Microsoft Drops Xbox One DRM Restrictions

They probably saw how bad their preorded numbers were and had a change of heart real fast. It's still $100 more and less powerful, it will be interesting to see how they try to reverse the damage that's already been done. 

http://kotaku.com/surprise-xbox-one-drm-reversal-requires-day-one-patch-514419715

Features will be lost because of this. 

Pfft, to late to make me happy. MS fucked the dog on this one and I doubt this will still make a lot of people happy. The fact they were willing to do this pissed so many people off it actually caused this uproar that forced this change. Plus it being $100 more kinda turned a lot of people off.

I'm surprised MS backpedaled like this. They stuck to their guns on this from that initial twitter leak all the way through E3 emphasizing their horrible position and how it'll all work out in the end or some crap. For them to change their entire position on it now is huge and a bit more unnerving. Now that we know they can switch full system DRM on and off with a simple system patch makes me wonder if they'll ever plan on implementing it again at some point.

And MS was boasting about every xbox system having cloud computing to power their games and make every xbox the equivalent of 10 xboxs.. but now that they switched the system to be fully playable offline, isn't that a kick in the developer's asses? Or was a single developer even taking advantage of MS's cloud computing claims? I don't know what MS is thinking, but I still think they are screwed.

It's all about the preorder numbers not meeting projections. When PS4 sold out their launch consoles and they didn't, it caused panic. 

I'm surprised MS backpedaled like this. They stuck to their guns on this from that initial twitter leak all the way through E3 emphasizing their horrible position and how it'll all work out in the end or some crap. For them to change their entire position on it now is huge and a bit more unnerving. Now that we know they can switch full system DRM on and off with a simple system patch makes me wonder if they'll ever plan on implementing it again at some point.

 

And MS was boasting about every xbox system having cloud computing to power their games and make every xbox the equivalent of 10 xboxs.. but now that they switched the system to be fully playable offline, isn't that a kick in the developer's asses? Or was a single developer even taking advantage of MS's cloud computing claims? I don't know what MS is thinking, but I still think they are screwed.

That is a troubling thought and knowing MS they'd probably throw the switch back on forcing their ideals down the throats of those who bought their system but only after they were sure they wouldn't lose their whole customer base or the game developers. I honestly had respect for them on how they were backing this 100% even if I didn't agree with it but this backpedal made me lose what little respect I had for them.

I doubt anyone took advantage of the cloud computing yet considering the consoles aren't out and I'm sure not even MS had a full understanding of how to fully implement it right off the bat (they might of but I doubt it) so I don't think any developers will be hurting over this yet (unless the game in development right now were taking advantage of it). I pretty sure some developers will be pissed though, since they had to stick to some strict development rules for MS.

Thank god I didn't decide to buy a PS4 right off the bat since they sold out of launch consoles. Still sad though, means I'll have to wait a while to get one now.

That is a troubling thought and knowing MS they'd probably throw the switch back on forcing their ideals down the throats of those who bought their system but only after they were sure they wouldn't lose their whole customer base or the game developers.

 

I never thought of this... Xbox One will require a day one update to bypass or deactivate these features... they indeed could switch them back on, or be activated for developers that claim they need to use the cloud... so while you dont need to check in per say... you will to play that particular game.

That sounds about right. Even though MS says the xbox one can be played offline, How many developers have made their games to function in this way since MS was telling them it was going to be online from the beginning? It wouldn't surprise me if all the exclusive titles will need online connectivity. Everyone will boot up the system, get the patch, go offline, turn on any exclusive title and be prompted to connect to the internet. I guess we'll see what happens when the system comes out.

Or 2 years into the gen after people have been duped into buying one, they all of the sudden decide to go through with what they originally planned. Since you already have the console, you are left helpless. They're banking on their COD fanbase to freely accept this. When there is a mass trade in for PS4, the next xbox will restrict trading in your own console as it will only work for you and no one else ever.

I'm expecting Microsoft to become more desperate by E3 2014 if this One80 doesn't help them. That desperate move being they start offering free Xbox One games with Xbox Gold. Thus once again copying Sony & PS Plus. For me that would leave very little chance that I might buy One. But I'd never buy actual discs for it.

And since no One has posted this joke from Dorkly yet.

http://www.dorkly.com/article/52521/don-mattricks-first-draft-of-the-xbox-one-update-announcement

http://kotaku.com/rumor-about-xbox-one-family-sharings-downsides-has-fla-534484570?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

Its funny how the shit storm just keeps getting bigger no matter what MS does. lol

I'm expecting Microsoft to become more desperate by E3 2014 if this One80 doesn't help them. That desperate move being they start offering free Xbox One games with Xbox Gold. Thus once again copying Sony & PS Plus. For me that would leave very little chance that I might buy One. But I'd never buy actual discs for it.

 

And since no One has posted this joke from Dorkly yet.

http://www.dorkly.com/article/52521/don-mattricks-first-draft-of-the-xbox-one-update-announcement

Whats real funny is that it says:

"We didn't realize you just wanted THE SAME FUCKING CONSOLE AS BEFORE. You know, the one you ALREADY OWN (but with slightly nice graphics)."

I think its funny because MS screwed themselves when they revealed the Xbox One.. Sure they emphasized all the new tv features and functionality, but in terms of games, they focused on Call of Duty.. every call of duty is basically the same game as before with slightly nicer graphics. And MS knows that.. and CoD fans rush to the new game and throw their money at it even if its not a new engine. Yet MS is surprised to find out that their large CoD fan base wanted the exact same thing out of a console.. MS has a horrible marketing team. They could have come right out at E3 and said, "With our new program in place to restrict used game sales, we'll be able to offer all our customers huge discounts on titles you've never seen before on consoles." But no... they didn't do that.. Their marketing is so bad, when Windows 8 came out all their commercials were about people dancing around and flipping tablets all over the place. I had no idea wtf a windows 8 tablet could actually do, or if it was even a decent device until I saw one in person. MS's commercials and marketing are pure shit. They have no idea how to sell their products and its resulting in horrible public relations that they might not completely recover from.

When piss poor sales are evident, We'll see Titanfall on PS4 a year after its initial release.

http://kotaku.com/microsoft-might-bring-back-cut-xbox-one-features-that-p-761856450?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

How many times are they going to change their mind? By the time of release, you might not know what you're getting or not getting.

They dropped the family sharing thing because it was tied into their DRM system..

"We took some feedback and realized there was some stuff we needed to add to the program. To add it to the program, we had to make room, just from a pure engineering perspective, to be able to get that work done. So taking Family Sharing out of the launch window was not about ‘we’re going to take our toys and go home’ or something like that. It was just sort of the logistics of ‘how do we get this very, very clear request that people really want, that choice, and how do we make sure we can do an excellent job of that, get to launch, and then be able to build a bunch of great features?’"

I think its funny that he wants to bring back features that were feasible with DRM, but not bring back DRM. Its like MS is scrambling to appeal to customers now as opposed to telling them how things are going to be.

I don't know why they keep beating around the bush with the DRM crap. They should tell all the customers, buy the games digitally to enable family sharing options, and all the other DRM powered features, etc.. But if you buy a game disc, then you can't have those options because that physical disc is the game and you can't break a disc in two, share it with people and expect to all play the same game together.

http://kotaku.com/microsoft-says-they-wont-sell-xbox-one-without-kinect-1184391586

Xbox One is Kinect. They are not separate systems. An Xbox One has chips, it has memory, it has Blu-ray, it has Kinect, it has a controller. These are all part of the platform ecosystem.

MS finally stands their ground... but IMO on the wrong issue. They could have stood their ground on something that would not cost the customer $100 more. lol. Although I get why they are doing it.. if you don't force kinect on people, developers wont force it on gamers in their blockbuster titles, because it would be development time wasted on something nobody wants to use nor could they be forced or annoyed to use it as part of the gameplay.

The MS Fan Boys who demand Kinect be included at this point might as well be the same people who demand the Wii U Pad. They're so proud of their technology even if its deemed worthless to multi-platform games. They don't have to worry about people like me though. They can keep their mandatory Casual controls all to themselves as there is no way I'm buying an Xbox One at this rate.

If they sold the system without kinect at this point, they would probably infuriate countless developers that have added kinect features based off their developer kits. If MS wanted to really sell the kinect as a new standard they should have done what Sony did with the PS3 when they were establishing blu ray as a new standard. Sell the system at a loss for the first 6 months or so until the costs to produce the system drops.. then they'll make money. As it is with their $100 extra per unit cost, they'll be losing sales. If they lost money initially it could benefit them in the long run with new xbox live memberships, word of mouth from fans and extra features the PS4 does not have all for the same price. Right now, Sony is going to get the jump on MS just like MS did on Sony in the last gen consoles.

Its still early, but I've noticed that PS4 is scoring a lot of exclusive material for cross platform games in the way of extra levels and content, while Xbox One gets exclusive content only when it can cross platform play with MS Glass/tablets.

I noticed the Xbox One will get early access to DLCs for Call of Duty and early access to at least one of the BF4 dlcs. I'm guessing MS is either paying the developers extra or they have some contracts forcing the companies to give them benefits over Sony.

Honestly, I think if you're a premium member it should negate all that bs. When the sales numbers come in, the timed exclusives will change. It may take a year, but it will happen. MS might have paid up front, but after the overall sales happen, things will change.

I remember getting all the DLC for BF3 early on PS3. I never really saw the point in that. I remember seeing people on xbox and pc complaining with every dlc release.

PS3 got it first probably because MS didn't care about BF3 as they were on the COD hype train. When BF3 did exceptionally well on consoles, they took notice and wrote a fat check probably.