Xbox One Connectivity, Licensing and Privacy Features: Why I have no problem with it.

Thursday June 6^th, Microsoft posted updated details on how the new Xbox One will function with game licensing, connectivity requirements, and your privacy. Within mere minutes the internet exploded with “Goodbye Microsoft, Hello Sony”, “No Thank You Microsoft”, and the well thought out “@%&# you Microsoft”.

I read several posts across the major gaming news sites and sifted through comments and suffice it to say the majority of feedback is negative. After reading the article myself on Xbox Wire I find myself in the minority. Granted my life is not like every other person out there. I don’t borrow games from friends, I have 24 hour/day connected High Speed internet, and I do not fear big brother. Heck if Microsoft wants to record me on naked Fridays they can be my guest!

Here are my thoughts on each of the posts from Microsoft:

Xbox One: A Modern, Connected Device

Microsoft has been embracing broadband internet since the release of the original Xbox. A device with no modem and only Ethernet? Unheard of at the time. Now, modems are a thing of the past and broadband is the standard. Microsoft recently announced that there are 48 million Xbox Live members. It is probably a safe bet to say that all 48 million of those live members have broadband. With that in mind, let’s discuss how the Xbox One utilizes your internet connection.

• · A new generation of games with power from the cloud: Because every Xbox One owner has a broadband connection, developers can create massive, persistent worlds that evolve even when you’re not playing. I like how Microsoft states that “every Xbox One owner has a broadband connection”. They are talking about the 48 million gamers on Xbox Live, their core customers. And though it was great that the PS3 tried using the cloud to cure cancer with Folding@home, but I am much more excited to see what the cloud can do for my games!
• Your Xbox One is always ready: Xbox One is designed to run in a low-powered, connected state. This means your system, games and apps are always current and ready to play—no more waiting for updates. A million times YES! Nothing is more frustrating that turning on your Xbox and being prompted for a system update, or kicking off your favorite game and waiting for it to patch. I also enjoy using the Xbox dashboard on xbox.com to purchase content and add to my queue. With always on, I will no longer have items in my queue when I get home from work, they will already be installed!
• · Stay connected to your friends: Never miss an opportunity to play games with your friends or to catch up with family on Skype. Use Skype in Snap mode to chat while you play games or watch TV. Or enjoy group video Skype calls with people around the world, all from the comfort of your living room. They don’t mention it, but the party system running while you do other things, like watch TV or a movie is intriguing. You no longer have to tell your friends to call or text you when they are ready and online, just put yourself in the party system and when everyone is ready, switch to playing your game! I can see some uses for Skype in our living room. My extended family could see my baby girl more often. But in games it is probably limited. I could see a good use for personal trainers: Your Shape on the main screen and your trainer in a Skype session to the side. Say goodbye to the virtual trainer and hello to the real trainer that can yell at you for bad form! Now how do I talk my wife’s family on the farm that they need a game console to see their granddaughter more?
• · Access your entire games library from any Xbox One—no discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud. So, for example, while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games. This means I no longer need to bring my disc with me to my second Xbox in the bedroom or over to a friend’s house for a game session. Just login, and start playing. Sounds good to me!
• · Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release. This is great. Now how about a discount for digital vs. physical? I would love to see Xbox One Holiday sales like Steam has!

How Games Licensing Works on Xbox One

Let’s face it, physical media is going away. I am going to say it now, this is the last game generation that includes an optical drive. The release of 4K media is all digital, and the PCs have adopted digital media quickly. I honestly don’t remember the last time I used a CD/DVD at work or at home on my computer. All of my PC games are available to me via digital download and come with the associated DRM or DRM free. I do agree that the US needs to catch up to some of the European countries that are building new DRM ownership/licensing laws to allow consumers to resell their digital purchases. But for now, this is just like my Steam account. What Microsoft has developed is an in between phase: Here is your physical media you are used to, but get ready, cause it is going away.

• · Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release. Discs will continue to be a great way to install your games quickly. No more midnight release parties in the winter outside of GameStop for me. I will just be sitting in my comfy PJs on my couch and click and play.
• · Share access to your games with everyone inside your home: Your friends and family, your guests and acquaintances get unlimited access to all of your games. Anyone can play your games on your console--regardless of whether you are logged in or their relationship to you. Just like it is today with Xbox 360, just don’t need a disc.
• · Give your family access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere: Xbox One will enable new forms of access for families. Up to ten members of your family can log in and play from your shared games library on any Xbox One. Just like today, a family member can play your copy of Forza Motorsport at a friend’s house. Only now, they will see not just Forza, but all of your shared games. You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time. I just upgraded my account to family, so unsure how this will change things. I am frustrated that it cost me twice the cost per year for family than single, so I may be requesting a refund if this has changed. As for the shared games library, this is a huge change for the better. If my daughter is at a friend’s house and they want to play Dance Central 6 together, but the friend has not bought it, my daughter can just choose it from my library and they are off and playing!
• · Trade-in and resell your disc-based games: Today, some gamers choose to sell their old disc-based games back for cash and credit. We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers. Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games. Microsoft is creating an environment where the publishers have control over their used games. I currently use Goozex, so unsure how this will effect that service. But I also see myself adopting digital content more widely so this will most likely not be a bother for me.
• · Give your games to friends: Xbox One is designed so game publishers can enable you to give your disc-based games to your friends. There are no fees charged as part of these transfers. There are two requirements: you can only give them to people who have been on your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once. Would be nice to see this option for digital media as well. And the days of letting friends borrow games to see if they like them is not really valid as every game releases a demo for that purpose

Privacy by Design: How Xbox One and the New Kinect Sensor Put You in Control

I have enjoyed the use of the Kinect, but it never really met the promises outlined when it was released. But after watching the Xbox One reveal I can say I am excited again. Matter of fact, my wife is more excited about it than I am. The ability to watch TV/movies with full voice commands got her excited. We are excited to see more information though. I would like to know if I can get rid of my old media center PC and use my Xbox One as a DVR. Probably not, but that would be awesome.

• · You are in control of what Kinect can see and hear: By design, you will determine how responsive and personalized your Xbox One is to you and your family during setup. The system will navigate you through key privacy options, like automatic or manual sign in, privacy settings, and clear notifications about how data is used. When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded. Sounds good. Enable everything!
• · You are in control of when Kinect sensing is On, Off or Paused: If you don’t want the Kinect sensor on while playing games or enjoying your entertainment, you can pause Kinect. To turn off your Xbox One, just say “Xbox Off.” When the system is off, it’s only listening for the single voice command -- “Xbox On,” and you can even turn that feature off too. Some apps and games may require Kinect functionality to operate, so you’ll need to turn it back on for these experiences. As long as the Kinect no longer responds to voice commands coming from my TV than I am okay with leaving it on all the time! I must have been kicked out of the Xbox One reveal half a dozen times… E3 will be the same grumble.
• · You are in control of your personal data: You can play games or enjoy applications that use data, such as videos, photos, facial expressions, heart rate and more, but this data will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission. Here are a few examples of potential future scenarios: Anyone who knows me, knows I could use some exercise, and I am also a bit of a data tracker. The more data I can track pertaining to my overall health, the more motivated I am to get myself in better shape. I hope I can upload data if approved to the cloud so I can track it on the go.
  • A fitness game could measure heart rate data to provide you with improved feedback on your workout, allow you to track your progress, or even measure calories burned.
  • A card game could allow you to bluff your virtual opponent using your facial expressions.
• · You can use other inputs to control your games, TV and entertainment experiences: While it’s faster to find what you’re looking for using your voice and gesture commands with Kinect, you can use a controller, your remote controls or your smart devices instead. And you can use all of these devices when Kinect is paused. Controls for my Dad and other extended family. I cannot see Grandpa trying to get Sesame Street to play for my daughter with voice commands, though it might be fun to see him try it!

Well, that wraps it up. My gut feeling on everything Microsoft announced. This is obviously my opinion as my situation with internet access and feelings on digital media are my own. But I think the outburst by the gaming community is as always out of control. Everyone who is ready to jump from Microsoft to Sony should wait to hear the full details from Sony. If Microsoft is creating this process for publishers to manage their games, than Sony is being pushed to do the same. And just like Microsoft, this will be the last PlayStation to contain an optical drive.

All pretty interesting.

Two things though, this whole cloud gaming is going to make games better is nonsense. Bandwidth and latency means that cloud computing can do nothing for you while you play and persistent online games don't need it. Sticking "the cloud" in front of things is fashionable right now for managers who graduated from the asshole school of management. They have no fucking idea what they're saying. These are the people who say "forward planning" and "drill down". Also as it has recently come to light that the NSA is using several ISP's and a phone company and few corporations (microsoft included) to spy on people I would take their privacy policy with a grain of salt and turn that fucking off.

Good blog though, well thought out and interesting to read.

this reads like marketing

so if your internet connection goes down for whatever reason and you can no longer play games you'll still be happy? You focus FAR too much on the perceived advantages and never mention what happens when things go WRONG along the way. People are up in arms because they should be able to play the damn games they pay for whenever they please. I have a 360, but only put it online when I absolutely need to because I don't play multiplayer games and there is literally ZERO other reason to have the console connected other than downloading something. The DRM stuff and the switch to all digital is certainly coming, but the major problem is the fact that your console essentially becomes a heavy brick without an internet connection(and don't say you can still watch movies and TV, this is a game console)

I was about to write the same thing that this reads like marketing. The continued insistence of writing out "XBox One" along with super scripts on "th"s and active voice like "You are..."

Reading this reminds me how much i hate everything about the Xbone.

@arabes: "The cloud" is more than putting computing power in the cloud though. I just want devices to be able to share data between them, store my save files online, backup my data, access data on a friend's Xbox, store my games online, etc. The cloud is such a broad term and most of what I want has got nothing to do with the cloud (like updating in the background, always connected benefits etc) but to say that "the cloud" can do nothing for games is an exaggeration.

I don't really care about used games but the whole check every 24 hours sounds crazy. This is the future, I want things to be digital and online, but that means I will have to live with the drawbacks of the cloud. If Google got hacked or Amazon lost all my books then I would be pissed too. This is the reality but having the 24 hour check seems a bit much.

He works with Microsoft!!

The idea that "the cloud" helps offset computing costs so your console is faster is silly. Cloud platforms is something you build server side services on but the client is still very much something you have to run at your side.

What is more likely to happen if the system can't connect to the Internet even for single player games is that you can no longer save and then at some point your system refuses to run things. That has nothing to do with your system being underpowered and needs the cloud to offload computation.

The italic section of the blog is my response to the bulleted posts on Microsoft's blog. I do not work for Microsoft. I am a long time gamer that happens to love his Xbox 360 and has high hopes for the Xbox one.

If you are interested, here is my gaming history. You will see that I have been a long time gamer and have invested in many systems over the years.

• · Nintendo Entertainment System 1988 ($150) - My parents bought us the Atari, the NES was my first system bought with my hard earned newspaper route money.
• · Sega Genesis 1989 ($190) – This was a tough choice between it and the TruboGrafx-16. I did a lot of research, but to be honest, it was Sega’s amazing marketing that talked me into getting the Genesis.
• · Super Nintendo Entertainment System 1991 ($200) – To this day, one of my all-time favorite systems.
• · 3DO Interactive Multiplayer 1993 ($600) – Yeah that is not a typo. SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS! Trip Hawkins was preaching about the wonders of CD-ROM entertainment and I was drinking the Kool-Aid. I ended up trading in both my Genesis and Super NES and all of the games I owned and still had to pay another $300. But I still consider it a breakthrough in the genre and starting point for optical media game consoles.
• · PlayStation 1995 ($299) – Half the price of my 3DO and twice as amazing. The PlayStation was without a doubt an amazing system.
• · Japanese Sega Dreamcast 1998 ($400) – Okay, here is where I got a bit crazy with my gaming. I had taken 4 years of Japanese in High School and College and figure I could find my way around imported games. I was half right, I could understand the menus and pick up a word here and there, but to be honest, I could not understand a story line to safe my life. Still had a lot of fun with it though. Luckily I was able to modify the system to play American games as well.
• · Japanese PlayStation 2 2000 ($400) – I once again went the import path. The system was released in Japan in March and not in the US until November. I eventually did buy a US PS2 a years later when the progressive scan version was released. Being able to play DVD movies was actually one of the biggest feature that pushed the PS2 into big sale numbers.
• · Xbox 360 (my current system) 2007 ($400) – I waited a few years before getting a new system. I was playing quite a few MMO games on the PC and took a bit of a break from console gaming. But after more and more of my friends bought one, I just could not wait any longer. The Xbox 360 quickly became my favorite system I have owned.

The privacy outrage has always been the most hilarious part to me. I mean, now people are up in arms? Flaming up the Internet from their camera and mic-enabled PCs or mobile devices?

The disparity is especially notable in the "big brother" privacy news stories of the current times. I mean, it's possible for authorities to track more or less everything you say, places you go, things you do, and all of a sudden everyone is concerned that MS is going to be monitoring them in 3D and tracking whether or not they clean the cheese dust off their hands before post-dinner masturbation?

This blog should be renamed "I have no backbone and I am fine with companies checking what I do with my hardware in my home."

It's one thing to have always-on DRM for some games, it's another to have the machine flat out refuse to play games until I reconnect to the Internet. Fuck you Microsoft.

Even if it doesn't affect me as my Internet is usually very reliable, I do not like the principle and I will not allow a company to lock me out of my hardware. (yes, I'm aware I can still watch TV or play DVDs/Blu-Ray, but I also have multiple other devices to do that.)

and by the way, if people accept this then it will only get more draconian as the years go by. You are digging your own grave.

I agree with everything you said.

Watching people change the channel by flapping their arms like Morris Day and yelling at an inanimate object is the only announced Xbone feature that has me excited.

This actually reads like marketing drivel, so send it to MS and you might have a new job.

My two problems with MS right now are the 24 hr restriction and lack of lending games. The 24hr thing in reality is probably a non issue, in the 6 years I'v had my 360 it has probably been offline for a total of 24-48 hrs. Plus, worse case scenario I should be able to hotspot it with my phone to get the authentication; anyhow I would still like the 24hr period to be extend to 72 hrs just in case.

Problem two is with the lack of lending. Now there is no guarantee that Sony will not go the same route (due to publishers pressure and DRM), but that would be a huge plus in my books if Sony allowed lending games (games are still the most important thing to me though.). But thinking over the lending policy thing, I realize that I might be having some sort of double standards. I can not lend games on Steam, xbox live store (if I bought dead space or some other game on the marketplace I can't lend it to a friend and I have never expected to be allowed to do that). Even before steam, you had to give your CD key away with your game but could still get it back if your friend wasn't a jerk. I know for sure that I will buying most my games digitally in the next gen (PS4 or Xbox One), so maybe the lending thing will be a non issue for most of us since we do buy our games digitally. And who knows maybe in the end Microsoft will have better lending policy through some sort of trade in marketplace. It is just a weird time for digital rights etc.

As someone who has 20mbps internet and doesn't buy used games because usually buy the games I want at launch or on my PC.

FUCK YOU MICROSOFT. I've thought about it long and hard. There is nothing they can do to make me want an Xbone. I'm tired of marketing and lying. I don't want it and never will. It is actually morally reprehensible to me. Just try and think of how these new restrictions will evolve. They don't go backwards to how things were because why would they? They will continue to make it stricter. There is no doubt about it in my mind. They wouldn't go this far with anti consumer issues if they didn't plan on going further.

In my opinion the Xbone will be the dumbest purchase of 2013. Anyone who buys it should be embarrassed about what they're doing to their fellow man.

Internet connection has NEVER gone down, and if it did I'd go the fuck outside.

Pretty much. http://www.nowgamer.com/features/1955108/xbox_one_its_for_publishers_not_for_you.html

@jdh5153: This is how I feel. Have other hobbies and entertainment options as well.

The best thing you can say about their DRM is "it might not inconvenience me."

Yes, the combined features of the XONE will be nice for a certain demographic, and the OP here is among them. But there's nothing about those SWEET KILLER APPS that necessitate the loss of consumer rights, and the inclusion of silly DRM nonsense. You can have all that good stuff without all the always-online hooplah. Automatically updating? Yeah, that is nice. Obviously you need Internet for it to do that. But... why should I be locked out when I can't connect?

There's no reason. They're putting that in my way to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

Also, they're still going to have the nerve to charge a monthly fee for the honor of being trapped in their DRM funland.

We have both referenced Morris Day today in tangential relation to this Xbox news. That's really disturbing.

Patching on the 360 takes like, what 45 seconds at the most? Usually closer to 20-25 seconds. I'd much rather wait that time than have the 24 hour check. I play almost exclusively single player games. If my internet drops, I want to know that I can still play the game. Even in NYC, there are internet outages. That's just on the player side of things, not even taking into account that Microsoft might occasionally go down or need maintenance.

This type of stuff really gets on my nerves. I'm not saying everyone has to go on a hunger strike or whatever, but you're being screwed by Microsoft here. These policies are a big step back from the 360 and a gigantic step back from what we had in the Gamecube/OG Xbox/PS2 era, where the requirement to play the game was the ability to physically put it in the system and hit the power button. This whole thing reads like a Microsoft employee wrote it.

"Contemporaneous Morris Day reference" was a pretty rare achievement on the old site. We missed out on a lot of points.

Holy shitting christ, I've never seen a more obvious marketing post. Also, games > curing cancer.

Idiot.

HEY GAIZ!!

THIS SITE IS TOTALLY COOL SO I THOUGHT I'D SIGN UP AND POST A THREAD ON HOW AWESOME MICROSOFT XBOX ONE (trademark incorporated) CONSOLE IS! I'M TOTALLY FINE WITH IT CHECKING UP ON MY DAILY LIFE AND YOU SHOULD TOO. LOLZ ONLY A TERRORIST SHOULD BE AFRAID. LOLZ.

NOW READ MY EXTREMELY WELL WRITTEN AND FORMATTED THESIS ON WHY MICROSOFT'S XBOX ONE (trademark incorporated) CONSOLE IS THE FUTURE!

BYE GAIZ! AFTER THIS ONE POST.OF MINE YOU WILL NEVER SEE ME POST ON THIS SITE AGAIN. THIS ONE POST OF MINE BASICALLY SUMS UP MY WHOLE EXISTENCE. NO NEED FOR MORE POSTS.

You should definitely buy One.

Or the idea that because something is "in the cloud" you can access it instantaneously from anywhere....

Just login, and start playing. Sounds good to me!

I think the TC has a bright future working for Microsoft's marketing department. I should know as I have a marketing background.

I'm only half joking of course, but you can never be sure with all the reports of of Microsoft trying to control that tide of bad comments with positive ones.

You know what you an still do with all those systems?

Still play them,

Even after 25 years my NES still works, Its not plugged in the whole time, but my SNES is, which is 20 years old and they will continue to work for the foreseeable future. You know what will happen to Xbox 1? They will inevitably shut the 1 check in servers down at some point and brick your console..maybe a year after a new xbox comes out maybe 10 years after but It will happen eventually. Its happened to the multi-player in a lot of games this gen already...and I believe the live service for the original Xbox was turned off a year or two ago.

You know what else you can do? You can find 99% of the games available for those old systems second hand. Even old crappy ones that maybe three people liked, ones where the publisher no longer exists and the developer has disappeared, not popular enough for a remake or for a new company to purchase the IP. In the future this wont be s. Once the company is gone, its not downloadable any more, discs wont mean shit. In the future its a case of when companies go under, bye bye to their games from any e-store, If you didn't play it when it came out your outta luck.

Some games will essentially be lost to time.

I feel like they are telling me on a subliminal level that games are throw away, like a commodity, not like art. They are not memorable or important. the only thing important is whats hot now, who cares about the past, nothing we make is worth saving anyway, the next iteration will be way better why bother playing this old hat shit.

On a totally personal note, I have ADSL and I'm stuck with it, fiber isn't coming to my town for years. I have broadband but my net speeds are slow, and I drop occasionally , I don't believe for one second the the cloud will do shit for me or anyone else in my situation and i do not believe I am a fringe case.

I could buy a x1 and 99% of the time it would probably be fine but i can't support something that is so destructive to the medium.

There are only negatives no positives for me and for the people like me. There are only positives for corporations who want to control my experiences, keep me online to show me ads and microtransaction the hell out of me.

If this is the way all the next gen/PC stuff goes ill be playing alot more P&P RPG's and boardgames....or maybe take up fishing.

I agree with this. I haven't bought a used game since '08 as it is.

@artso: Ya, it'll create a good infrastructure for gaming but it won't enhance the actual games themselves.

Hah. I don't know if most will realize it, but you're either most certainly a viral marketer or you're joking around. The obviousness of your marketing slant from your post is almost surreal. Usually they do a better job of hiding it. This for me personally confirms that a few of you fellas are on Giant Bomb, as well (assuming this isnt a joke).

You might wanna read this http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1fyjgr/regarding_xbox_one_and_allegations_of_voterigging/

There never were any viral marketers.

Yes, I've read it. I already doubted that supposed individual working for marketing stating Microsoft employees were being naughty on Reddit. Whether or not Waggener Edstrom does it, it exists. Microsoft isn't the only one to employ this tactic, either.