nevarran said:
Hah

"Xbot"? Come on, you can do better.
Fist of all, games are always digital, the disc is just a carrier for the content. And if I buy a piece of paper with a Steam code on it, is that a "digital" game or physical?
If Microsoft really wanted to mimic Steam's success they should offer the games at a reduced cost and allow us to play the games offline without the need to check in every 24 hours, rather than the full retail price compensate for the drawbacks, or else offer A LOT of sales. The drawbacks being that with a digital copy, you are unable to sell or trade your game at will, as well as the fact that your "ownership" can, at anytime be taken away.
The problem with this is that according to what we've learned of the trading system on the XB1 you can only trade a game ONCE and even then, and only after someone has been on your friends list for 30 days. It is true that this will make trading games with friends over long distances simpler (after a 30 day wait that is)but the fact that my physical CD can no longer play the game in question is the issue. The fact is that if MS had simply chosen not to produce physical copies anymore this system would actually make sense. But, as it stands, I can achieve this exact same result by simply swapping game CDs with friends, and I won't have to wait 30 days. Sure, they have to be nearby but that is the majority of the case. People whom you would trust with your copy of your game.
Second, games bought directly on Steam are digital, but there are many retail games that require Steam. And once you insert that code in the program, I'm pretty sure there is no turning back, the disk becomes as useless as it can be.
Xbot
Yes, but how does it
ever make sense that you have a CD of the thing, yet are unable to play the game offline. At least with steam offline play is a possibility.
This does not seem to be the case with the XB1. From what we understand, if you cannot connect once per 24 hours, or finish a
mandatory install you cannot play. That's counter intuitive to a device that costs $500 whose only (supposed) purpose is to play games. The console has yet to actually launch and this is coming from what we've been told thus far, but it's not exactly encouraging. A console game should not have to force users to meet so many conditions just so they can do what they purchased the console for in the first place. THAT'S PRETTY MUCH THEIR ONLY ADVANTAGE OVER PC.
Furthermore, the XB1 practically REQUIRES a high speed internet connection, something that about 1/3 of America either does not have access to or care about, some of the features will not be available outside of the US and other features won't be available anywhere at launch lastly, only 21 countries will be getting access to the XB1 at launch.
source:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/why-are-one-third-of-americans-turning-their-backs-on-high-speed-internet/
So, let's see who exactly the XB1's features can appeal to. At least at launch.
You must be:
In the US
Have high speed internet (So live in a city, rather than a rural area)
Have access to it 24/7
Have friends/family who live far away (As that's pretty much the only advantage their trading/sharing system brings)
Have a lot of disposable income ($500 console plus $60 yearly subscription fee ad infinitum)
Yeah... I'm not
any of that... If you are than congratulations, Mr. Minority but the rest of us can't really make full use of this thing... This enormous, $500
thing.
TL;DR
Too much stuff to have to put up with for a machine whose only REAL purpose is to PLAY SOME GAMES. Especially if you don't meet the above criteria.