An Xbox One DRM Breakdown

If it took a 40 minute video to discuss this among industry professionals (of a sort) the average drooling gamestop customer has no fucking chance of understanding this shit.

He is totally right, as someone who hasn't pirated on 360 or brought pre-owned games for Gamestop, but hey I like to lend games around with friends, what a terrible consumer I am. Here's all this DRM , enjoy!

I... I don't even know what to think. It is cemented in stone that I will not be purchasing an Xbox One now. I have been backing Sony and the PS3 or the past couple years now and I love what they've said about the PS4. But if the PS4 is going to have the same restrictions I'll be done with console gaming. I'm glad I bought a gaming PC a year ago. I will be curious to see how this works for TNT/UPF and the hassle you may have to go through to play a couple games on the Xbox One and possibly PS4.

That fruit-based ending to the the video is a good summation of how fucking insane this whole situation is.

You should probably go get mad that banks lock their money in vaults too.

@darji: But you can't resell your games on Steam, can you?

Thank God they said something. Now, I hope we can move on.

Complaining about a company fucking you over by eliminating what you can do with a product isn't entitlement, it's called standing up for your rights as a consumer.

@darkbeatdk: you can trade steam codes (which is essientially the game but you aren't giving up your game. The main difference with steam is steam is a full digital marketplace so why would you resell a game? Steam has an infinite amount of the game, lowering the price theoritcally. Microsoft is trying to have all the digital goodness but still keep physical media and do both jobs poorly and fuck everything up.

PS I don't know why bold was turned on and why I can't unbold that section, not trying to be a dick or anything

@codefire: Precisely. I've been thinking this since this debacle began. It's a shame Patrick is the only one that thinks this is insidious. Shame on you GB. Never thought I'd say that, but there it is.

Right. Just to add to this, I have no reason to want to resell any of the game I've bought on steam because I bought them dirt cheap. There's so many sales and specials that it is a very rare occurrence for me or any of my friends to pay full price for a game. However, on consoles, games are the full $60 months after launch at GameStop. If MS had a marketplace comparable to Steam, I don't think people would complain about the used game/resale issue as much.

it makes me wonder why they didnt just leave out physical game discs altogether, sure that would have still pissed people off but I feel like keeping the physical copy model but basically pushing people to downloading their games digitally is whats making this all so confusing because everyone is saying wait but i have a disc so why cant i do this or that with it. They should have just said 'fuck it all games must be purchased digitally.'

Gamefly?

I don't even know how to respond to this. Who told you it was your right to have something exactly how you want it? You haven't paid for it yet.

The fact is it isn't some sort of fundamental right. It's merely a wish.

It's taking 5 years but finally a black dude has showed up on Giant Bomb!

If a game is 70 bucks because of some DRM crap, I'll wait or never buy the game. Unfortunately, this whole thing sorta left a bad taste in my mouth.

No that analogy is wrong, here I'll help you.

You should probably get mad that you withdrew money from banks, but you can only spend it at food carts with a always online connection. If you want to lend you'r friend 20 bucks you will both have to go online and authorize this money changing hands, but because the bank is so good to us they allow him to spend that $20 with in a 1 hour time limit before it becomes void tender.

What are you talking about I can still play Xbox games online that aren't even 10 years old yet....oh wait.

Can not believe how dedicated Vinny has remained to the cause of being completely oblivious to rights management and concerns.

For all I know this DRM solution will benefit the gaming press in the long run but the more I hear about it the less I want an Xbark. It sounds like it's going to create a weird buddy system between anonymous gamers who want to share and save money on games. I have no idea what's going on within Jeff's shirt but I do recognize Casper, Richie Rich, and Baby Huey.

Here's the great part GermanShepard, if you don't like this bank you aren't forced to use it just like you don't have to buy this console.

@carlos1408: I agree wholeheartedly. 360 was my platform of choice, but I'll gladly switch to PC after hearing this. What I find appalling here is the GB crew, with the exception of Patrick seem nonchalant about the whole thing, when they should be outraged on sheer principle.

Ryan's of the attitude of unless it affects him, he doesn't care. That's a horrible attitude to have and speaks volumes of what's wrong with the country, let alone the video game industry. I like GB, but here is where I have to take umbrage with their stance and opinions. Giving up people's rights for things they've bought seem ok with them. Not cool guys, not cool at all.

There's sort of a basic rule in how the free market system works that if you have payed for something you own it and with that comes the right to resell it. If this "you are not allowed to resell this product" was prevalent in general our whole economic system would work very differently.

Although they are technically skirting the edge and not gone fully overboard people have a right to be upset with companies trying to disrupt the integrity of the free market. This does in many ways border up against things like monopolies, pricing schemes and insider trading, which are generally not accepted in our society.

I don't see your point, it's like saying I have no right to debate gun laws because I don't own a gun. I have owned a Xbox 360 since launch of course I am going to have a fucking opinion about this debacle. But in your extremely deranged logic I am not allowed to have an opinion on something I don't pay for, just wow no opinions for anyone!

Go ahead and have your opinion.

People will vote with their wallets.

The market will speak and people like you are fighting this so hard because I'm guessing you believe you won' t like what it will say.

This sounds convoluted as fuck

Here's an easy alternate solution to this: Don't deal with it.

Unless the XOne has some exclusive title that will literally suck my dick, I'm not even going to bother with all of its bullshit.

It's funny how people are getting so angry about this, since it's still much more flexible (with the exception of the 24 hour thing) than Steam. At least you can still sell it off, trade it off, and potentially buy used, whereas once you get a game in your library on Steam, ANY rights with regards to the license for that game are done.

There are parts of this video that make me understand the vehemently anti-Patrick people.

The idea of a game being a hard product and not a service is a very grey area.

I am very aware of how PC gaming works, I just put $1800 into my PC last year. Sales are irrelevant to this discussion, console games go on sale, Steam games go on sale more often but that has nothing to do with online connection requirements. Consoles can be modded just like PCs can, cracks and piracy exist on consoles and the Xbox One will be cracked just like the 360 was. Console games can have official mod support and PC games can disable mods entirely. Unreal Tournament 3 had mods on PS3 and Battlefield 3 and Diablo 3 did not let players install mods on PC. Diablo 3 even required a constant internet connection to play it. Now obviously you can get around those restrictions if you cracked the game but you can also make custom game content on consoles with a modded box. If you want to play Battlefield 3 or Diablo 3 on PC you either have to live with developer restrictions or crack it and loose functionality. The same applies to every PC MMO and F2P game. And you certainly do not have control over you game licenses. There is no way to return a game you don't like on Steam or Origin, lend it to a friend without giving them your account or trade in a used copy, all of which Xbox One will allow you to do in some way. Those are the things people are really getting worked up about and in almost all cases modern PC gaming does not allow that, the only way around those restrictions is piracy or buying direct from the few developers who don't use DRM.

My point still stands, Xbox One online policies look a lot like how current PC gaming works, the only meaningful difference is the frequency of required internet connections and people who think PC gaming is going to free them from internet connection requirements are going to be disappointed.

I like when Rorie turned into Drew.

Isn't a man entitled to the digital sweat of his brow?

Fighting = having an opinion...ok.

You are right the market will speak with it's wallet when I buy a PS4 if it doesn't have this DRM nonsense.

I watched this video 3 times in a row...It's that good.

Some of that stuff seems a little insane. 24 hours on the offline mode stuff? Crazy. I'm not even someone to typically get annoyed at "always online" stuff, but that seems insane. I mean, even though Steam can be fairly iffy with its offline mode... it also doesn't limit you to 24 hours.

Yee haw! I'm still getting the xbox! Yee haw!

Great and terrible video there. None of this stuff needs to exist. It's born out of a false fear that the majority of the consumer base are unwilling to pay for content if they can get away with it. Maybe I'm too optimistic about human nature, but it seems like if you make games people want to pay and price them logically, they will be bought.

Reform your stories, reform your mechanics, reform your marketing--don't remove my right to buy and sell the content I purchase from you. Treat your consumer with respect and you will receive their respect and their money. If someone steals your game, they were not going to pay for it.

And it's awesome to see the uprising this is creating. Just stand by your guns people, no matter how much you wanna play the next big thing. If you think the policies are wrong, do not buy into them. And keep talking about it. The more vocal and constructive you are, not just angry and ranty, the more journalists listen, the mainstream media listens, and, with money lost, companies listen.

Oh, man. We're getting farther away from our Star Trek future with each passing day.

Besides the points that other people have made, the general expectation is that you'll be accessing Steam from your personalcomputer. Obviously, usage cases are different, but generally people don't crowd around a desktop monitor to eat dinner or jump in and out of desk chairs during a party. The connectivity and DRM issues are hugeobstacles to the reality of how people enjoy media socially.

It's not relevant to the discussion, but I just wanted to say that those stores sound incredible.

The fact it takes 40 mins to only break the surface just shows how bullshit it all is and how confused people are. If XBOX was so behind all of this and really did not think it would damage them, they would not make everything so cagey and keep it secret like.

Make it clear, make your point understood, and stand behind your product. If you can't do that then you have a bad product that you are trying to sell to the consumer by lieing to them. It is not like this is new. Still sucks and is frustrating, but the only way it will change is when people actually do something, aka do not buy it. Won't happen.

So long story short, if your internet is fucked for more than a day you're fucked.
If you have more than 10 friends or family you want to share games with you're fucked.
If you want to simply play a game and it requires authentication, you're fucked. Day1 patches, woo.
If you want to buy a game used and it hasn't properly been de-licensed, you're fucked.

The motto of next gen console gaming really should just be: you're all fucked.

@angrighandi: Totally. It's the same reason Disney World charges $10 for a Hamburger. They have a captive audience. The problem is apathy allows this to happen. People don't care unless it affects them directly, so little by little, we lose rights. Like I said earlier, what's most shocking is how GB (except Patrick) is ok with this. At worst, they softball any negative feelings they have towards MS.

This guy makes excellent points: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7358-Xbox-One-out-of-Ten

yeah. YEAH! Feel that? Feel the XBONE sliding into your tight pooper? Feel good right? You know you like it and they know you like it and you're gonna take it even if you pretend to struggle. Shit sandwich tastes gooooooood.

On top of all that its watching you all the time, recording everything you say and do.

@hunter5024: well Sony has said they wouldn't require an online connection. However, they've also said they are leaving used DRM up to the publishers. Sony might not require anything of the sort for you to play one of their games but what if Ubisoft, EA, or Activision require an online check via their games to work? Like say you pop in Assassin's Creed 7 and it won't let you play because your internet is down and it can't check to validate?

@vuud: I know, right? At this point, in order to buy the system, you'd have to be either:

1. A fool
2. Apathetic
3. Video game junkie

The next gen of gaming is bleak.. Pay $60 for a game to only be able to play it under all these limitations. Connect to the internet every 24 hours, no lending or renting games at launch because they dont know wtf to do yet.. This will backfire on the publishers most certainty, people will buy less games and any revenue from game rental services will be naught.

I just want to play games. :(

You could have prevented this. You could have installed gentoo