MY opinion on xbox one drm, policys, etc

[njbrodeur87]

Hey everyone,

So after reading on this site and tons of others the bashing and craziness that is the xbox one, i thought i give some facts and insight. Now before i start i remind everyone what the topic says, this is my opinion, being shared with others. Some facts are below , but majority is my opinion on those facts we know. Second to get this out of the way i am in no way a fanboy of any system, since i know people love to throw that line out there. I collect video games have every system and old system that is started 2 years ago, and now spans over 700 games so far. I love the ps3, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles all for their own reasons. With that lets start.

Price of 500$

Ok so lets talk about the price of the system. So xbox one is 500, and the ps4 is 400. So the ps4 is cheaper, no doubt. Is 500 expensive? Well for me its not, here why. I might be in the minority but i love kinect. we had fun with it on the xbox 360. I also use my 360 for Netflix + all the other apps on there. So the xbox includes the kinect 2.0 camera and is pretty much your entertainment hub. So the extra 100 you will get the kinect 2.0 and access to tv and xbox features related to tv, and all the other apps, which are not as extensive on the ps4, at least not yet. So is that worth 100 bucks, to me yes. I use and excited to use and try kinect 2.0, and tv features etc. I realize that not everyone here loves or wants kinect at all or the apps, they want a gaming machine, but in my opinion it was a good idea Microsoft had, you can read below as to my thoughts on why. So the value is there, but it will depend on what you want out of the system.

Kinect 2.0

So lets talk kinect. First lets start why i think it was a good idea to bundle with every xbox. Last gen developers were barley using kinect. Why, simple because not everyone had one. They would lose half of the users they could sell to. Now all developers know that everyone has one and hooked up. More will make great users out of it that will make you more involved in the game. I cant wait to see what developers do with this new tech. Of course i know not anyone cares to use it, ok so turn the kinect off or dont use it and let it sit there, whichever. If this wasnt included it would be just like last gen, barley any good uses for kinect or games. I think once developers make good uses and people see them, people will be more excited to use it.

Lets talk kinect privacy. Microsoft has already said you can turn off the kinect, and nothing of your information will leave your system unless you say so. Why on the internet i see people saying how it spies on your kids etc is ridiculous. What about majority of us who carry cell phones, do you worry about being spied on their as well. What about using facebook, twitter, etc. Even google search. I dont know what else people want, everything can be turned off if you want and there will be all privacy controls. Sure you cant unplug it, but it will be of but connected. Why you cant unplug it is weird to me and only Microsoft knows why. My guess is they want developers to know everyone has one connected to sthey can make some interesting uses out of it. I personally have no issues, my old connect was always connected and never thought anything of it last few years. My cell phone is always on, i have twitter and use google etc. If your one of the few who does not have cell phones, social networks, use google and are that paranoid, thats fine your choice then i guess just like you dont use other electronics and social networks, you cant buy an xbox one.

Always on Internet

So you have to be online with xbox at least once every 24 hours to be able to use your games. Well guess what folks, majority, not all but majority im willing to bet have internet on these forums and all other sites people are complaining. My xbox 360 was always online when i played single or multi, i mean why not. What about when xbox live was first introduced and you needed broadband to play xbox live, if you didnt have it you didnt get it. So if you dont have internet access, i guess your out of luck with this system. Just like if you dont have an hdtv, its also kind of pointless to own any current or next gen system. Microsoft decided to push the industry forward to have this requirement. Knowing everyone is online will allow all games to take advantage of cool features using the cloud, since everyone has internet on the system. Forza already starting with that. Also automatic updates for all games so you dont want when you start playing. I get that not everyone has good internet, or cannot get it in other countries, or the miltary will have issues. It sucks, i would be pretty bummed about it. But when technology advances sometimes requirements need to be made to make things better. This i think is a good choice. It will leave people behind like xbox live did when it was broadband only, but in the end will provide some great experiences on xbox. I dont have an issue at all. As i said my internet never goes down and im always online. I do however know people like choice. I think the 24 check could be altered to say a week. That way people who take systems for weekends to cabins vacation etc can play. They did say however that tethering your phone will allow you to do the check in, and its very small bytes it will use. This isnt great but a good choice anyway. Again this is my stance and not everyone will agree, but alot of people already are always connected, and connected is def the future even though alot of people have issues with it,

Dont forget also now with Microsoft cloud service, they letting publishers use dedicated severs from Microsoft, this will help them will not having to keep their own servers up, and keep companies like EA from shutting down servers in 2 years. Hopefully Microsoft keeps those running.

Used game/ DRM

I for one am not overly excited about all of this, being i collect games and like to have a collection, but i knew digital was coming. I already use steam on pc for all purchases so im not surprised. Is this a deal Breaker for me, no. Why because i play games, im a gamer. I have no issues as long as its done right. Microsoft take on it isnt as bad as people make it seem. Is it perfect no, and im sure some policy's will change. There are some benefits to digital though that seem good that Microsoft is using.

First xbox live account on 1 xbox one system will let all people on that xbox use any of your games you have regardless of account, and will have gold privileges on all accounts. So no more needing 2 gold accounts for different accounts on the same box.

Sharing all your games library with 10 different family/friends is also great. So you can pick 10 friends/family and they can see and access your shared games with them. This alone with save me and others tons of money.Why simple./ Me and my girlfriend play games together on 2 separate x boxes with our own account. Now i buy said battlefield 4, and share my library. No longer will she also have to buy it. Since the system allows the primary person and one other in your circle to use the same game at the same time, now effectively it will cost us only 30 dollars each for 1 copy of the game. It use to cost us 120 ( 60 each for a game for both of us to play ) for each xbox. I know me and alot of others in the same situation, that will know make games half the price for them and their families.

Log into any xbox and see your game - now i can go to any xbox at a friends house and see all my games and play with them. So i always have my games with me. Its great when your at a party wanna play a game you own and dont have it, will now you always will.

Selling used games - This is one downside to all of this, though you can still sell your used games, it has to be an authorized place. Means no ebay etc. Of course though Microsoft will partner with gamestop, amazon etc. So you can finish your game and go and trade and sell your game like you can today. As long as the publisher allows you 2, which Microsoft first party titles will let you. Dont forget if said publisher blocks selling used on xbox, their obviously going to do the same on ps4, since its also up to publishers on that system as well. Dont think activision will block used game sales on call of duty on xbox but not ps4, not going to happen. This is a bit different then today, for those who sell things to craigslist etc, but not a terrible comprise i think. Regardless i never buy used games and never sell since i collect and always play my games throughout the years. But i dont think the above is as bad as people are making it out to be, more of a little bit on inconvenience. You can of course also still buy used games from these authorized places as well.

Giving your copy to a friend - They said you can trade your game to a friend as long as its only once per copy of the game. So you cant trade it to say bob and then bob trade it to john. Its only once. Also they need to be on your friends list for 30 days ( stupid requirement ). This however is better then i thought when i new digital was coming. Sure its only once but me for one i dont give or trade my games away. And if you do fine you only got once to do it This isnt a perfect solution by any means but also not to bad i think. This can of course change and vary by publisher so will see how this one plays out. Still if you want to let your friend play a game, share your library to him and let him. Only 2 people can be playing your shared game at once ( primary person and 1 more from circle ) but hey its a cool option. TO me as i dont trade anything or give this wont effect me at all as i keep all my games. This wont be a perfect solution for everyone, but its not a bad start for Microsoft.

One thing that worries me - What happens when servers go off 10 years from now for the xbox one, how can i access my games on the cloud if i cant game offline. Well lets be realistic, Microsoft will find a solution. Whether its a patch or whatever. When the times comes. How do i know. Logical thinking says if they released an xbox 2 and said ok everyone who bought games on the xbox one, there all useless and you cant play, so all of you come buy our next system now. That wouldn't fly, no one would buy their next next gen system. Only reason they cut original xbox and prob the 360 is because games still played without it. Now games need it in the digital future, so they will have to. I did read somewhere in an interview that they said there already working on a solution, and gamers will not be in the dark when this happens. I have faith, hopefully its not misplaced. ( wish i could find the link but i forget )

Final thoughts

I preordered my xbox one, i also preordered a ps4. Were all gamers here, and ill; buy them both to play games they both have exclusives. Im excited for the ps4 and the xbox one.and i cant wait ti play this next gen with all cool features from both companies. This is my opinion on everything and im sure its very different from most others. Cant wait for the fall.

[ahhell]

I think you've pretty much summed up everything that's happen in the past week.

Good job. (Y)

[ramonsjc]

This is the internet..I mean neowin! PS4=WIN and XBOX1=DOA

you are wrong! :laugh:

I am always connected to the net when playing Xbox. Anything less would be uncivilized.

[spaceelf]

What MS still needs to talk about is how their non Xbox ecosystem ties into it. Will any win8 games/app transfer over? Will Netflix still be behind a paywall? (I doubt it.) Will it use Homegroups? etc

But hey they've got six months so I can wait.

[Gaffney]

Now things are clearing up here is the main differences we know so far:

- Xbox allows you to share games with up to 10 family members digitally in a library type fashion while the PS4 is the traditional (share by disc) (positive).

- If you lose or damage your disk, you can still play the game. On the PS4 as usual you will have to buy another copy (positive).

- You can switch/load any game straight away on any console the game is installed on or can be played on, on the PS4 you can only switch quickly between digital games and they are tied to the one account (positive).

- Xbox are more dedicated to the cloud to enhance games (positive).

- Xbox will allow "unlimited" friends, PS4 is unknown but it will most likely be less, it's over 100 but it could be under 1000 as they haven't talked about it yet (positive).

- Xbox has greater media capabilities (mainly due to the TV) (positive).

- Xbox has to connect to the internet every 24hrs, PS4 does not (negative).

- Xbox is region locked, PS4 is not (negative).

- Xbox is not backwards compatible, PS4 is partially backwards compatible (negative).

- Xbox costs 22% more than the PS4 (negative).

- You can only give your friend your game once and that's not guaranteed with every game (negative).

- Loaning/renting games won't be available at launch but may be added later on, decision to enable will probably be decided by publisher (negative).

- Xbox doesn't support streaming the game to smartphones or other devices, PS4 you can stream to smartphones or Vita (negative).

- Xbox won't support indie gaming nearly as well as the PS4 (negative).

As for the DRM for selling used games, both consoles seem like they probably will be similar, both are controlled by the publisher but it looks like there might be some differences (we will need to wait until we get more info). We don't know how the consoles will preform (games and UI). We don't know how the Kinect 2.0 will compare to the current Kinect or the Playstation Eye and there are a few other things we don't know about such as if digital games will have big sales.

Overall so far the console's are quite close, Sony have taken an easy approach to not alienate anyone. The Xbox One has taken a risk here or there to add in some more benefits but has alienated Indie gamers and people without internet access. The Xbox One is 22% more expensive which is the #1 difference between the consoles. I think in the end for most people, it will come down to what console is better on the screen, UI, social features, gameplay and exclusive games will be the decider for me.

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

People need to forget everything they know about traditional game consoles when it comes to the Xbox One. The Xbox One is a different animal than the PS4 because it was designed like steam. It seems Microsoft did the same thing with the Xbox One that they did with Windows 8 which is radically changing it.

[spaceelf]

People need to forget everything they know about traditional game consoles when it comes to the Xbox One. The Xbox One is a different animal than the PS4 because it was designed like steam. It seems Microsoft did the same thing with the Xbox One that they did with Windows 8 which is radically changing it.

Not really so radical when you look at the PC ecosystem yeah. I'd more define it as future proofing it in ways some people aren't going to agree with (which is also a win8 feature.)

Also I think they did kind of point out they were going this direction three years ago when they talked about 'three screens and a cloud.'

[Yogurtmaster]

Now things are clearing up here is the main differences we know so far:

- Xbox has more and better exclusives (positive)

- Xbox allows you to watch TV and play a game at the same time to actually multitask (positive)

- Xbox allows you to share games with up to 10 family members digitally in a library type fashion while the PS4 is the traditional (share by disc) (positive).

- If you lose or damage your disk, you can still play the game. On the PS4 as usual you will have to buy another copy (positive).

- You can switch/load any game straight away on any console the game is installed on or can be played on, on the PS4 you can only switch quickly between digital games and they are tied to the one account (positive).

- Xbox are more dedicated to the cloud to enhance games and evolve over time (positive).

- Xbox will allow "unlimited" friends, PS4 is unknown but it will most likely be less, it's over 100 but it could be under 1000 as they haven't talked about it yet (positive).

- Xbox has greater media capabilities (mainly due to the TV) (positive).

- Xbox has to connect to the internet every 24hrs, PS4 does not (negative).

- Xbox is region locked, PS4 is not (negative).

- Xbox is not backwards compatible, PS4 is partially backwards compatible (negative). NOTE: Not until 2014 and ONLY in the USA at that and evolve into other territories over time. It will use a lot of bandwidth, be prepared. You also have to be online or you can't play them.

- Xbox costs 22% more than the PS4 (negative).

- You can only give your friend your game once and that's not guaranteed with every game (negative).

NOTE: Just put them on the family list, done. A non-issue. If you have more than 10 friends, then congrats you are a socialite.

- Loaning/renting games won't be available at launch but may be added later on, decision to enable will probably be decided by publisher (negative). UPDATE: Microsoft is working with Gamefly to flesh this out. It will not be available at launch.

- Xbox doesn't support streaming the game to smartphones or other devices, PS4 you can stream to smartphones or Vita (negative). NOT YET TRUE : Microsoft answered this partially but they are using your tablet and phone as input, this has not been answered yet. If it has provide the link.

- Xbox won't support indie gaming nearly as well as the PS4 (negative). NOT TRUE: Wait until the Microsoft Build conference. Microsoft has some new software built for Indies.

As for the DRM for selling used games, both consoles seem like they probably will be similar, both are controlled by the publisher but it looks like there might be some differences (we will need to wait until we get more info). We don't know how the consoles will preform (games and UI). We don't know how the Kinect 2.0 will compare to the current Kinect or the Playstation Eye and there are a few other things we don't know about such as if digital games will have big sales.

Overall so far the console's are quite close, Sony have taken an easy approach to not alienate anyone. The Xbox One has taken a risk here or there to add in some more benefits but has alienated Indie gamers and people without internet access. The Xbox One is 22% more expensive which is the #1 difference between the consoles. I think in the end for most people, it will come down to what console is better on the screen, UI, social features, gameplay and exclusive games will be the decider for me.

I have updated it and there is a lot I didn't throw in there. I feel that adding Kinect 2.0 along with the cloud and having everything under one input to be able to multitask is huge. The fact that I can watch TV and wait for commercials are over and play a game on the screen is huge and not everyone owns a smartphone or a tablet and not everyone likes to play games with a glass touch screen that lacks feedback.

o Having one input for both my HD DVR/Satellite system and my XB1 on the same screen. There is a lot of potential here for overlaying notices or incoming calls from Skype. As I said above, being able to play a game while waiting for the commercials to be over is huge here and to be able to switch back and forth by using my voice is sweet.

o Switching games or applications just by using my voice or seeing what channels I want to see just with my voice is incredible. I always have a hard time finding certain channels, with 500 channels it's hard to find a channel where I want to go without knowing the number. I don't need to worry about that and that is huge.

o Combing Kinect and the Cloud can provide some awesome abilities for games or applications and that can change the game dynamically. This can allow some of the graphics and non-latency functions of a game evolve and improve over time. A Milo game can finally happen now. There is a lot of future potential here to be "game changing" and even Augmented reality type games and apps can be massively improved now.

o The new controller doesn't have a touch pad which is nice because a touch pad isn't needed since you have Kinect and Kinect can work with the controller as well and the new feedback in the controller is directional and that is HUGE and can provide touch input in games. Also the feedback motors in the triggers is just awesome. Why wasn't any of this controller stuff done before?

o The fact that Microsoft added WiFi Direct is awesome because now devices can be controlled all over the house if need be by just using Kinect. There is a lot of potential here as well. Think Head Mounted Display (HMD) glasses that use augmented reality that works with Kinect because Kinect scans your room in 3D and can use a 3D physics engine on your room.

o The 1080p with Kinect can be used to do a lot of cool things like Skype, but because Kinect is a depth camera and can even provide better support in the dark along with Active IR, you could have real-time chroma-keying without setting green as your background. So you could have high quality backgrounds put in or animated backgrounds. For example I could be on Skype but have a beach in Hawaii in my background and it could be animated.

Microsoft will update their OS every year, so we know it's going to evolve and they are only starting on chapter one this year, and I am looking forward to the next five years. This is a very exciting time for the gaming industry and I look forward to more.

[JaredFrost]

Not really so radical when you look at the PC ecosystem yeah. I'd more define it as future proofing it in ways some people aren't going to agree with (which is also a win8 feature.)

Also I think they did kind of point out they were going this direction three years ago when they talked about 'three screens and a cloud.'

It's future proofed in the corporate profits sense, not consumer, at any point they can decide it's run it's course and all your purchased game licenses are

unsupported and removed from the servers, or the servers shutdown completely, it's short-term proof, not long term consumer friendly proof.

 

But hey, you have the disc right, too bad, can't play, now go buy new games for our new console.

[astropheed Veteran]

My opinion on the Xbox One: It's bad for the industry and it's bad for you as a consumer; I'm not getting into specifics as they are everywhere.

[spaceelf]

It's future proofed in the corporate profits sense, not consumer, at any point they can decide it's run it's course and all your purchased game licenses are

unsupported and removed from the servers, or the servers shutdown completely, it's short-term proof, not long term consumer friendly proof.

 

But hey, you have the disc right, too bad, can't play, now go buy new games for our new console.

If that actually happens it'd be ten or more years after the console post Xbox One comes out, I'll have lost nothing.  

[JaredFrost]

If that actually happens it'd be ten or more years after the console post Xbox One comes out, I'll have lost nothing.  

 

Of course you lost nothing, you own nothing.

[spaceelf]

Of course you lost nothing, you own nothing.

Try because I'll be playing far newer games.  You know what happens to my old games that aren't on a digital service?  Fire.  They make fantastic fires.

[JaredFrost]

Try because I'll be playing far newer games.  You know what happens to my old games that aren't on a digital service?  Fire.  They make fantastic fires.

 

Really? you burn your game discs? really? :rolleyes:

 

It's not about playing them, it's about ownership to do with what you please with your physical media, with you, you appear to like to burn

your physical media when you're done, some people like to save them and maybe play them 10+ years from now, or sell them, give them to

friends, doesn't matter what it is, the whole issue on them making the physical media act as if it were from digital distribution.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Try because I'll be playing far newer games.  You know what happens to my old games that aren't on a digital service?  Fire.  They make fantastic fires.

 

You know because giving them to less fortunate people < burning them in a fire. If you really wanted rid of something that badly that still holds a lot of worth to someone who hasn't experience it I'd like to think most people would either give it to someone as a gift, or even just sell it to make some money to put towards something else you now want/need in your life.

[spaceelf]

Really? you burn your game discs? really? :rolleyes:

Why not?  I don't need containers full of games I'll never play again.  I still need to look through the manuals for games I don't even have too.

You know because giving them to less fortunate people < burning them in a fire. If you really wanted rid of something that badly that still holds a lot of worth to someone who hasn't experience it I'd like to think most people would either give it to someone as a gift, or even just sell it to make some money to put towards something else you now want/need in your life.

They're PC games.  They have CD keys, bad DRM, or are just so old nobody cares.  And they can't be sold back to the store.

 

And if less fortunate people can't afford a $5 digital copy of these things they should probably find a better hobby.  (Heck a lot of my digital purchases were on sale for less than that.)

[JaredFrost]

Why not?  I don't need containers full of games I'll never play again.  I still need to look through the manuals for games I don't even have too.

 

I think you're the minority here, of people who like to burn their discs in fire when they're done, the people that like to trade/sell/lend/keep and play 10-15+ years later far outnumber

the pyromaniacs

[spaceelf]

I think you're the minority here, of people who like to burn their discs in fire when they're done, the people that like to trade/sell/lend/keep and play 10-15+ years later far outnumber

the pyromaniacs

I totally would if I lived in a city.  Out here it's not like I can put a box on the curb with 'free stuff!' on it.

[Ultravires]

Sorry about not quoting your entire article njbrodeur87, it was just a bit to long to repost all that, however, i don't think they could really offer the family sharing feature while changing the 24hourly check. It would lead to too much abuse or would just make the whole feature useless. Also you stated  "Me and my girlfriend play games together on 2 separate xboxes with our own account. Now i buy said battlefield 4, and share my library. No longer will she also have to buy it. Since the system allows the primary person and one other in your circle to use the same game at the same time, now effectively it will cost us only 30 dollars each for 1 copy of the game". I think this family sharing feature though very cool, will have some restrictions, first of would be the 24hourly internet checks if you are playing your purchased game on your personal console. Your girlfriend who is playing the shared copy would require the 1 hourly checks. Now just say you where to load up your profile on someone elses console, since it is not your personal console, it would require an 1 hourly check, but all of this is required, to prevent abuse of the family sharing feature. Furthermore, if you decided to add other friends to the list, your girlfriend would only be able to access BF4 only if it was not actively being played, where as you could play anytime.

 

Moreover, i am thinking the family sharing feature would be limited to certain types of games or features, for example, just say you purchased a single player game like Skyrim. Since you purchased the game you would have access to it 24/7 on any console. Your girlfriend who is on your shared family list could access and play Skyrim as well. Now lets look at a multiplayer game like Halo. If you purchased Halo, you would have access to the game anytime, but you would also have access to both the single player and online portion of the game. Your girlfriend, who is a big fan of halo as well. Wants to play the game as well; however, she will only be able to play the single player portion of the game, but if she tried to play the online component she would be greated with a popup asking her if she would like to purchase the game, so she could have access to all the games features. (Potential Sale)

 

Now lets backtrack a bit, going back to the newly purchased Skyrim game both you and your girlfriend have been enjoying, also lets throw in another two new friends on that shared family list PS4 and Nin. Now just say PS4 and Nin were both able to access your shared library and get a chance to play skyrim at seperate times and they both enjoyed it very much. However, between your girlfriend, PS4 and Nin all trying to access skyrim, Nin decides he doesn't want to deal with the waiting, so he decides he will purchase the game right away. (Potential Sale)

 

Now what i mentioned here are merly methods they could try and entice players into purchasing the full product, this way both players and publishers benefit from this feature. I have no idea if they have any of this stuff in plan. I just also realized that the restrictions on the single, multiplayer aspects of a game, wouldn't really resemble actually giving someone else the physical copy of the game, since a given copy would have full access to the features and what i described in that scenario would be limited, however i will just leave what i typed up as a possible scenario.

[Timoshuu]

I totally agree with you! People on the internet are unfortunately so ignorant that they just criticise something only because other people do. They only talk about the negative points and not about the positive. They jusy WON'T LISTEN. People think that DRM makes you pay to share games with your friend or family members which is COMPLETELY false!

 

Xbox One is really cool, but people when you asked them about Xbox One they say: Internet everyday, fee for used games and DRM. Yes, Internet can be a bad thing for some people but I really don't think it affects alot of people. Also there is no used game fee, you just have to give it to a participating retailer.

 

People on the internet are just so ignorant sometimes... it's just pathetic.