Apple announced this week that the high-end Mac Book Pro will no longer be equipped with an optical disc drive. This move by Apple may start a trend that continues into the game console market. Prior to this, early reports about Microsoft's successor to the Xbox 360 foreshadowed that the newer console's disc drive will be omitted. Although I personally do not believe this will happen, these rumors do fall in line with the industry's desire to see the used game market cease to exist.  

While I do not currently support the idea of eliminating disc drives from game systems (or computers for that matter) it may some day inevitably happen. Here are some ideas for what manufacturers can do to make a disc drive free video game console a success:

-= It has to have a large on board hard drive. I'm thing a terabyte or two.

-=If all of our games are now digital, allow us to put them on external hard drives for long-term storage.

-=Continue to sell games in retail stores on flash drives. This will allow people not connected to the Internet to continue to buy games. It will also keep retail outlets relevant  and will help make sure as little jobs as possible are lost at the retail end. Besides, think of the good conversations we've all had at the video game store and the networking that occurs there daily. It would be a shame to lose this.

-=Ensure that once a game has been purchased that it can be downloaded again without any hassles or penalties. Keep games on the servers for 5 years after they are released, and notify people 30 days before they are removed so that they can download them one last time if desired. 

-=Allow people to "loan" games to their friends. I'm not sure how the logistics would work, but there are a lot of smart people at Microsoft and Sony that can figure it out. If all else fails, I'm sure there's some form of sorcery that can be applied to accomplish this.

-=Lower the price of games. When I buy a game, I pay $60. I play it, finish it and then right away either trade it in or sell it on eBay. I get around $30 for them on average. Taking the resale into consideration, I pay a net of $30 a game; half price. That is the price point I feel download only games in the future should be at. The money that manufacturers save on discs, packaging and distribution should be passed onto the consumers. This is especially true if purchasers cannot resell the game or trade it in.

While the negatives of a disc free system are obvious, there are some benefits if it were to be implemented. With no disc drive, video game systems should run cooler. In theory then, they should last longer than the current generation of consoles. At last count, I believe I was on my third Xbox 360.

 I am in no way advocating that console makers ditch disc drives for the next generation of systems. If, however, they did with the suggestions I have outlined, I may be able to get behind the idea.