Microsoft Europe: Forget Discs

Xbox Live Drops the Xbox?

Posted by Staff
Microsoft Europe: Forget Discs
If you live in the United Kingdom, you have got to hope that Chris Lewis, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Europe's vice president, is lobbying Internet service providers to get their acts together and deliver some real bandwidth. If he's not, then we're not going to benefit from his view.

What is his view? Well, as stated to MCV, it's the following:

"My own view is very clear and I know it’s shared by other people in Microsoft is that the future’s digital downloads now. The broadband proliferation is amazing – people’s appetite to download movies through Video Marketplace is testament to that. The future is about people taking their digital content on an online rather than physical media."


You'll notice here that Lewis manages to rebrand the Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store into plain old, Video Marketplace. Now, this could simply have been a piece of shorthand. However, high-profile executives are usually better at media control than to let something like that slip through unmanaged. We'll wait and see.

He also put the nail is the most over-nailed coffin we've seen since Manhunt 2's UK release buried due to the BBFC's refusal to classify.* Will there be Blu-ray for Xbox?

“We have no plans to do anything at all in terms of further or additional movie playback peripherals.”


See the interview here.

* We'd like to point out that unlike everybody else, we never said the game would be banned.
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Comments

Daz 14 Mar 2008 16:52
1/8
I disagree "LONG LIVE PHYSICAL MEDIA"
deleted 14 Mar 2008 22:35
2/8
so when my ISP goes down for the night, as it did last night, that not only means i cant play Halo 5 online but i cant play it at all?

Physical media is here to stay, wether its on bluray or dvd or even some type of brain injected flash memory of the future its here and it aint going anywhere.
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OptimusP 15 Mar 2008 10:18
3/8
Personally i think there's a good chance Nintendo will return to the use of carts with its next console.

Also, I like my physical storage! Makes it legally very clear who payed for owning what. And not the very vague legal bulshit their making up for online content.
deleted 15 Mar 2008 12:27
4/8
OptimusP wrote:
Personally i think there's a good chance Nintendo will return to the use of carts with its next console.

Also, I like my physical storage! Makes it legally very clear who payed for owning what. And not the very vague legal bulshit their making up for online content.


Why would they return to pounds to make carts over pennys discs? and if you think piracy is bad now with carts it would be like the PSone again, all it would take would be a R4Wii2 Cart and your away.
Jason Green 17 Mar 2008 07:04
5/8
How many ppl here actually use CD's in order to listen to their music? You would have to be extremely short-sighted to believe that video won't be consumed this way in the future.

Sure, there are issues relating to bandwidth and storage of this additional data, but you can bet there are many companies working towards a solution to these problems. Microsoft included.
deleted 17 Mar 2008 16:35
6/8
Jason Green wrote:
How many ppl here actually use CD's in order to listen to their music? You would have to be extremely short-sighted to believe that video won't be consumed this way in the future.

Sure, there are issues relating to bandwidth and storage of this additional data, but you can bet there are many companies working towards a solution to these problems. Microsoft included.


Jason Green wrote:
How many ppl here actually use CD's in order to listen to their music? You would have to be extremely short-sighted to believe that video won't be consumed this way in the future.

Sure, there are issues relating to bandwidth and storage of this additional data, but you can bet there are many companies working towards a solution to these problems. Microsoft included.


but no one goes out a buys a cart of MP3`s do they they download them onto predesigned flash devices or flash memory, but if you go in HMV you buy it on disc not cart!,

and with blu ray storage around 50GB why would they put flashcarts out for movies or games that would require 10GB+ for storage the cost of production alone would be good enough reason to stick with discs.

your mixing up digital downlaods and media storage solutions, just because discs are very futuristic any more, doesnt mean they dont work!
Jason Green 19 Mar 2008 03:08
7/8

but no one goes out a buys a cart of MP3`s do they they download them onto predesigned flash devices or flash memory, but if you go in HMV you buy it on disc not cart!,

and with blu ray storage around 50GB why would they put flashcarts out for movies or games that would require 10GB+ for storage the cost of production alone would be good enough reason to stick with discs.

your mixing up digital downlaods and media storage solutions, just because discs are very futuristic any more, doesnt mean they dont work!


I don't believe I have anything mixed up... You're argument is based on what happens right now. I'm arguing that digital delivery and storage is the future.

You talk about flashcarts and the cost effectiveness of discs, but you seem to forget that it won't be the publishers who are going to responsible for providing the storage device for this data... I believe that digital delivery is a far more attractive option for them (once they get over the fear of I.P. theft), as they don't have to provide carts or put the content onto discs. They just need to invest in the infrastructure to store and deliver the content, and some sort of online store-front.

If given the option between having a multi-terabyte drive or a shelf full of discs holding my video content, I know which one I would choose. And I bet i'm not the only one.
tyrion 19 Mar 2008 08:51
8/8
Jason Green wrote:
If given the option between having a multi-terabyte drive or a shelf full of discs holding my video content, I know which one I would choose. And I bet i'm not the only one.

Local storage on Blu-ray, HDD or flash card will be seen as quaint in about 10 years.

Network speeds will become so fast that the network will become your hard drive.

You won't purchase individual tracks, movies or games.

You'll subscribe to an "as much as you want" service or you won't have access to anything.

Everything will be streamed, on demand, in real time, over wi-fi, everywhere.

You will never "own" any digital content.

This will happen and you won't play a part in the decision. Your only choice will be which players you buy.

Microsoft and Sony know this, that's why they are pushing 360 and PS3 so strongly as entertainment hubs.

Bleak or realistic? I think it'll happen either way.

The move will be complete in 20 years.

Get used to the idea.
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