News Microsoft abandons Xbox One online check and game sharing restrictions

Microsoft has pulled a major U-turn on its controversial usage policies.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2013/06/19/microsoft-ditches-xbox-one-restrictions/1

 

Why start a new thread, you should just link the article to the thread that's been going for hours.

 

They've abandoned game sharing, period, not the restrictions on it.

 

So does this mean library sharing with the ten people on your family list is gone? That was a pretty cool feature.

 

Does anyone else get the feeling that the whole thing was a publicity stunt?

 

Oh and correction

Playstation 4?

 

it would be the worst stunt ever. the general consumer doesnt go through much to stay informed, there will probably still be quite a few people who believe what microsoft said at e3 is true. not to mention playstation 4 got a TON of good press because of their announcements.... i dont think microsoft is bad enough at business to make a stunt that fails this badly.

 

Yup. Along with playing your library of games on your friend's console, and playing games without having the disc in the drive.

Basically, if they can't digitally verify you own the game (which was the whole point of the "DRM" in the first place) then they'll have to physically verify you own the game. So it's gone from Digital Rights Management back to Physical Rights Management.

 

I suppose.. Still doesn't sit 100% right with me, even if it wasn't a stunt, something was/is afoot. I wouldn't have thought Microsoft would do something so monumentally stupid as the DRM thing (here come the windows 8 remarks) without cause.

 

'this had lead many to declare the PS3 the 'winner' of the upcoming console war.'

I think you meant the PS4.

Back to the point, I am very glad that they decided to back track on this but nothing will be decided until the actual launches of each machine.

 

Yup.
Whats the old saying, "There's no such thing as bad publicity"
Plenty of free publicity from all the shouting in forums and articles and now some more after the change of mind, it's all publicity.
Having said that, they had to do something.

 

Like all Microsoft announcements, I automatically end the reading of that with a big, fat, "for now..."

 

They must have seen the post-E3 pre-order numbers. Xbox has gone from "definitely not getting" to "very likely not getting."

 

Believe it when you see it.

Keep the pressure on them.

 

Lets get this straight, has microsoft developed morals ?

 

It looks like they are also dropping the regional restrictions on games as well.
http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

I particularly liked this part...

 

No lol that would be like Apple releasing a phone with Android on it!

 

With all the consumer feedback available to MS (at least, it tries to get me to take a survey every. single. time. I go to one of the MS sites - TechNet, MSDN, etc), I can't believe they had no clue their initial take on the XBone would be so poorly received.

This will help mitigate the damage, no doubt, but like SAimNE said, there are still plenty of people that will miss this part of the story and think the previous way is the way it will be once it's released.

At best, they get a tiny bit of credit for actually listening to their customers this time...now if only some of the other divisions could learn from that...

 

I was looking forward to not having to use a bloody disc. Flipping whiners.

 

Correction, WIndowsPhone on it