Last week I read a post by Nick on TNW about the possibility of next gen Playstation and Xbox blocking used games. As console makers make a push to move towards an App Store like model where a user buys a game in digital and keeps it to his / her own devices, Nick’s argument of the entire industry getting affected is strong. However, there is plenty to hate in the current console business too. Console makers work on a Gillette like model where games are overpriced to make margins that the hardware cannot. That in itself stinks, given the App Store model where the cost of owning a game has gone down.
For once, I would even accept that. Games for consoles are expensive, let’s live with it. Fine. So here is my first experience buying an Xbox 360 in 2010. During my UK visit, I bought a Xbox 360 with Kinect and a bunch of new / used games along with it. Pretty happy to have gotten some great deals on Xbox games, I got back home and hurried to setup the same. While booting a game, I moved the console from horizontal to vertical position and ended up with a laser burn on my disc. This wasn’t an immediate cause of worry, until I walked into the HMV store only to be told that the damaged disc cannot be replaced and I need to buy a new one. That’s when the reality of the console business started to sink in.
I believed that when buying a software I am buying a license to the software. Even if I lose the physical copy, I own the IP at least. But that isn’t the case when it comes to the entertainment industry. It is a system that is focused on making money for the love and emotional connect a user would have with a given experience. I would argue that is sucks more than the carrier lock situation in US, but the bigger worry remains w.r.t the future. Will the greed of the entertainment industry stop them from making the right choices when re–inventing the next generation of PlayStation and Xbox?
