The Xbox One

[Trainwreck2100]

Phil Harrison tries (again) to clarify game ownership, second-hand sales and always-online in Xbox One

"So, think about how you use a disc that you own of an Xbox 360 game," he began. "If I buy the disc from a store, I use that disc in my machine, I can give that disc to my son and he can play it on his 360 in his room. We both can't play at the same time, but the disc is the key to playing. I can go round to your house and give you that disc and you can play on that game as well.

"What we're doing with the digital permissions that we have for Xbox One is no different to that. If I am playing on that disc, which is installed to the hard drive on my Xbox One, everybody in my household who has permission to use my Xbox One can use that piece of content. [So] I can give that piece of content to my son and he can play it on the same system."

Harrison then explained what happens when you want to take that game beyond the borders of your own home and into a friend's place.

"I can come to your house and I can put the disc into your machine and I can sign in as me and we can play the game," he explained.

"The bits are on your hard drive. At the end of the play session, when I take my disc home - or even if I leave it with you - if you want to continue to play that game [on your profile] then you have to pay for it. The bits are already on your hard drive, so it's just a question of going to our [online] store and buying the game, and then it's instantly available to play.

"The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That's no different to how discs operate today."

what if my friend doesn't have access to the internet? I give this license bs less then a year before it is killed, it is so stupid and shortsighted

 

[Gamma Goliath]

after owning the Xbox 360 for 8 years I thought Microsoft would pretty much be my gaming home even through the next generation. after reading everything that has been unveiled about the XB1 so far, I'm convinced that I won't be buying their next system. the last Sony system I truly owned was the ps2, looks like the ps4 is what i want now. I'm just too overwhelmed with all of the mandatory stuff that has to happen with this.
I liked where the kinect was headed, and the controller is nice, but i don't like how all of the extra stuff seems to have taken over this gaming system. Microsoft isn't competing with Sony or Nintendo anymore, I think they're competing with Apple now as far home entertainment goes.

 

[craigdbfan]

after owning the xbox 360 for 8 years I thought microsoft would pretty much be my gaming home even through the next generation. after reading everything that has been unveiled about the XB1 so far, I'm convinced that I won't be buying their next system. the last sony system I truly owned was the ps2, looks like the ps4 is what i want now. Im just too overwhelmed with all of the mandatory stuff that has to happen with it.

I'm in the very exact situation you described.

It was a good run Microsoft.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

I'm in the very exact situation you described.

It was a good run Microsoft.

I feel ya man. I'll probably only buy a couple more titles for my 360 then I'm moving on. I'll keep it, but just to play old favorites.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

And with 76 million Xbox 360 consoles around the world with 46 million Xbox LIVE members, it is a mission that gets us out of bed in the morning.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/04/08/mediaroom-and-our-tv-journey.aspx

That seems like a lot of people that never connected their 360s to the net... makes the idea of daily internet checks for stuff to work pretty weird for a new system (or other internet-required features like activation codes).

 

[Bruce Malone]

after owning the Xbox 360 for 8 years I thought Microsoft would pretty much be my gaming home even through the next generation. after reading everything that has been unveiled about the XB1 so far, I'm convinced that I won't be buying their next system. the last Sony system I truly owned was the ps2, looks like the ps4 is what i want now. I'm just too overwhelmed with all of the mandatory stuff that has to happen with this.
I liked where the kinect was headed, and the controller is nice, but i don't like how all of the extra stuff seems to have taken over this gaming system. Microsoft isn't competing with Sony or Nintendo anymore, I think they're competing with Apple now as far home entertainment goes.

They are probably even pretty close to admitting just that at this point, it's that blatant.

Microsofts end-game starting probably from the end cycle of the 1st x-box was a way to get into peoples living rooms and dominate their media consumption. Video-games were just the entry key to that element but they are moving beyond that now.

 

[Silvermoth]

I hope I don't have to talk to the bloody thing. I play video games so I don't have to talk to anyone.

Unless its like Jarvis then that would be cool.

But seriously I hate talking

 

[Havok83]

Haha, I got accused of being an Xbox fanboy bc I tried to clarify some of the mistruths being posted about the One on another board. Yeah, me the person that has never owned an Xbox system and don't plan on getting this new one, is an Xbox fanboy

http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/04/08/mediaroom-and-our-tv-journey.aspx

That seems like a lot of people that never connected their 360s to the net... makes the idea of daily internet checks for stuff to work pretty weird for a new system (or other internet-required features like activation codes).

A lot of those numbers can be accounted for people that bought multiple systems due to either the RROD, wanting the slimmer model, etc... Also Live isn't exclusive to the 360 as its also on Windows and Windows phones.

and here's highlights from the show

[YT]KbWgUO-Rqcw[/YT]

 

[cherokeesam]

"but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That's no different to how discs operate today."

Except for the part where it's totally different. I already understand & accept that I can't play my copy of a game if it's loaned to a friend. I can't play it because my friend has my copy. It's worked that way for decades, until you arrogant ass holes decided that wasn't good enough.

Ugh. Just UGH.

Exactly.

"The way discs operate today" doesn't include my friend having to BUY the damn thing to play it after I'm finished.

If I buy a disc for 60 bucks and let a friend borrow it to play it for free, that's *my* ****ing prerogative. It's no different to me buying a pound of sugar and letting my friend borrow a cup of it, me buying a good book and letting my friend read it when I'm done, me buying a weedeater and letting my friend borrow it to clear his yard. The lawyers and beancounters may hate the fact that they're not getting their money-grubbing penny's worth, but goddammit, that's been part of human nature to let folks BORROW your property for THOUSANDS OF GODDAMN YEARS.

Get over it, Micro$oft.

 

[Two-Face]

I never/don't go into who's better Xbox One or PS4 because you can like both you know but after watching the whole Microsoft showing their new product been an revealed it didn't clicked with me to buy one and this video showed that, all I heard was TV, TV, TV, "Xbox One go movies, music Skype, TV, TV. Call of Duty" whatever I don't even play those type of game only thing I liked was EA games been official partner. You can play EA titles especially FIFA games I like to play (I do that on my PS3 and I will play FIFA 14 on PS4) and oh I forgot you can talk to your console. That was cool move that's about it.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

what if my friend doesn't have access to the internet? I give this license bs less then a year before it is killed, it is so stupid and shortsighted

As it was stated before, not all games require you to connect every 24 hours or w.e. It depends on the game developer and how they designed said game. I'm sure you could just as easily save your account to a usb key and access it like that.

A lot of this uproar is thanks to some ******* at Kotaku who has been bending reports to smear the X1. Remember how he said "You have to pay the full price of the game, just to play the game at your friend's place for even just a weekend!" - that made absolutely zero sense.

In another interview, the Microsoft spokesperson said that it was designed to be always online (as are pretty much all electronics these days) but that single-player games designed to be played offline could still work without a connection, as with bluray films. When the interviewer asked "I'm assuming, you'd need to connect to the internet for those games though, right?" then Xbox spokesperson said "Yeah, to keep up to date" as in updates. Just like the 360. Even single-player games with no need for the internet have firmware updates.

It seems like the "cool thing" to be bashing Xbox right now, and once E3 rolls around, people are gonna be like "ok, I guess it's not AS bad" and once it actually releases people are gonna go "wow, this is much better. Microsoft did a lot of damage control" but it's going to be more like people actually played it for themselves instead of listening to rumours and second-hand reports.

 

[jonathancrane]

Exactly.

"The way discs operate today" doesn't include my friend having to BUY the damn thing to play it after I'm finished.

If I buy a disc for 60 bucks and let a friend borrow it to play it for free, that's *my* ****ing prerogative. It's no different to me buying a pound of sugar and letting my friend borrow a cup of it, me buying a good book and letting my friend read it when I'm done, me buying a weedeater and letting my friend borrow it to clear his yard. The lawyers and beancounters may hate the fact that they're not getting their money-grubbing penny's worth, but goddammit, that's been part of human nature to let folks BORROW your property for THOUSANDS OF GODDAMN YEARS.

Get over it, Micro$oft.

This.

 

[uniqueweasel]

I've been reading you guys opinions with interest after the reveal. I think some of the knee jerk reactions to the rumours stated could be unecessary at this point, I am with most of you regarding what we've found out so far, but still details seem to be unclear about the whole online all the time stuff and the used games scenario, and with the idea of just getting the PS4 on that basis seems to be a bit too impulsive, as therre are still many details we have yet to learn from Sony on their business model, etc. But that said if these rumours turn out to be how everythings going to work out for either the xbox or the ps4 im not interested in either one of them. And I am one of the raritys that only use my xbox/ps3 to play games, I really have no interest in tv or any other media or apps available on a console, instead of all that stuff i'd just prefer if sony or microsoft would implement backwards compatability, that would sell me on a console right away.

 

[Destructus86]

Here's my thing...the people that love 360 (most anyway) and play 360 a lot are probably going to like One, because it's more of the same.

The same could be said for PS4 as well in terms of game content. IF you want diverse games and tons of exclusives (all 12 Sony studios are producing exlusives for PS4 right now) than PS4 is your thing. If you want Halo and Gears of War and lots of shooters and sports game than One is yours.

 

[Ipodman]

I've had an Xbox and Xbox360 ever since they launched and have never use Xbox Live even once in my life... if Xbox One (omg what a name) requires Xbox live to play, I may consider skipping it

 

[Gamma Goliath]

Heck even most of the shooters and sports game will be multi platform, call if duty and the ea titles namely.
Idk where some people are getting that ea is Microsoft exclusive now which would be very dumb and a very good way to start more outrage lol.

 

[Destructus86]

Heck even most of the shooters and sports game will be multi platform, call if duty and the ea titles namely.
Idk where some people are getting that ea is Microsoft exclusive now which would be very dumb and a very good way to start more outrage lol.

True, but if all there friends get the One to play Halo, then others will follow because that's where their friends are. Xbox really focuses on social gaming a lot more than PS3 I think....or maybe it's just me. haha

But it does seem to be like the PS3 focuses on story driven games or single player action. (Heavy Rain, Uncharted, etc...) Where single player is the focus more than MP.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

True, but if all there friends get the One to play Halo, then others will follow because that's where their friends are. Xbox really focuses on social gaming a lot more than PS3 I think....or maybe it's just me. haha

But it does seem to be like the PS3 focuses on story driven games or single player action. (Heavy Rain, Uncharted, etc...) Where single player is the focus more than MP.

I've noticed this about Sony, and I've grown up playing less and less online MP, most games I buy are single player RPG story driven games.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Why do i need a phone that plays all my music and surfs the web and sends messages? I have a phone for my calls, i have an ipod for my music, iv got a lap top so i can surf the web and i use AIM to chat with my friends. I just want my phone to make phone calls. That sounds horrible right?


How many of you actually ONLY and i mean ONLY turn on your Xbox or PS3 JUST to play a game. If more than one of you claims you do, im calling BS.

Technology has been going all in one for over 10 years now, this is just the next logical step and consumers haven proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, thats what they want.

MS is doing the right thing by including all of this, my issue with them, or at least this presentation, is this stuff should be talked about as an added bonus to a great gaming machine. Like i said before, its as if they feel annoyed they have to make games too, again, at least judging by this one presentation.

You just perfectly summed up how I feel about the Xbox One.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

They should do what Avid does with their software validation. You can install the same program on as many computers as you want, but the program can only be activated on one computer at a time. So if I'm working on my computer and need to switch to my laptop, there's a quick menu button called "deactivate on this system" which you hit in a matter of seconds, and then you "activate" on the laptop. If your system doesn't have access to the internet, you can buy an i-lock for like 50 bucks and it stores all your activations on that.

Microsoft could always make an ilock available that you save the activation code to so that if you want to play the game at a friends house, you can lend them your ilock OR do the online method.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

You just perfectly summed up how I feel about the Xbox One.

Same here.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

When Kotaku's Stephen Totilo pressed Harrison on the specifics of how long you could be offline before the Xbox One stopped you from playing a single-player game, Harrison responded with, "I believe it’s 24 hours."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/21/xbox-one-doesnt-require-internet-connection

What? He "believes"?

Man, Microsoft is doing a horrible job of controlling the messaging after the unveiling. There seems to be more confusion than solid answers on important stuff.

 

[Iceman]

I hope I don't have to talk to the bloody thing. I play video games so I don't have to talk to anyone.

Unless its like Jarvis then that would be cool.

But seriously I hate talking

Yeah. I'm happy talking to people when I'm playing multiplayer or in a social mood but if I want to zone in on single player would rather not speak at all.

Jarvis lol.

True, but if all there friends get the One to play Halo, then others will follow because that's where their friends are. Xbox really focuses on social gaming a lot more than PS3 I think....or maybe it's just me. haha

But it does seem to be like the PS3 focuses on story driven games or single player action. (Heavy Rain, Uncharted, etc...) Where single player is the focus more than MP.

The party chat on 360 made it a lot easier to make friends that you speak to every day while not playing the same games, even the ones who mainly play single player games. PS3 was definitely more SP focused and better at that while MS was better at the online component. I'm more of a single player guy myself although I love co-op campaigns & team co-op modes and the main reason I'll get an XB1 is to keep all the same friends I've had for the last 7/8 years. None of them have mentioned switching yet but if they did I would reconsider.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

As it was stated before, not all games require you to connect every 24 hours or w.e. It depends on the game developer and how they designed said game. I'm sure you could just as easily save your account to a usb key and access it like that.

A lot of this uproar is thanks to some ******* at Kotaku who has been bending reports to smear the X1. Remember how he said "You have to pay the full price of the game, just to play the game at your friend's place for even just a weekend!" - that made absolutely zero sense.

In another interview, the Microsoft spokesperson said that it was designed to be always online (as are pretty much all electronics these days) but that single-player games designed to be played offline could still work without a connection, as with bluray films. When the interviewer asked "I'm assuming, you'd need to connect to the internet for those games though, right?" then Xbox spokesperson said "Yeah, to keep up to date" as in updates. Just like the 360. Even single-player games with no need for the internet have firmware updates.

It seems like the "cool thing" to be bashing Xbox right now, and once E3 rolls around, people are gonna be like "ok, I guess it's not AS bad" and once it actually releases people are gonna go "wow, this is much better. Microsoft did a lot of damage control" but it's going to be more like people actually played it for themselves instead of listening to rumours and second-hand reports.

I don't think there's a smear campaign, or that it's cool to bash Xbox.

I just think Microsoft has done a poor job of controlling the messaging, and leaving so many questions up in the air is leaving the door open for misinformation.

I mean, no matter what there's going to be criticism. Sony got it's lumps as well, just different lumps.

 

[HauntedKnight]

If I buy a disc for 60 bucks and let a friend borrow it to play it for free, that's *my* ****ing prerogative. It's no different to me buying a pound of sugar and letting my friend borrow a cup of it, me buying a good book and letting my friend read it when I'm done, me buying a weedeater and letting my friend borrow it to clear his yard.

While I find this annoying, you have to look at how things technically are. Anytime someone borrows a game or movie, it's really no different than downloading from a torrent. You don't own that copy and according to the law you don't actually have a right to do such a thing. Do I agree with it? Nope, but it's just a digital way of preventing what is in a way stealing. Borrowing is really no different than pirating. I think people are upset because the technology is catching up with the law. Like pirating, they are catching up with preventing you from lending as opposed to just fighting uploads.