200°

Microsoft: The future is digital distribution

MCV: Mirroring remarks made by European VP of Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Chris Lewis to MCV last month, UK Xbox boss Neil Thompson has insisted that his company did not back the wrong horse when it supported Toshiba and its HD-DVD high definition disc format.

"The horse that we're fundamentally backing is the one that says the future of entertainment content is online digital distribution. I would argue that we backed the right horse.

"If we're sitting here in 12 or 18 months time, we'll be saying 'why were people even thinking about a disc format when it's really about digital distribution?' Our strategy's been developed for the last six or seven years, and ever since we launched the platform online content has been our big, big, big bet."

Horny Melon5907d ago

It's that it never placed a bet.

ukilnme5907d ago

I'm inclined to agree. They wanted both HD formats to fail in favor of digital distribution. Even if they did pick an HD format as an internal drive for the 360, they would have been delayed with the release of it and the PS3 would probably have crushed it out the gates. Blu-ray has one the HD format race but it's still a three horse console race.

sonarus5907d ago

blu ray has become a major selling point for ps3 just like dvd was a major selling point for ps2. Did anyone catch southpark last nite where they did their little "i learned something today rant?". They too say internet distribution is far from ready because internet hasn't matured enough. lol i wonder if they support the console wars

MikeMichaels5907d ago

HD-DVD players to its customers knowing they'd get screwed over down the line??

Thats much better then saying something like "hey, we took a gamble and we lost".

...and people say Sony is arrogant.

Gorgon5907d ago (Edited 5907d ago )

Ukilnme:

don't be naive. MS didn't want both formats to fail, they wanted HD-DVD to win. How does a company with such foresight to try to kill such formats so that DD can win (and they said that it was their plan for 6-7 years) launch a console with a SKU that doesn't even have an HDD? And the PRO has a 20GB HDD...

Sorry, but anyone can see that this is called damage control. Just the same when Sony said that rumble was "last gen feature" and then brought it back and when people asked why they said it was last-gen they answered "well, what did you espect us to say?".

Damage control, people. Wake up.

ukilnme5907d ago

@ Gorgon

"don't be naive." Funny.

If MS had fully backed HD-DVD they would have made the drive internal making it useful for games. Instead they took the approach to partially back it with an external drive. This was all an attempt to extend the format war while pushing their own agenda of digital distribution and it worked for a little while.

You can call it damage control if you wish but the fact remains that digital distribution was and is MS's end gaol.

deeznuts5907d ago

So was Michael Bay right the whole time when he complained about Paramount's switch to HD DVD?

Remember when fanboys across the internet ripped Bay when he made those comments, as if people sitting at their computer know more than him?

Gorgon5907d ago (Edited 5907d ago )

ukilnme:

the reason why MS did not include a HD-DVD with the 360 was because of price. They also felt it would not be needed and that DVD9 would be more than enough. They also did not include WIFI even in Elite. They also released a SKU that doesn't even have an HDD, which is quite a weakness and conditions game development to the lowest denominator that the Arcade is, and the PRO only has a 20GB HDD. I could go on. Does this all strike you as a carefully planed strategy to prolong a format war and win on the digital downloads side???

Don't feel offended, its not that my intention at all, but I do think you are beying naive in this particular issue. MS is trying to accelerate DD now because they can't really do anything else. Even worse is the fact that the 360 is not prepared at all for it in terms of high storage (heck, not even LOW storage).

"You can call it damage control if you wish but the fact remains that digital distribution was and is MS's end gaol."

It wasn't. But it is NOW.

uie4rhig5906d ago

its just not possible to make DD the future if you are not including a hdd inside the console, how can people download anything without storage?

so i guess what MS is doing currently is damage control

MorganX5906d ago

Just one more and I'm done...

If one more MS exec issues a statement against Discs and Bluray in particular, I'm withdrawing my support. I'm going to forfeit all of the games, XBLA games, and movies I've purchased and sell my Xbox.

Microsoft is punishing the consumer to take the cheapest route to the highest profits while not delivering value to the consumer. Not supporting an HD device and advanced HD audio formats is just wrong. Their bottom line is bigger if they don't support Bluray so they're spewing this ridiculousness. Not integrating HD-DVD was their business decision to keep prices low, it worked at first, but now the tide is turning and they don't want to foot the bill. They'd rather convince the consumer getting screwed feels good and you don't really need to own your movies, and you don't need alternate endings and bonus material, etc. etc.

One more official executive statement like this and I'm done with the Xbox 360 platform Gears of War 2 or not.

They're like Hillary Clinton now, I'm just plain old tired of the lies, deceipt, and quest for money and power at the expense of the rest of us.

ravinash5906d ago

They rather say that they intended to back the losing format so that the market would be killed and they can screw over their customers in the process rather admit they back the wrong horse.
Its MS once again trying to dictate what the customer wants rather than supplying product that we really do want....same old tactics, removing the competition by any means possible.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5906d ago
Citizen Cook5907d ago

Is he suggesting that downloading will nfully take off within the next 1-2 years? How? If true, I want a 5 TB HDD M$! THEN i'll thRoW my blu-ray plaqyer in the bin!

HA HA HA HA!

leon765907d ago

Ahahahahahaha!! Do that you stupid noob, and then you will see the sh*t you done!!! Ahahahahahaha!!!!

Amanosenpai5907d ago (Edited 5907d ago )

Digital Distribution wont be real till good broad band providers cover every zone with a reasonable price...

I mean, DD will be great for the next gen systems ^_^, the 720, PS4, and the Nintendo (strange Japanese name here).

INehalemEXI5907d ago

Seems to me PS3 is more DD ready then any console. Allows for users to upgrade at there discretion.

If the future is DD why MS gimp the 360 by having a model with out an HDD? If all your content is DD better start putting out some HDD larger then 120 GB.

Kemicalbeliefs5907d ago

FFS can we stop with this Microsoft marketing campaign please? No matter what you try and tell me what to think, digital distribution is not high on my wanted list for the future. They may have prolonged the format war but they will not end up winners.

I want physical media that I control. I can watch, fall asleep on, wake next day, watch again, watch next week, watch in my PC, I'm not limited per machine, its not sh1tty 720p, its not filling up a hard drive that could potentially fail, its not limited to a specific source of where I have to buy it, its not price fixed, oh just its not DRM.

Just take your back pocket pay offs and talk to the mirror because we disc lovers are not interested.

Montrealien5907d ago

So you clearly think DD is not the way of the future, that is your opinion. that is all, not like what you just said is written in stone.

oh, and I really hope that tin foil hat is protecting you from the Microsoft conspiracy rays....disc lover., lol

MorganX5906d ago (Edited 5906d ago )

@ Montrealien

The issue isn't DD itself. Sure, DDs are great. But MS is saying, becasue DD is more profitable for us, we're refusing to give anyone choosing our platform Choice. We're forcing them to accept lower quality DDs today with the promise of maybe it'll get better to the exclusion of better quality alternatives that are here today (Bluray, 1080p, Dolby-TrueHD, Dolby-Master Audio).

It's almost a matter of principal. It's not in the interest of consumers to allow Microsoft to get away with this. Microsoft does not want to let the market choose, they want to dictate the market. And the only thing consumers can do to fight back, is to choose alternative platforms until MS listens and returns choice to the Xbox platform.

When I want to rent, I have downloaded many Live! movies and have bought several TV Shows and series. But when I wan to own a movie, I buy Bluray. Bluray's cost between 14.95 - 24.95. Those are good price points for the quality and will only get cheaper.

Furthermore, the Xbox fan is so loud, I don't rent anymore from Live! because the fan interrupts quiet passages. MS needs to release a silent fan upgrade or a new SKU with silent operation.

5907d ago Replies(3)
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180°

Metal Gear Solid 5, Nearly After A Decade, Is Still A Timeless Classic

The Metal Gear series, led by Kojima, pioneered the stealth genre, creating a masterclass in storytelling and gameplay.

SimpleSlave6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

No. But MGS5: Ground Zeroes might actually be one of the greatest Game Demo ever, if not the best.

xHeavYx5h ago

I know a lot of people didn't, but I actually liked that story twist at the end. The game was fun and all, but I wouldn't call it a timeless classic.

just_looken2h ago

A demo is free that was a $40 cry for help as later we would know konami did not want to fun hideo and his team anymore that is why we got the unfinished phantom pain.

-Foxtrot6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Meh

Great stealth gameplay but the game was just average.

Bland open world that felt lifeless, the story felt shoehorned in, unfinished story etc. The whole thing was just average to me compared to the other main titled games.

I would have rather preferred it if they kept Ground Zeroes for the main game as the opening and the rest of the game turns into a Metal Gear 1 & 2 remake to bring things full circle.

just_looken2h ago

If you dig around they had old behind trhe scenes of phantom pain vids and books wrote around the time.

Before funding was puled the main idea was to keep peace walker coop it was in the games early builds and that end game were your building your base that was suppose to be metal gear one.

You as the fake big boss was going to make your own metal gear one map aka your base (outer heaven) then me as sold snake use the mode that is in the game invade/defeat the base even fight your current version of metal gear that was in the game but not finished.

So your idea was on the table bit got canned.

CrimsonWing696h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Like hell it is. That was the first time I became aware of being sold an unfinished game and was blown away about blind fanboys saying it was some perfect game.

Yea, the first few chapters were great until they do that thing halfway and make you replay all the missions again. Then little things like capturing animals but only seeing a JPEG unlike 3 where everything was modeled out. Areas were massive, desolate, and boring to look at.

Game was a massive let down for me and the potential was so high for it. Honestly, this was one of the most disappointing games I ever played. What’s worse is it starts off brilliant. You literally play through until you get to the point where you could tell they just stopped developing and then quickly used glue and construction paper to “finish” it and then sold it. Quite frankly, that’s insulting to consumers and fans.

Inverno5h ago

People have selective memory. This game had huge drama attached to it, what Konami did to Kojima and this game was horrible. Now they praise Konami cause they revived Silent Hill, even though SH looks half arsed too.

CrimsonWing695h ago

I dunno if they’re getting much praise after the Silent Hill 2 debacle. Makes me scared sh*tless for the MGS 3 Remake…

JEECE6h ago

Yes and no. In many ways in was a great game; there's a very strong argument that it has the best gameplay of any MGS game, and that it is one of the more interesting open world "playgrounds" we have gotten, in terms of how the world operates. But as an MGS narrative, it is pretty far down the list, for many reasons.

Fishy Fingers5h ago

For me, best gameplay, worst, everything else.

Show all comments (20)
80°

How Valve has treated Team Fortress 2 is a disgrace, and its community deserves better

17 years on from release and 5 years into a botting epidemic, Team Fortress 2 is on its knees, and it's high time Valve stepped in to fix it.

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
badz14921h ago

Valve can do no wrong, remember?

fsfsxii18h ago

Ah yes, pc gaming aka the bastion of fairness and equity and everlasting online playerbase, all i can say is lmao
Not to mention that these tf2 idiots were the progenitor of mrx in gaming

110°

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - 20 Years of the Surprisingly Good Film Adaptation

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay debuted 20 years ago, and to this day is a surprisingly good film franchise adaptation.

porkChop1d 4h ago

I'd love a remaster of both games with 4K, raytracing, and the ability to have both AA and AO at the same time.

Petebloodyonion1d ago

Remasters were made for Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2009 Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena

porkChop14h ago

It was a remaster of the first game, plus a sequel. The sequel was never remastered though. In the PC version you couldn't even have AA and AO, you had to choose one or the other. You can't buy it anymore either on PC.

MrBaskerville1d 4h ago

MS owns the developer, if only they wanted to bother with the license, could be a nice addition to Series X BC program. These titles and Arx Fatalis.

Petebloodyonion1d ago

Microsoft does not own Starbreeze Studios; it is owned by Digital Bros through its subsidiary, 505 Games.
Tigon Studios, founded by Vin Diesel, primarily develops games featuring him and holds licenses related to these games.

ZwVw20h ago

You're thinking about MachineGames (Wolfenstein) which was formed by several ex Starbreeze staff after Assault on Dark Athena was released (whose owned by Zenimax/Bethesda), now owned by MS.

rlow11d 2h ago

Great games, wish they would make another.