I really like the idea. Seems to be a little bit of confusion on the exact mechanics. The way I read it now, My friend has access to my library, he and I can both be playing my copy of Halo 5 at the same time, however this places my entire library of games shared out as off limits. Basically, 1 friend can have access to my shared library at a time, the particular game they are playing is irrelevant. Sounds pretty good.
Honestly, we don't know that yet. The talk has gone from multiple "family" playing the same game at the same time to only one "family" member can be playing a shared game and the other nine are screwed. If it's the later, than clearly, this solution isn't as nifty as I originally thought. I don't see why all ten "family" members can't be playing ten different games at the same time.
My problem is that from the beginning MS has been placing more and more features behind a subscription paywall. Originally this was just for multiplayer online games. Over time, they have added anything they could behind the paywall. This particularly bothers me in regards to access to media services. It is no different from my BR player or my Smart TV, or hell my PC, attempting to charge me a monthly service fee for access to Netflix. Just to have the ability to pay Netflix to watch the library costs me 5$ a month. That offends me to no end. Forza (3 I think) I stopped playing and sold soon after acquiring it when I found out that Gold was required not just for multiplayer racing, but even for swapping skins.
True. I agree with you. As a consumer this isn't exactly the best set of circumstances. Why do I have to pay for Gold to watch Netflix on my 360 when I can watch it for free on my Western Digital Plus that only cost $99 anyway? I get the idea that it is annoying, but I don't pay for Gold to watch Netflix, I'd pay for it anyway, so in the end it has zero impact on me or anybody else that would already be paying for Gold.
Let me ask you this, if you are not into online vs play, what exactly did Gold offer you that was so compelling?
Cross game party chat, for one. Which, all the Sony fans will be very happy to find out they finally have the ability to do so if the purchase a PS4. I can be doing God knows what, while Azbat is playing Red Dead Redemption and NavNuc is playing Crackdown and we can all be in a party chatting back and forth. Sure, we could just be talking on the phone, but that would be annoying because I don't want Azbat to have my phone number because I don't like him that much.
Its things like cross game party chat that Live offers that actually make the game playing experience better, even though it doesn't really impact the game itself. That's what I think people are completely failing to realize. That all of these "extra" functions and functionality of the One that aren't strictly "game related" in terms of IQ, AI, etc.. make playing games a more fulfilling experience. Cross game party chat, for example, doesn't make playing Borderlands any more fun directly. But the fact that I can play Borderlands and talk to people who are playing other games, makes the entire gaming experience far more enriching.
To Brad on Region locking: Okay then, I was wrong. I was under the impression that all consoles were region locked to some degree. But as ERP stated, whether the game is region locked or not is up to the publisher of the game, and MS with the One is allowing publishers far more freedom than they've ever had in the history of console gaming. Also, my original point holds true. Just swap out Arkansas and the UK for Arkansas and California then.