Rumor: No Disc Drive For Next Xbox

[Stewy12]

MCV has learnt that Microsoft has been telling partners that the Next Xbox will NOT include a disc drive.

The briefings have been issued under what MCV’s source describes as “the strictest NDA” they have ever encountered.
Although the console will not include a disc drive, it will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage, although it is not known whether this will be proprietary or a more standard format such as SD.

Furthermore, a 2013 launch date for the hardware has been confirmed. What is less clear, however, is the intended timing of Microsoft’s announcement.

Full story: http://www.mcvuk.com...ext-xbox/092534

 

[DSGamer64]

Terrible idea if true for backwards compatibility, however it's the only realistic option for future gaming in terms of performance and load times, which are just going to increase even if you have a power house of a processing system, optical drives are extremely limited in speed compared to a solid state medium like SDHC. I guess it could work since a variation on SDHC cards with locked read/write would be a cheap item to produce in the long run.

 

[Snailface]

A home console with no moving parts would be nice. It's been a long time since we've had one of those.
A cooling fan is ok since they never break really.

 

[Qtis]

Interesting idea, but there still has to be another option for acquiring games. Instead of online. Interested in the console, especially if previous gen game loading is possible.

 

[lostdwarf]

“the strictest NDA” they have ever encountered

LOL LOL LOL LOL

Good job they leaked it without any problems then lol lol lol
Bullshit.

 

[T-hug]

Last I heard was it was going to have bluray.
Maybe this news is for the other SKU, the one that was just for all the multimedia stuff and not games.

 

[Skelletonike]

If xbox stops having physical media I'll just give up on the xbox, same goes for any other console... I hate digital retail games, indie and stuff it's ok, but big name games I like having them on display on my collection, Star Ocean, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc, etc... I often enjoy grabbing a copy of an old game from my shelf, like Sonic for the Mega Drive and play it, digital stuff isn't very trustworthy regarding it's future life and stuff.

 

[Veho]

Disk drive as in hard disk drive, or as in optical disk drive?

 

[gokujr1000]

I highly doubt it'll have No Disc Drive.

 

[RupeeClock]

They'll be cutting out a huge chunk of their market by removing physical media, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a capable internet connection

 

[R2DJ]

They'll be cutting out a huge chunk of their market by removing physical media, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a capable internet connection

True. OnLive would be on par with the consoles right now if it were.

Also, it would be a huge disadvantage for the people who rely on the second hand market/rentals. What if they have a system where you input a code from the game's manual or on the disc (or whatever method it may be), the people who bought their games pre-owned or rented will not be able to enjoy, say, their copy of MW3 or Skyrim.

 

[Foxi4]

Disk drive as in hard disk drive, or as in optical disk drive?

Disc drive, as in a drive you put discs in.

 

[Qtis]

They'll be cutting out a huge chunk of their market by removing physical media, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a capable internet connection

Removing the disc drive doesn't remove physical media. It just removes the disc format (which is a problem in some way for nearly all consoles this gen). Now if only everyone would understand that making a propriety disc format (Nintendo especially done this) isn't the way to go. After DVD/BluRay-drives have been added to consoles, it removes one extra device from my TV stand :3

 

[mysticwaterfall]

I highly doubt this. If they go the sd card route, it rises prices a lot compared to discs, even with falling prices. If they go the online only route, you would have really long downloads for most people, streaming for a fortunate few. A lot of people with bandwidth caps would be screwed.

 

[FireGrey]

Wasn't it rumored that the next box will come with an optical drive but also there will be a slimmed down version without one?
Also I think It would great to go back to cartridges, they are so much strong than the silly fragile disks.

 

[Veho]

Also I think It would great to go back to cartridges, they are so much strong than the silly fragile disks.

And so much more expensive.

 

[FireGrey]

Also I think It would great to go back to cartridges, they are so much strong than the silly fragile disks.

And so much more expensive.

The next gen games are going to cost a lot more, no matter what type of storage they use.

 

[Veho]

The next gen games are going to cost a lot more, no matter what type of storage they use.

But if they use expensive storage, they'll cost more on top of costing more.

 

[FireGrey]

The next gen games are going to cost a lot more, no matter what type of storage they use.

But if they use expensive storage, they'll cost more on top of costing more.

They make it cost whatever they can get away with, so it would only be a few dollars difference.

 

[mysticwaterfall]

We don't need a return to the N64 days with 80$ games. A few dollars more in manufactureing is a lot more in retail.