Microsoft Addresses Xbox One Concerns

[MeChaNiZ3D]

This is the funniest part, honestly. There's no way to fix these issues, they can only clarify further the bullshit that has received such a negative response, because these are solid features that aren't going to be changed. All that happens when a question is answered is they confirm that the feature is, in fact, pretty hopeless. It's just...hilarious to me.

 

[AkaDad]

If consoles have the same DRM as a PC, then there's no point in having a console. I'll save myself the cost of the console and I won't have to pay a subscription fee to play multiplayer. I'll also have access to community-created mods.

I'll also be able to ask someone with an Xbox 1, "hey, did you buy your XBOX OFF the internet?"

 

[Ashoten]

I have to wonder if a majority of people are freaking out over something that won't really affect them. I'd bet that a majority of people crying about "always online" (once/24hrs) on the XBox One play games while connected to the internet daily. I don't really see the "always on" bit affecting most people that are freaking out about it except for in fringe cases where something goes out. People freak out if they don't have internet in general, let alone on a console. Sure, it'll happen, but they've made it clear that if you don't have internet, you're not their target market, and you probably shouldn't be buying an Xbox One anyway if you can't even get internet.

Well only half the issue here is with the technology not being able to deliver what MS plans. The other half is that they want to run their console like a phone or cable service. Locked into a contract for an amount of time that you cannot leave or you will lose your investment.

If they want to do that then MS really should sell the XBone like smart phones are sold. Sell the console at 90 dollars or just free when the consumer buys a service with MS. Under those conditions then you would be renting the Xbone from MS just like a cable company lets you use their cable boxes and will charge you if you lose it. This would actually be understandable since MS wants the XBone to be a fancy cable box. They should just not expect consumers to tolerate this behavior when we purchase the hardware fair and square.

 

[Matt Dellar]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up, Microsoft. I can breathe easier knowing that I can stick to PC gaming with no regrets.

Funny thing here: as I clicked to go to the last page on this thread, my Internet actually died and I had to wait a few hours to post.

 

[seditary]

I read the 'licensing' part and just burst out laughing.

No wonder Gamestop had no problem with what Microsoft wanted to do. They actually benefit from this because the system destroys their competition, both other stores and individual people.

Think about it, a store has to be approved for second hand sales which ends smaller retailers and you can only give a copy to someone who has been on your friends list for 30 days and even then only once, which ends the ability to sell your own stuff on ebay or the like. With the Xbone, if you want to sell your game, you will only be able to do it quickly and easily to Gamestop (or equivalent).

Its doesn't even sound legal to me lol, like some dastardly conspiracy you see in movies.

 

[Azure Knight-Zeo]

My 360 loses it's connection to my wireless adapter almost every other week, this dooesn't fill me with confidence with this new one. What happened to the days when you could just put in a game and play it (oh hello there WiiU), why do we need all this extra crap?

 

[Anti-Robot Man]

How is this better than my super nintendo? Oh right prettier grass.

My SNES

1. allows me to lend my game to an unlimited number of family members or friends as many times as I want. And i don't have to register a "friends list" to do it.
2. allows me to sell my game to strangers without asking anyone's permission
3. does not require connecting to anything other than my television in order to play
4. does not require me to request that it doesn't spy on me (a request that can be reset anytime by the spymaster under the guise of "updating privacy options")

And the best part, when the XBOX TOO comes out in 4 years you can bet the servers will be shut down to "encourage" migration.

Enjoy your $500 doorstops fanbois.

5. Virtually no loading times.
6. Excellent first party support.
7. Can be dropped/thrown and still keep working.
8. Works with any tv.
9. Games will continue to work until destroyed.
10. No UI getting in the way of gaming.
11. No pre-order bonuses/retailler exclusive nonsense.
12. No entering codes before the game will work.

So glad I still have my SNES (wish I'd never sold my Mega Drive II, but at least most of those games have been ported to every platform under the sun).

 

[themilo504]

Do you hear that? That?s the sound of Nintendo and sony laughing.

Like I said on the jimquision episode about the xbox one reveal: how nice of Microsoft to eliminate themselves from the console war before it even started.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

No thanks Microsoft. I don't want a Kinect, never have done. If you let me buy and play the console without the Kinect then I'd be a little more forthcoming.

The 24 hour 'check in' thing doesn't bother me personally all that much but it's still annoying that it's there. It's pure DRM, because there are no real benefits to it.

And that used and shared game thing is gonna become annoying as hell I can tell. Do us a favour Microsoft and get your dicks out of our arses.

Useless crap and restrictions on my legal property. No thank you.

I say, good sir/madam, aren't you the person who said s/he has friends without an internet connection who have already pre-ordered this steaming bag of horseshit? Tell me, have you told them that they're spending $600 on a glorified DVD player yet?

Not quite, they have a dodgy and slow connection at best. They probably would for the most part get away with having to log in every 24 hours. Even the lowest grade internet in London works that often.

But still, the fact that they pre ordered this thing baffles me. Pre ordering is foolish at best, but something this expensive and long term and from a company like Microsoft is downright fucking stupid, even for them.

Captcha: bacon & eggs

No thanks captcha, I had some already this morning.

 

[GAunderrated]

So If I lose internet, my Xbox bricks itself? I think I'll just stay with my 360

If only that was the real problem. The true problem is trusting microsoft servers to actually be up when we want them too. I've seen many instances where the servers prevented people from playing games when they want too due to not keeping up with the constant demand or maintenance.

Since they are going full cloud gaming, this also means that like steam, if people get your account details and hack your account they get all of your games with no fuss and you get the "pleasure" of trying to get all your games back. Now steam has a pretty good safeguard system in place but I think it will be years before microsoft can even set up a decent protection system.

Just a quick google search and you can see how many times over the past 8 years people have had their accounts hacked or stolen on xbox live. Not to mention a possible situation that was similar to Sony's massive psn breakdown goes to show that companies are not ready to be trusted.

 

[Roxas1359]

Wow. Originally I wasn't going into next gen yet because I have several thousand hours worth of this gen left to play. Now it's like they're trying to keep me away. Heck, at this rate I'm more likely to go buy a used PS3 to see what all that Uncharted business was all about.

Uncharted, Little Big Planet, Journey and now The Last of Us as well.

If you can find one cheap, it's absolutely worth it.

I'm thinking of waiting until we at least get a picture of the PS4. Some point soon current gen consoles are gonna plummet in price. Heck, I'll probably even be able to afford a new PS3 slim! Also, can't forget Ratchet & Clank. I loved those on PS2.

Especially since every game, except Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank, are now on the PS3 so it's all good.

OT: While I was never going to get this, this makes my case even more so. I have some friends that got hyped up about the "leaked pictures of E3" and they were getting ready to preorder them. Luckily this news story came out just in time for me to stop them from wasting their money.
Then I showed them Yahtzee's gaming chart when it comes to video games and now they seem to not be quickly running out to let MS stomp on their faces. I feel like I have done a good thing. ^.^

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Wow, I guess I'm going to be skipping this next generation. What nerve to say that every Xbox owner has a broadband connection. For the first three years of owning my 360 I lived in a shitty duplex with three roommates and I didn't have internet on my 360. So what they're telling me is that buying the system and the games aren't enough? I wouldn't have been able to play those games at all? So does the Xbox One just refuse to turn on if it hasn't synced with the hivemind? Or what?
I'm predicting another game crash coming, and the xbox one is going to go the way of the VirtualBoy

 

[evenest]

If they can do a three month denial of service in a single week, I'll be extremely impressed.. and wonder who they're buying their time dilation technology from.

Thank you for that excellent chuckle. I should have read my post a little better than I did. I meant to say that if they caused a three month denial of service starting in the first week.

Admittedly, the time dilation technology would be a nice thing to have come November.

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

'Major Nelson writes, and because of this, "developers can create massive, persistent worlds that evolve even when you're not playing." ' Because PC MMORPG's haven't already done that. *Cough* Eve Online *Cough*

Nintendo's N64DD was supposed to be all about that, hell OoT was originally designed with a persistent and growing world in mind. and they almost did it with the original zelda game.

 

[spartandude]

im going to have to say im no longer planning on boycott, instead ive moved it to the if it were better than its competitors id get it.... but oh wait

 

[Roxas1359]

Do you hear that? That?s the sound of Nintendo and sony laughing.

Like I said on the jimquision episode about the xbox one reveal: how nice of Microsoft to eliminate themselves from the console war before it even started.

Nah, I think this is what Sony and Nintendo are currently doing after the release of this news:
Man Sony and Nintendo don't even have to spend a dime, MS is doing all their advertising for them.

 

[Something Amyss]

Just keep in mind that pcs and consoles both have their perks/weaknesses.

I've been using Steam for years, but my PC has never been a dedicated gaming rig. The irony is I upgrade people's computers for profit, but haven't really been bothered with mine. Well, until recently. That was independent of the XBone announcement, though.

Anyway, I know they both have pros and cons, but for me the pros of consoles have pretty much gone away. I liked the simplicity of use (pop in a disc), the controller over K+M, and stuff like that. But Microsoft's taken most of that away, and you can use a controller natively on a lot of games now (and there's X-Padder and similar if you want it for others). I'd say most of the games in my Steam library have full controller support.

And controller aside, new consoles require installs and updates and take away that simplicity of the console over the PC.

Hmm, I guess that could really be a nice feature. The only remaining fear on that is that once this kills the preowned market we'd begin to that number fall. There's also that "it can only be given once" thing... We'll see, I guess. But it looks pretty strongly like I'll be in the PS4 camp while waiting to see.

I don't entirely trust them, but it'll be interesting to see what happens. Still not worth the hourly check-in in my opinion. Especially since Microsoft took like 4-5 years to iron out license issues on repaired consoles this gen. I just don't trust them to give me back my primary console (where you get the once a day deal) if I need to service it.

Again, at least with Steam I only have to check in once in a blue moon. I ran the service in offline mode for three days this week before I even noticed.

 

[Xarathox]

What about gamers without that capability? They don't exist. "Every Xbox One owner has a broadband connection," Major Nelson writes, and because of this, "developers can create massive, persistent worlds that evolve even when you're not playing." Being always online and ready to go will probably have some benefits, but it's hard to say if that outweighs alienating anyone who doesn't want to--or can't--connect to the internet once a day, every day.

What? How can it be "hard to say"? Alienating the majority of console gamers is a death sentence for the XFlop. Microsoft has quite literally handed the reigns back to Sony in a single move.

I also love the e-mail MS sent me about how their new console was "made by gamers, for gamers". Uh huh...All the gamers I know won't touch that thing with a ten foot pole.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Just so we're all clear: "Always-Online DRM", "Cloud Processing" and "Service-centric gaming" are all the same thing.
It appears that Microsoft's PR and Marketing dept have at least latched onto the fact that "Always-Online" carries a negative connotation (as it should), so they're upselling it by using a different name.

The only difference is the degree of necessity based on the type of game.
MMOs can't function very well at all on a peer-to-peer system; they require a central server bank.

But most games just aren't MMOs. Doesn't mean shit to them; they'll rip control and security away from the gamers because it's their playground now; they just let you play in it while they feel like it.

To use a more practical example:
-If your game disc was defective, you took it back and had it replaced since it was all but required by law.
-If a "service" fails, there is nothing you can do but wait and hope it fixes itself. There is no law that requires game services to function in the United States. In fact, they can pull the plug and walk away with your money if they so desired with no legal consequence.

And that is the philosophical change in their approach: No more Honey, because Honey is expensive. Now they use the vinegar.

Can anyone tell me why the machine would need to call home once every twenty-four hours? For the life of me, I can't figure out why that is a requirement.

It's a psychological control scheme popularized by Steam.
By tying games to an account instead of just physical media, they impose the threat of loss onto the user.
It's deceptively anti-competitive, and designed to keep users loyal post-purchase.

The only significant difference between Steam and the Xbone is that Steam doesn't cost 300-500 USD and isn't the only digital distributor on PC.

Sony has a HUGE opportunity to capitalize on this by offering the better deal, but I have a suspicion that they're in negotiations with the AAA Publishers over this. (I would bet anything this sudden DRM-dump on the Xbone was created and included on their request)

EDIT: I feel like I should emphasize this, because it appears to me that people aren't considering it. Keep in mind that Sony is undoubtedly feeling the same pressure as Microsoft was by the AAA Publishers.

And I can claim it's the AAA Publishers because we already know that three of them are willing to push Always-Online DRM: Ubisoft, Activision-Blizzard, and EA. Those are three of the biggest firms in the mainstream market if not THE three biggest firms.

They may threaten to walk on Sony if they feel more secure on M$'s Xbone.
Similar reasoning why they treated PC gaming as second-rate market during the previous console generation; Consoles offered more market control and security.

One might posit that they wouldn't dare walk away from such large market exposure, but I'm sure the threat of them walking has been proposed and probably already issued to Sony behind closed doors. Simple fact is: Sony's PS4 will not last without those games.

It would explain why both M$ and Sony have been curiously tight-lipped about the gaming aspect of their new consoles. Neither of them knew whether to piss off the publishers or the consumers who keep them in business. This is especially trying for Sony because their gaming division has been the only division in their company consistently in the black for the past 4 years.

Now, I admit this is speculation on my part, but it fits in with the trends I've been seeing from the largest publishers. At the very least, keep the relationship between Sony, M$ and the AAA Publishers in your mind.

I am curious what will happen if/when Anonymous decides to take Microsoft down a peg or two and knocks out its on-line servers like it did with Sony. Can you imagine what a three month denial of service would do to the Xbox (and its sales) if it happened during the first week of the release for the machines?

I suspect it'd be more disastrous the day after the launch of a major bootstrap title like Call of Duty.
Kill the stupid kids' mainstream gaming for a month; see how long the Xbone's reputation lasts.

My rationale being: Most systems have a shitty launch lineup anyway; hit what counts.

 

[loa]

So if I decide not to plug that thing online, I purchase a glorified blu-ray player.
Can't use the glorious TV features because I don't live in america.
Truly, a connected experience powered by the cloud.

Console gaming won't die if this thing fails, it'll die if they have a modicum of success with these kinds of tactics and they then become the status quo.