I guess no more renting games then, huh? That really sucks. I also hate the idea of not being able to borrow games from friends.

I can't imagine they would completely do away with the "temporary ownership" option of gaming without expecting some serious loss in user base. It'd just instantly lose a large following.

 

[Jeffskenn]

Microsoft would definitely lose some profit, but it probably wouldn't affect my family too much as we hardly ever lend out games or borrow others. Our games are what we play, if we want a new game, we wait for Christmas . But that's mainly because the 8 year old likes Lego games and those are fun enough to warrant buying the full game. Other than that though, Microsoft would destroy the friendly gaming of people lending out games, and games would become so much harder to try out, if not impossible.

 

[healthy]

This is really unfortunate. I really like getting a game, playing it for a while, then selling it or trading it to a friend so I can play something different. This isn't much of a rumor anymore right? I've heard about this several places so far.

 

[CrispyEggos]

I think I've said this places in the past. But that would be suicidal for them or any other company if they're the only ones doing it. By cutting off used games, they will in effect not only bring about hackers that will try to circumvent it, but they'll annoy their partners that dabble in used games as well. Gamestop for example may just drop selling xbox products all together if they nullify used game sales.

So the ONLY way this works is if all three major hardware players do this. All three companies doing this would force places like Gamestop to conform. Because doing this alone is almost a death wish.

I agree with this and I wouldn't worry too much. I'd more be worried about whether or not the Xbox 720 can play games there were originally designed for the 360.

 

[dowdyrich]

I had not heard about this rumor. I need this to solely be a rumor. I can tell you one thing, if they do implement this into the new system, that will cancel any chance of me buying a new system. I predominantly buy used games just for the fact that new games are grossly overpriced for the completeness or value of the games that are being released. If all the big players conform, there goes gaming for me; back to being active outside of using a controller lol! I think that is a lot of loss revenue. Even if publishers and the big three do not make money off the initial sale of the used games, they cut out the possibility of selling DLC to the 'new' customer.

I am sure I am not the only 'casual' gamer that would not commit to paying for all new games in the current state of gaming.