The document also includes details about a way for players to get a digital version of a game that they already own on a physical disc, which The Verge’s Tom Warren reported on in July. The document says that if a player puts an Xbox One or Series game on disc into an Xbox One or Series X console with a disc drive, they’ll be granted a digital license that’s bound to “that disc and the player’s account.” The license will stay with a player across Xbox devices, but if the disc “changes hands,” the license will transfer to the new person. That should mean that gamers can still trade and sell discs; once the original owner of a disc does so, they can’t play the digital version they got from that disc anymore.

What a fair and simple system. Sony, take notes!

We've slid so far that the Xbox One reveal with internet verification of every disc is now celebrated.

Damn, you're right. That frog has been thoroughly boiled.

Remember when they were trying to charge people $15 effectively to transfer a licence for second hand games? There was an uproar and they canned the idea.

I wonder how much they're gonna charge this time.

If they had done "Xbox games on PC" 20-25 years ago I would have found that reasonable. Microsoft can fuck off.

There was a time when, surprisingly, Microsoft created games for the Microsoft operating system. Good games, I might add.

Then some absolutely moronic motherfucker was like 'but what if we abandoned all of that in an attempt to make pc gamers buy another, shitter, locked-down pc?'. And they fucking ran with it.

If we haven’t already passed it, we are rapidly coming up on 10 years that Microsoft’s game releases have been for both Windows and Xbox Consoles.

Games For Windows Live

What would have happened is that you would have had a bad time lol, the rest of us sure did

I kind of remember that thing. Dark Souls original PC port used it for some reason.

I guess implicit in my "would have been reasonable" was a "and if Microsoft could make competent software"

But I think they're basically a walking corpse full of Business Idiot parasites, and maybe were back then, too.

Does that mean they're coming to Steam, or will they remain purchasable only through the Microsoft store? Because if it's not the former, they can fuck off.

Someone posted an article yesterday that suggests Microsoft is contemplating pulling out of Steam. Which seems odd, considering Steam is supposed to be on the next Xbox.

Kind of - the MS Store is, still, absolute garbage. When FH3 launched, I order it on the store since that was the only option. I had to uninstall and reinstall the name no less than two dozen times during it's lifecycle, because of bugs that would corrupt game files. Still, 10 years later, there are only some games that allow you to verify files. After buying 3, 4, and Halo Wars 2: never again.

Oh, and 4 won't launch for me now, for some reason. I remember it being a widespread issue with no official fix. 3 works, but pc multiplayer is broken, and they are aware but will not fix it. You can watch other players on the map, but cannot see or interact with them in the world. Total bs. For 4, they introduced a slew of bugs right before the steam launch, and never fixed them (many remain in 5 and 6, ffs), since 5 was less than a year from launch. And HW2 has/had an issue where it would play fine for ~20 minutes, lock up, and crash.

Quality programming, truly. It's not like the company that makes the operating system should be able to make software for that operating system. That's so silly. Meanwhile games from the 90s and early 00s that were developed by Microsoft still work well, some 30+ years later.

Bonkers.

Eh, losers. If Xbox disappear tomorrow, the only game I'd miss is Ninja Gaiden II. Fuck'em.

Has there even been an Xbox exclusive that wasn't also on PC since the middle of the 360 era?

It's brilliant - all the fun of owning your own physical copy but with new and exciting extra verification steps.

Claiming the store releases are usable PC releases and any customer ought to be subjected to them... eh.

I mean the idea is kinda cool, I give them that. But the technical implementation is so shitty, it actively makes buying a game that is on sale on MS Store but not on Steam on Steam instead of MS Store a good value proposition. For one, your savegames don't need an external tool to decrypt like wtf MS?!

Street Fighter x Tekken on PC. 'nuff said.

yeah but does no one recall "The Internet Gaming Zone"? sure they made good games but if you wanted to play those games online with ease on PC then hope your PC came with IE or you had a decent modem to then download IE if your PC only came with Netscape.

One of the first decent PCs my parents bought in like '97 only came with Netscape. it was shortly after the time when the US Government said Microsoft can't force every Windows Install to include IE. so some PC makers decided to go with Netscape instead. IE was a big download for the time too so imagine trying to download that on a 28.8 modem. took all day just to play X-wing Vs Tie Fighter or Age of Empires online because unless you knew the IP of the person you wanted to play and they knew yours you weren't playing online.

So yes Microsoft has made good games for Windows but they've always been shitty about it.

I knew about the 'gaming zone' but at the time I played multiplayer across serial (shoutout to radioshack having everything I needed). A few years later when we got broadband, I just used direct IP. Still working today, no hassle other than either port forwarding or setting a vpn between machines. Will take direct IP every time over Live or other services that will eventually die (hello Gamespy; at least I can use a hex editor to use 3rd party GS servers).