Jimquisition: Why An Always-On DRM Console Would Be Dumb Dumb Dumb

Sean951

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And so Nintendo will once again save the industry. I can already imagine how a conversation about Always Online would go:

"Extra features? Psh, we're a game console. You play games on us. Why the hell would we add features and drive up costs to add something that other products already provide?"

And so they will continue to just be Nintendo. Making Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Kirby, and Pokemon games that just print money.
 

DrOswald

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Azriel Nightshade said:
Why is always on-line for consols detrimental, but always online via Steam exempt from scrutiny?

I'm not asking this to be contrarian or witty, I'm generally curious. Mainly because the only two PC games I play are WoW and LoL, both on an 5 year old iMac. So I'm a bit out of the loop.
First, I need to define two terms:

True requirement: A requirement that is essential to the function of a thing. The thing could not possibly work without it.

Artificial requirement: A requirement that is unneeded but is forced on the user by the seller.

Any requirement, true or artificial, comes at a cost to the consumer. If I want to play an internet multiplayer game I have to have a stable and fast internet connection. That comes at a cost to myself beyond the base cost of the game. To put a number on that cost, I recently moved. My old wired solution was no longer going to work. I had to purchase a wireless range extender, a wireless card, and some other equipment. This cost me about $150 to establish this kind of stable internet.

Now, I don't hold it against Riot that I needed to spend $150 to continue playing their game, because it is a true requirement.

Next, steam. Steam does not actually require always online. Once you connect to your stream account once you are good for several weeks and you only need dial up speed and reliability to do that. The rest of the required connection is all a true requirement. You cannot download a game without a connection, you cannot chat with friends without a connection. The vast majority of required steam connectivity is a true requirement, the service could not possibly work without it. The core functionality of steam itself requires a connection, and the artificial requirement that I connect once every few weeks is very minor.

In addition, Steam offers a great service. With incredible sales and very easy management of my games I have seen a huge personal benefit using Steam. The tiny cost of connecting to the internet once every couple weeks is easily compensated for by the excellent service rendered. Had I not cared about having a reliable, fast connection I could have never spent that $150 and I would be no worse off using my previously purchased steam games.

On the other hand, the core function of a console does not require an internet connection. An always on console is a purely artificial requirement, a potentially significant cost to me for which I gain absolutely nothing. For many this is an insurmountable obstacle. And the only reason the next Microsoft console would have such a requirement is because Microsoft wants control.

They are, essentially, making us pay for their toy and offering nothing in return. When we say that we don't like this the closest thing we have gotten to a response is "We don't see the problem. Deal with it you whiny drama queens."

I don't personally care about the rumored always online requirement directly. My problem is the blatant anti consumer attitude. I do not want to do business with these people. They are rude to me and this is just one incident in a long history of annoyances. Owning the next Xbox is not worth dealing with their shit.
 

proghead

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It's been said before: when your internet connection goes down, wouldn't that be a great opportunity to play some games on your console? How's that for always-on MS? This is such a bad case of head in the clouds, it's not funny anymore. Every programmer will tell you that you can't rely on any network connection. You just can't.
 

Azaraxzealot

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Azriel Nightshade said:
Why is always on-line for consols detrimental, but always online via Steam exempt from scrutiny?

I'm not asking this to be contrarian or witty, I'm generally curious. Mainly because the only two PC games I play are WoW and LoL, both on an 5 year old iMac. So I'm a bit out of the loop.
I think it's because Steam has an offline mode. And there are many ways to get games you bought working when trying to play offline because on PC there's almost always a solution to every problem.

It's most likely going to take a long time to use most of them but in the end they give you more control over how you game than an always-online console ever would.

OT:
I always wonder why some executive with decision-making power hasn't seen shows or opinions like this or why they never seem to be aware they exist. All we as the common folk can ever do is speculate on how they feel, and whenever they DO speak out they say something that makes them seem like they're living in some sort of hypothetical reality where everything always works and there is an unlimited amount of money for everyone.

The games industry REALLY needs to make an effort to be more transparent with their decision-making process and have more open lines of communication with their consumers to allow them to see and hear these kinds of opinions presented on the Jimquisition and other very thoughtful video game journalists.

Because when they do things it always seems so.... out of touch. And I wonder what happens to a human being along the line of their life to make them start making decisions like the really shitty ones we always see today in the industry...
 

conanthegamer

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I live in a rural area outside of San Angelo, TX and my internet is mostly reliable. I often visit friends and family in San Antonio, TX. One friend I stay with has no internet. My relative I stay with has internet but no router. I still take my Xbox down there and play it. But if Microsoft does this the only thing I would be doing is transporting a brick. I wonder Microsoft's end game is to get away from consoles period. Between Steam and Mechwarrior online, I am slowly moving that way.
 

Xman490

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May 29, 2010
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When you said "congratulate Nintendo," I had no idea what you were talking about. When you mentioned "having the best exclusive," Lego City Undercover came to mind. When you joked about the WiiU not getting Colonial Marines, I sighed.

With surprisingly well-animated and acted characters and addicting piece collecting, that Lego game sounds really good.
 
Sep 24, 2008
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keitarobg said:
It's about time to start suing developers for imposing always-on DRM and failing to sustain the conditions for it. It's an obvious breach of contract, because the obligee (ze publisher) is denying a service, for which the customer has paid. Imagine buying milk from the store, paying for it and getting just the plastic jug without milk in it, because the cows aren't able to produce milk right now. It's exactly the same.

What I'm trying to say is that it's a legal issue. This is not a debate. People need to turn to court otherwise this bullshit will continue in the future.
the breach of contract would only work if their contracts were not written to allow the exact same thing we all hate. If they mark it as a service, they by all economic means take all our rights away.

I.e.

Hence the rise of ultra long EULAs that we just want to click through to play our games. People do not read how steadily every bit of 'ownership' has been stripped away from us. Basically, by being dismayed by what we're playing and planning to protest, we are the ones breaching contract. As long as games change nomenclature to a 'service'.
 

Naqel

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Azriel Nightshade said:
Why is always on-line for consols detrimental, but always online via Steam exempt from scrutiny?
Last time I checked, Steam runs ALL my games with offline modes in them perfectly fine when my internet is down.

It's even kind enough to let me chose if I'd like to update whenever possible, or if I'd rather it not mess with my modded copy of X-Com or another game.
 

gamegod25

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Legion said:
I can't see why else they could have such a dismissive attitude towards their customers, especially considering that selling 3 million copies of a game is considered "below expectations". If games were still being made cheap, then perhaps they could get away with that kind of attitude, but considering how much money they are losing, even when games are selling well, you'd think trying to please people would be a much better idea than trying to siphon money off of them any way that you can.

As for the always online. I honestly cannot see the logic behind it. We are not yet in a world where reliable fast broadband is widespread enough for this kind of usage. In five to ten years, I'd imagine this idea could work, but right now we simply are not ready for it. So why are they so insistent? I cannot see the advantage for them.
That's something that I feel gets overshadowed amid all the other shit, that EA and other big companies are hemorrhaging money because they are just plain poorly run companies. They are spending far more than they can reasonably expect to make, making their products less desirable in a vain attempt to squeeze out a few more pennies, and showing outright contempt for their customers.

It's no wonder CEO's are being forced to step down and the market is crashing when they refuse to learn from even recent mistakes, either too proud or stupid to consider any alternatives despite almost certain failure. It's become an industry so nearsighted and sure of itself that it can't (or won't) see the giant pit just down the road.

And as for being always on, clearly anyone who thinks it is a good idea has never lived in an area with poor connection and just takes for granted that not everyone can be online all the time. As many have pointed out willingly excluding a fairly large percentage of potential customers (I believe the number of non-online 360's was like 20-30%) is just stupid and strikes me as cutting off your nose to spite your face.
 

Rad Party God

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Feb 23, 2010
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My internet connection is fine most of the time and that's the key word, most of the time, it always baffled me why would I want a freaking console to be "always online", I mean, I love MMOs and I love online gaming in general, but there are times where I'm not in the mood to play with strangers or friends and I just want to play some good ol' fashioned single player goodness, heck, there are times when I'm in the mood to use the Wii (!).

I mean, it's neat that consoles can be connected to the internet and it's definitely neat to use my Wii for YouTube and Netflix (the most use the little fella is having right now), but it's not a freaking requirement, it's not necessary to play, say, Mario Galaxy or Okami.

Heck, not even Steam itself uses my internet connection constantly, I can perfectly live by connecting it once every few weeks and keep playing anything I want offline.

If these rumors are true, I can see a big rope haging from the ceiling with Microsoft's name on it.
 

Callate

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It's funny; I just disassembled my vacuum cleaner, and, you know what? The thing doesn't need electricity at all. It turns out it just connects to the power outlet so the power company can give Hoover information about how I use their vacuum cleaner, how often I use my vacuum cleaner, and whether enough time has passed that Hoover can send an electrical pulse up the line and cause my vacuum cleaner to self-destruct so I'll be forced to buy a new one. And I guess there's some kind of widget that prevents my vacuum cleaner from using generic or reconditioned parts, and that requires electricity too.

Jim? Amen.

Microsoft? Zune, Windows 8/Mobile, Games For Windows Live- you're running out of breathing room for allowable fuck-ups. Don't do it.
 

cheetahguy

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May 19, 2012
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actually this has been confirmed and Microsoft is making the new Xbox with DRM, they even gave the prices and said "if your internet connection goes out for 3 minutes you Xbox will shut down" what an epic fail.
 

Adventurer2626

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Lawl! Lawl! *snarf* Great job, Jim :) Would be nice for the AAA pubs to realize the issues they're causing but maybe the empty wallet teaches best.
 

FoolKiller

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2 things...

1. I can't wait to see the nightmare of parents returning these because they didn't realize that they needed high speed internet for a game console. And let's face it, no matter what Microsoft are aiming for, its a game console first and foremost.

2. My biggest concern that Jim pointed out that not many have is what happens when the gen is over. I still regularly play my NES through my PS2 and Xbox. I can't see buying a toy that has a total life of maybe 10 years tops as I still like playing new and old alike.
 

Defeated Detective

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This episode pretty much confirms the same opinion Yahtzee has in his Extra Punctuation column in which Triple A gaming is indeed dying, as to Yahtzee's words, the act of SimCity's always online DRM on a game that was essentially a single player game was "from the wild thrashing of a dying beast that we see such illogical decisions as trying to make SimCity multiplayer focused.".

Honestly, the death knell for EA, Blizzard or any other publisher that uses Orwellian DRM tactics is when opposing, open-minded publishers start selling their products as DRM-free and available offline, It's already used as an incentive in numerous Kickstarter projects(it was an incentive for FTL where Kickstarters would get a DRM free version on release) and CDProjekt Red even preaches about that on any copy of TW2 you get from GOG.com or Amazon.

Remarkably though, my 2nd paragraph can count as an attack on Steam, but it isn't, despite Steam being a DRM on itself, Steam's safe due to its business practice and ultimately you can run Steam offline if the games you've bought can run offline.
 

DigitalAtlas

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Very powerful words Jim, especially in your final act. Well done. I haven't posted here in forever and a half, but I just had to let you know how much I respect this video and will, in fact, thank god every time someone in the industry watches it.

Job well done, sport.
 
Jan 27, 2011
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gamegod25 said:
It's no wonder CEO's are being forced to step down and the market is crashing when they refuse to learn from even recent mistakes, either too proud or stupid to consider any alternatives despite almost certain failure. It's become an industry so nearsighted and sure of itself that it can't (or won't) see the giant pit just down the road.
That, my friend, is the MAGIC of shareholders! :D

You see, they don't give a shit about your product. They just give you money and ask you to grow in order to get that money back + growth! So they want you to grow more and more and faster and faster and they don't give a rat's ass what you have to do to make your profits go up so theirs go up.

They basically hijack your company and force it to make more and more and more profits, regardless of your wishes for your product, and there will be hell to pay if you can't make your stock value go up by at least a quarter of its previous value by year end...

This is what's causing companies to go evil, be anti consumer, use sweatshops in china that employ kids, and crash themselves. I'm convinced that the only reason Valve is doing as well as they are is because they aren't publicly traded, meaning that they don't NEED to chase maximum growth, and thus be massive douches about it.
 

pillywiggins

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What I don't get is how a company like microsoft could actually believe this would be good for business, surely you would want as many people as possible to buy your console and the demographic of "people with good internet connections + the people without them" is bigger than "just the people with good internet connections and who happen not to mind having to jump through arbitrarily mandated hoops".