Microsoft Xbox Reveal Event - May 21, 2013

[Nisaaru]

I don't really understand why MS really needs the 24h check to keep some persistent license state. They should just let the owner handle the game license state. If you first buy a game you lock it to your account. If you want to sell it, lent it or just take it over to your friends house you need to unlock it from your account first.

That has the nice side effect that it adds a moral hazard to the used market as people need to trust others when buying their stuff from ebay. It also increases the work for rent outlets during the check in phase which might make the whole operation not profitable any longer.

Do I miss something here?

 

[astrograd]

RE: No Online Requirement for PS4.



http://www.officialplaystationmagaz...even-considered-as-option-say-shuhei-yoshida/



http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2013/03/20/michael-denny/

Neither of those quotes suggest anything different than what MS was doing in the distorted version of reality the press had been reporting before clarifications showed up.

The first quote says nothing about online check ins for DRM. It just confirms no 'always online'.

The second quote isn't talking about gaming by the looks of it. If you read the entire quote there in context he is saying they aimed for simplicity for casuals in terms of the console feature set. THAT is where he brings up how such features can be "enjoyed" without a connection. Says nothing about playing games. To wit, he then goes on in the next part of his quote to shift the context to gaming and immediacy, where he instantly invoked gaming features that require a connection to work.

 

[XpiderMX]

IR blasters work everywhere, but it's not everywhere that it's feasible to use the XBOX1 as Microsoft envisioned Eurogamer had a good piece on that. In my home it's completely useless and it's not a cheap feature to implement, but i would have to "pay". It's like taking 1 step forward and 10 backwards, TV is on many platforms, the BOXES are dying, in sweden and denmark services let you plug your decoder card in the TV, no silly boxes. Many cable providers don't have a box at all and just provides a cable with the package you subscribed to.
.

Have you used Windows Media Center with a TV tunning card? mi local cable provider is detected by WMC and it download the programming guide, and I live in Mexico.

I really think IR blaster and TV will work worldwide, WMC is a proof.

 

[astrograd]

No. Xbox One requires an internet connection, period. It does not function without one, although it may tolerate being disconnected for a short period.

Way to directly contradict yourself before even finishing your own sentence.

 

[Betanumerical]

Way to directly contradict yourself before even finishing your own sentence.

but he is correct, if you have no internet for > 24 hours no more XBONE

 

[warb]

but he is correct, if you have no internet for > 24 hours no more XBONE

This is the first I've heard of the 24 hour thing. I can't see it launching with that, it will cause much fuss. Why 24 hours and not say, a month? Or just leave it at content being tied to a single profile.

They said it would work offline for games.

 

[XpiderMX]

but he is correct, if you have no internet for > 24 hours no more XBONE

The 24 hours was refuted for other MS guys. The latest:

GC: The biggest question though is the controversy over always-online. You haven’t explained your position well today and it looks like Microsoft is trying to hide something… that there are things you’re not telling us that are really going to upset people.

CL: Let me try and be as helpful as I can. You don’t need to be connected always to enjoy playing Xbox One. Will you need an Internet connection, not only at the early phases but to enjoy the richness of experiences in the cloud? Sure. But will we make it possible for you to enjoy your Xbox One whether you want to watch movies, watch live TV or play an offline game? Yes.

Internet required for setup and cloud things.

GC: So if I’m using physical media I can play that offline without any problems at all?

CL: Yes.

 

[dobwal]

No. Xbox One requires an internet connection, period. It does not function without one, although it may tolerate being disconnected for a short period. PlayStation 4 does not. I suspect if they are implementing a used game control measure they may be using that RFID concept they patented that does not require internet access at all. MMOs or quasi-MMOs may have additional requirements but there is every reason to believe other games won't. Those games can be played by PS4 owners without internet, but the Xbox One will not provide that option.

Not "Always On" does not mean "Never Required". And Sony RFID patent refers to the elimination of the second hand market and doesnt seem to provide a workaround for transferring to a new console if an old one bites the dust since it seems tied to hardware ids.

 

[AzBat]

Don't see how he refutes that. You can still do those things even it requires a connection every 24 hours. You need to find a better quote.

Tommy McClain

 

[XpiderMX]

Don't see how he refutes that. You can still do those things even it requires a connection every 24 hours. You need to find a better quote.

Tommy McClain

They did it through Xbox support twitter.

EDIT: It wasn't on twitter.

Sounds like things are a mess over at Microsoft. Now they're telling Polygon that Harrison's comments illustrate a "potential scenario."
"While Phil [Harrison] discussed many potential scenarios around games on Xbox One, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail," a Microsoft rep said. "There have been reports of a specific time period — those were discussions of potential scenarios, but we have not confirmed any details today, nor will we be."

 

[AzBat]

They did it through Xbox support twitter.

EDIT: It wasn't on twitter.

Again it doesn't say 24 hours is wrong or right. Just that it's a "potential scenario". Come on, the "24 hours" comment actually came out of Phil Harrison's mouth. You're going to believe that he was either wrong or lying? He just misspoke & they're doing damage control. Is it possible they will change policy again after the bad publicity? Probable. Guess we'll see at E3.

Tommy McClain

P.S. Original source for 24 hour comment from Phil Harrison & with update

 

[XpiderMX]

Again it doesn't say 24 hours is wrong or right. Just that it's a "potential scenario". Come on, the "24 hours" comment actually came out of Phil Harrison's mouth. You're going to believe that he was either wrong or lying? He just misspoke & they're doing damage control. Is it possible they will change policy again after the bad publicity? Probable. Guess we'll see at E3.

Tommy McClain

P.S. Original source for 24 hour comment from Phil Harrison & with update

I know who said that, even maybe he was right, but today the 24hrs thing is not accurate, at least until the GamesCom event.

 

[astrograd]

but he is correct, if you have no internet for > 24 hours no more XBONE

Others corrected you on the 24 hr part, but Brad's post actually asserted that it would not operate at all if the connection was lost. Which is false. That's what I was noting, and what he contradicted immediately after he finished his sentence.

 

[Brad Grenz]

The Xbox Support twitter was an hourly peon that went rogue and had the chain yanked within a few hours.

MS have been evasive about the exact connection tolerance, but they have been explicit that if you never plug an Xbox One into the Internet nothing but the Bluray player will work.

How anyone can equate that to explicit statements from multiple Sony execs that the PS4 is designed to work completely offline for people and markets where net access isn't widespread or reliable is literally mind boggling.

 

[XpiderMX]

The Xbox Support twitter was an hourly peon that went rogue and had the chain yanked within a few hours.

MS have been evasive about the exact connection tolerance, but they have been explicit that if you never plug an Xbox One into the Internet nothing but the Bluray player will work.

How anyone can equate that to explicit statements from multiple Sony execs that the PS4 is designed to work completely offline for people and markets where net access isn't widespread or reliable is literally mind boggling.

This is not true. They said Bluray movies and single player games in the same statement.

 

[Blazkowicz]

But after 24 hours what does the thing do. Operate as a receiver for your cable box/satellite box/aerial tuner, play physical BR/DVD/CD Audio and that's all? Not terribly exciting. Maybe it still plays downloaded DRM movie files, and stuff from your servers on the local network.

 

[Brad Grenz]

Single player games have to be associated with a gamertag online before they can be played (and the XB1 has to periodically revalidate your license online) so while some single player games that don't rely on cloud computing may continue to work for some period after your net drops, Bluray is the only thing that will function if your new Xbox is never, or even irregularly connected online. The PS4 will let you play single player titles even if you have never been online.

 

[XpiderMX]

Single player games have to be associated with a gamertag online before they can be played (and the XB1 has to periodically revalidate your license online) so while some single player games that don't rely on cloud computing may continue to work for some period after your net drops, Bluray is the only thing that will function if your new Xbox is never, or even irregularly connected online. The PS4 will let you play single player titles even if you have never been online.

That can be changed, I don't know if they will change this, but we will know it until E3.

Was the leaked internal memo a real thing?

"that our users expect to work without an Internet connection" including playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live television and playing a single-player game.

 

[warb]

Single player games have to be associated with a gamertag online before they can be played (and the XB1 has to periodically revalidate your license online) so while some single player games that don't rely on cloud computing may continue to work for some period after your net drops, Bluray is the only thing that will function if your new Xbox is never, or even irregularly connected online. The PS4 will let you play single player titles even if you have never been online.

My guess is Phil Harrison got it wrong/misspoke. There is no way they launch a system that requires validation every 24 hours for people to play their £40 single player games. They'd have to include a 3G radio or something to get away with that.

Won't believe it 'til I see it. Madness.

 

[Blazkowicz]

This is not true. They said Bluray movies and single player games in the same statement.

Depends on how you read it. He says "should your Internet connection go down", "when your Internet connection may be interrupted".
Those are prepared phrases, a reader can read that and believe that's it's o.k. if the network never comes back. But he doesn't say that explicitly at all, what he said is gramatically correct even if it's about temporary loss of connection. So he weaseled out a couple of sentences that are coherent with the 24 hour limit (or even with a 24 hour limit for games, no limit for bluray, set expiration date for downloaded video files)

/edit : well I that 24 hour stuff is unreliable I shouldn't argue too much. What I have with more value is Brad Genz comment about connection needed for every single new single player game you get, and unspecified expiration. maybe a year? me thinks.