MS: shift away from discs will happen sooner than any of us think

[Colin-uk Veteran]

I'd be quite happy if they did, as long as they allowed me to back it up, and the download was relativly fast.

but i dont think it will happen so quickly, as there are a lot of ISPs that limit bandwidth usage in someway (throttling, shaping etc.)

[MightyJordan]

It's gonna be a long long time before this happens. Many broadband companies have download limits, so people would be hammered by this. Also, the waiting time would kill, unless Microsoft can introduce a similar "Tray and Play" technology, like Halo 2 on Vista. On that, you can play the game while it's installing. If they can find a way to do that online with console games, then fair enough, do it!

[Glassed Silver]

let me be honest with you guys: the only reason i prefer buying a disc over simply downloading it illegally and therefore pay instead of get it for free sometimes is that i get fancy covers/good looking discs and a booklet...

if illegal and legal downloads have the same disadvantages ill pick the one with superior advantages... :D

anyhoo, i won't ever pay for a movie and not get my physical stuff with it, especially when giving it as a gift.

and i know that i'm not the most conservative when it comes down to matters like these, there's lots of others if not most who think the same...

Glassed Silver:mac

[Kushan]

You kidding me I like my disk, I am not ready to download couple of gigs every f**king time I want to see a movies. Might as well just drive down to a video store and buy the damn thing.

I agree that downloadle contend is great but the download limit with some ISP and the speed they are not the perfect thing yet.

I suppose "streaming" never factored into it?

I don't think Microsoft is anywhere close with the 12-18month estimate, but I do think that there's a lot to be said about digital downloads.

Most of you don't realise this, but right now most cable companies already do this though an "on demand" service and for the most part, it's great. There's no reason why Microsoft couldn't do the same.

Sure, ISP's are going to get in the way and want to charge us more, but if a widely available service is launched, more people will demand more bandwidth and that means competition should drive prices down and speeds up.

I'm in the UK, a country that was lagging behind most of the western world in terms of download speeds, but now I'm on a 24Mbit unlimted (as in, actually unlimited, full speed at all times and as much as I want) package that costs me ?18 a month. The cheapest broadband you can get is about ?10 a month, so it really goes to show you what you can get if you look around.

The only barrier left for me is hard drive space (should I wish to store it - not going to get much on my 20Gb drive) and price. I don't think it's worth paying ?1 or ?2 to rent a standard definition film that I paid most of the distribution costs for. Bring it down to 50p for SD and ?1 for HD and I might be in there.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

It'll save on gas driving to the store...

The internet already does that :p

I suppose "streaming" never factored into it?

I don't think Microsoft is anywhere close with the 12-18month estimate, but I do think that there's a lot to be said about digital downloads.

Most of you don't realise this, but right now most cable companies already do this though an "on demand" service and for the most part, it's great. There's no reason why Microsoft couldn't do the same.

Sure, ISP's are going to get in the way and want to charge us more, but if a widely available service is launched, more people will demand more bandwidth and that means competition should drive prices down and speeds up.

I'm in the UK, a country that was lagging behind most of the western world in terms of download speeds, but now I'm on a 24Mbit unlimted (as in, actually unlimited, full speed at all times and as much as I want) package that costs me ?18 a month. The cheapest broadband you can get is about ?10 a month, so it really goes to show you what you can get if you look around.b>

The only barrier left for me is hard drive space (should I wish to store it - not going to get much on my 20Gb drive) and price. I don't think it's worth paying ?1 or ?2 to rent a standard definition film that I paid most of the distribution costs for. Bring it down to 50p for SD and ?1 for HD and I might be in there.

The UKs biggest problem is the out of date network over the whole country.

Putting aside some big towns, none of us can get anywhere near 24mb.

I'm stuck on 3MB, can't get cable and have limits (but they're like peak/offpeak - so at certain times I can download w/e I want).

BT plan to have ADSL2 enabled on my exchange by 2012 or something.

[Mike Frett]

Well good luck because the truth is that ISPs in the US don't like the idea. If they could ditch high speed access and go back to 56k and charge $100 for it, they would.

You're about to witness a big fight between company's that want to go digital vs ISPs that are trying to fight it because they're too stingy to upgrade their networks to offer the higher speeds that are needed. And I dare you to tell me I'm wrong.

[Ji@nBing]

Not going to happen for many reasons. Not the least of which is the tiny HDD on the 360 and the outrageous price they charge for the 120 gig HDD.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Well good luck because the truth is that ISPs in the US don't like the idea. If they could ditch high speed access and go back to 56k and charge $100 for it, they would.

You're about to witness a big fight between company's that want to go digital vs ISPs that are trying to fight it because they're too stingy to upgrade their networks to offer the higher speeds that are needed. And I dare you to tell me I'm wrong.

The devils advocate question is could they really support all the downloading/bandwith used daily by everyone?

I mean if we truely went digital distribution people really would use a lot of bandwith.

Aside from the ISPs just wanting to limit/charge, I really don't think the UK infastructure could handle it.

You'd have all the folk that don't download much doing it because they have no other option.

Physical media just can't be phased out for a long time... it might never truely be. I can see downloading being a supplement to it for a long time to come.

Just like how cds still exist, even although we have many huge MP3 online stores - And I mean MP3s hardly use bandwith, but still haven't truely conquered CD sales.

[Argi]

1 game/HD movie = 50% of my monthly quota

It's gonna be a while still.

[Neo003]

UK is pretty small country in size of course. I live on coast in central California in san someone to be exact (Google it of you like), even 1Mb is a rare commodity here. I am getting 219kb max on a good day and I am paying $60 a month, but they are the only one here.

Satellite cost twice as much but same speed, and no dsl or optic found in sight.

[Ayepecks]

My main beef with it all is this -- what happens if the downloaded content is accidentally deleted? Do you have to pay again? And what happens if somehow they stop offering it for download? There's no reason to think it couldn't happen. Or that after the next console generation is over, that the following generation will no longer offer those games for download.

I doubt Microsoft is making it's next console without an optical drive. If they were, I'd be pretty surprised. I'm fine if they want to offer the option to download games (and still have a optical drive to play games off a disc), and I'm sure I'll download some if that's the option... but not all games.

[Dev Null Zen]

I'd be willing to bet M$ has interns scouring forums just like this one to see what the response of consumers is to this statement. There is no way they would make a move this big unless they really thought that the vast majority supported it. They were bit in the ass too hard by putting out the 360 early to be able to survive another such catastrophic mistake.

[iSimx]

that's just not going to work. With the current internet speed in the UK, it's going to take a long time to download. Faster to drive to the store and buy it. More convenient.

[Kushan]

The UKs biggest problem is the out of date network over the whole country.

Putting aside some big towns, none of us can get anywhere near 24mb.

I'm stuck on 3MB, can't get cable and have limits (but they're like peak/offpeak - so at certain times I can download w/e I want).

BT plan to have ADSL2 enabled on my exchange by 2012 or something.

BT is an absolutely horrible company and pretty much the sole reason why parts of the UK are so backwards. But it's not just up to BT to upgrade exchanges and such these days, if a company buys space in an exchange (as part of the Local Loop Unbundling that BT had to be forced to do), they can upgrade it any time they like.

As far as I know, BT is happy to stick with ADSL1 and not even offer most customers anywhere near the 8Mbit possible maximum (my dad can only get 2Mbit, despite living very close to an exchange, BT just wont offer him anything more). If there's a reason why BT is bleeding customers, it's things like this.

And if you're on BT, I can only assume it's because you've got absolutely no choice in the matter, which sucks ass.

But hopefully, the increased competition they're getting from the likes of Virgin and O2 will lead to more options being available to you soon.

[Ayepecks]

I'd be willing to bet M$ has interns scouring forums just like this one to see what the response of consumers is to this statement. There is no way they would make a move this big unless they really thought that the vast majority supported it. They were bit in the ass too hard by putting out the 360 early to be able to survive another such catastrophic mistake.

Putting the 360 out early seems to be the best decision Microsoft's ever had in the gaming industry, IMO.

[X'tyfe]

so, because the format they supported is dead

microsoft is gunna cry and whine and say "if we cant have HD-DVD, then we wont have discs at all"

just gotta laugh at that :D

[Kushan]

Had and TO the gaming industry. This has got to be the most competitive generation ever. At least, it's definitely the most competitive since the early 90's and we've ALL benefited from it.

[Corris Veteran]

My main beef with it all is this -- what happens if the downloaded content is accidentally deleted? Do you have to pay again? And what happens if somehow they stop offering it for download? There's no reason to think it couldn't happen. Or that after the next console generation is over, that the following generation will no longer offer those games for download.

That is usually what goes through my head when thinking about a future of downloading content and such like.

What happens If I download something, something happens to the device I am storing it on, I go to download it a couple of months alter and it is no longer there?

I would be screwed and probably would have to go find it on some physical media.

When looking at such things as the Playstation Store, I would never buy Warhawk or GT5 Prologue from it, but would choose to get the disc based version every time.

Plus I like to be able to view my physical media in front of me.

[Kushan]

Well, currently on Live and Steam, anything you buy is locked to your account, so you can download it again and again if you like. Live seems to have some exceptions (such as films you rent), but that seems to be it. That's how it SHOULD be, at least.

[JustGeorge]

That is usually what goes through my head when thinking about a future of downloading content and such like.

What happens If I download something, something happens to the device I am storing it on, I go to download it a couple of months alter and it is no longer there?

I would be screwed and probably would have to go find it on some physical media.

When looking at such things as the Playstation Store, I would never buy Warhawk or GT5 Prologue from it, but would choose to get the disc based version every time.

Plus I like to be able to view my physical media in front of me.

Indeed. Nintendo locks your VC games to console you own so even if you backup your games to an SD card they won;t work on another Wii unless Nintendo allows it. They should lock it your account so you're free to move them to another console. I'm a bit curious as to how they will handle the move to future consoles and if the current DL content will even be supported/carried over. They only have to support DL content for as long as they so choose. Way too much control on the other end for me.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Well, for people like me, on 15Mb/15Mb connections (that will soon be 20Mb/20Mb, and even higher in 12-18 months) that seems pretty believable.

Plus - look at the success of the iTunes video downloads. People don't seem to have a problem with the download times there, especially for TV shows. Maybe it's not HD, or the same level of fidelity as BluRay - but most people don't actually care. The instant gratification of a download is worth it. Happens to me all the time. And those downloads will only get better and better.

It'll be interesting to watch, and I can't say for sure what will happen... but when considering that BluRay is still going to very much be a in high-end niche 12-18 months from now, it seems to me that the people stuck on slow connections or unwilling to move to downloads for whatever reason will be the same people who would be sticking with DVDs anyway.

The people who buy 360s and have HDTVs are much more likely to have viable internet connections for downloading content. They're also more likely to have an iPod or a Zune, so they'll be inclined to buy in the format most easily portable to their mobile device(s). So, knowing your market helps. Of course, I only speak for the US - I have no idea what the broadband landscape looks like these days elsewhere. Maybe BluRay will be more successul in some countries than others. I just don't think it's ever going to reach the penetration that DVD has.

Well, currently on Live and Steam, anything you buy is locked to your account, so you can download it again and again if you like. Live seems to have some exceptions (such as films you rent), but that seems to be it. That's how it SHOULD be, at least.

Right. Plus, I'd be surprised if Live works the same in 12-18 months as it does today. That's plenty of time for some of these problems to be addressed.

[Lexcyn]

I think ISPs need to start upgrading connections / making new packages before they attempt this. I mean, where I am the fastest connection you can get is 16MB. This plan costs $99 a month. That's ridiculous. Where I used to live it was only $39 a month for 16MB.

Needs to be more consistency or else it will take ages to download/buy anything.

[Neo003]

So Brandon you're saying you're ready to download 10 gig every time you want to watch a new movie. Let say you watch 2 movies in a month, that?s 20 gig of HD movie umm I don't think so. That's not even the extra features you get on BR.

[Kushan]

So Brandon you're saying you're ready to download 10 gig every time you want to watch a new movie. Let say you watch 2 movies in a month, that?s 20 gig of HD movie umm I don't think so. That's not even the extra features you get on BR.

On his connection, he could download that 10Gb film in about 2 hours. How long would it take you to go to the video store? (Not including the price of petrol, or the convenience of it).

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

On his connection, he could download that 10Gb film in about 2 hours. How long would it take you to go to the video store? (Not including the price of petrol, or the convenience of it).

That's why you buy online and get free postage! :p

Although you do need to wait x amount of days.