The Xbox 720 has recently received some pretty major rumors from sources who have direct knowledge of the project and now a response has surfaced from one of the major retailers that will ultimately be affected by a ban on used gaming, GAME.
According to a report from VideoGamer on Friday, GAME has responded to the rumors regarding an Xbox 720 ban on used gaming by saying they are "constantly evolving" its business model and that the company will "continue to provide a relevant and leading proposition [for consumers]."
The representative was asked directly about how an implementation of banned used gaming would affect GAME's business, they said they don't "yet know what the next generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft will deliver, [but it's] very excited to hear more information as soon as it is announced."
"We are constantly evolving our business, and will continue to provide a relevant and leading proposition for the UK gaming community," GAME said.
So really, until this new becomes official, GAME has doesn't seem like its prepared itself for what it will do next, although everyone can bet the company does have various models and changes in place for when it does happen.
The report that prompted all of this said the Xbox 720 will have to have an Internet connection for it to work, which doesn't bode well for used-gaming. Most games seem like they will be purchased through the system.
The new version of the Xbox Live program will be a crucial part to the next Xbox, and the Xbox 720 will also be shipped with an upgraded version of Kinect.
Sources who have first-hand knowledge of this project are the ones to confirm the information above.
They went on to say the Xbox 720 will be dedicated to online gaming, even though its content will still be sold in a physical form. It just sounds like retail sales will be of a lesser emphasis.
Those physical games will be made on 50GB Blu-Ray discs.
For those who do end up buying physical copies of games, they will come with activation codes, and without those codes they will have no further value outside of the first user.
So it's essentially one code per game and that's it for the unit. It doesn't seem like gamers will be able to buy second-hand copies and then pay a lower price for another code.
This not only will hurt the retail aspect of the companies who sell those physical copies, but GameStop may be all but finished as well.
All of this is certainly some sobering information, but what do you make of it all?
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