News Microsoft abandons Xbox One online check and game sharing restrictions

I think Microsoft should take huge credit for this, especially more than they're getting today.

The move to always connected was a huge one, in my opinion was also a right one. By listening to their customers, something Sony didn't do with their PS3 by removing the Linux option when it became popular, they have shown that they will panda to the lowest common denominator.

I think the possibilities of always on will have to wait for the next generation.

Cue the "well i'm still getting the PSBore" (for no reason at all)

 

Damn it.

There go my reasons for not getting one and thus saving some cash/forcing myself to play my unfinished games. I will have to have a rethink about feeding the child...

 

why do you still need to register the box on startup?? cos then they know where each box belongs and if the ppl come back to xbox and most have them, they will switch the internet 24hr on back on...

im pretty sure thats their strategy.

and on another site they said M$ says now with this change, you cant share with family anymore?

 

So we can start calling it Xbox 180 now.

 

Hmm if this means the sharing options are gone then I'm going to be a bit peeved to be honest. Can't they have an option where you can play physical media offline, but any digital (so installed and shared games) need to be checked online?

I really liked the family share idea, but the online check was annoying. It's fine for my daily use, but I like to bring a console places as it's nice and small, plus very multiplayer friendly usually. Not having the option to play offline was bloody annoying, but not having the sharing options is a bit backwards too. Is it confirmed that they're gone?

 

Think of it this way: Microsoft is a big company consisting of geeks who make cool stuff, and business suits who then take this cool stuff and try to hammer it into a maximum-profit-making hole. Needless to say, the cool stuff is going to be bent and broken in the process.

Now the geeks will of course object loudly, but the suits don't listen to them because they are not seen as part of the profit-making process. But customers are.

Our job, as customers, is to back up the geeks as much as possible. The business suits won't listen to them, but they will listen to us. And if we keep validating what the geeks say, then eventually the business suits will have to listen to them. This change in company attitude is already on its way. We just need to persist in giving clear, objective feedback.

 

oooohhh... i would have loved to be in the meeting where this was decided. Sounds like someone got tore a new hole.

Glad to see MS are listening to the consumers. I always said i would be buying the XBO if it's a good decision or bad.

 

they not. start of the year. rumours were flying about them, they said and did nothing. they revealed there box a month ago. ppl were in uproar. they did nothing. at e3 they stil stuck to their guns.

after e3 the pre-order sales showed they lost the console war. they changed. they not listening to us. they listened to the money.

so ask ourselves. you think after they gain the majority they wont go back to their guns and switch the always online on again?

 

Don't involve the pandas in this. Save the pandas!

Also, unless you're forgetting, the PS4 is still £80 cheaper. That seems like a pretty big reason to still get it over the Xbox, which is another drab box with exactly the same hardware and features inside.

 

Now they need an offer without the Kinect to be competitive price-wise.

 

Better tell Steam too then. Microsoft won't budge if other companies don't follow the law.

 

it's not like Microsoft had much choice

was a PR nightmare!

 

The flipside of this is that the publishers will up the price of the games. Mark my words. You want 2nd hand games? Prepare to pay a premium for new copies in the first place.

Personally, I'm not a 2nd hand game person, so I actually don't like this update. I wanted DRM, not PRM.

 

I'm assuming a lot of the functionality that goes with the online connection will be disabled and you will be left with the minimum to play the games offline. ( ie. no tv connectivity, voice recognition, cloud resources etc )

 

I'm sorry I simply don't trust microsoft on this. They very obviously want to go down the "Steam for consoles but with far more restrictions" route and they've only backed down because they don't want to lose the next gen war before it even starts.

But I suspect it won't take long for them to start introducing their plans one tiny step at a time. Get an installed user base, then add a new "feature" that requires you to connect every day. Then, when that is accepted, add another "feature", and then another and another.

If people wont swallow your pill then crush it up into tiny bits and put it in their food, they won't even notice until it's too late.

M$ don't listen to users. They listen to money men who sit in "meetings" saying things like "Everyone loves the iPhone so let's make windows 8 just like that". And even when it doesn't work they just pretend to change their minds while not actually changing (new "start" button).

M$ has seen the opportunity to be a gateway between people and their entertainment. They control the flow and take a cut. That is a very powerful and enriching position and I am certain they won't give it up easily. The DRM will be back, just dressed up in prettier clothes. No company spends a lot of money and effort developing a new system to increase their profits and just gives it up.

As for the PS4, who knows? DRM already exists on games bought on the PSN store. However, they have not built the console as an entertainment gateway so their desire to control the flow is diminished. If they sell a lot of consoles, they don't need to kow-tow to publishers and add one-user DRM, especially as it won't add massively to their profits.

Personally I think the new consoles have confirmed that the future of high-quality gaming is on the PC. The way AMD/Intel are going, it won't be long before you can build a console beating PC for less than the price of the PS4.

But if you are determined to buy a console, and you rely on trading in your games, you'd be a complete fool to trust Microsoft.

 

Its still going through the courts, so it will be a long time before any laws are made.
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/documents.jsf?num=C-128/11

How will it up the price of games ? we already have 2nd hand games and console owners already pay a premium for this (supposedly).

 

I think someone's been watching Team America again
On topic, Both Sony and Microsoft are big businesses and they will do what they feel they need to in order to keep the money coming in.
Both are fearful of lost sales if they don't implement DRM, but also concious that they are now releasing major and directly competing products at the same time, so they will play off each other right up to, and beyond the launch dates.
Essentially I agree with Nexxo, that they will listen to the customers as that is ultimately where their profits will come from.

We have seen surprises on both sides - Microsoft doing a quick decision change, and Sony seemingly abandoning their traditionally draconian DRM policy.

 

Since when has Microsoft been trust worthy?

 

I definitely have to agree with this. It sounds like what MS did towards the end of the 360's life (apologies for being a little vague on this, I'm, not entirely up to date with consoles) and wouldn't surprise me if they were to slowly add the c*** again. Because surely, they know that there are still A LOT of fanboys- despite the E3 destruction of MS- that will lap this up anyway.