Microsoft Kills Xbox One Phone-Home DRM 547
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.
GUYS~ GUYS~ (Score:5, Insightful)
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).
Herp, meet Derp (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
How comforting... (Score:5, Insightful)
"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!"
Re:Herp, meet Derp (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I just had this conversation with a coworker: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds like... (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Lost downloading sharing (Score:4, Insightful)
MS needs to stop assuming we're stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
What one update giveth another may taketh (Score:2, Insightful)
They turned it off for now. What's to say they won't turn it back on a year or two from now?
Still its amazing given the public's reaction to the roomers about the always on requirements they had an opportunity to "fix it" prior to launch and just say it was always just roomers. Seems they could have easily avoided the embarrassing public back pedal here and loss of trust.
Now can we get the start menu back? (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
Re:Whoosh (Score:4, Insightful)
Whew, that chair was clos.....
That they even thought of such a concept and it was approved, which it must have been, at the highest level, Mr. Ballmer should be wary of himself wielding chairs and he may be his most worthy target.
Does anyone reading about this Phone-Home DRM hold out much hope of a re-org which will position Microsoft as a viable and large player in the business (and consumer) markets in time to come?
Re:Sounds like... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Way too late. (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Herp, meet Derp (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think your reputation can be salvaged at this point
We've heard that before when Sony...
I could go on. And now of course people are talking about how great Sony is.
The point is, yes, their rep can be salvaged, because people really dont care that much for very long.
Re:I just had this conversation with a coworker: (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a trap. They will just make more games online only, no disc and thus no lending or resale or offline play.
Re:Whoosh (Score:4, Insightful)
Meh - I smell a trial balloon that fell with a thud.
I can see them floating it out there to get reactions, that they can then show the bigger and more assholish game studios (*cough*EA*cough*) and say "See? We told you this is a bad idea." ...that or Ballmer really is that frickin' stupid...
Re:In the Navy *humming to herself* (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:GUYS~ GUYS~ (Score:5, Insightful)
1) I wouldn't be so quick to forgive Microsoft. Be one of the first to buy an Xbox One and you may be repaid by a system update in the not-to-distant future slowly re-implementing, bit by bit, this DRM scheme that they have claimed to be discarding.
2) I do agree with you on Sony. Neither company can be trusted, really.
Re:Surprising (Score:3, Insightful)
Make no mistake, MS were prepared to make this "generous" move from the word go. They figured they'd give the restrictions a shot first, but they implemented the firmware in a way that these features could easily be turned off if necessary. For the Xbox One to reach shelves in November, production pretty much has to have already started; if MS had indeed just suddenly changed their mind and altered the firmware at the last minute, they'd have to retest the whole thing and delay launch. No, this option has always been on the table, as plan B in case the public didn't turn out to be willing to bend over.
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah exactly. How could they not see this coming?? Another scenario of people creating a product that they don't use..
Easy. Cynical ploy to get us to all think about the not-so-much-suck parts now and think Microsoft's not so bad. They were never going to go through with those crazy ideas in the first place. Now we're all going to be talking about them again and putting them right in the public consciousness again. Thanks for falling right into their marketing trap.
This has been a free lesson in psychology that the internet wishes it could ignore: Hatred is so easy to exploit and control. How's it feel to be a tool? Does it make you want to RAAAAAAGE all over the internet? Good, good, you'll be useful to them later. They'll find you when they need you.
Re:I just had this conversation with a coworker: (Score:2, Insightful)
I expect to get modded down, but what's so bad about not having to keep track of a silver disk to play a game? Steam has that model. It enables a huge amount of awesome things, such as being able to play the game anywhere, and publishers like it. Publishers end up getting more money, so they end up with a much better relationship with the service and can offer ridiculous sales (like Steam) because used sales aren't a "problem".
Am I the only one that very strongly hates that if I buy a new game from Gamestop and sell it back a month later, i'll get $10 back, but they'll gladly sell it to other people for $55. (woo, $5 cheaper). Gamestop provides absolutely no value to the gaming market with their used game money.
The big problem I had with their plan was the phone home being every day (why not every week or two?), the fact that they were going to half-way support some broken used game model, that would've been terrible(they should've just left it out completely). And lacking the ability to permanently play a game offline (like Steam)
In summary, their plan wasn't perfect, parts of it were really horrible, but at least it was advancement from this $60 for a 12 month old game on a piece of spinning aluminum(that if you lose, you might as well have never have bought it) crap we currently have.
Re:Sounds like... (Score:0, Insightful)
Well, we Americans have an attention span of what 4 seconds?
Microsoft is an evil company. They are part of those people/corporations that want to "rule the world" in some fashion. The only reason that they changed is that they are also a publicly traded company and could not weather the loss of sales that they were threatened with.
Now for the test: "Microsoft is an _______ company" Fill in the blank. Did you add "evil". If not, you are the real problem.
Re:I just had this conversation with a coworker: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not impossible that this is the case, but I can't help thinking it might have been better for them to pull back the sheet at E3 instead of doing Sony's job for them.
That said, fuck 'em. Still ain't buying any of them.
Re:Sounds like... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)
Hmm... interesting, but no, it almost certainly didn't happen that way.
For one thing, the retraction will never make as much news as the initial announcement. For another, there is enormous risk that, whatever they say, people will suspect that these schemes still exist (even if they are, for the time being, disabled) and avoid the system out of fear that they will be implemented later.
If this manages to work out in their favor, which is almost certainly not going to happen, it will be a miracle. Far more likely is that they are hoping to win back those customers who were fleeing toward the PS4 due entirely to the DRM issues but honestly prefer the XBox experience and crossing their fingers that by the time the consoles actually drop people have either largely forgotten (which is certainly possible) or, even better, that Sony screws something up even more (which is also certainly possible, Sony did think it was a good idea to deploy pirated rootkits). Expect them to walk on eggshells for the next few months, just to make sure they don't reignite the matter.
Re:Herp, meet Derp (Score:4, Insightful)
Face it, "reputation" is only significant with a very small portion of society, and unfortunately those people don't amount to much compared to the vast quantities of people that either can't be troubled enough to care about it, or people that just want their fuckin' toys and don't give two shits what it costs (speaking financially as well as privacy-wise). They have enough money to float for a few months, by which point we'll be pissed at someone else and will conveniently forget about Microsoft's transgressions.
Re:I just had this conversation with a coworker: (Score:4, Insightful)
Why not just clip off the mic?
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)
"Yeah exactly. How could they not see this coming?? Another scenario of people creating a product that they don't use."
Despite some of the other replies, I definitely agree with "How could they not see it coming?"
I don't think it's a matter of a product they don't use. I think it's a lot more about just being completely disconnected from their actual customers. They really don't have a f*cking clue what people want, despite years of people screaming at them that they DON'T want DRM or "phoning home". When I say years, I mean like 15 years.
I think the only reasonable conclusion is that they literally don't listen to their customers. And that's Not A Good Thing.
Re:Herp, meet Derp (Score:2, Insightful)
Out of curiosity, if the Xbox One were exactly as it was announced except that the OS was open-source, would you be less concerned about the always on camera?
Re:Sounds like... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Still no sale for me... (Score:1, Insightful)
Get real. Nothing wrong with the Kinect. A high res TOF camera alone would almost be worth the price of the xbox one alone (low res ones now will often cost you $300-400). As for tracking your movements, from the sounds of it, it does as much surveillance on you as "The Clapper" or Satellite Navigation.
Unlike Sony, MS doesn't have the track record of removing features you pay for with software updates, so that's just scare mongering at this point.
The move of undoing their mistake is a nice step, and improves my image of Microsoft. Makes getting the console a viable option for me in any case (as opposed to Sony).
Re:I just had this conversation with a coworker: (Score:2, Insightful)
In Australia, when the new release price is $90, $60 isn't that unusual for a used game. And yes, USD and AUD are pretty much at parity.
BTW, Microsoft has officially upped the ante. All they need to do is unbundle the Kinect and pledge support for indie developers, then it'll be more attractive than the PS4.
Is now a good time to put pressure on Sony over region locking?
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)
For one thing, the retraction will never make as much news as the initial announcement. For another, there is enormous risk that, whatever they say, people will suspect that these schemes still exist (even if they are, for the time being, disabled) and avoid the system out of fear that they will be implemented later.
Frog... Boiling...
Wait until people become financially and emotionally invested in the XBone and then spring it on them. The system is already in place, it just needs to be activated. Because people are too emotionally attached to their favourite console and dont understand the fallacy of sunk costs they'll keep spending money on it.
You have to admire Microsoft for this in a diabolical kind of way.
1. Generate huge amounts of publicity with a bad idea(TM).
2. Claim to revoke bad idea(TM) and generate even more publicity.
3. People buy product.
4. Bring back bad idea(TM), muhahahahahahahaha, fools.
5. Fail to make a profit for years as the product is sold as a loss leader.
It's almost Bond level of villainry. Bravo Microsoft.
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)
For one thing, the retraction will never make as much news as the initial announcement. For another, there is enormous risk that, whatever they say, people will suspect that these schemes still exist (even if they are, for the time being, disabled) and avoid the system out of fear that they will be implemented later.
Frog... Boiling...
Wait until people become financially and emotionally invested in the XBone and then spring it on them. The system is already in place, it just needs to be activated. Because people are too emotionally attached to their favourite console and dont understand the fallacy of sunk costs they'll keep spending money on it.
You have to admire Microsoft for this in a diabolical kind of way.
1. Generate huge amounts of publicity with a bad idea(TM).
2. Claim to revoke bad idea(TM) and generate even more publicity.
3. People buy product.
4. Bring back bad idea(TM), muhahahahahahahaha, fools.
5. Fail to make a profit for years as the product is sold as a loss leader.
It's almost Bond level of villainry. Bravo Microsoft.
This isn't any different than the RIAA, business lobbies, etc. Just look at copyright legislation in the Canadian Parliament or how banks became deregulated. Legislation is announced, people complain, a new watered down bill is passed instead. Cycle this through a few dozen times and all of the provisions in the original legislation is eventually enacted with lees than a whimper.
Re:Still no sale for me... (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't look for the PC industry to save you. MS is just following Steam's lead.
Big TV and multiple controllers (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Whoosh (Score:2, Insightful)
Where'd you get the idea of "lack of indy[sic] gaming"? Microsoft has historically been the most friendly of the major console makers towards indie developers, offering free dev tools and very low-cost publication rights on their (Xbox Live Indie Games) online store. Although it has not yet been announced whether the Xb1 will be able to play existing or new XBLIG titles, I see no reason to assume they wouldn't; the games are written using XNA, which compiles to .NET bytecode (architecture independent, so the switch from PPC to x86 won't matter) and DirectX shaders (which will almost certainly still be supported).
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
They listened to Sony (Score:4, Insightful)
It wasn't "the people" they listened to, it was the sounds of Sony destroying them at E3.
Re:Whoosh (Score:5, Insightful)