XBox One, PS4, DRM, and You

[Cyan]

When such a crazy DRM scheme is used, region locking can become strongly enforced.
http://i.imgur.com/eX7F7kS.jpg

The person I consider my best friend is from England. If I ever wanted to give her a game -time ago I sent her a game using the post- I'd only have the choice to use a digital copy, it seems to be the only workaround....

 

[dragonelite]

I can also tell if my webcam is spying on me by simply looking at the LED light next to it. I can also stop it through hardware devices and "hard disconnect" it from everything else if I like. Neither of which I expect I can do with Kinect as it still listens to the "Xbox on" command which you apparently cannot turn off.

I really do want to get the xbone for halo 5 and other good exclusive.
But i have some boundaries and mandatory kinect is crossing it.
I like the tech i bought kinect 1 and loved what the hacking community made.
But discovered its not for fast core gaming and motion gaming probably never will be.
And what they showed at E3 kinect2.0 will only be used for voice control or did i miss something?

 

[AzBat]

Might be generalizing too much, but it almost sounds like on the XB1 if you buy the disc you will get the digital version for free, correct? But on the PS4 you don't? Would this mean that if you would have to pay twice as much vs the XB1 if you wanted both?

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

I can also tell if my webcam is spying on me by simply looking at the LED light next to it. I can also stop it through hardware devices and "hard disconnect" it from everything else if I like. Neither of which I expect I can do with Kinect as it still listens to the "Xbox on" command which you apparently cannot turn off.

You can turn off Kinect....

http://kotaku.com/xbox-ones-kinect-can-turn-off-microsoft-says-noting-510100564

Tommy McClain

 

[dragonelite]

Might be generalizing too much, but it almost sounds like on the XB1 if you buy the disc you will get the digital version for free, correct? But on the PS4 you don't? Would this mean that if you would have to pay twice as much vs the XB1 if you wanted both?

Tommy McClain

The disk is the license key if im not mistaken and a way to get the game data on your machine. If it is registered to your account the disk is useless.

You can turn off Kinect....

http://kotaku.com/xbox-ones-kinect-can-turn-off-microsoft-says-noting-510100564

Tommy McClain

But under gaming or watching a movie it has to be connected or else the console wont function or even start.
If there is a game where kinect really adds i have no problem with microsoft sending data about my biometrics
because i choose to allow that and hence can plug in a kinect to play the game. And unplug it when im done playing.
And after prism backlash and other previous breach of server and data getting on the street. I'm starting to trust corporations less with guarding personal data
and be more aware and think twice about online and social media posts before hitting the submit button.

 

[Jwm]

^ right with retailers then needing a system from MS to handle selling it used. Wonder how that will work actually, on the disc or in it?

 

[Cyan]

Okay, I definitely struggled with this for a while, but after listening to everyone, I reached a conclusion....

Microsoft shouldn't modify their strategy, it doesn't matter the hatred it generates, nor it does matter how unpopular it is, they mustn't take a single step back!!

If they have an idea they believe in, go for it! Live and die with it

 

[Cranky]

You must be joking. MS designed an OS optimized for touch, while 99% of their userbase uses a Mouse, and you point to this as an example of a good move?

it's typical Microsoft hubris, and being completely out of touch with reality. They think that they can just shove things down consumers throats, and we'll just accept it cause they're Microsoft.

XBOne is a similar strategy to Windows 8. This isn't what people want, we KNOW it's not what people want, but we know better, so we're going to do it anyways.

The move was absolutely necessary from a forward-looking perspective. They must adapt with the times. Outside of the work environment desktops have a very limited shelf life - say 5 years - other than possibly as a home server.

Even in the work place, desktops have maybe 10 years max left as the dominant form factor.

Enterprise and office are moving to the cloud. If MS wants to have an OS business, they must integrate tablets into the core OS. It is vastly better to do that now while they can shape their path rather than in desperation in several years.

With regard to XB it probably is what they want, they just haven't realized it yet.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Okay, I definitely struggled with this for a while, but after listening to everyone, I reached a conclusion....

• Microsoft shouldn't change their strategy, it doesn't matter the hatred it generates, nor it does matter how unpopular it is, they mustn't take a single step back!!

If they have an idea they believe in, go for it!

I don't think they'll have much problem doing this. I don't even think they have that option now, otherwise they will be seen to be chasing the PS4. Now they just need to silence the Execs like Mattrick. Stop the dumb counter productive statements!

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Forum trolls have buried the X360 several times too, MS shouldn't pay too much attention to them. It's like less than 5% of their market, and as loud as they can get, they are still unable to bend public opinion enough.

 

[Strange]

You can turn off Kinect....

http://kotaku.com/xbox-ones-kinect-can-turn-off-microsoft-says-noting-510100564

Tommy McClain

Even when ostensibly not functioning, the Xbox One can run in a low-powered state, ready to be snapped on at a moment's notice. That's something Microsoft was showing off last week as an asset. The only on-switch Microsoft showed for waking the machine from its low-power state was a voice command... "Xbox On." The Xbox One could only hear that if the Kinect was already, always listening. The idea that the Kinect might always be listening got people reaching for their tin foil or vowing to not let an Xbox One into their home.

This does not sound like completely off to me.

 

[AzBat]

I really do want to get the xbone for halo 5 and other good exclusive.
But i have some boundaries and mandatory kinect is crossing it.
I like the tech i bought kinect 1 and loved what the hacking community made.
But discovered its not for fast core gaming and motion gaming probably never will be.
And what they showed at E3 kinect2.0 will only be used for voice control or did i miss something?

There are Kinect games. Why do you think they invested in all the new skeletal tracking stuff? See Kinect Sports Rivals, Fantasia, Just Dance 2014, Below. Then there are little things that Kinect will allow in other titles like voice, etc, but remember XB1 is being targeted initially as a core product & as such MS focused using Kinect as a companion to the controller & not the primary interface. You'll probably see more Kinect only experiences later on.

Tommy McClain

 

[dobwal]

You must be joking. MS designed an OS optimized for touch, while 99% of their userbase uses a Mouse, and you point to this as an example of a good move?

it's typical Microsoft hubris, and being completely out of touch with reality. They think that they can just shove things down consumers throats, and we'll just accept it cause they're Microsoft.

XBOne is a similar strategy to Windows 8. This isn't what people want, we KNOW it's not what people want, but we know better, so we're going to do it anyways.

You must have miss the issue where the release of Windows 8 spurn demand for touch based laptops and desktops and caught manufacturers off guard. Lenovo expects 50% of its laptop and desktops will be touch based in the next 2-3 years.

And Microsoft's hubris is probably motivated by the fact that most innovations do not come from crowd sourcing. The explosion of the smartphone and tab market is proof of that notion. It happened despite the belief those devices needed physical keyboards and desktop like OSes and functionality.

And Apple is one is the biggest player and most iconic tech companies in the world and did so with a CEO who threw out statements like this,

It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

Here is a one I find pretty funny.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
–Henry Ford

 

[AzBat]

This does not sound like completely off to me.

The article said it can be turned off. How are you having a problem with that? What you quoted was for when it's in its low power state. Reading is fundamental.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

The disk is the license key if im not mistaken and a way to get the game data on your machine. If it is registered to your account the disk is useless.

Which system?

Tommy McClain

 

[Strange]

The article said it can be turned off. How are you having a problem with that? What you quoted was for when it's in its low power state. Reading is fundamental.

Tommy McClain

The only on-switch Microsoft showed for waking the machine from its low-power state was a voice command... "Xbox On"

Does listening to a voice command in the low power state constitute "off"? It doesn't in my book. I'll only trust a offline device is completely off when it is effectively unplugged or unpowered. Especially with governments forcing corporations to hand over data that has actually recently become an issue.

Kinect 2 is required to be plugged and as far as I know the user cannot force the xbox one to not recognize the device.
That is a concern for me. It may not be for you, but it is for me.

And yes I unplug all of my webcams and microphones when they're not in use.

 

[dragonelite]

Forum trolls have buried the X360 several times too, MS shouldn't pay too much attention to them. It's like less than 5% of their market, and as loud as they can get, they are still unable to bend public opinion enough.

But who says the other 95% of the market even wants a $499 console.
They say one box to rule them all, but all it does is put two more boxes on your tv stand or living room. Not like people will now throw away their audio equipment. And mainstream media and tech sites are reporting on sony policies and how shitty microsofts are.

And Microsoft x1 executives are trolling gamers so bad right. Even a brick wall would do better pr then what these executives are saying. This kind of bad pr transcends valve with their steambox pr on gdc or the other convention forgot it.

People still don't know what a steambox is. Is the steambox a streambox or a game os with minimal requirements. And people still don't know what the x1 will offer that is better then the system sony is offering. Or what is impossible for sony to do. Cloud computing is just a fancy word and devs can probably rent servers from amazon or azure. Digital store i dont see why sony also can't jump into that market the ps4 does have a internet connection.

 

[scooby_dooby]

You must have miss the issue where the release of Windows 8 spurn demand for touch based laptops and desktops and caught manufacturers off guard. Lenovo expects 50% of its laptop and desktops will be touch based in the next 2-3 years.

Not even going to respond to this, the entire thing is just lulworthy. Ok sure, Windows 8 is a roaring succuss

And Microsoft's hubris is probably motivated by the fact that most innovations do not come from crowd sourcing. The explosion of the smartphone and tab market is proof of that notion. It happened despite the belief those devices needed physical keyboards and desktop like OSes and functionality.

And MS has shown a consistent pattern of failing to execute on their ideas in this space. Failing to ever gain serious market traction with any hardware outside of Xbox.

Here is a one I find pretty funny.

Funny is people dragging that quote out to explain every hair-brained idea under the sun.

But yes, I actually think the 10 person shared game thing is an amazing killer feature, and if it is what we think it is, I could look at that as a good trade-off to the always-online requirement.

But it's up to MS to convey this message. They should have led with this. By the end of the presentation, we should have been so impressed with the value of sharing games amongst the family, that we wouldn't have thought twice about an always-on requirement.

But they buried it, with vagueness. And that's exactly why they aren't Apple, and shouldn't compare themselves to Apple. They have like zero self awareness. It's a bad bad road they're headed down once you start apeing your competitors.

 

[Cyan]

With every new announcement it seems like they are deliberately trying to sell as few consoles as they can. But they're more or less forced to because of authentication rules and network infrastructure.

The non initial support to Argentina, Portugal and Japan -among others I forget- is shocking though.

Portugal is a very small country but it is also very developed. Argentina is growing, and Japan.... well, it's Japan, what more can I say -I understand their choice-.

Reading other forumers it seems that the curiosity of Americans about the rest of the world -and their opinions- is kinda striking. Maybe 'cos the place is so self-contained. -shrug-

Back on subject, Microsoft seem to "want" a slow adoption rate. There are still some things to finalise, imho, they need tweaking. Some ideas:

- Grace periods for faithful customers if they want to lug the console with them.

- Offline support cards. Basically like MS Points cards but to play offline for a couple of days or weeks. Sigh, sad to think. I never thought the day I'd say this would ever exist.

- Let people play (Demo mode only) at will if they are online and the game is not theirs because there could be cases of robbing.

Send a message to the owner when an unauthorized person (who isn't in your VIP list) is playing a game which is legally yours and has your game disc's code and stuff.

This is important. Someone stole a game of mine once, a few years ago.

 

[AzBat]

Does listening to a voice command in the low power state constitute "off"? It doesn't in my book. I'll only trust a offline device is completely off when it is effectively unplugged or unpowered. Especially with governments forcing corporations to hand over data that has actually recently become an issue.

Kinect 2 is required to be plugged and as far as I know the user cannot force the xbox one to not recognize the device.
That is a concern for me. It may not be for you, but it is for me.

And yes I unplug all of my webcams and microphones when they're not in use.

The device is required to be connected & although you there are no ways to physically turn off the device, other than unplugging it, you will have the ability to turn off all Kinect's sensors via software....

You definitely will have the software capability to turn off all the capabilities of Kinect. We want to put the gamer in control. And privacy. The box data information that collects is your data; it stays with you. You are in control of what you want to be collected. Game developers will obviously enable certain features and you'll be alerted when certain things are happening. Putting the gamer in control is really important.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/xb...l-spencer-talks-used-games-always-on-6408725/

This is how the Kinect for Xbox 360 works today except it's not required to be connected.

Tommy McClain