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Microsoft Confirms Xbox One's Phone Home Requirement, Game Resale Rules
Following the confusion surrounding Microsoft's announcement of the Xbox One, the company has now clarified many of the hot-button issues in a set of posts on their official site. First, they confirmed that the console will need to phone home in order to continue playing games. On your primary console, you'd need to connect to the internet and check in once every 24 hours. They also announced that you'll be able to access and play any of your games by logging in on somebody else's console, but the internet connection will be required every hour to keep playing that way. Other media don't require the connection. Microsoft also explained how game licensing will work. On the upside, anyone using your console will be able to play your games, and you can share your games with up to 10 members of your family for free. The downside is the news about used games; Microsoft says they've "designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers." The key word there is can, which implies that you can't without the publisher's express permission. Finally, the company made a set of statements about how Kinect's audio and video sensors will collect and share your data. "When Xbox One is on and you're simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded." They also say data gathered during normal use won't leave the console without your explicit permission.
Well that just saved me the equivalent of whatever the new console would cost. Thanks microsoft for making purchasing decisions easier.
So, in other words, all of the hyperbole and hand waving from users on forums that was washed aside saying it couldn't possibly be that bad... instead it turns out it's worse.
I love that part. You mean I can still watch TV without "checking in", just as I could if I hadn't bought the stupid fucking box in the first place?
Someone you trust is one of us.
Or a government official tapping them on the shoulder and asking for a feed. With the proviso that MS simply must NOT let their users know, but MS is protected from their customers by law for following gov rules. By having this open up, and the gov spying in, it's yet another point of entry. From what started as an ill thought out games machine has now become the XBox1984 spy machine.
Waiting for an amusing sig.
"When Xbox One is on and you're simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded." They also say data gathered during normal use won't leave the console without your explicit permission.
"Explicit permission" defined as signing any EULA associated with XBOX One.
I owned a XBOX 1 and Xbox 360. I liked them better then Sony/Nintendo offerings. But this whole used game thing along with phone home. I haven't had my 360 plugged into the internet for 8 months now. I play most console games offline. If I want to play online with friends, that's what my PC is for.
So I had bought 3 xbox 360's, I won't be buying 1 One.
...just like I'm sure the Obama Administration would never obtain the phone and email records for every American!
What?
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Think about what happens after this generation is over, in 10-15 years. Eventually, the XBO servers will be taken down, and none of the games will work.
It won't be like you pulling out your Dreamcast or SNES to relive fond gaming memories--this literally won't be an option. Now starts the time when gaming history eventually fades into nothing.
Don't get me wrong, any disc based game eventually will be in the same boat--as these discs will eventually decay. Whereas cartridge based game systems may work, no problem, in 100 years or more if kept in a dry place.
So you basically forgot all the crap Sony has pulled out over the years... (e.g. rootkits). At least Microsoft is being honest about it.
As someone else said, the solution is to forgo both PS and Xbox consoles.
> the used game resale options are in the hands of the game developers
Which is funny because were I live it's in the hand of the law. The law that says "I can resell my own games."
This really sucks for those who go to places with lack of communication infrastructure. e.g. military, rural areas with electricity but no internet backbone. Obviously they are not the "intended" audience.
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
The difference between Steam and XBox One is only a matter of degree. Steam doesn't allow you to buy or sell used games. Steam needs to phone home every three months or so instead of every day, but it still locks you out after that.
So basically, if you want to play games from the major publishers, your only choice is who to bend over for. Steam uses Vaseline, Microsoft doesn't. Perhaps Sony will choose not to bugger customers at all -- I'm not really keeping up with the PS4 rumors.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
I just realized another thing. The only time I play on a console is when the internet is down in my area for my PC MMO games. Guess I'm not the intended audience either.
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
Believing that the issue no longer exists because one person cracks the first implementation is foolhardy at best, and idiotic at worst.
All it takes is for MS to bump the minimum software version required for new games, or add a critical new feature that everyone wants and suddenly you need to updated, and get into the never ending war of jailbreaking and patching. By buying a console with the expectation of it being regularly jailbroken, all you guarantee is that you end up unable to keep up with the latest software update, and hence the latest games.
Uh huh. And if I'm a Xbox non-owner who has no EULA with Microsoft, and I go visit my friend's house who has an Xbox and we have a conversation in his living room that gets recorded..?
They also have a "We may also cease to offer certain services or products for similar reasons." clause. So even if you like a feature (like sharing a game with up to 10 family members), you might find that feature suddenly removed or altered in such a way as to make it useless.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
I think the bigger issue missed here is that rentals are simply no longer possible with Xbox One.
Microsoft has killed the game rental market in one fell swoop.
Personally, I think this is a dumb move... I've bought many games after trying them out as rentals; I doubt I am alone with that practice. That is a lot of potential marketing tossed down the toilet.
Even if the used game market survives (though I doubt it will ever be a factor again), the rental market is gone, gone,gone.
to be fair, people are not "buying windows 8" they are buying new PCs and laptops that happen to have windows 8 on them. the avg user still does not know he has choices and they just buy the new shiney and leave it stock
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Steam also sells games for super cheap. I buy my games for steam on disk, so if it ever disappears I can run the game with cracks. This is not a feature that consoles seem to offer.
Part of the reason people will buy a brand new release-day game is because they can hammer the shit out of it in a short time over a holiday break and sell it used to recoup some of the cost (over 50% for new titles, easily). If this isn't the case, the era of $60+ release-day console games is over.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
On the upside, anyone using your console will be able to play your games
How nice of them not to implement biometric identification. Yet.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
In some nations what you describe would be illegal. Some places have this thing called consumer protection and depriving the consumer of something he paid for would be basically the same as fraud.
What about rentals?
If MS is going to bend over backwards for the game publishers. What about rentals where you rent the game and then return it. You know to see if you actually like it or not. There are a lot of junk games out there, why should you spend $60.00 on something you will hate, and then not be able to sell back.
I prefer to rent it. If I like it then I will buy it.
With these bending over backwards for the publishers, The software better be Dirt Cheap.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
If I had moderator points, you would get them all sir. Almost everyone I have engaged in this argument with fails to understand or acknowledge this fact. They may not like it, which is expected. When your choices are "spend years writing my own software that does what [software title] does, find a lesser quality product for free, or use this software and agree to their EULA.", you shouldn't act surprised or upset when you choose the last option. It was obviously your best choice or you would of went with the other two...
Having said that, those limited choices have also driven the demand for spectacular free products like gimp.
Meow
> "When Xbox One is on and you're simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded."
Says the company that jumped on board the PRISM train so happily and willingly....
Actually, we understand and acknowledge that these companies want to claim "it's not a sale, it's a license" just fine. We just disagree with the legality of it.
Especially when these companies want to treat it as a license when it benefits them, but then as a sale when that is more beneficial.
Doubly so when all the advertisements say "own/buy it today!".
The problem isn't with used sales, the problem is that they're changing from a product model to a license model that requires authentication. Just because the publisher are given control over how the license works doesn't solve the problem of when the authentication servers eventually shut down giving you a nice collection of coasters.
As someone who still owns and occasionally plays many of the games bought new in the late 80s early 90s this bothers me... I have no interest in buying games with an expiration date.
Collector's Edition
Always on camera, every 24 hours license checks, you have to ask permission to resell your games. If you agree to this you're a chump full stop.
*knock knock*
Citizen, we recieved a report that you turned off your telescreen.
That gives us probable cause to enter and search the premises for illegal activities.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Inkscape is free and already as good as Illustrator.
I like to advocate FOSS solutions too, but I like to tell the truth while I do so. Illustrator is better than Inkscape, but Inkscape is good enough.