Xbox One could have released without a disc drive

Microsoft's always-online, all-digital future that could have been, terrified a lot of people at E3. Turns out, that was a very realistic plan for Microsoft. Microsoft's Phil Spencer talked to OXM about the possibility of the Xbox One not having a disc drive.

"Obviously, after the announcement and E3, there was some feedback about what people wanted to change," he explained. "There was a real discussion about whether we should have an optical disc drive in Xbox One or if we could get away with a purely disc-less console, but when you start looking at bandwidth and game size, it does create issues.

"So we decided – which I think was the right decision – to go with the Blu-ray drive and give the people an easy way to install a lot of content. From some of those original thoughts, you saw a lot of us really focusing on the digital ecosystem you see on other devices – thinking of and building around that."

We can be thankful for Microsoft's famous 180, since discovering some of the huge install sizes for some of the launch games like Call of Duty Ghosts, neared 50GBs. 

Sony already tried their hand at an all-digital system with the PSPGo, opting to remove the UMD Drive completely. Of course the terrible sales of the PSPGo should have been an indicator that if people weren't willing to make the switch with something as small as a handheld, the console crowd might have an even harder time accepting it.