Insert Quarter: Should Microsoft Have Gotten Rid of Retail Discs on the Xbox One?

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

We’re three years into the latest console generation, and retail game discs seem to be becoming less and less important every day. While it was a nice surprise to learn that No Man’s Sky would receive a retail release, something like The Witness is still trapped within the walled garden of the PlayStation Store. But maybe that’s not so bad?

Paul Tassi of Forbes argues that Microsoft was wrong to give up their original plan for the Xbox One, which would rendered a game disc as little more than a shiny coaster that proved you owned the rights to an otherwise completely digital title. Microsoft eventually flip-flopped on this position, but should they have?

Yesterday, I got my hard copy of The Division. Two and a half hours after putting the disc in, I was playing the game.

With discs taking almost as long to install as digital downloads, taking up just as much hard drive space, and being much more inconvenient to acquire, I just don’t see the point anymore. In short, I’m Microsoft in 2013.

The full article is available for your perusal at Forbes.

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John Scalzo is Warp Zoned's Editor-In-Chief and resident retro gaming expert. You can email him at john AT warpzoned DOT com.