News Microsoft abandons Xbox One online check and game sharing restrictions

Microsoft relised there pre order numbers were tanking in most countries outside of the USA so decided to change is how I read it be intresting to see the numbers again in a months time if this has changed anything.

Price is still the main barrier to this console for many.

And how can they sell it without kinnec the thing is built into the console.

Sonys problem with the ps3 was price on launch and its a similar issue that Microsoft will face with there console. Basically £600 for 2 games 2 controllers is above most peoples budgets in these difficult times ( Sonys ps3 was around £580 for 2 games 2 controllers on launch) I paid £400 for a xbox 360 and 2 games 2 controllers on launch.

Not everyone can donate a 1/3rd of there average wage to a game console I know many a familly who will bulk at such a idea and the ps4 is not alot cheaper in that reguard really 1/4th of average wage in uk. People on this forum are mostly Single who have there own cash to spend not a big deal for people like me.

 

Like it or not Microsoft and plenty of other company's vision for the future is in the cloud, they would like every device PC's, consoles, tablet's, phones and anything with software running on it to be nothing more than thin clients connected to the cloud.

This way they can stop piracy, have total control of the software, along with what features you can or cant use. And the biggest plus for them is how they can charge you monthly subscriptions, thus ensuring them a steady cash flow.

After all why get someone to pay once so they can own something when you can make them pay forever and never own anything ?

 

How did they do it with the 360? Did I miss something?

 

No, I probably did. Like I said, I'm talking vaguely here. What I was thinking of was the gradual update implanting things like Sky and other subscription services. Although still optional, they weren't needed for most people. What I was trying to say is that I believe they'l start slowly adding these kind of updates again, along with more authentication services- which made me inclined to agree with Whirly.

And yes Corky, I understand companies want to move their stuff to be cloud based. For the most, I can see a lot of positives in it, and although I also totally agree with wanting to stop things like piracy for the most part, I also hope that MS won't do what Whirly said and start adding all these authentication update slowly- screwing over what user base they'll earn back with this.

 

Don't be surprised if rather than waiting another ten years for another Xbox incarnation it happens a lot quicker, maybe in only a few years time.

In 2009 Shane Kim of Microsoft said this.

As tech prices especially processing power prices drop, MS could abandon the ten year console cycle and take advantage of this, think of it this way, If MS announced a new console in three-four years time that was much more powerful than the PS4 but because of advances in tech and cheaper processing power it was competitively priced it could be a big hit and because it would then be the fastest, baddest console on the planet MS could reinstate their DRM and many buyers wouldn't care and they could get the drop on Sony, assumimg of course that Sony don't do the same thing and beat MS to it.

 

Since when has any corporate entity. Even Mighty Valve has had some issues. Though ofc a lot less than most others.

 

4 years is too early for a new console, Takes about that for developers to max the current one even now they are still eeking out performance. Look at the last of us.

Longer a gen lasts the better the console games usually get most of the great games are released in the 4-6 year period of a consoles life span.

Sony and MS could both release a new console in the next 4 years but id expect the landscape to be even more dominated by tablets come 2017 we may even have smart glasses and smart watches that play games by then.

Alot of that 2009 post was based on if Microsoft would drop xbox 360 support as soon as it released a new console. It may shock many but the biggest second hand market till about 2 years ago was still the playstation 2 which was about 70% of my locals shop sales.

 

By "far more restrictions" do you actually mean "far less restrictions"? I don't recall steam (yet) allowing you to share your games with anyone else.

I'm quite disappointed with this. It is a significant step backwards, back to the old physical media model.

I am far more disappointed with the whiners, though. Those that just couldn't see the reason why the 24 hour check was implemented. Especially those who were ripping on MS while simultaneously praising the PS4 and steam, despite both of these (in totally different ways) having more restrictive copy protection and distribution systems.

 

Agreed, 4 years is probably unrealistic but as it seems to takes so long to design and build a new console getting a new one on the market even a year before a rival is an advantage because your rival will then have to ensure they better it and that could mean redesigning their next console.

I do wonder who's actually playing the xbox these days as my local Cash Generator store is overflowing with every model of xbox you can buy, maybe they are all buying PC's

 

If they introduced something like Direct X ( shock! ) i'm sure they could have games run across two consoles without too much worry. 4 years is a long time and could be a viable release date for the next generation. Better internet connectivity, already introduced DRM, possible thin clients streaming rather than traditional architecture.

 

I both agree and disagree, the way publisher have tried implementing DRM so far have not worked very well, the publishers and the consumers seem to have different views on the rights of ownership and copyright.

DRM is mainly meant to stop people illegally copying software, but part of the same copyright law has the First-sale doctrine, and this doctrine enables the distribution chain of copyrighted products.
From my understanding publishers hate the first-sale doctrine as much as they do the illegally copying of software. Just as they see a illegal copy as a lost sale they also see every sale on the 2nd hand market as a lost sale.

When DRM is done correctly it can be a good thing, lower prices, transferable ownership, and the ability to share software, just like "the old physical media model" but when done incorrectly people rightly balk at the idea.

 

Greetings!

As expected. Microsoft, in the console market, cant impose whatever it wants on their customers, there is competition.

 

No, you need to connect the box on startup so it can download the firmware patch to disable all the DRM.
And that's right, no more Family sharing, no more playing your library at a friend's house, no more playing without the disc in the drive. If they can't use DRM to see if you own the game, they have to go back to 1990's methods and see if you actually own the disc. So rather than Digital Rights Management, we are going back to Physical Rights Management, and the whole gaming public is left much poorer as a result.

 

No, they can't. I install a game onto my online console, then give the disc to my friend to play on his offline console. My console won't then know I don't own the game anymore, and will continue to allow me to play, which is piracy.

Yes. If you want to play a game, the game disc MUST be in the drive. Welcome back to the 1990's.

 

Ok, I'm going to step way backwards in the argument and I apologise for that, but anyway:

Should the Xbone require 24 hour online authentication, what happens if I go on holiday?

 

OK, Deep breath, I'm going to say it, quietly "I don't have a problem putting a disc in a drive to play a game!"

"Incoming"

 

Whitten could not give any reassurance that Microsoft will not change its policies in the future.

 

Agree with this entirely, personaly the only mistake MS made was the way they conveyed the message.
They could esily have toned down the tv/entertainment portion of the reveal by about 10-15 minutes and explain properly what we gained with the use of drm they were implementing

 

Absolutely nothing. Your XBox One at home sits there not making checks (or turning itself on for a minute a day (probably around midnight) to make a check if you set it up that way). When you get back, if it wasn't set to auto-check each day, you can't use your XBox One until you take the minute to connect to the internet and make the check, at which point it carries on working exactly the same way it did before you left.

The heartbeat check would be under 1MB in size, so even if you only had dial-up it wouldn't be an issue.

 

I would strongly disagree that "the whole gaming public is left much poorer as a result"
While i agree that going back as you say to "Physical Rights Management" can been seen as a step backwards, you shouldn't be so willing to give away the consumer rights we have built up over the last 340 odd years.

Microsoft among others want to bring in a DRM system that takes away your consumer rights and they hope by dangling a sweetener you wouldn't notice or wouldn't care. As talked about in the link provided by 'CrazyJoe'

Microsoft had this planned even before the Xbox One unveil
They wanted to test the water with their DRM and if the consumer didn't care about giving up their rights it a BIG win. If as happened the consumer didn't like the Xbone's DRM they remove the DRM and proclaim to the world, Hey everyone look what your missing out on!

I personally wouldn't want to give up my consumer rights just to have the ability to play the same game on two devices at the same time, and defiantly not just to have the convenience of disc-less gaming.