Microsoft Addresses Xbox One Concerns

[littlerob]

Y'know, I think I'd have actually preferred it if they'd been honest with their announcement instead of trying to spin it. Just say "Yeah, look, preowned games are killing us, marketers pay huge amounts for your inconsequential details and gaming habits, we hate not knowing what half our consoles are used for because you only play single player and don't even connect to Live. So we're restricting the resale of games and lending in some half-ass attempt to be like Steam (because nobody seems to complain about Valve), we're integrating the kinnect and using it as a recorder, and we're making online connection mandatory so we can check you're not using any borrowed or pre-owned games and check what you're playing and for how long and at what times. What can we say; you want bitchin' new games, you deal with it."

 

[Gregg Johnson]

Could I support all of these requirements to use the Xbone? Yes.

Will I actually put up with all this crap they're shoveling? Hell no.

I'm making sure I tell everyone I know about the bullshit MS is trying to pull here. If anybody I know actually BUYS one of these anti-consumer pieces of shit, I'm going to stop speaking to them. Straight up. And no, my convictions won't change once they start revealing games. I had an original XBox, and I loved it. I never got into the 360, for various reasons, one of them being the Xbox Live requirements to play online. I never even bought a 360 because of it. If I survived the swaths of amazing games like Halo: Reach, I can survive whatever MS is going to pull out of its hat now.

Edit: It's bullshit like this that makes me want to track down Bill Gates, grab him by both shoulders, shake him extremely violently and scream "Your lackeys are fucking up big-time! DO SOMETHING!"

Good luck with that, Bill Gates retired YEARS ago. He doesn't have practically any say whatsoever in Microsoft anymore.

 

[ironpatriot]

With an always-on console, you have to consider the future.

What happens if (admittedly unlikely) Microsoft goes bankrupt?
What if, in 12 years, they decide they will no longer support the XboxOne?

If for 24-hours, there is no connection, there are no games. The console becomes a brick. (Or an over-sized DVD-player, if you prefer.)

What happens if my Xbox Live account is banned?

It's very unlikely this would ever happen to me, but plenty of people have been banned. I want to know what happens to the games. Will the games be gone?

More importantly, could Microsoft use the always-on requirement to block an XboxOne's access to their servers?

Oh, by the way, I CANNOT WAIT for the Xboxone patch that causes all of them to be unable to connect for over 24 hours. That is going to be funny. (Assuming, of course...)

 

[Treaos Serrare]

Good luck with that, Bill Gates retired YEARS ago. He doesn't have practically any say whatsoever in Microsoft anymore.

He May Have PUBLICLY retired but a man who basically rules the worlds computers does not just "step down" that fucker will be calling the shots till he dies

 

[Aggieknight]

Good luck with that, Bill Gates retired YEARS ago. He doesn't have practically any say whatsoever in Microsoft anymore.

He May Have PUBLICLY retired but a man who basically rules the worlds computers does not just "step down" that fucker will be calling the shots till he dies

I'd like to see where you are coming up with THAT theory. If you look at all the charity work that Bill is involved in, you will see that he does enough to fully occupy three people, much less a freakin billionaire that can afford to buy anything in the world that he wants.

Now, his opinion is worth billions in the technology world. But that's not the same thing as calling the shots.

Personally, I've watched the steady decline of M$ since Bill stepped down. Balmer has proven himself a poor successor to Bill.

Back on task, I can definitely see why M$ doesn't want to talk to the press at E3. Will be very interested to see how all this plays out (and no, I'm not buying an Xbone). Sony has a golden opportunity to take the next console generation, but I'm concerned that M$ wouldn't stick this flag in the ground without confirmation that Sony was as well (market collusion).

 

[CrazyFikus]

"With Xbox One you can game offline for up to 24 hours on your primary console, or one hour if you are logged on to a separate console accessing your library. Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies."

What if your 'primary' breaks down, and you get a new one as replacement?
Does this new one become a 'secondary' forever? Does that mean that, even if you are playing in your living room on your couch with your console, it is still considered a secondary and will check for connection every hour?

My guess is that they are going to allow selecting a new primary, but they will charge for that... "privilege".

As for watching TV... you can watch TV without a console, and I'm pretty sure that the PS4 will be able to play DVDs and Blu-rays.

Concerning kinect, can't you just wrap the thing in duct-tape and leave it connected but somewhere out of sight? It says it has to be connected, not that it has to face the living room and have person in front of it to function.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

What if you leave for university and no longer have a broadband connection? You can hardly take your console to a coffee shop to hog the free wifi. What if you hit a rough spot and decide you cannot afford broadband for a few months? Let the over-priced console collect dust?

How ridiculous.
DRM. That's it.

Looking forward to the PS4. Microsoft just shot itself in the face.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

Even though I'm a PC gamer, I find this news horrifying. The loss of consumer control over their own purchased goods is just...wow. Technology seems to be getting more and more restricted. The UI may get slicker, sexier and faster, but the actual functionality behind the flashy-looking facade is being squeezed more and more.

What quite a few, but certainly not all, PC gamers that I have seen in various forums fail to understand is this:

If the Xbone makes a profit, Microsoft will most likely pull this crap with Windows too. It is the same corporation that makes Windows after all. They have us by the balls with their ridiculous market share. If Windows goes this route where do we, as consumers, turn? Apple? They are already moving in the same direction. If anything, Apple is farther down the road than Microsoft in that regard. Linux? Barely anything works on Linux (especially in regards to games), and you need to have a decent knowledge of computer software to deal with Linux, which most people just don't have.

This famous saying is appropriate:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

The point being that this kind of disgusting business practice isn't just constrained to 'Xbone fan bois' or 'Xbox gamers' or 'console gamers' or some other sub-group. If Microsoft gets away with this, it will have a profound impact on all gamers, and basically any user of consumer electronics as a whole.

Put another way, if Sony doesn't put this kind of practice into place, it wasn't out of the goodness of their heart and their love for the consumer. It was because they think that it won't make them money. If Microsoft proves that it CAN make money while ALSO holding the consumer hostage, then you can bet your ass that other companies will want in on it.

 

[Gunjester]

You know what, personally, I can live with this.

That's not arrogant, just selfish. Choosing not to fight bad policies just because they might not affect you is how shitty governments start up...you're being indifferent to Game Industry Fascism.

 

[That Annoying Guy]

Looking forward to the PS4. Microsoft just shot itself in the face.

Yes they did, many multiple, horribly, disturbing times...

This just isn't going to end well for Micro$oft, first Windows 8, now this. I think if this gets any worse, the new CEO is going to find himself in a shallow grave soon; and I'll be pissing on the headstone.

 

[Jesse Billingsley]

The more information I get on this console, the more it makes me just want to buy a new 360.

 

[Awexsome]

Microsoft better have exclusives that are better than sex lined up for E3 because there is NO reason to go Xbox one over PS4 besides consumer loyalty right now.

 

[V TheSystem V]

I decided that I will flat out refuse to buy the XBOne due to owning a 'license'. I wasn't optimistic about the console in any shape or form and thought that I would wait until E3 to see what games MS would be announcing, but knowing that I won't 'own' these games has disgusted me.

Now deciding between PS4, WiiU and PC. WiiU has some good stuff coming out in the not too distant future, but it's limited. PC would be my platform of choice had it not been for bad experiences getting PC games in the past (finding out upon purchase of a game that it wouldn't run on my PC because there was something wrong with the specs), so I am hoping that Sony see all this criticism for MS's new TV service and learn from it. They are the only company standing between me and a WiiU, and I am hoping to GOD they stay in the way.

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

Well... Anyone want to write a Eulogy for Xbox? Or maybe something to put on its tombstone?

"Here Lies the Xbox, killed by the greed of its forefathers. Now lies in a grave for lack of a life support cable. Few shall miss thee."

 

[Joe Byron]

When I see statements like "you can use these things, but we only get to share your info if you let us" it makes me think of how every game/application/whatever on Facebook is prefaced by "Would you like to let us share your info? No? Then you can't play Sewage Treatment-ville".

 

[TheColdHeart]

I've always wondered, with this voice activation thing which controls when it turns on. Does this mean it's constantly listening to whats going on in my room? As how else would it 'hear' the command "Xbox On" or whatever to power up.

I'm not exactly cool with an item with constant internet connection, a potentially constantly active microphone and a very high res camera sitting in my bedroom...

 

[WarpZone]

So to clarify Microsoft's position: "DEAL WITH IT!"

 

[eels05]

Looks like I'm going Playstation next Gen,if I buy into the next Gen at all.
Way to alienate your customers MS.

 

[TallanKhan]

I have a stable internet connection but there is no way i would ever buy a console that requires me to connect online daily, for many reasons, but above all:

1) This effectivley gives the console, and every game you "buy" a shelf life. Unlike my old SNES or Genesis which, to this day, I will occasionally dust off and fire up, if i were to buy an Xbone i would only be able to use it for as long as the benevolent overseers at Microsoft saw fit to support the online service. Whats to say that in 7 years or so when they release the next console generation they won't just shut the whole thing down and render your console and games dead? "Now it's a paperweight" anyone?

2) I move fairly regularly, and I don't know if anyone has tried it recently but when you move, particularly if you move into a new build or a property that has been vacant for some time, it can take weeks (3 weeks at my present address)before you can get phone and broadband set up. Goodbye gaming in the interim.

Now I'm counting on you Sony, I want to like the PS4, and I don't think "Don't screw your user base" is such a tall demand is it? Don't force me to abandon console gaming and go back to the real world, I won't survive out there...