In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week's WUR was a user submitted question that really made us think, especially coming back from our local gaming store. At 1,200 MS points a pop, the Xbox Originals platform seems like a steep entry into the "classic" prev-gen titles. While many of the games can be found for a lot less than their digital counterpart, some of the recent additions are going to a premium price if they can be found. What we hear from the community is that the pricing structure of the XBO program is out of wack for the most part.
This week we want you to forget about the price in the equation and consider the content only. How important is physical media to you in the wake of the increasingly digital age? Do you prefer to stack your games to line your room like a protective castle wall, or are you fed up with hard copies of the game and wish you could get everything digitally? Let's pretend we're made of money this week, if only for a moment, and ask yourself when it comes to those Xbox Originals...
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... click here to download those results!
Last week's WUR was a tight one but 53.7% of our readers decided that they'd rather participate in a beta or at least try a games multiplayer experience rather than the standard single-player. It looks like this online thing is kinda working out for Microsoft after all. Well, them and the 10 million people who subscribe to Xbox Live that is.
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
4-03-2008 @ 12:38AM
larrydoomhammer said...
So what happens if your xbox breaks and you get it swapped out? That's right, there goes your game unless you're online 24/7.
A lot of people should know about the problem that's going on with arcade downloads. Only being able to play the trial version offline....
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4-03-2008 @ 12:59AM
Bennyishere said...
If I COULD, I would buy it in stores, but none of the stores I can find (that I don't have to make hotel arrangements to get to) have any old Xbox games.
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4-03-2008 @ 2:29AM
TurboJezus said...
It's probably been said, but I buy hard copies of games because I get the game, it doesn't waste valuable hard drive space, I get the joy of reading a manual, and it's probably a lot cheaper than the straight price of $15. Not to mention Xbox Live will only put out what it wants to put out, while if you buy hard copies you can get anything you want. The only reason to complain is the fact that some Xbox titles still aren't backwards compatible. Seriously, why can I STILL not play Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance...get on the ball Microsoft...
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4-03-2008 @ 2:48AM
Pete Bones said...
While the disc games are undoubtedly cheaper, I had a fairly bad experience with them. I bought Fable for £7 from a local game shop, only to find it was seriously jerky and choppy, which was a shame considering how much I liked this game first time round. I decided to try the Xbox originals one, and low and behold, full frame rate. So at least the digital ones have this to say about them: You know they will certainly work at full speed, and will have have been tested alot more thoroughly.
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4-03-2008 @ 4:25AM
mattclarkie said...
I'd check the disc, probably scratched or faulty.
MS admit they are just a ripped disc image, and aren't guaranteed to be perfect, if the physical copy has an issue, the digital copy will to as they are sold as is.
Most of the downloads have a message such as "distortion at some points" or "Sound maybe lost for brief periods". I really don't know how MS can actually sell them at a premium and then say it won't be as good as playing the original on the Xbox.
4-03-2008 @ 4:22AM
mattclarkie said...
I generally always take my discs out of the console before I turn it off, and opening a case, disc tray, and walking 2ft doesn't really affect me, in fact if I didn't have to put the disc in I wouldn't get any exercise.
I generally use the loading time to pop to the bog, or just plug in my mic and turn-up the volume on the TV.
People forget that especially once an HDD gets lots of large files it also becomes slow, although not as slow as DVD-ROM, and as many games now have un-skippable splash screens, Crackdown anybody, a digital version wouldn't be any faster to load.
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4-03-2008 @ 5:21AM
Aero said...
If I had a 120GB HDD I'd be all over Xbox Originals but since I don't I'm sticking with physical discs.
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4-03-2008 @ 7:38AM
eXciter1 said...
Many people already own these games. The 360 should be smart enough to recognize the game on your disc. Why not allow us to download the game to the hard disc for free, especially if we already own the physical copy?
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4-03-2008 @ 9:24AM
Gemini Ace said...
It's a different type of media, therefore a different license. Just like you have to re-buy a movie on HD-DVD (or Blu-Ray) even though you already own the DVD. It's evil and it sucks, but that's how they roll.
4-03-2008 @ 8:08AM
SadisticHam said...
I'd be happy for digital downloads if they sorted out the price, currently it's a rip off.
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4-03-2008 @ 9:15AM
Gemini Ace said...
Bottom line: the price would be justified for the Originals if they added current-gen features like achievements and online multiplayer (Halo CE).
Also, with the RROD still lingering above many heads, what happens to the ones you've downloaded after you get your new 360 back from repair? That's a big deal. Not a problem with discs.
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4-03-2008 @ 9:23AM
DeadPixel said...
i would much rather buy the physical disks, since im an early adopter and have only the 20gb hdd
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4-03-2008 @ 9:43AM
joey said...
Maybe when I moved to middle of a desert, I'll consider downloading. My Gamestop has a bigger library of games. Plus I'm running out of space on my hard drive as is.
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4-03-2008 @ 9:52AM
Geesus said...
Just bought Phsychonauts and Sid Meier's Pirates for $10 at a blockbuster. Cheaper than 1 game from the download service. I do think that having the game on your hard drive is nice though...no need to get up from the couch to switch the disc out.
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4-03-2008 @ 10:15AM
Eddy said...
I'm done with physical media. I find myself playing arcade games because I don't have to switch disks. Plus I'm running out of room keeping all these disks. Currently download is not better but with the suggestions given in this forum here (faster speed, larger storage capacity, ease of transfer, and competitive cost) it would be the optimal method.
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4-03-2008 @ 10:37AM
The Mighty Ant said...
I would just like to see consoles reach the same level as a PC for gaming where you can get the whole game via digital download or insert a disc ONCE to write it to the harddrive. If this were the case I would find it worthwhile to buy a larger harddrive for $200 or even more.
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4-03-2008 @ 10:50AM
Vcize said...
Hmmm...pay $15 for a digital copy with no resale value that takes up precious space on our teensy 20gb hard drives, or pay half as much (actually I nabbed Fable for 6 bucks at Gamestop) for a disc based version that takes up no space and can be resold for the same price I paid for it?
Yeah, tough call.
Seriously, I'm all for downloadable games and not having to swap the disc but they should be cheaper than the retail version, not more expensive and certainly not much more expensive.
MS really missed the boat by not adding achievement points here, even if it was only 200 per game like the XBLA.
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4-03-2008 @ 10:56AM
Pasha said...
As much as i like having the Physical disk, buying a used game will only benefit GameStop, and the developers see nothing.
At least with digital distribution, i am assuming they get some royalties.
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4-03-2008 @ 11:12AM
Deck said...
I am all for having physical discs. Downloading is nice but I really refer having a collection that I can display. I am the same way about my movies and books. So yes, please continue to make games on media so I can really feel like I have a "collection".
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4-03-2008 @ 11:17AM
Darryl Smigelski said...
Though yes it is pricey to download the game when you can get the physical copy cheaper, I am a neat freak and I prefer less clutter. I don't stockpile my current-gen games. About every 6 months I look through the collection of what I have bought or traded for and decide what games I still play and what I don't. The ones that I don't play anymore I try to sell on E-Bay or trade in for something new. I rarely carry more than 5 or 6 games at a time. I like my space clean and the original cases would just take up space, so I do prefer the downloaded games.
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