Microsoft Drops Xbox One DRM Restrictions - UPDATED

[Reeve]

Well the Kinect is still non-optional and the PS4 is still cheaper so I'm still not going to get one!

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

...Wow...

This has the been the most interesting month of Gaming I've ever been around to see.
I give them points for realizing how stupid it all was, but this is clearly only because PS4 got them EXTREMELY Rattled.
If it wasn't for Sony's heavy handed sucker punch, I'd say we'd still have DRM.

 

[Yuuki]

I'm very confused at the moment.

Confused as to whether MS planned this whole thing from the beginning as a publicity stunt (riding on the "no such thing as bad publicity" chestnut) OR whether they were genuinely behind this whole thing and then had a change of heart after seeing people's feedback.

On one hand, the hosts and devs who enthusiastically talked about XBox One's "features" looked COMPLETELY into it, they looked like they truly believed in it deep down that this was the way to go, that gamers would thank MS for these features down the road. So it's hard to believe that MS had planned on hitting the reverse gear from the start, because the devs spoke like they didn't even have a shadow of a doubt. You could see it on their faces and hear it in their words.

On the other hand, literally EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE ASPECT of the XBox One (except for the price, but who knows they might cut that down too at this rate) is being reversed. All in one go. That's where I start thinking that they planned this whole thing from the beginning, it looks way too fucking easy and way too fucking convenient to have pulled such a thing off so easily.

Either way Microsoft are still colossally thick idiots. Every single MS employee who preached things about the XBox One during the unveil and E3 is going to have jokes and memes made about them for a long time. Whether they already knew or not, it's utterly embarrassing...nothing changes that part.

Also I'm looking forward to future interviews with MS and how the interviewers will be silently laughing under their breath as MS try to answer the same endlessly-asked questions again and again:
1) "Why did you even think this would be positively received in the first place?"
2) "Why did you have a change of heart, do you believe first impressions have caused lasting damage?"
3) "Does this all come off as terribly embarrassing for your company and your employees, especially the presenters?"

 

[Jennacide]

I called it! Behold the truth which I spake:

When the Xbox One launches I bet Microsoft will reveal that the connect once every 24 hours requirement is only temporary. Does anyone remember Assassin's Creed 2's DRM?

This could be a case of poisoning us with hope a la Bane. I hope that is true because if there's one thing I would enjoy: It is seeing Microsoft fail.

AC2's DRM was only pulled because it was beyond draconian, and was proven to have stopped piracy for all of ONE week. Ubisoft got so much shit for it, and it didn't even do what it set out to, which was prevent piracy entirely on AC2.

Anyway, I'd say tough shit MS, damage done. There is such a thing as bad publicity.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Still requires Kinect? No thanks. :/

My thoughts. It's great that they're dropping every other restriction (or rather, it's nice that they're saying they're going to drop these restrictions) but Kinect has always been the big deal breaker with me.

Too little, too late. PS4 still lacks the Kinect Bollocks and is $100 cheaper. If I was a console gamer, Microsoft would still be out of the running.

This too: PS4 is $100 cheaper and, Sony's PR hasn't been as denigrating as Microsoft's has been over the past couple of weeks. This strikes me as Microsoft saying "Alright fine, if it's really that important to you we WON'T keep you on a leash!" or some such thing. There are still plenty of months before either console is out so I can't wait to hear from Sony and Microsoft to see what else is going to change.

 

[Bat Vader]

This is cool and I am happy they did it but I still don't plan on getting an X-Box One. They didn't do it out of the kindness of their hearts or because they respect the feedback of people. They did it because they knew if they didn't it would heavily effect their bottom line and the only way to fix that was by reversing everything.

Plus, it still requires the Kinect too and I really don't like the Kinect.

 

[ryo02]

so the xbox one is pulling a 360?.

sorry if that joke is a bit too obvious ... anyway when can we get a version that doesn't need kinect to work? and isn't in the box lowering the price?.

not that I'm buying it anyway I couldn't afford it after I buy the Ps4 and Wii U even if I did want it after what they tried to do.

 

[Anti-Robot Man]

Too late and not enough for me. Nice of you backtrack this hard that goes against everything you've said about the damn console up to till this point, but no. That bullshit kinect is still on there, and the $500 tag is still unjustifiable. Also, everyone can thank Sony for actually causing this to happen, because God knows these corporate assholes have their head so far up their ass that they wouldn't change shit if Sony didn't sucker punch them at E3.

Sony just took advantage of their rival being suicidally stupid*, they literally did nothing - it actually would've cost them money to implement the type of DRM MS did. That was the right move, but it was a logical business move, they don't deserve thanks for that - the reward they get from sensible business strategy is people buying their console, which is exactly what they've received.

Sony have still benefited enormously from MS's idiocy; plenty of people have already decided to switch and I think most of them will stick to that (unless MS also suddenly add backwards compatibility, ditch the mandatory kinect and drop the price), and I fully expect them to win the next-gen but they will actually have some competition now (which is good), rather than simply staring at MS drown in it's own feces.



* Ignoring their competitive pricing, which was a bold move.

 

[Baresark]

Wow, I didn't think they would learn. Well, that is one check from the negative to positive column for the system. Now if they would only not mandate Kinect. I'm honestly surprised because Gamestop had to stop taking preorders on this thing. I thought for sure they would take that as a massive success. All well, good on them. And good for anyone who is interested in the system.

 

[Entitled]

I think you underestimate the power of all things Halo.

I think you overestimate Halo. Halo sells to about 10 million people. That's the small fragment of a decent console audience. Minecraft sold better than Halo.

New Super Mario Bros. games sell twice or thrice as much as Halo games, and that still didn't save the WiiU so far.

 

[lostlevel]

Still requires Kinect? No thanks. :/

Yeah, as much as I would really love to continue being able to play the Halo franchise, since I've been with it from the beginning, the requirement for Kinect is just... It's too much. Remove that, and you remove $100 to $150 off the price tag, and I'm yours.

But I'm still leaning PS4 as of now.

But they were praising their DRM as something good for the consumers.

That tells us 2 things:
1. It was never supposed to be good for the consumers
2. Cloud processing was always a lie if all the games can work offline

And the fact still remains that they were praising those features as something that's going to be beneficial to us. And now they're removing the things that they advertized as attractive features that were supposed to give it the edge over the PS4. Which means that now we have two pretty similar consoles. Except that one is 50% more powerful and $100 cheaper. If they get rid of the mandatory Kinect and lower the price, then we can talk about competition. Because right now Sony is still in the lead. And most people have pretty much renounced Microsoft as the devil himself.

So cloud processing was a lie? It sounds like Microsoft did an EA (or rather an EA pretending to be Maxis), I think the damage has been done a lot of those Sony pre-orders will stick now. I can only assume that Microsoft thought Sony would go in a similar direction.

Although I'm a 360 there isn't really anything selling the Xbox One to me, I don't want to watch TV, I don't buy EA sports games, I've had my fill of windows 8 and I don't want a Kinect let alone a compulsory one. All the arcade games I bought not being compatible either means I don't really have much to come back for.

The sharing of games anywhere was the only good idea if we all had super fast broadband (in the UK still we don't really have it) if games used the full blu-ray's capacity it would take a heck of a long time to download.

I think I'll still buy the PS4 although I may miss is the xbox controller and maybe Halo but Destiny looks set to eclipse it.

 

[nathan-dts]

Too little, too late. The fact is that they were going to do it. They were outright screwing over their customers and they'll do it again when they have the install base.

 

[LostintheWick]

I am fucking angry about this.

Angry because people will be flocking to them now and going "OMG ALL HAIL SAVIOURS, THEY LISTEN TO CUSTOMERS"

They didn't listen to customers, they listened to the sound of the xbone being outsold up to 5:1, even in america. IT also means all that bullshit about the cloud was thouroughly..well....fuckin bullshit. They tried to rim us in the ass with no lube and would've gone all the way with it if it didn't cost them as much.

It's a somewhat good news for consumers but the fact that they're going to get away with this infuriates me.

That "outselling" IS how consumers speak to companies and corporations. By MS responding by changing their new product they are, in fact, listening. If you don't like the fact that it is only the money that speaks, then you are probably a bit like me: You dislike capitalism (even if you don't realize it yet).

 

[The_Echo]

I still have no intention to buy an Xbone.

But this is, finally, a good idea from Microsoft. However, it's too late.

If they had turned their back on this two months ago, all would be well. But now it's obvious they're only doing this to save their own skin, not because they're actually listening to consumers.

I wouldn't be surprised if they change their mind again once they have an install base.

If it wasn't for Sony's heavy handed sucker punch, I'd say we'd still have DRM.

That's what I was thinking. If Sony had confirmed their used game/online policies in an interview and not on stage, Microsoft wouldn't have heard the outrageous applause and probably thought nothing of it.

Bit of a shame, really..

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

So yeah, that didn't take long.

Guess even Microsoft's not so stubborn/arrogant/stupid as to keep sticking their heads in the ground when they're receiving a righteous asswhuppin. We're not sheep to be herded into a pen. We will lash out if pushed. Adapt to us, do not demand we adapt to you.

I hope the rest of the industry is watching and taking notes, and they probably are.

 

[Stormtyrant]

And... Backpedal!

 

[Callate]

That's a win. Details may yet emerge to warrant skepticism, but I feel a hell of a lot better that consumer pushback can still be heard and make a difference.

 

[Genocidicles]

Why do people still think the kinect is 'always on' when there are multiple documents and insiders telling you can turn it off?

Because it has to remain plugged in at all times for the console to function.

If it truly is fully switched off then why does it have to remain plugged in?

 

[CelestDaer]

Still no word on whether or not it will play games.

 

[gentlemanghost]

so the xbox one is pulling a 360?

No, it's pulling a 180