The Xbox One - Part 3

[StrainedEyes]

Surprise Xbox One DRM Reversal Requires Day One Patch, Cuts Features

You win some, you lose some. In changing its drastic Xbox One DRM policies today, Microsoft will actually be cutting some of the cooler features announced from the console. Everything's got a price, folks.

"There’s a few things we won’t be able to deliver as a result of this change," Marc Whitten, v.p. of Xbox Live told Kotaku, "One of the things we were very exicted about was 'wherever we go my games are always with me.' Now, of course, your physical games won’t show up that way. The content you bought digitally will. But you’ll have to bring your discs with you to have your games with you. Similarly, the sharing library [is something] we won’t be able to deliver at launch."

That means that two features are being cut, at least for now, from Microsoft's Xbox One plans. Microsoft's concept of having your full game library travel with you is gone.

Microsoft's offer to let you share Xbox One games with up to nine other "family" members is gone, too.

The play-your-games-from-anywhere feature had been tied to the idea that all Xbox One games must be installed to the system's 500GB harddrive in order to run. In theory, if you had registered the game online—a requirement that's also been dropped for disc games for the Xbox One—you'd then be able to play those games from any other console you were logged into. Now, with disc games not needing to be registered, you'd have to bring the disc with you to prove you had the rights to play the game on it.

Those sacrifices are the cost of the new DRM policy that, Whitten says, will give people an Xbox One experience with disc-based games that matches what they had on the Xbox 360. Games won't have to be registered online, and players won't have to connect to the Internet in a 24-hour period to play offline disc-based games. "The way to think about it is that it works the way it does with the Xbox 360," Whitten said. "You can give them, loan them, trade them, play them. They will work exactly as they do today."

It's clear that Microsoft was not planning to make these changes. Even though it's June and the console doesn't launch until November, Whitten said that Xbox One consumers will have to download a day-one patch to enable the Xbox One's offline mode. Presumably, without it, the console will still think it's living in the Xbox One era of E3 2013.

Microsoft also announced today a loosening of the Xbox One's regional restrictions. "You could buy a console in any country and use it any country," Whitten said. "You can use any disc in that console."

How did Microsoft get their initial plans for the Xbox One so wrong? "We believe a lot in this digital future," Whitten said. "We believe it builds an amazing experience—the ability to have a broader sharing platform and my content coming with me, [but] what we heard is people still wanted more choice… they wanted the familiarity of the physical disc."

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[ChrisBaleBatman]

Man...if things weren't already confusing, now there's going to need to be another faq released by Microsoft to explain everything again.

I feel like even with the backtracking, they're still treading water because the confusion from the moment they unveiled this thing has been there every step of the way. Doing this, while it's something I like, is going to also create confusion. I think at this point the only way people are going to understand how it'll actually function will be word of mouth once it's been released, because I don't think everyone wants to have to read a full press report everytime something changes.

 

[Soapy]

Wow. Consumer feedback actually got Microsoft to get their act together. The Kinect still sucks though

I think Sony forced their hand.

And the armies of .gif images that filled the internet after Sony's conference. I mean, that was slew of brutal messaging that seemed to follow Microsoft. But, I'm amazed that they are backtracking on things. And, too late for me. I'm still planning on getting a PS4 before I get an X1.

Nope. Preorder numbers. $$$ is the only language these people understand.

There has been a huge backlash against these policies back before the Xbone was even announced, when they were just rumors. Did Microsoft change them before they announced their console? No. They ignored the complaints and stayed on course. The complaining intensified. Did they change their policies in time for E3? No, they only grew more arrogant. The complaining intensified more still. It was only after a week of preorders that they finally decided change their stance. I don't see that as a coincidence.

I'm really glad they changed. I might even consider getting an Xbone now...in a few years. But don't get it twisted, they don't care about we want, they care about what we buy. Let this be a lesson learned to all involved, that we consumers DO have the power to fight bull**** we don't like. We just have to stick to our guns and put our money where our mouth is.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Right, but I think that Sony deciding to go the opposite way was where the tide became something Microsoft couldn't ignore, which was what drove the pre-order numbers. If Sony had done the same as Microsoft, the pre order numbers could have been a completely different case.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

wow does anyone hear the sound of extreme back peddling.

still wont be getting one, i own a 360 but it was only when it dropped majorly in price and i got a good package, of the few games i couldnt get on my ps3

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

So...the Gold membership across users on the system is gone now? Each user would need to purchase a gold membership like now?

 

[StrainedEyes]

So...the Gold membership across users on the system is gone now? Each user would need to purchase a gold membership like now?

I don't think that's directly related to today's announcement, but who knows.

 

[Hellion]

still wont be getting one,

I'll be getting a PS4 at launch, but Xbox1......I had both preordered for about a week........I'll be watching for about a year, lets see how everything plays out.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold.

They cut out sharing of purely digital titles. That kind of seems like a dick move, and rather short-sighted as well. Why wouldn't you want to leave that feature available to ease people into the idea? Just seems petty.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

Isn't that how it is now?

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yeah.

But, there were some people who liked some of the stuff Microsoft was talking about. Like sharing a game digitally. I was never one of them, but there were people who liked some of what they were selling.

I don't know, this **** is crazy. What's next? Will Sony announce some crazy two launch bundle system for the same price as the PS4 console alone?

 

[TX85]

I had decided on PS4 during E3 But now I'm back to considering XB1..Although I still think the PS4 seems better in terms of overall games so far and console features(the TV stuff just doesn't interest me that much)!

 

[Balthus Dire]

Pretty crazy they changed all the policies. No doubt it as because Sony has been smoking them with the pre-orders.

But it's a sure step in the right direction. I've gone from "LOL no chance" to "hmm" as far as my Xbone purchase attitude. If they got rid of the creepy mandatory kinect I might even sway further, but as is Sony still has the better machine at a lower price point.

 

[uniqueweasel]

This is really great news, about time!

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

They cut out sharing of purely digital titles. That kind of seems like a dick move, and rather short-sighted as well. Why wouldn't you want to leave that feature available to ease people into the idea? Just seems petty.

It's not a dick move at all. It's like how it is now, which is a thousand times more preferable than what they were going for. I couldn't care less about sharing digitally, and I'm willing to bet 90% of people couldn't care less with what people were sacrificing with the Xbox One. Not to mention sharing still had it's restrictions also.

 

[Soapy]

 

[Iceman]

So...the Gold membership across users on the system is gone now? Each user would need to purchase a gold membership like now?

I wouldn't have though so. XBL currently covers other devices like Windows Phone & PC as well as 360. And Sony can offer PS+ across devices without having any online connection needed at all so I don't see any need for it to be different.

 

[Benstamania]

Anyone who decided on PS4 at E3..not real sure why you'd back peddle here. This is still the same company that told us to "go buy a 360" if we didn't like their policies. They didn't suddenly grow a heart...Like Soapy said, this is about money. They were losing the preorder war...foreshadowing of the console war to come..so they did a quick 180.

Honestly, what's to stop them from turning this feature on in the future, eh? Nothing.

I was an Xbox gamer last gen, I still enjoy the heck out of the system...but MS is not getting a single dollar from me anymore until things really change. What are you paying the extra 100 dollars for? The system itself isn't as powerful as the PS4...None of the games we saw on the thing were running on it, they were running on high end PC's that were running Windows 7... So..What's the selling point? Kinect? **** That noise. The ability for me to watch TV on it? Um..Great.. XBL? lol.

Right now... Nothing. A year from now if MS gives me Halo 5, a 100 dollar price drop and a Kinectless bundle I may pick one up..Until then...No thanks.

 

[Iceman]

This isn't going to convince people who'd decided to buy PS4, just the people who wanted to buy XB1 but were totally put off just because of those policies. 360 users who wanted to stay with XBox for the next gen.

 

[Thundercrack85]

The price alone would make me lean Sony.

Still, at least now, at some point, I might consider getting a Xbone. Provided, they don't go back to their old ways.

 

[Benstamania]

My post sounds angry..I know..But I was always the guy defending MS and the XBone..I feel betrayed.

Anway, this does open the door for me to get one in the future...But it will at LEAST be a year or more before I do.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Still buying a PS4 first. I'll buy an Xbox down the road but like I said in the other thread, if they pull any BS I'll sell that thing with my games faster than a stockbrocker selling his stock after a market crash.

 

[Iceman]

I'm ****ing elated by this news. Now the only thing that freaks me out is the whole it watches you thing but I can deal with that lol. Am I the only one who loves both systems though? I find the whole Sony vs Microsoft thing dumb, it's like Star Trek vs Star Wars, I'm allowed to love both. I know which I prefer over the other but my adoration is pretty equal

Same here. Although it's a lot stupider for something like Marvel Vs DC films where there is literally no financial barrier stopping nearly everyone from enjoying both.

And you are allowed to love both, just not the XB1.

 

[Iceman]

My post sounds angry..I know..But I was always the guy defending MS and the XBone..I feel betrayed.

Anway, this does open the door for me to get one in the future...But it will at LEAST be a year or more before I do.

That's a bit like me with Nintendo after SNES & particularly from the wii days. It might sound like I'm a hater sometimes but it's because I wanted them to stay at the top.

 

[Thundercrack85]

As someone who owns a Wii, a 360, and is eyeing a PS3 (waiting for that insane price drop that always happens when a console gets replaced), I really only care about the games, the consoles are irrelevant to me. - to a point, If you make a ****** console, I'm not going to buy it.

So, I hate the Xbox One with all of its ridiculous, restrictive crap. Now that they've changed that, I might actually buy one one day.

But since Microsoft tried to screw all of us, I'm going to give them a hard time for a while. It's only fair.