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Microsoft Ready for Full 360 Downloads?

Molyneux risks everything by saying nothing.

Is Microsoft or GameStop going to kill Peter Molyneux...to death? Probably not, but if the man behind Fable II is implying that Microsoft is getting ready to distribute full Xbox 360 titles over Xbox Live, well, his blood is not on my hands...that's all I'm saying.

Warning: Always Kill to Death.
Warning: Always Kill to Death.
In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Molyneux stated that a digital release of Fable II "would be a great thing for this studio work on." Ok, sure, not so crazy. Fable III would also be a great thing for Lionhead Studios to work on. When further asked if any plans were in place to actually make Fable II available for download, Molyneux coyly responded:
I can't say anything else on it - I would be killed to death
Killed to death! That's worse than being killed to working on the Zune! This is definitely the stuff of speculation, but is it really that far-fetched? Microsoft already lets you download original Xbox games. You can also now install your 360 games entirely to your hard drive. It seems to me like Peter is a poor keeper of poor secrets.

So I leave it to you. Are you ready to pre-load Street Fighter IV and put an end to pre-orders and launch day shenanigans? Is the technology not there for this to work out happily for everyone? Give me shrink-wrap or give me killed to death?
Vinny Caravella on Google+

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vinny

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Edited By vinny

Is Microsoft or GameStop going to kill Peter Molyneux...to death? Probably not, but if the man behind Fable II is implying that Microsoft is getting ready to distribute full Xbox 360 titles over Xbox Live, well, his blood is not on my hands...that's all I'm saying.

Warning: Always Kill to Death.
Warning: Always Kill to Death.
In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Molyneux stated that a digital release of Fable II "would be a great thing for this studio work on." Ok, sure, not so crazy. Fable III would also be a great thing for Lionhead Studios to work on. When further asked if any plans were in place to actually make Fable II available for download, Molyneux coyly responded:
I can't say anything else on it - I would be killed to death
Killed to death! That's worse than being killed to working on the Zune! This is definitely the stuff of speculation, but is it really that far-fetched? Microsoft already lets you download original Xbox games. You can also now install your 360 games entirely to your hard drive. It seems to me like Peter is a poor keeper of poor secrets.

So I leave it to you. Are you ready to pre-load Street Fighter IV and put an end to pre-orders and launch day shenanigans? Is the technology not there for this to work out happily for everyone? Give me shrink-wrap or give me killed to death?
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Weesh

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Edited By Weesh

Sounds like a plan.

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Thrawn1

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Edited By Thrawn1

i really hope this doesn't happen for a while, i'll have to go buy a bigger hard drive.

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Arkthemaniac

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Edited By Arkthemaniac

People without the Elite are screwed on this prospect.

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GalvanizedNails

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Edited By GalvanizedNails

I would definitely need to pick up a bigger hard drive if this happened. I seriously don't think the world is ready for it. Next generation of consoles maybe, but the time just doesnt seem right to do something this big.

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toadstule

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Edited By toadstule

I still will prefer buying the actual game disk. It's nice to physically have the game in your hands.

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MrRedwine

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Edited By MrRedwine

FANTASTIC IDEA!

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LiquidPrince

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Edited By LiquidPrince

I will never download games... For a console... I want a physical disc.

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Psynapse

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Edited By Psynapse

Wow... That would be some pretty awesome stuff... If Microsoft released a 1TB HDD, then i might think about it... Until then i'll have my domino set of 360 games sitting on my shelf...

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deaux

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Edited By deaux

They certainly want that for the next console, so why not start now?

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

Lame..the tech is not good enough yet

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logson

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Edited By logson

Maybe he meant hugged to death, and he really reeeeaaaallly doesn't like hugs.

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Daveyo520

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Edited By Daveyo520

I think it would be great for Microsoft to do this. I love getting my PC games on Steam and getting games over XBL would be pretty cool too.

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TaintedSun

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Edited By TaintedSun

Downloading games to my PC is great cause I have 2tbs, but eh, the size of my 360 harddrive, it's not possible.

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Brym

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Edited By Brym

SIgn me up.  I already buy every game for the PC I can on Steam.  I would do the same thing with LIve if I could get all my games there.

No need to worry about a lost or scratched disc.  You can re-download stuff that you've deleted.  And best of all, no need to swap discs in a drive.

There are seriously times where I'll play an XBLA game rather than a retail release because I'm too lazy to get off my couch and put the disc in.

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Sephiroth9997

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Edited By Sephiroth9997

I remember the last time i was killed; wasn't pretty.  Thankfully it wasn't to death.

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Player1

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Edited By Player1

This is a great idea. Hope it is put into action soon.

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wefwefasdf

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Edited By wefwefasdf

I like my discs. Installing games to HDD for speed increase, I like. Full download? Not sure.

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TwoOneFive

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Edited By TwoOneFive

PlayStation3 already does this so why not?

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ILOVETHEENOT

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Edited By ILOVETHEENOT

eh, me personally wouldn't be into it, I like having the actual disk around, so this would be a no for me

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Rio

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Edited By Rio

Peter always cracks me up, love that guy (and his games).

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Nintendude

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Edited By Nintendude

Buying a download for something I can get on a disc doesn't sound too appealing, I'd need to have a discount of around 25% to make it worth it. Oh and I have too small HD also...

I'm glad he wasn't killed to death the last time, don't know him but I'm pretty sure of it anyway.

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Rowr

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Edited By Rowr

We are totally already there, this isnt a big step at all. Im already playing games off my hard drive with the cd in the tray.

I see no good reason this cant happen.

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Branthog

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Edited By Branthog

.

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daniel_beck_90

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Edited By daniel_beck_90

This does not surprise me a bit , Online gaming and downloads are now a major part of the industry

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Bear

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Edited By Bear

It only seems like the next logical step. I mean, they have already done everything else that would make my 20GB hard drive feel inadequate.

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Det1

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Edited By Det1

ITS LIKE IM REALLY USING STEAM ON A CONSOLE
seriously though, that's some awesome news.

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John1912

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Edited By John1912

Well, MS DID NOT PREP, nor did Sony, this gen, so HD space is an issue, it should go there at some point, but not this gen.  Too much too soon, for eveyone imo.  Either way go for it, but im guessing ill still run to the EB games 4 blocks from my house and buy a disk.  Otherwise I have 8 places at least within 5 miles. I also live in Mn, sure I live in the city, but still.

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The_Dude_Abides

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Edited By The_Dude_Abides

Only incentive to buy download, for me personally, is if they pass the savings on. Otherwise, i'll always want something i can touch and hold and feel and...................ya.

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chronicsmoke

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Edited By chronicsmoke

meh...i want the physical copy,the only games ill download are arcade games

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Branthog

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Edited By Branthog

.

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deactivated-58efb53e06a03

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This is the same guy who told me I would cry at the end of Fable 2.

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XaiaX

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Edited By XaiaX

Well, beyond the simple "nice to own a physical object that I CAN SELL OFF OR GIVE AWAY OR LOAN", there's the simple matter of on of my current primary sources for games: GameFly.

Digital only == no rentals == gaming market shrinks massively.

Places like BlockBuster and other rental outlets buy tens or hundreds of thousands of copies of big games.  There goes a huge revenue stream. Without the ability to rent, some people simply won't buy the console. There goes some significant part of your market that would previously have rented many and bought some games, and then would simply buy and rent nothing.

Game studios need to learn from movie studios in this regard, embrace the rental market. Interestingly, digital distribution makes this easier. We already have the whole access control built into arcade games on XBLA. It's a minor technical hurdle to turn that into a timed property. Poof, you pay 500 points to rent Dead Space 2 for a week. Better yet, you pay 30$ a month like GameFly or Netflix or whatever, and you can just download whatever you want and play that, and the devs get paid based on proportion of play time. We no longer have to go to the rental store or wait in the mail, we don't have to worry about "not really owning" the games, they make a crapload of money, they're more likely to make more games, people will be significantly less risk averse in a free for all rental environment allowing more experimental games to be noticed and played, and they get realtime data on who's playing what and how, so they better know what we want and how to make it.

Win/win/win/win/etc.

And then you have the option to buy the collector's disc or whatever, if you want extra loots and crap, or just want to not bother renting.

Please steal my ideas, gaming industry, I'll make more!

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AlexDP

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Edited By AlexDP

jeez... why does vinny always have to be so lame? *slowly shakes head*

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lamegame621

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Edited By lamegame621

I'll start downloading Xbox 360 games when they lower their damn HDD prices to something...i dunno... BELOW 200% profit.

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Axion

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Edited By Axion

Some people are always going to want a physical copy, but this is just the other end of Microsoft's plan to make Blu-Ray obselete.

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Kazona

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Edited By Kazona

If I can get a HDD for an actual reasonable price, then I'd be interested.

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TomA

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Edited By TomA

Ya well digital games can't get scratched.So i would happily go to digital downloads.Steam is awesome so Xbox live should be like Steam,so should everything else cause Steam is awesome.

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ep_driver

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Edited By ep_driver

Could lower prirces by cutting out a lot of costs. I'm down with it!

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digital_sin

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Edited By digital_sin

I can't imagine having to download 7GBs over my 3Mbit DSL for every game, I think the world is not ready yet for downloadable Xbox360 games.

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Lilarcor

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Edited By Lilarcor

Man, if that were true I'd definitely need to buy a bigger hard drive. As it is I only have space for one installed game at a time.

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Gio5py

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Edited By Gio5py

This will never work in Australia because of our crappy broadband and bandwidth. 12 GB a month is NOT enough!

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brukaoru

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Edited By brukaoru

Prefer physical media. Will be a sad day if games go 100% DLC only. :( Also, hard drive space would be consumed even more quickly.

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MrKlorox

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Edited By MrKlorox

Ack! It's about time, but I gotta get me a 120gb stat!

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Callumrides

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Edited By Callumrides

no to keen on the idea so soon because i like the box and reading the manual so on digital download i wouldnt get either of the 2 i like in the way i like it

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muesli

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Edited By muesli

i'm all for downloadable games, as long as that's optional / additional. i, personally, would always buy the boxed disc, tho. i just like to hold the box in my hand and browse my collection. anyone remembers the time when you bought a game and it actually came with a poster, a map and a proper manual... in a proper carton box?


also, you can't just lend a digital copy of a game to a friend. i often finish single player games and then hand them over to a friend so they can play them too.

the best solution would be: let me buy and download games online, but when i do, also send me the boxed version via mail please. but i guess that will never happen. otherwise i could play it from my hdd and sell the boxed version again. oh well.

...muesli
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MaddProdigy

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Edited By MaddProdigy

They've got too much other stuff goin on, this wouldn't happen for a long time if it was going to

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MasterTom

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Edited By MasterTom

I'm all for it! I'm not that materialistic... disc or not... I just want to game.

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ZenaxPure

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Edited By ZenaxPure

This will not work at all, seriously. I have an Elite 360 but from the XBLA games I have already downloaded + 2 games installed I am already down under 80 gig. If I were to install the rest of my games I would be completely out of space. Give me a few TB harddrive and I will think about it.

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Snail

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Edited By Snail