Microsoft's Penello Sings Xbox One DRM Turnaround Blues

[Karloff]

Microsoft's Penello Sings Xbox One DRM Turnaround Blues

"I always have to be really careful what I say here," Microsoft's Albert Penello says, as he wades into the piranha-infested waters of its Xbox One DRM policy saga.

"This is my official: 'We're not going back on that,'" says Microsoft's Albert Penello, clearly paranoid that the mere mention of Xbox One's DRM policies - which it famously reversed earlier this year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125204-Microsoft-Drops-Xbox-One-DRM-Restrictions-UPDATED] - would cause an internet meltdown. "I don't want anybody to think we 'got' them, and then tomorrow I'm gonna go back to the old stuff, 'cause that's not gonna happen." No, having once reversed tack on DRM, Microsoft isn't about to tempt fate with yet another turn-around, but at least it's learned its lesson, claims Penello.

Though Microsoft still quite likes the look of a digital future, he admits. "We just think that's the way the future's gonna go," he says. "We may have been right. What we were wrong about was that it's just too soon." But the digital version of any Xbox One title will be available as soon as the physical one is, and a physical licence can be converted to digital without difficulty. Well, without too much difficulty; you can't take a disc you own and convert that to a digital license, but you can borrow or rent someone else's disc and turn that into a digital game on your console. There's still plenty of cloud functionality too, if you like the idea of having your Xbox profile proliferate on any number of Xbox One consoles. It just won't be exactly that same vision of the future that Microsoft dreamed of, back when it first made its presentation to the world [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJvccacXjkc], and the world said No.

"I do feel like we never got a chance to have a rational conversation about what we were trying to do," says Penello, who thinks the "cool stuff" that came with its digital-forever future will come back to the Xbox One eventually. Eventually could be a while away yet; after all, it's still not entirely clear whether Microsoft will have an Xbox division this time next year. The new CEO [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129442-Microsoft-CEO-Struggle-Report-Elop-Would-Sell-Xbox] will doubtless have his or her own take on Microsoft's hardware segment, but that's a story for another day.

Source: Engadget [http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/08/xbox-one-drm-reversal-history/]


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[Psychobabble]

"I do feel like we never got a chance to have a rational conversation about what we were trying to do,"

Yeah well tough titters as that's the risk you take when you ambush your potential customers with new features without first having some sort of dialogue with them to see if it's a feature they actually want. Microsoft had an "They'll accept whatever we give them" attitude and it came back to bite them on the ass.

 

[Aggieknight]

"I do feel like we never got a chance to have a rational conversation about what we were trying to do," says Penello...

And whose fault is that, hmmm?

Microsoft an awful job of pitching their vision, leaving customers to fear the worst. The details they did share didn't help their case. The Xbone announcement curfuffle should be a business case used in graduate marketing schools of what not to do.

Don't blame the consumers for your failings. .

 

[Haakmed]

Still waiting to see how broken the system is at launch without all of the "features" they dropped. But if you want to discuss them in any way, please send someone who can talk about them and what they are capable of and is able to answer the difficult questions you don't want people to ask. That might be a good place for your rational discussion to happen.

 

[Fox12]

"I do feel like we never got a chance to have a rational conversation about what we were trying to do,"

Yeah well tough titters as that's the risk you take when you ambush your potential customers with new features without first having some sort of dialogue with them to see if it's a feature they actually want. Microsoft had an "They'll accept whatever we give them" attitude and it came back to bite them on the ass.

Beat me to it. They had the chance, they just blew it with terrible PR and arrogance. The truth is they fed us BS and tried to make it look like caviar. They're trying to jump into something they don't really understand. Yes, digital is the future. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Instead of offering consumers benefits from this, however, they tried to build a machine that suited them, and only them. No "rational conversation" is going to fix a broken system. As the saying goes, you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.

It doesn't help that they tried to avoid the issues when it first became a shit storm.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

And whose fault is that, hmmm?

Don Mattrick's.

I feel genuinely sorry for any human being in the position of having to try to clean up the mess that idiot left behind.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Sorry Mr. Penello, but your company had plenty of chances to explain how the XB180 "features" would work and benefit users. Even if the original 180 plan was a good one, consumers asked repeatedly for clarification and you guys didn't tell so that's on you.

 

[MCerberus]

I have very little else to add to the conversation. Everyone with a brain 'gets' what happened.
If you need to be yelled at to get something fixed, don't complain that you were yelled at.

 

[circularlogic88]

So you never had the chance to have a rational conversation? The multibillion dollar company that is Microsoft couldn't get a word in edgewise? Seriously?! Don't shit on my plate and tell me its a Snickers bar. Microsoft was stone cold silent every opportunity they had early on. And the few times they did speak it was always conflicting information or vague mealymouthed corporate sloganeering.

 

[loa]

It's like republicans parotting how the democrats "won't negotiate".
They had all the chances in the world to present the advantages of their "vision" but of course you "never got a chance" do that when there aren't any.
Quit that pathetic victim bullshit, you fucked up big time and that's all there is to it.

I also like how he insists that they were "right" and that we just aren't "ready yet".
That kind of mentality is really helpful for a "rational conversation".

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I really hate all this "its the future" crap that MS(and other companies) try and hide behind. An all digital future =/= An always online future.

 

[zileas7]

Well, without too much difficulty; you can't take a disc you own and convert that to a digital license, but you can borrow or rent someone else's disc and turn that into a digital game on your console.

Wait, what does that mean? How can they tell unless they're doing digital watermarking?

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Pffft.

Oh, cut the crap, man. Don't tell us it was anything other than your own damn fault that you didn't even TRY to tell us why were supposed to be excited by this always-online DRM bullshit. Oh boo fucking hoo, like I'm supposed to believe you never got a "rational conversation" because of anything other than your own incompetence and lack of communication.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I remember a long time ago called "May 2013" when they first announced the XB1 and Wired had the big. in depth scoop with interviews from those in charge and at one point a big shot (can't remember who) said, "Yeah the console has to connect to the Internet and check in occasionally. I think its once every 24 hours" and people lost their shit. Then they said "Oh noes, Wired misquoted us. We don't have anything to say at this time. Good bye". Cue a month of rumors and other take-backs from the article (did the Kinect need to stay connected?). Eventually Microsoft finally came out on their blog confessed that all the stuff people didn't want was going to be part of the console, like a kid who stole a cookie and tried to hide it from his parents finally confessing

Because i'm sure major Nelson was pretty adamant that the Xbone would never have an offline mode because it's and a BIG FUCKING QUOTE HERE, "THE FUTURE".

Dont sit there and tell me that if I wasn't online at least once a day with my console I wouldn't be able to play any game I have was a feature.

The worst of their bull crap. "No you don't understand the XB1 needs to connect to work. Also the cloud will use 4 whole Internets to make the console faster". Angry Joe's interview with Major Nelson was a huge fuck up. Joe even asked in an open minded way how this was going to work and Nelson flipped the fuck out on him

I really hate all this "its the future" crap that MS(and other companies) try and hide behind. An all digital future =/= An always online future.

Amen. We don't need DRM. That will never, ever be a "feature" (not even Steam's DRM). I remember over the summer Google made it so Chrome could play browser games offline. Because that's awesome

 

[VoidOfOne]

Well, if this is supposed to get people who have not decided to purchase an Xbone to do so, in my case, it fails. It fails because words are just words, but context is everything. From the way things have been going with Microsoft, this hardware has yet to be proven to be a solid product, and is feared by many to be anything but as such. Considering such ventures as the Surface, Windows 8, Windows 8 phone, Zune, Windows Vista, and the like fairing as they are, it's not a promising trend. And him saying this does nothing to heal the wounds caused here (a bit dramatic, admittedly) and as such I'm going to give it a year, at least, before even considering purchasing this console, and seeing what's what.

Like many have said, there was time to say something. Plenty of time, since the whole Adam Orth incident. All the way up to E3, and even through E3. No excuse there, no excuse. They made a gamble, and failed in the PR market. Good thing for them people will by the XBone because its the Xbone, and Halo. But they definitely are not in a place they wanted to be. Wonder if EA has some challenges to their throne of being Worst Company of the Year...

Guess Mr. Penello, the whole XBox team, and all of Microsoft are just going to have to...

#Dealwithit.

 

[NiPah]

Oh for the love of god... Stop fucking around and just tell the truth Microsoft...
Because you wanted to make a system that did not require disks after the initial install you were required to implement a restrictive online checking system to make sure people weren't passing around disks or selling them.

This whole friends sharing crap was never an issue, you made it up, you know this so stop...

Oh and bullshit on "this is never coming back", EA got in bed with you because they knew your policy would kill used game sales, hell they even ended their online pass purely because they thought the new DRM would be able to replace it. The second EA comes back and whines that used games is killing Titan Fall sales and they need to stop it, you'll find a clause that allows publishers to restrict used game sales, end of story.