Apparently yesterday’s rant was well-timed. Microsoft has made a formal comment regarding the rumors of its next console having always-online requirements and one-console-only game disk abilities.
Well, they’ve sorta commented, at any rate.
Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform, but we don’t have anything further to share at this time.
…Okay, so they commented that they… don’t comment on rumors.
It still isn’t a denial, which is what they really needed to release if they were capable of it in order to reassure prospective buyers. On top of that, with Sony’s upcoming console also looking like it will be giving used and borrowed games the finger, it’s looking like the next generation of consoles is going to be stepping on all kinds of toes.
For retailers who make a measurable (and generally significant) portion of their game income on the sale of used games, the ultimatum against previously-played games is a direct hit to their bottom line.
For the rest of us, what are we supposed to do if a console breaks down? If a player has a library of 30-40 games when the console they played them on breaks, do Microsoft or Sony plan to replace all of those games?
Is the most economically feasible response really to just not buy the upcoming consoles at all?
