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

Darken12

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Apr 16, 2011
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I was alone, in my flat, and I still stood up and clapped loudly for a full minute after you said that infamous catchphrase.

It was that. fucking. good.

Thank god for you, Jim.
 

Nazulu

They will not take our Fluids
Jun 5, 2008
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Holy Shit Jim! That was amazing. You summed it all up perfectly. You even brought up great arguments I haven't heard from anyone here yet. With all you've mentioned I really doubt they'd go in that direction now, that's assuming their brains are in their skulls.

Thank God for you indeed. This is easily my favourite episode.
 

dyre

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Mar 30, 2011
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Good arguments as usual, but also an amazingly executed finale. I could tell from the last minute that it was going to end in an awesome way!
 

Darks63

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Mar 8, 2010
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You know the way the industry acts they must really buy into the argument that video gaming is addictive since there is no other explanation for the way they act about what is a luxury item.

The ending of the vid was true brilliance Jim keep up the good work.
 

Barciad

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Apr 23, 2008
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What I am getting here is an attitude indicative of much of our latter day elite. 'Deal with it' has been not just a phrase thrown at consumers, but voters too. You don't like the stuff that we are doing to you and your loved ones? Deal with it.
It represents just what our modern day lords and masters actually think of us. They are so arrogant, so smug, so safe in the invulnerability of their positions, that they feel they can get away with anything. Alas, in this post 1789 world, things aren't quite so simple. As Jim Sterling explained, if you screw up in business, if you become too complacent and take your customers for granted. Then, you exulted position will not last for very long.
The notions of hubris and nemesis have been around for as long as recorded history. Watching it happen in real life does tend to bring a smile to ones face. Nothing keeps you and your fellow man honest than watching those with too much pride crash and burn.
 

JoshuaMadoc

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Sep 3, 2008
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Hey Jim! Great news! People are still whiteknighting in defense of Microsoft's decision!

You know who I want to fucking murder right now? (not you, Jim)
 

Voulan

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Jul 18, 2011
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I'm still expecting Microsoft to pull a "LOL, just kidding!" campaign and say they were joking the whole time, and the NextBox won't have any of these DRM practices. If that is the case, they are not going to get the attention and reaction they're hoping for.

I mean, surely to christ they're not that stupid. Surely. The whole stupidity of doing this makes me find it really hard to believe, but lately I've seen some really stupid things in this industry.

I'm actually looking forward to their announcement, to watch as all the gamers boo them loudly off the stage, with maybe a little violence and blood shed. It will be a sight to behold.
 

Tarkand

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Dec 15, 2009
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The last 40 second of this video are flat out epic.

You have the written transcript of this episode somewhere Jim? :)
 

brazuca

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Jun 11, 2008
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This is for me a PR stunt by Microsoft. Think about! Their hardware is already inferior to the PS4, stated by AMD representative, which is the company behind Microsoft new Xbox. The new thing does not have a name other than Xbox 720. They don't want another debacle like three red ring of malfunction.

There is no such thing as bad publicity, there is however no publicity at all.
 

Arcane Azmadi

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Jan 23, 2009
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Nailed it, Jim. That dumb **** at Microsoft (I'm allowed to say "****", I live in Australia, I get the same exception as Yahtzee) is telling us to "deal with it" in the sense of "shut up and buy it". But if that's how he's going to be, we're going to "deal with it" by simply not buying the fucking console.

This is why major companies need to screen their representatives Twitters to make sure they're not retards before letting them do anything.
 

Nowhere Man

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Mar 10, 2013
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"A man chooses. A slave tweets his support for every choice". Those are beautiful words Jim :.) Thank God for you!
 

Fiairflair

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Oct 16, 2012
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QUINTIX said:
I'll disagree with Kevin Dent here too https://kevin-dent.squarespace.com/blog/2013/4/5/in-the-world-2929
however, I will agree with him & Manveer Heir that the Orth is not deserving the bile he's receiving.

From my bigoted perspective, this vitriol filled reaction to perceived threats (especially anti-feminist ones) is to be expected from our latchkey generation with many of its "young men" staying teenage boys into perpetuity.
The internet gives a voice to people of many ages who want to express threats of violence and hatred. It is presumptuous to single out Generation X (the latchkey generation) for its vitriol given that the entire concept of generations (as a sociological phenomenon) deliberately generalises those people that it describes.
 

dbenoy

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Jul 7, 2011
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I've always been annoyed by DRM schemes but it wasn't until recently that I took games that I was extremely excited to play and refused them, because of the DRM.

First was Crysis with its SecuROM fiasco, and more recently Diablo 3 and SimCity.

I wonder if the publishers realize just how much effort it takes to make a massive game fan like me turn down an exciting new title. I've gladly spent hundreds on elaborate collector's editions in the past, and even my dedication can not withstand these nonsense DRM schemes.

Now that I've started to train myself to turn down games based on their publishers, and look to the indie scene for fun (at great effort) I'm not going to forget it soon. The (bad) habit of consuming only well known AAA games isn't something that can be un-broken once it's gone.

And this is from a huge game enthusiast here! For lesser fans of the medium, this boat sailed long ago. The mass exodus is underway.
 

MB202

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Sep 14, 2008
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Yes, yes, and double yes! Always online DRM is probably THE reason why I'm not getting the next Xbox, if it really turns out that way.
 

Adon Cabre

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Jun 14, 2012
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[HEADING=1]the future is always on-line![/HEADING]

Microsoft is preparing for the future. Everything will be online within the next 5 years. With the turning out of more powerful phones -- and that, as we speak, already have the capacity to enable Wifi hotspots -- we will see so much more online software saturating the market. We live and breathe our world through an online connection. Every service is promoted for being faster! Carriers constantly battle it out over network coverage and speed; and people choose the carriers not only out of pricing, but because they believe (or hear from others) that its a consistent, solid bars network.

My brother, a Marine at Pensacola (Florida), Skypes with me whenever he is on. If I wasn't always online, I would not know when he is calling to Skype.


I know people who work exclusively with Google Documents -- it's their word processor, and that they can access from anywhere.

[HEADING=3]It's always dangerous to underestimate the future.[/HEADING]
 

Tono Makt

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Mar 24, 2012
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Out of curiosity, does anyone know just how much bandwidth the XBox 360 uses when you're logged into an XBox Live-attached account, but the game you're playing isn't online? As an example - Skyrim?

Captcha: "think hard". Telepathic captchas can't be legal, can they?
 

DarkhoIlow

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Dec 31, 2009
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Great episode Jim and I fully agree with your points.

Having an always on DRM for a console is by far the most stupid thing I've ever heard in my life.

Haven't these people been watching anything that has happened in the past years at all? When was this a good idea? Are they trying to bury themselves into the ground by alienating the customers that do not have either a good internet connection or any at all, which they are a lot of. (all rethorical questions by the way since we all know the answers to that).

I'll stick to my PC where I can play my games offline in case my internet fails me. I also have some non steam games off GoG as a backup in case this happens.
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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Very well thought out, explained, and articulated.

The thing is though that I think the gaming industry as a whole is banking on the increasing rise of gamers who have never known anything but being exploited sheep. They pretty much rode the storm out, ignoring the complaints of gamers whom they realized would be coming back for their products no matter what they did... much like a Junkie does with an abusive dealer when there is nobody else to get their fix from. The big comment made by the publishers nowadays seems to be that there are a number of young 20-something gamers, starting to make their own money in substantial enough quantities to be a marketing force, who have never known anything but exploitation. It's easy for them to look at their angry elders, mostly 30 to 40 something Gen Xers, and be dismissive because for them this is how things always were, and they happen to be used to it. What's more for "Generation Y" there is a relatively bright future ahead as they are coming into their own when the Baby Boomers are retiring. The recession and sociological realities that decimated Generation X aren't as big a deal for them, and they generally don't worry too much about the cost of luxuries, especially in the future. Case in point in bebopping around a few MMOs nowadays it seems that the "hip" thing for
some people to do is tell anyone who complains about being nickeled and dimed, or aren't excited about the next big MMO or viewing it's suspected way of making money with alarm, that they are "pissed because they won't be able to afford it" complete with LOLs and other disparaging comments. In short it's a lot like what's being reported on twitter.

I think the gaming industry as a whole is pretty much looking towards this generation and that attitude as it's big salvation, and truthfully I am beginning to think that predictions of a crash might be premature simply because most of them are based on consumers from "our" generation getting fed up with this and how we're starting to wise up and turn our back on the practices. That doesn't consider what happens when a conditioned Generation Y hits the market and props it right back up. Like any new generation they outnumber us, and truthfully the industry doesn't care at that point if they lose our business or how loyal we were, or how integral to their development or becoming a big business like this.

I could be wrong about that, and hopefully I am, it's a fairly recent way of thinking for me, but it's something I can't entirely ignore. "Always On DRM" might have caused some problems with companies, but I think they are sticking with it, due to the benefits like how it lets them spy, limit used games, and just generally gives them intrudive power they can use for marketing if nothing else, but I think they stick with it for a reason, and I seem to remember they more or less saying as much during the Simcity debacle.

As far as big wigs in the gaming industry losing their jobs, I suspect it's because a lot of those people made promises about being able to succeed with the market as it is now, and failed. Their careers being a blip in the overall plan.

I will hopefully be proven wrong however.

That said, I'm personally against the entire "always on" idea, as well as the concept of DRM in general. With consoles I consider it paticularly terrifying, largely because it seems like an attempt to pretty much make premium gaming services nessicary. In order to have a console your going to have to pay an internet provider, probably top dollar for a very fast "gaming quality" connection, and then doubtlessly have to pay the console company money in addition to fully use that connection for their games. Normally it would sound insane, but just think of how many people pay membership fees to "X-Box Live", it didn't exactly die. To be honest while Sony never did go fully in the same direction (their premium online service mostly just giving extras) I think it would be foolish to assume that a company as greedy as Sony isn't looking at the success of XBL and making plans to charge for basic functionality.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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Adon Cabre said:
I know people who work exclusively with Google Documents
And if they lose their connection for any reason, they're screwed. Since we're not close to that point of technology, not number of claims of DA FYOCHOOR!!! changes matters on shred.
 

UM536

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Dec 9, 2010
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What we need to demand as consumers is legislation that the EULA for any product is presented to the purchaser before they hand over there money. As far as I can see it, the truly criminal act is that we are asked to purchase the product, install it, get to right at that playable state, so close you can taste it, then we are asked to sign away our rights to complain or return it. If we imposed a law that before any product requiring an End User Licence Agreement which specifies that purposes for which the product can be used and the retained rights of the manufacturer must be presented before purchase and the customer must demonstrate there understanding of these rights before a sale can be made then the whole situation would likely turn itself around. We could make you pass a quiz to see if you understood the EULA.

Any game with a long and confusing EULA would automatically lose sales because people couldn't understand it. Any game with anti-consumer stipulations in it's EULA would have to be knowingly accepted before money had been put down. This would encourage people to make games which are cheep knock-off of the AAA games which don't have the baggage associated with the top tier titles which would be good for the industry, it shows when budgets have gone out of control.

The more I think on it the more it sickens me, bundling services with physical products, selling the product in a free-and-clear manner and pretending that the essential service is a different sale. If i go and buy an iPhone and then don't agree to the EULA on the device did i just buy a 300$ paperweight? NO! I purchased the product with the expectation of service and if the product is sold before the terms of service for the necessary services of operation are agreed upon, i am owed compensation or satisfaction.

Most stores don't like to take back opened products but if the only way to figure out i did not like the terms of service was to install the product what recourse do I have to decline?