Microsoft Tries to Clear Up Xbox One's New Policies

2013: The year of the Xbox 360...

1. DRM Stink.

2. Softy can say that your privacy is sacrosanct with Kinect. However, the NSA can override anything they say thanks to the Patriot Act & commandeer those video sources. Just look at the latest Verizon debacle. The NSA can do the same to Microsoft & look at whatever feed they want carte blanche.

What?! You mean, these multi-billion dollar corporations aren't here solely to make sure I'm having an amazing time with a complete disregard for their own sustainability? You mean employees aren't aren't paid in hugs and good intentions?

Also ironically people who are complaining about Microsoft only caring about money are up in arms because they won't be able to save their own money by buying games used.

I'm not saying these are all amazing changes, but people need to get a grip cause it's not the end of the world. Also some hard truths: if you can't afford to buy at least one new game each month because of your financial situation, then maybe playing video games isn't the proper hobby for you. I am always shocked by people stating how they can't afford this $10 game this month because they're "broke" but they will definitely pick it up down the road. It must be pretty goddamn rough to not have a spare $10 to your name.

Now I'm curious about the pricing on XBL for the future. There's no way in hell it's going to be $50 a year any more with all these new features.

As badly as Microsoft has dealt with the messaging up to now, none of these is a show stopper for me.

Whats great about all the anti-MS post all over the net is that Sony is going to be forced into something if not exactly the same then very similar by the third party publishers regarding used games . Not saying its all right, but if you don't like it that much speak with your wallet,They got rid of online passes , now we know why.

To all who are wondering, this is the future of video games. If Sony goes "drm free," every last publisher in the world will tell Sony to fuck off. Sony doesn't get the software exclusives, they will not sell hardware. Period. 99% of all the people bitching on here will by the console based on which games come out for it, all other considerations be damned.

And for everyone confused about the "greed" and "these people only care about money/themselves," welcome to the human race, a species exclusively dedicated to self service above anything else. Always has been this way, always will be this way.

You are right my good man, I honestly missed that 4-day stretch over the course of the last 12 years of gaming. I guess my point was just an attempt to suggest that angst over always online is perhaps a little overblown given that there is a 24-hour window for error and the practical application of that window for error in real life circumstances is actually quite liberal, especially considering the additional flexibility such cloud authentication affords.

@skytylz: Money is exchanging hands with people who are not even related to the publisher/developer. Yes, the initial buy goes towards them but every sell after that of that one copy is free money for a used game store.

Ive been a loyal 360 owner since launch but im out, im sorry but we are losing too much for zero gain, im moving house in a few months and it can take days to get the broadband installed after moving and under this kind of regime i would not be able to play anything including single player games because i wouldnt be able to connect. I dont know how much mobile phone contracts are in the US but in the UK tethering your games console to a mobile phone would cost a fortune even just for a few seconds.

If Sony launch without this im switching to a PS4, what have i got to lose? My Gamerscore? Since Microsoft have prevented us from moving my xbox live arcade stuff over they have taken away the only thing i actually care about so yeah, good job!

As someone who rents roughly 80% of the games I play, none of this is exactly filling me with confidence. If I could only have access to games I can afford to buy at full retail price I would of missed out on so many great games this gen. I guess my only consolation is ill be saving £10 a month after I cancel my Lovefilm subscription.

I can say that I've personally been way more annoyed by people complaining about DRM than dealing with DRM in games I've purchased.

I am more of a Sony man myself anyway but I am not opposed to picking up the XBOX later on.

Ultimately it comes down to games for me, I am fortunate enough to have a very good Fibre Optic internet supply and only every buy new games so rather selfishly I am not worried about most of these isues.

The big issue for me will be if they continue to treat gamers in the way they have over the last 2-3 years with a real lack of new exclusive games. It will take more that FORZA and Gears of War to tempt me this time around - I want new games M$ - YOU HEAR ME!!!!!

I find it hard to believe that all the people on here stating they wont buy it will still ignore it if a shit load on awesome new exclusives get released.

The ability to shut down renting, lending or used game sales won't mean dick to publishers compared to reach. Microsoft has just shut a third of Americans out of it's possible install base. Doesn't seem smart to me.

With the NSA PRISM stuff that's been happening (which Microsoft was the first company to sign on with), why should I trust them that Kinect can be turned off?

The more I hear about these new consoles, the more I think fuck it, I'm getting a gaming PC. When did we allow the games industry to become so consumer hostile?

Much ado about nothing as far as I'm concerned. PS4 is going to have the exact same DRM policy, but maybe not as robust, as I doubt Sony has the knowledge/infrastructure/financial resources to set up server farms as deep as MS is doing to allow the remote play option at a friends house with verification. Make no mistake, the big third-party publishers won't allow Sony NOT to do the same thing; otherwise they'll go exclusive on One.

The 24 hour internet check is a big deal for me. When I moved house last year, I had no internet for a month but at least I had my PS3 to keep me entertained. Also the bit in the press release where it says no lending or renting at launch is a bummer. There are so may underrated gems this generation I wouldn't of played if I didn't get a lend of them or rent them through Lovefilm. Asura's Wrath, Yakuza 4, Enslaved and Singularity are all games I either got a lend of or rented and I loved all of them for different reasons. My friends and my cousin for years have had a pact of lending each other games. My mate Dave recently just got a PS3 and I lent him my copy of Mirror's Edge and RDR and now he is always asking me if they have a sequel because he would buy that. I'm 100% certain that if Mirror's Edge 2 is announced at E3 that Dave will be super hype for it and will buy it when it comes out. I will admit lending or renting games may affect initial sales but in the case of my friend being late to this generation he is catching up on games that he will be there day one for the sequel

Sounds like typical Microsoft to me - system specs say a broadband connection is required, therefore, anyone who buys an Xbone *must* have a broadband connection, because they wouldn't have bought it if they didn't. (holds tea and no tea)

I don't get this. Not saying you are wrong, just saying... maybe I'm a different type of consumer?

The 24 hour authentication sucks in theory, I agree. In reality, I won't ever notice because my connection hasn't been down for more than a few hours since like 10 years. Not being able to lend or borrow games doesn't affect me because I only borrow/lend games with two people. Seems like flagging them as family will not only solve that issue, but even make it better. I can play co-op with them with just 1 copy of the game.

I think everyone might be a tad too negative? This basically says: partner up with one of your friends because you can share your games and not only that, you can play them together with just one copy.

To me, how I use videogames today, that sounds super fucking awesome. One of my friends doesn't have a ton of money to throw around and if I flag her as family, we can still play a lot of games together.

@aaronindhouse: Ubisoft tried always online DRM for Assassin's Creed on PC, so it wouldn't surprise me if they backed this.

Ten family members!? Yo people have some big families out there.

They toss the ball to publishers. So now they are able to tell, "We allowed renting, they did not". I find it hard to believe that publishers can let their games traded without any dough flowing in to their pockets.

If they ever get caught with the Kinect is actually spying on you constantly whatever settings you choose, well that is the last straw for me.

Yes. Plus, since they sync the disk-based game to there server to play (you can't even play from the disk - You have to install the disk to the console) then they will add that disk-based game to your digital library. This means that if you bought a game on disk, as soon as you install it, all of your 'shared family library' members gain access to the game digitally.

That is what they mean when they say: "While a persistent connection is not required, Xbox One is designed to verify if system, application or game updates are needed and to see if you have acquired new games...". They are checking to see if, in the time since the previous sync, you have installed a new disk based game (So they can add it to your digital library, enabling you to gain access to it in your account on any Xbox One console and enabling everyone in your 'shared family library' to also gain access to the game).

A couple things seem off to me about this and it remains to be how practical this will be in practice (such as download times and how much it invades use of the console - such as the possibility a pop-up message appearing in the middle of play saying that in the game of 30 seconds when it checked to find their cloud server, for whatever reason it failed to connect, and the game you are playing is closing down). However, that one part about the library and family sounds potentially incredibly cool.

Apparently those cases are very important for Microsoft.

It doesn't matter whether you're running the game from the disc, its presence should be enough to prove that you're legit. And sure, someone can technically auth via the disc offline while someone is authing online but sweating over esoteric edge cases like that is so profoundly petty. Worst case scenario is someone buys the game, auths it online, then gives the disc to their little brother who isn't permitted a net connection anyway. You can't very well sell the disc and hope that whoever buys it doesn't go online with it, lest you lose your online auth.

Cause the disc isn't the game anymore it seems, just a big installer. Also to avoid those weird edge cases of people going to great lengths to be able to play both the physical and the digital copy at the same time.

@cale: Short answer. No.

This is such a PR clusterfuck, I dunno how they dropped the ball so hard.

Have they said anything about whether online play is still part of Gold payed subscription?

What about Sony? Is PS4 online still free?

If the publisher lets you (in other words, NO).

The "two family members can be playing at the same time on different consoles from their shared library" is cool though. Does it really mean that if my brother and I both get Xbox Ones and buy our games digitally, we won't have to double-dip?

If you aren't bothered by online requirements due to having a stable connection, have you considered the other end? Plenty of precedent for online authentication to fuck up on the provider's end.

Microsoft may have great server infrastructure but it will fuck up at some point. And if that's when you've set aside some precious time for, say, a Fallout 4 binge... the rage is almost palpable.

Technically, this still seems far more complicated than it should be. You should only need a net connection if your games were purchased digitally. If I have the physical fucking disc sitting in my xbox, why do I still need to log in every 24 hours to auth that game?

I've been a console gamer my whole life. Never wanted to bother with PC gaming's fiddly tendencies.

But if Sony goes the same route, then it's time for a change.

The amount of Stockholm Syndrome people had with the constantly self-destructing 360 seems to be returning with the excuses people are making for the player-unfriendliness of the One.

Hahahaha, this thing is hilarious, they're so vague in some places holy fuck. I think 24 hours is still a very small window to be offline, they should've made it a week or like 3 days and I wonder if publishers are pushing the trade in stuff on them or are they just putting the blame on the publishers. Also what is sony doing? I bet they're doing kind of the same thing.

edit: they haven't said if they're going to have gold memberships and stuff like that, how will that work with the family shit, will silver members only have 3 family members to share games with?

The no renting games part kills any interest I had, not that I had much anyways. Now I am just patiently waiting to hear Sony's end. I know they are going to have similar stuff set up. If they also have the no renting part, then I'll most likely not be getting a new console. At least not until the ability to rent games is there, if it ever is, or the price drops substantially. That also would make me consider grabbing a Wii U.

If Sony goes the same route as MS, I'm going PC exclusivly.

The WiiU is out of the question too.

Consoles have two advantages over PC:

1. Put the disc in and play.

2. Idiot proof.

They're pissing away both of them.

I don't pirate games, I have a PS3 and dozens of original games that I've spent my money on, and I love'em. But honestly, all this hastle and bureaucracy, just makes me want to wait till hackers figure out how to crack the XBONE, and I'll just pirate everything on it, because that is what they're incentivising with all this horse manure.

So, I can kinda sale my disc, but only to retailers, what about "first sale doctrine"? which I know going to shit and is relatively meaningless for digital goods. And what is happening with the digital rights in the UK, how is that effected? And what happens when I can't connect in the allotted time do I lose the license until I reconnect or forever?

hhrrrhhgg... 24 hour checkin is not cool for internet outages and posterity.

I am ok losing $1 or $2 apps when I abandon a phone ecosystem, but games are more like books and movies that I would like to build into a library and live with. They are really taking the license logic way too far away from expectation.

Not that I play old games, but I like to tell myself that I might when I shell out $60+ for it.

@ei8htbit: XBOX Live has been down for days at a time before. I remember getting Undertow for free as compensation. ( See Marketing section http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertow_(video_game))

I have no major problems with this.

I don't know if it's giving them a free pass as much as waiting to know what their answers to the questions will be. The difference between Sony and Microsoft is that Sony didn't make fools of themselves during a major press event by spreading obvious misinformation on the comical scale of Microsoft. They at least had their heads together enough to say "We aren't ready to answer that question."

@ei8htbit: Pretty much my feelings - I don't understand why Sony gets a free pass for not actually declaring anything concrete yet regarding any of this. I really wonder what will happen to their positive wave they've got going with the angry internet when they come out and have to actually answer questions directly.

When I made these it was more out of laughing when The Peoples keep going back to the catch-all "anti-consumer" well. Even now that it's confirmed you can not only sell and trade your games but you can also share them with up to 10 other people without them even having to buy it - more freedom than currently exists in some ways, and it's still all about these magical rights that in reality never applied to my actual consumption of gaming since I first picked up a console controller in 1985. There's no way whatever 3rd parties do on XONE will be any different on PS4, the rest just seems to be fringe scenario what-if-worry-warting. Anyway I'll prolly be picking up both of these workhorses because videogames.

@patontheback: I am hating myself right nowfor wanting to believe this seductive press release. These promises will repair a lot of Microsoft's self-inflicted wounds, but ultimately, words are wind. I'll upgrade from "not interested in buying" to "wait and see."

Well that's that. Not getting an Xbox One. Ball is now in Sony's court.

@oginam: Let's say the pirate can sell the games. One purchase many subsequent sales with no money going back to the producers. That's what publishers think of GameSpot.