Microsoft Drops Xbox One DRM Restrictions - UPDATED

[Gray Firion]

What? Really?! Ok, erm, gimme a moment...

HA haha Ha ha ha ha ha! Whooo, aw man, for the love of... xD

/inhale

Seriously. After 2 months (because this started earlier with rumours) of getting told every DRM measure is a separate dick move bigger than the last, and them defending their positions with the ultimate display of arrogance all throughout this time, now, NOW, they try to weasel their way out of this just like that?

Edit: They actually DID take it out?! HAH! Was this so hard?!

Make no mistake, I wanted this. I wanted them to take out their DRM and shitty policies. But after such a display of arrogance, of sheer stupidity? No, I like it, but I'll still lambast them on how it took a worldwide "oh, go fuck yourself Microsoft!" for them to get the picture. They didn't need a hit this big for their PR, they should have seen this coming.

Rampant stupidity with a kernel of inteligence at the very end. Still, good thing they took it off.

 

[Matthi205]

This, if true, would be a step in the right direction.

5 steps back, 2 forward
It's not far enough in the right direction, though. Kinect is still always on, and the price of the console is still at 500 euro.


18. All warfare is based on deception.
This could be true, but knowing Microsoft: I sincerely doubt it.

 

[Zipa]

Well shit the damage control has reached epic proportions. Though it is a good day to be a gamer we have collectively made a company go back on its encroachment of our consumer rights by saying in a loud clear voice NO.

They still are going to struggle though honestly, the damage is done not just with the DRM aspect but their general attitude of fuck you if you live outside the launch countries or have a poor/no internet connection.

 

[inkheart_artist]

Okay, Jim Sterling. Can we now take a look at how shitty the PS4 and the Xbox One (really the whole next gen of consoles) are now that they're on equal footing?

 

[Rack]

And now MS have made me actually need to think about which console to buy. Not too hard I guess, PS4 is still cheaper and more powerful with a much better promise of upcoming games and better value service in terms of PS+. Still I have to at least consider the 180.

 

[Trishbot]

I'm still getting a PS4 over an Xbox One...

... But this is good news.

Granted, Microsoft isn't doing this out of the kindness of their heart, but rather because the PS4 was kicking its ass in pre-orders and positive public PR. It's a response to PLAYSTATION, not to consumers, because they've made it quite clear they'd screw us over immediate if they knew they could. They just forgot that there was another opponent in the console race.

Still has the problems of the Kinect, the extra $100 price tag, mandatory game installs with non-removable hard drive, inferior hardware specs, and general loathing for the common consumer and their consumer rights and game ownership...

But this is "good" news that they've decided NOT to become the most anti-consumer product to ever exist.

Because, geez, the list of things the Xbox One COULDN'T do was nearly triple what it COULD, and no amount of "the cloud" PR could change that.

 

[Entitled]

ITT: A big Fuck You for everyone who was whining about how everyone else should just shut up with the whining until they can vote with their wallets, and belittling the "vocal minority" of gamers that obviously doesn't matter to Microsoft.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

They still don't have my business. They still force Kinect, still don't support indie games, and I will not praise them for JUST NOW doing the right thing that is to be expected of a good game console to begin with. Sony got praised because they did it right the first time, Microsoft waited to see if they could get away with it first. I don't like that abuse. I'm sure if not as many people voiced their opinions and the press wasn't busy writing 300 articles about why the Xbox One was bad, they still would have went through with everything.

 

[BrotherRool]

So we won then? I feel a bit bad because I'm still going to buy a PS4 instead. $100. Sucker Punch. Naughty Dog. Quantic Dream

 

[Ragsnstitches]

While its a nice gesture... no scratch that, it's the fucking obvious thing to do, in all practicality I can't see any incentive to buy it beyond exclusive titles.

- Still heavy restrictions for Indie developers and complete denial of self publishing (of which sony claims to be embracing... we shall see). This is the real clincher for me.

- Still costs a 100 bucks more then the closest competitor for entirely gimmicky features. That is a pretty significant price difference.

- Have a pension for strong arming publishers into exclusivity deals. Xbox users may get a better experience, but these antics are detrimental to the industry. That goes for sony too, but they are far less culpable. Self published titles are fine (Sony entertainment or Microsoft studios developed games) but wrangling up 3rd party studios and publishers to play favourites is total ass waste. This is a practice I despise.

In the end I don't feel like getting either PS4 or Xbone. Wii U's lack of interest in 3rd parties doesn't make it a viable 3rd option. Guess I'll just upgrade my rig again instead.

 

[Ham Blitz]

This sounds pretty good, though they also announced returning to the way of xbox 360 style disks, which gets rid of that whole family sharing thing for games. I could have played Coop Dead Rising 3 with my brother with only me buying a copy of the game with that method.
Oh well, I guess that is a bit of a selfish complaint but it would of been nice (Since I can't convince him to buy one after he tried DR2 alone and didn't like it). Now all those who buy and sell used games can do that, so good for them I suppose.

 

[Legion]

Microsoft have re-entered the ring, can they hope to take the title from the premature defending console the PS4?

I suspect that this will convince a lot of people to change their mind. The $100 extra isn't ideal, and the Kinect will still upset many people, but those two issues were by far the most hated.

It makes you wonder though, if they could just snap their fingers like that and change their mind, clearly it wasn't built in as a necessary feature. Rather they decided to impose it on us for no reason but to benefit themselves.

Personally it doesn't change my mind, because I had already given up on the Xbox before the XBone was even revealed. I traded my 360 in for a 3DS XL.

 

[wulfgar_red]

they should drop Spynect

 

[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.