News & Rumors: Xbox One (codename Durango)

[Rangers]

No, then his response would have been the standard "We don't comment on rumors". The fact that he did not break out the standard response is quite telling.

As to CBOAT, from his previous posts, he's an industry insider, probably at EA. I call bull on him knowing anything about XB1 yields. Yield info would not even have been widely shared in the xbox org, someone from outside it would not be hearing anything about it. Heck, I was working on a low level hardware component, and I would not even be able to tell you the process of that component, never mind the yields.

Good post. Always good to pull things out of the GAF negativity quagmire towards Xbox for a minute sometimes. Good grief they are rabid.

That said, again it may fit with their agenda, but I saw some people surmising CBOAT is an insider with Microsoft. I'm not sure what evidence is for or against that, since he talked of "a big EA exclusive to MS" a lot recently, it would point to EA. But another rumor related to him was Dead Rising 3, which is not EA?

CBOAT apparently said DR3 would be Xbo exclusive or something, and was wrong, but GAF is excusing him because "he wasn't wrong, it was just old info" (insert world's biggest rolleyes here).

Oh, the funny thing is I saw you mentioned (with a couple other names I didn't know) as part of "MS insider program" which CBOAT was "clearly working outside of".

If I'm getting it at all correct, I think the poster was basically saying MS has people including you, that are purposefully planted as insiders, that say what MS wants them to say. And CBOAT is some kind of rogue outside this system Whatever the case, it's kinda hilarious.

At the end of the day, we factually know very little. We dont even actually know there are any ESRAM issues at all once you really look at it.

 

[Gradthrawn]

So, game rentals a no go at launch at the least and who knows what happens after that.

I see no reason a rental company couldn't be one of the "participating" retailers with access to de-activate a game license once the disc has been turned back in.

Color me not impressed. I'm stunned enough that I am not even sure what to say at this point. Here's to hoping for a short and failed generation, I'm off to drink. Heavily.

Really? I'm pretty pleased. These are no where near as draconian as people where estimating, and a fairly balanced system to all parties involved, IMO. Private used game sellers are completely SOL, though. Not very accommodating of them I'll fully admit.

 

[Cyan]

So, game rentals a no go at launch at the least and who knows what happens after that. Limited loan to friends, unlimited use in my own household. Color me not impressed. I'm stunned enough that I am not even sure what to say at this point. Here's to hoping for a short and failed generation, I'm off to drink. Heavily.

Can't drink -no spleen- but I'd happily share a bottle of liquor with you. I think we have to get used to it. It could be worse.

We are running into the problem of having companies "narrowing down" what we can / want to do...there're so many things I want to do, and I hate limiting myself.

 

[pc999]

On the "new" policies of Xbone:

1) Not good enough! As if we trusted you to take your word on privacy or think it couldn’t be hacked either by pirates or CIA/NSA.

Kinetic may have a tremendous potential for even hardcore games, but not like this.

2) The lending part, selling and etc... Looks like a mess, lot of work and restriction for something that we always done. Could be great as a addition upon the usual lending the disk...

 

[(((interference)))]

No. Not a good point at all as he blindly ignores the very next quote.

Oops, sorry, did not register the second quote - so it probably seems like my theory it's being tied to XBL family pass is what'll happen.

That's still pretty good then, plus you can lend games to friends once - also better than I was expecting. If only they'd have some solution for player to player used game sales, I sells games on eBay ad you get far better value than the likes of GameStop and their money gauging trade in and resale business.

 

[Bagel seed]

You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.

So a family member can only play at given times? Like when the pubs allow it? Because if it was any time they would've worded it 'at any given time'.

 

[bkilian]

We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers. Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games. ... Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers.

This appears to be almost identical with what Sony said when asked about used games.

At a roundtable this morning, Sony's game studios chief, Shuhei Yoshida, told reporters that any requirement for users to register a game online in order to play it would be left to game publishers. Sony won't require that."

Q: I hope game journalists man up and ask Microsoft why their policies are the way they are.

A: Their activation system became a requirement as soon as they decided to support disc-less play and to require all games to be installed with no access to the optical media outside of install.

Q: Why am I only allowed to lend a game to a friend of mine for 30 days?

A: You're not lending it to them for 30 days. You're giving it to them, and they have to have been on your friends list for 30 days prior to transfer. This is likely to avoid rampant game sharing, although it does specifically call out "allowing publishers" to enable you to give your disc based games specifically.

Q. Why can I only play offline for up to 24 hours before the console needs to reconnect?

A. As a verification method to ensure a valid license for the games you've installed off of disc. Otherwise you could buy a game, install it, then immediately trade the game in and keep your console offline until you're done with it. This forces an online check to ensure your license is still valid and that a "participating retailer" hasn't de-activated it.

Q. And most importantly, why can't I privately sell my own damn game? Why through "selected retailers".

A. Because only select retailers will have the framework in place to de-activate your used game that is probably still installed on your XBO. Allowing user to user sells would require some sort of user to user accessible transaction system that protects both the buyer and the seller along with processing the financial transaction. Instead, they've done an entirely trust based "gifting" system with no built-in support for a financial transaction. You definitely won't be eBaying your used XBO games with that method (no way would the buyer trust you or go through with the 30 day wait).

S. I admit that I'm a cheap ass gamer and from the 18 games I own, probably 15 are bought used. All the others I bought in store and I've played lots of other games I borrowed from friends.

R. "All the others"? All 3 of them? You probably just answered your own questions ya cheap bastard. (j/k)

S. I'm not liking this. Especially the 24 hour check in. Usually when my ISP craps out and I have no internet, I pass time by gaming. What if the X1 won't allow me to play anymore because I have been playiing offlike for too long?

R. "Please understand." Seriously though, that's something that you, as the potential buyer, will have to take into consideration. They're under no obligation to take all use cases into account (no matter how likely they are) and you're under no obligation to buy their product that does not take your use case into account.

Nice answers, I would only add that in the new console, there's nothing stopping 15 of your 18 games from being used again.

 

[Cyan]

I see no reason a rental company couldn't be one of the "participating" retailers with access to de-activate a game license once the disc has been turned back in.



Really? I'm pretty pleased. These are no where near as draconian as people where estimating, and a fairly balanced system to all parties involved, IMO. Private used game sellers are completely SOL, though. Not very accommodating of them I'll fully admit.

Do you mean stores? I think there is going to be a partnership of sorts according to the announcement.

It's not as bad as I thought, sure. Permanent online requirement is gone. Having to connect once every 24 hours leaves me a bit cold. To me, this seems to be more of the exception rather than the rule.

But still.... I hope publishers give people freedom to resell their games.

 

[HollovVpo1nt]

How nice of you to completely ignore the next quote. Note the "ANYTIME, ANYWHERE" part. Please try to be a bit more rational and less trollworthy in your future posts. Source: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license

The next paragraph is completely irrelevant to the game assigning system. Yes, you can access a game from anywhere at anytime, if the game is already associated with you. Meaning that in the family example, if you're a family member that has a Xbox One in the same house, then you'll be able to share a game and access that game from anywhere. But only after you're already associated with the game /console. For example, you buy a game for your One and you'll brother will be able to play that game on his Xbox One in his room because he's a family member and that game is associated to him as a family member. And therefor he can play that game, on his own account, anytime anywhere.

 

[Strange]

Technically Major Nelson can reject any downclock claim because there was never a clock announced.

He wouldn't be lying but it wouldn't be the whole truth either.

 

[Nisaaru]

It's pretty simple .. the publisher will have a relationship with a games store (eg. "games stop", "EB" etc.) and they(the store) will pass on a portion of the $ to the publisher for tradeins ... The end user will still be able to buy seconds from there games store assuming the store plays nice with publishers...

It's a good model for publishers, and maybe the publisher will start having a better active relationship with stores ...

This could be a good thing!

If they want to go full digital anyway why bother satisfying GS. Aren't they "the enemy" anyway or is it all just propaganda. These mixed signals are just ridiculous.

 

[Jwm]

Family plan makes you setup the "family member" console once at the same location right? So now you can invite 10-people over for a party? *evil grin*

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

 

[Bagel seed]

GS is the enemy they are trying to keep close. They still need them to sell their consoles, accessories, and new games. They can't outright ask them for a cut of the used profits on behalf of pubs so now we have this until all digital is feasible for everyone.

 

[Cranky]

Holy crap. It's as bad as it could possibly be.

Previously he said "We're fully aware of what is going on. I am also working on a few things to address it. I can't say much more right now. But we ARE listening,"

We misunderstood what he meant. I think what he meant by that was, "shut up, and f^&* you".

I fail to see much of anything bad here. The one minor point might have been the 24 check but with cell tethering that is a none issue as well.

Overall, I found all of the policies stated well thought out and extremely reasonable. As others have stated, virtually all of the requirements derive from migrating to a digital delivery system.

It is amusing seeing all of the irrational and illogical behavior of the entitled "gamer" set. Gaf is hilarious right now, although I do worry that my IQ erodes just logging in.

 

[Rangers]

Technically Major Nelson can reject any downclock claim because there was never a clock announced.

nobody has announced a single clock at all for that matter. sony/ms/nintendo.

Anyways he said nothing about clocks nor did the questioner.

As noted, there are no official clocks anyway.

But his answer implied no ESRAM trouble which implies no downclock.

 

[Nisaaru]

Q. Why can I only play offline for up to 24 hours before the console needs to reconnect?

A. As a verification method to ensure a valid license for the games you've installed off of disc. Otherwise you could buy a game, install it, then immediately trade the game in and keep your console offline until you're done with it. This forces an online check to ensure your license is still valid and that a "participating retailer" hasn't de-activated it.

They don't need the 24h check for a valid registration. They need that only because they want to be able to remove a license from somebody without the current owner's control. A better system would be to give that right only to the current license holder. Unless the person didn't transfer the license to somebody else or unlocked it from his account nobody else would be able to use the disc again.

 

[Silenti]

I see no reason a rental company couldn't be one of the "participating" retailers with access to de-activate a game license once the disc has been turned back in.



Really? I'm pretty pleased. These are no where near as draconian as people where estimating, and a fairly balanced system to all parties involved, IMO. Private used game sellers are completely SOL, though. Not very accommodating of them I'll fully admit.

Or anyone who rents or loans/trades games with friends. I will not be adopting the "it could have been worse" attitude. What is funny to me is that until very recently (as in the last month) I have not rented or loaned games with friends for years. I don't even really do much purchasing of used titles. Just 2 quick examples. COD:Black Ops 2 and Reckoning: Kingdoms of Amalur. I bought the first Modern Warfare, and have never touched the series since it was so bad. Black Ops 2 makes the first MW look like a polished tight game. It was such utter trash I quite playing it and took it back to the Redbox. Cost me 2 bucks and I felt like it was not even worth the time much less the money. Reckoning was a loan from a friend, it was so bad I quite playing it even quicker than Black Ops 2. I am so happy I didn't spend but 2$ to try those games. Now I will have to buy the game to find out if it is trash and will have either less money if I try to resell it and a higher purchase price on a different used game should I so decide, since I cannot return a poor product. Guess what will give in this scenario? I will simply purchase fewer games at any price. I will only trust games with some particularly high score on review sites AND I don't hate the publisher AND I trust the developer. That's what it would take at this point.

Can't drink -no spleen- but I'd happily share a bottle of liquor with you. I think we have to get used to it. It could be worse.

We are running into the problem of having companies "narrowing down" what we can / want to do...there're so many things I want to do, and I hate limiting myself.

I am getting out the rum, praying for a short, utterly failed generation that see EA and Activision (at least) go into bankruptcy and punishes MS (and to a lesser extent Nintendo and Sony) for their collusion with the big publishers/ and or wimping out on specs.

 

[Strange]

nobody has announced a single clock at all for that matter. sony/ms/nintendo.

Anyways he said nothing about clocks nor did the questioner.

As noted, there are no official clocks anyway.

But his answer implied no ESRAM trouble which implies no downclock.

Personally I'm believing that eSRAM is truly bringing problems. How much of a problem and how serious, I've no idea.
The mere mention fab problems suggests to me that it is probably true.

I'm not so sure about down-clocking though. It really depends on the severity of the eSRAM problem (if it exists).

 

[Cyan]

Yes, learning about Wifi tethering is going to be a must. For those who go to their house in the mountains, go on a cruise or want to lug their Xbox One around on trips or while visiting their grandma's house, where high speed internet isn't present, it is necessary.

In areas where an Ethernet connection is not available, you can connect using mobile broadband.

 

[expletive]

They don't need the 24h check for a valid registration. They need that only because they want to be able to remove a license from somebody without the current owner's control. A better system be to give that right only to the current license holder. Unless the person didn't transfer the license to somebody else or unlocked it from his account nobody else would be able to use the disc again.

No, it's what he said. It's so you can't install something then unplug your console and then install it again somewhere else. I don't see how to draw any other conclusion.