Will the New Microsoft Xbox Have No Disc Drive?

For months, people speculated whether the next Microsoft Xbox will still make use of discs or get rid of them altogether. Recent reports speculate that the upcoming system will be a system with no optical disc drive of any kind. If that's the case, what would replace them?

MVCUK.com reports that a one of their sources says that Microsoft will swap out

the games discs used in the market for some sort of media cards. Cards? Do they mean SD cards or are they talking dedicated game cards like the Nintendo DS and 3DS?

This is quite different from the download-only approach many people expected the next batch of systems. If these cards this report is talking about are like the DS cards then it looks like retail store like GameStop and Best Buy will be fine. But if the cards are mainly just storage for downloadable games, a lot of stores won't be happy.

Microsoft releasing an Xbox with no disc drive will certainly impact the video game business, if what is reported is certainly true. Does anyone think Microsoft will actually do this the next system or is it too early?

Comments: 5

Jeff G. Mar 10, 2012, 7:15pm UTC

I dunno what to make of it. I want to be able to buy games for sure, but if I have to download them, which can take up a lot of bandwidth with people streaming tv and whatnot, it can fill up some caps set by the cable companies, like comcast without even really trying to. I hope there will be physical games in boxes, cause I know people like me like to show off their collection and keep their discs and boxes safely stored.

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Scott Flicker Mar 13, 2012, 4:10pm UTC

I really hate the little sd card type game like the nintendo handhelds. Those things are so easy to lose. I really like the downloadable games on the apple IOS devices along with many of the games you can download for PS3 or 360 or their respective sites. However if microsoft goes to a diskless system in the 8th gen console I would really miss buying used games from game stop.

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Fat Lester Mar 14, 2012, 7:05pm UTC

As long as it runs fast and the graphics are good, the disc is just an item that can be scratched, ruining your otherwise perfectly good game.

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Nick H. Mar 19, 2012, 11:11am UTC

I really don't see it happening. Cards don't hold enough data for a system of that power, and I don't think that people are ready for a download-only model. I know I get in trouble with our cable company any time there's a big Steam sale and a grab a bunch of stuff for my PC. Seems a generation too early in the consoles for this.

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Will the New Microsoft Xbox Have No Disc Drive?

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