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| Electronic Entertainment Expo, picture from: Google Image |
Electronic
Entertainment Expo, E3, is rapidly approaching and as it does rumors as always
flow through the Internet. One
current debate filling forums and chats is that of consoles making more
restrictions for online content and gaming. Rumors once again take the gaming community by storm.
For Xbox 360 and
Playstation 3 many games they have are limited to single player content unless
you are willing to pay an additional fee for more content or an online
membership. This is how things have worked for a very long time and now people
are talking, as they do every year before E3.
One thing
Microsoft plans to change with its newest Xbox features is the online content
it broadcasts. Jason Andrews for
thisisxbox.com, discusses in his most recent article how the Xbox’s newest
component will have a more entertainment focus, which includes television,
music, online browsing, social media.
This implementation will potentially cut the content given with online
games. I personally don’t enjoy
reading this, because I believe consoles were made for playing games; including
other features to consoles is great but it should definitely not be substituted
instead of gaming content.
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| E3 rumors over decreased used game market, image from: gearfuse.com |
Similarly on
cnet.com Jeff Bakalar explains that console developers are trying to make a
shift to change the market of buying used games and hopefully stopping
instances of piracy. Bakalar says
developers want to create new technology that tries to get consumers to only buy
a game they are willing to keep.
The games will be created to limit uses to one user and sold and bought
used the new owner must pay an additional fee to get the entire game unlocked,
once again presenting content limitations and allowing the companies to profit
more.
Eddie Makuch,
Gamespot’s news editor, discusses the rumor about Playstation’s new console,
Orbis, features in his recent article, on gamespot.com:
Gamers will be free to trade in Orbis
games, but the person who purchases a secondhand disc will be restricted to a
limited trial mode or "some other form of content restriction." These
gamers will be forced to pay a fee to unlock the full title, according to the
source.
Users have also
hypothesized online only discs as well as a complete change over to digital
game markets for console-based entertainment.
As I said in a previous
post, many pay-to-play online games are looking at giving free access for
limited content. So will this
change with console games disrupt online communities? Will it potentially send users scavenging to find similar
online game content pushing online gaming solely to computer access?
Regardless of
what is to come with game consoles, online gaming will not be the same. And for me I say let Microsoft and Sony
screw things up with loyal consumers, I’m a Nintendo fan anyway.
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