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Microsoft Kills Xbox One Phone-Home DRM
One of the biggest criticisms of Microsoft's recently-announced Xbox One console was that it would require an internet connection once every 24 hours in order to keep playing games. Enough people complained about the DRM, and Microsoft listened. Today, they announced that they're removing the phone-home requirement. "After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360." They've also scrapped the game trading and resale system they'd built, which allowed publishers to set their own rules with regard to used game sales. "There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360." Unfortunately, that also means users won't be able to take advantage of the good parts of the original system, such as trading and gifting games without needing the disc, or sharing games with remote family members. "While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds." Also noteworthy: they've dropped region-locks as well.
Whew, that chair was clos.....
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
"Microsoft has--"
"Yeah, I saw."
"Well...they didn't have a choice. They're halfway there."
Hmmm... but what will happen now? This might be good news, but this is what should have happened from the very beginning.
So, even though they took it off for the Xbone, I fear that they simply paved the way for draconian restrictions by the next gen (if that happens someday).
This new Xbox 180 pretty much evens the console war again, it's going to be an interesting new generation.
We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds."
Actually, we just want one world: The one we had before. And thank you kindly to get your creepy kinect out of our living rooms, thanks. We're already giving the paranoid, who thrive quite well in an anarobic environment, a veritable algae bloom of justified looking over their shoulder. You stepped in dog shit like you were laser guided, Microsoft.
I don't think your reputation can be salvaged at this point... most people have already decided on the PS4, and will be leary of signing up since you're just a firmware update away from returning to putting 'em over a barrel. And yes, we do think you'd do just that, once the furvor dies down. We saw your memo. We know how you think. You won't give up this easily on your DRM locked down to hell shitty ass XBone.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
"Hey guys! I used to be for DRM; but when I saw that it would ruin my launch, I became totally against it! Don't worry, though, just because it would be trivial to alter the deal at any future time, either over the internet or through exciting and mandatory system updates baked into new disk releases, you can still trust me!"
Forcing you to buy $100 Kinect with the system? Tracking your gaming habits and selling the data if you are connected? Tracking your movements with Kinect at all times? Putting online features that are on the discs of games behind an XBL Gold paywall? Forcing XBL Gold subscriptions to use other online services through your Xbox? Paying MS money for XBL Gold only to be bombarded by advertisements?
I'll pass still. This is looking like a weak generation for gamers. Both the PS4 and XB1 have online locked behind paywalls (even for peer-to-peer games). The Wii-U is severely lacking in quality games geared towards older gamers. Hopefully the PC gaming developers take charge and win back some of the console players this generation.
The fact that the Navy blasted XBONE ( http://www.navytimes.com/article/20130614/OFFDUTY02/306140030 ) is probably the biggest reason Microsoft took such a drastic 180, not us regular consumers.
It's hilarious people are running back to them so fast. There's nothing stopping them from putting DRM in a year from now. It's still 100$ more than PS4, still has worse hardware, it still has Kinect, even though you're the type of person who doesn't care about rights it still makes the system less powerful as a segment of it is reserved for this telescreen
Enjoy your Halo kiddo
While you are playing your games, the clock ticks down it the upper right hand corner, reminding you that need to play that other game in the background. Your quest is to find an internet connection before the "24" clock runs out.
And you get tortured and hounded by government creeps in the process. Feels real.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
With this change they also removed the ability to share downloaded games, and the ability to share a game without lending the disk. Those must have been the primary drivers behind the phone home requirements.
The restrictions they put on the system were horrible their justifications for them were insulting.
Above and beyond this could only happen if they thought we were idiots and simply wouldn't understand. They need to appreciate the distinction between lack of interest/awareness and actually being stupid.
Most people are not stupid. They're oblivious. But not stupid. Explain the rules to people and they'll typically see what is going on pretty fast.
MS tried to pull a fast one and was caught in the act. They've done this repeatedly with other product launches. It needs to stop.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
As much as I enjoy bashing Microsoft, they have redeemed themselves a little by listening to their customers.
They're reportedly on top of the security issue as well. A little focus on the areas of privacy, ethics, and standards might convince me to become a customer again.
[Rent This Space]
People didn't complain. They simply told Microsoft off and said they'd choose Sony. Calling this complaining is like walking into your boss's office, telling him to go f*** himself, and walking out to another job that is just as good if not better that is waiting with open arms. Microsoft's response is basically like the old boss begging you to come back.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Now can we get the start menu back? and maybe even Modern/Metro' apps being able to run in a window. With out needed to use a 3rd party add ons?
The world where triple A titles will be on a system that RMS approves is the same world where communism works.
That is, not this one.
If they were so quick to listen to the gaming community, why have they been so deaf to the feedback about Windows 8?
Because there's no EULA prohibiting you from selling your 360 to someone else, so those consoles will always be plentiful on the secondary market.
Meanwhile, Windows 7 can be pulled from stores and you are prohibited from transferring your license to any other computer, whether you own it or not.
In short, you don't have to listen to your customers when they're locked in and you control the market scarcity.
More Twoson than Cupertino
Even the mainstream news cycle picked up the "Can you believe this shit" tone that was going around during and after E3. Many, many people have now firmly dismissed the Xbox One (or Xbone) as a choice based on that, and they're not going to be hearing that the restrictions have vanished because this correction isn't going to get nearly the traction the original story (and associated outrage) did. When you have active duty personnel penning columns in newspapers saying that Microsoft's basically decided to shit on all active servicemembers with the call-home and in-country requirement, a little retraction buried on page 29 isn't going to make it into many peoples' minds.
What guarantee is there that Microsoft won't later re-enable the phone-home drm feature?
(even if the system is never reconnected to the internet again after setup, it's conceivable an update could later be performed via a game disc with little to no notice to the user)
Likewise, what guarantees are there that a game publisher itself won't roll out a game update that includes phone-home drm?
On a related topic, what promises has Microsoft made regarding the always-on camera? Seems to me there's really no guarantee it can't be accessed without the user's knowledge unless there's a hardware way to turn it off (ie. an opaque cover over the camera).
Sadly, I don't seem to have it written down anywhere, but the gist of it was that advertisers and politicians have long known that the best way to get people to eat rat-shit sandwiches is to heavily advertise a "rat-shit and garbage" sandwich, then after that media blitz, start another blitz saying "we listened to you! Our sandwiches no longer have garbage in them!"
There's nothing stopping them from putting DRM in a year from now
To be fair, there's also nothing stopping Sony from changing anything and everything about their PS4 software at any point. And Sony does have a track record to create suspicion that they might.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Nobody is taking out DRM from XBOX or Playstation. They're only talking about taking away region locking and phoning home for daily authentication. You're still going to have to deal with Ubisoft and their uPlay bullshit and redeemable one-time codes and so on.
People also seem to be constantly conflating DRM with used games. The two have little to do with each other. Sony has said they won't infringe on your right to own your purchases and lend, give, trade, sell them and they won't let others do that, either. That doesn't mean DRM won't still be used.
I probably still won't buy one, but whatev. I've always been a PC gamer and never really got into the console market. I was contemplating hopping on board this gen, but the initial xbox specs instantly turned me off. PS4 just isn't an option. I refuse to buy anything from Sony even though the price is always right. I'd rather pay double somewhere else than give a penny to that shit-stain of a company. I even try to stay away from their movies. I've considered the Wii, but never seriously. If I want to play such casual games, I'll open my browser. Xbox was really my only option. That's where the games are. That's where my friends play. I definitely won't be standing in line on opening night, but this news gives me some hope. I'll wait and see how launch goes and just maybe with enough glowing reviews, I'll bite the bullet. Or maybe I'll keep dumping money into microtransactions on f2p mmos. We'll see.
That's great. Can we have the Start Menu back now on Windows? (And no, a button going to the same crappy Metro screen as before doesn't count.)
Concerning this entire console generation, I believe Yahtzee said it best in his buyer's guide: "Don't."
worked on xbox 360 titles where we were asked by MS to require a login to live in order to save. so you can play the game. but unless it phones home you can;t save.
Make a ridiculous threat that you *know* will invite revolt, then relent and follow through with the slightly less ridiculous (but still ridiculous) plan you had interned all along.
Next time, scheduled phoning home won't seem so ridiculous. Well, maybe not next time, but the time after that, or maybe the time after that ... but it's coming.
Also known as the Anchoring Effect
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/07/27/anchoring-effect/
Just look at the shit we put up with MS Office and new Windows installations these days. No, you can't just have a disc, you need to spend a half hour entering all your personal info (mostly re-entering those fucking captchas because their shitty forms don't validate interactively) in an MS account so we can keep tabs on you and send you spam. Even then, you're not getting an installation package file, we'll only give you some brain dead all-in-one downloader that only works on *your* computer, provides absolutely no configuration options and doesn't tell you where the installer files are located (though they probably aren't even usable if you do find them). Sure, you *can* get installation discs if you cough up another $15 and wait a week.
Fuck that, I'll head over to TPB and have a an ISO in 15 minutes.
Do you think we'd have willing to choke down this shit sandwich even a few years ago?
MSFT is up almost 30% YTD.
Sony comes out with a ground-breakingly open game console (as modern mainstream game consoles go) which forces Microsoft to open theirs up, and recently opened one of their smart watches...could they actually be turning over a new leaf, opening up and providing something their customers want? This seems wrong. They were definitely one of the most evil megacorps just a few months ago.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Microsoft stuck the clutch on their paradigm shift.
As it is, I still see no reason at all to buy a dedicated game box when my desktop is more than equal to the task
One reason is the ability to play a game on a big TV without having to carry your desktop PC back and forth between your desk and the living room TV. Another is the ability to play a video game with house guests who happen to be visiting you but aren't carrying their own gaming laptops.
rember sony has different sub company's what music does has no effect on what there gaming does. but yes it did hurt there name. its also true there all bought $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ but son removing other os to block hackers was a last resort wile wile it only efected very few who used the feature it also did not help a aruldy damaged name. Microsoft has been pushing there agendas on people for a wile now just to see how far they can take it and now they know the line they cannot cross. even windows 8 is doing bad not just because of the ui but secure boot and there shit store all bought locking your hardware to them. btw all my boxes are win 7 or linux and when win 7 dies all linux. at that point linux will be a dam solid os anyways it got steam after all.
It wasn't "the people" they listened to, it was the sounds of Sony destroying them at E3.
"we've got trenchcoats and bad attitudes" - John Constantine, HellBlazer