XBox One, PS4, DRM, and You

[Arwin]

I heard on a podcast that someone who was selling a book, got $3 royalty from the paper version of the book, and $7 from the online version. So the advantages of digital publishing are tangible and definitely not always go to the customer at this point.

 

[patsu]

I don't think publishers want to lower prices of digital games either.

Their margins on digital at the same price as retail are obviously way higher.

For the same reason, the studios don't lower the prices of the movies they sell on iTunes or Amazon Video or whatever.

They did for music. Even took apart album sales. But at that time, music businesses were getting a serious beating from piracy.

If there is no carrot for the consumers, then I suspect it may be a slow stew for digital game future -- unless network infrastructure improves dramatically in major countries.

The game publishers don't want to lower price nor lose used game sales. But according to words on the street, MS approached them with the XB1 DRM idea. Is this true ?

 

[brasnial]

The DRM and 24 hour check is a product of a digital delivery system where you can still share games ......gift games and yes part exchange games .

we are going from a bricks and mortar delivery system for games to a online system .

Now can anyone name one time when prices have not decreased when the bricks and mortar stores has gone to a online sales model.
Less over heads cheaper games ........steam is proof of this .

I can't be sure but common sense tells me that a all digital game machine would lead to cheaper games .

Microsoft are on the first run now to a all digital model which means cheaper games in the long run in my opinion

Time will tell if I'm right

 

[dragonelite]

The DRM and 24 hour check is a product of a digital delivery system where you can still share games ......gift games and yes part exchange games .

we are going from a bricks and mortar delivery system for games to a online system .

Now can anyone name one time when prices have not decreased when the bricks and mortar stores has gone to a online sales model.
Less over heads cheaper games ........steam is proof of this .

I can't be sure but common sense tells me that a all digital game machine would lead to cheaper games .

Microsoft are on the first run now to a all digital model which means cheaper games in the long run in my opinion

Time will tell if I'm right

Hell the advantage of cheaper games and games being on the cloud is good enough for me and i reflected back about how stable internet is here in the Netherlands never been a day in my life where i didn't had more then 24 hours internet or either mobile internet.

They could let you check in via smart glasses or something. Because a wireless connection as far as i know between two device doesn't need internet from ISP to work.

But in my friend circle people have more issues with mandatory kinect then with the price point or 24hr DRM. Could be a cultural thing.

 

[dobwal]

The DRM and 24 hour check is a product of a digital delivery system where you can still share games ......gift games and yes part exchange games .

we are going from a bricks and mortar delivery system for games to a online system .

Now can anyone name one time when prices have not decreased when the bricks and mortar stores has gone to a online sales model.
Less over heads cheaper games ........steam is proof of this .

I can't be sure but common sense tells me that a all digital game machine would lead to cheaper games .

Microsoft are on the first run now to a all digital model which means cheaper games in the long run in my opinion

Time will tell if I'm right

Yeah, its a consequence of no cost distribution, the ease at which one can change prices and the lack of having to manage an inventory.

However, this isn't a true digital market, its a hybrid market. And B&M retailers still have influence over software as they are still the main POS for hardware and accessories.

 

[Bagel seed]

Just saw this clip, Lewis Black on the Daily Show 'expresses his dissatisfaction' for Kinect (and MS I guess). Did not expect to see that part at 2:50..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xKTseEpWrYc#t=106s

 

[dobwal]

I just happen to stumble on that image. Don't know whether it's true or not, but unlike 360, One is basically a DD only console and treats disc as a DD. Because of that, in 360 you obviously can play games that don't need you to log in to live (single player disc based games only?). On One, if your account is banned, then that box is basically a bluray player only. Of course you probably can still log in with another account, but the games were tied to the banned account thus you can't play anything that you previously owned.
Because of that, a few question just came into my head. Can other people in your family circle play the game that you owned if your account is banned? Can your family play your shared games if your console don't go online for more than 24h (assuming your account is perfectly fine and you're just don't have the time to play)? For the last question, it got me wondering again... Are MS checking the license even if the console were in sleep mode (maybe wake up for a few minutes by itself or it can check while in low power mode) or only when active/on?

Edit: someone beat me to it while I was formulating my thought...

If they do this then they will have to lay out what actions constitute a ban. And what types of bans are there.

A potty mouth racist who bascially trolls everytime they are online, should be banned from multiplayer but shouldn't be banned from their games.

A person caught hacking XB1 to facillitate multiplayer cheating should be banned but would that warrant bricking their console? A temporary ban?

A person caught hacking XB1 to facillitate piracy should be banned but ultimately would forfeiting their licenses mean anything? They are pirating, so they don't need a license.

The ultimate offense would be someone making an attempt to hack Live in an attempt to gain logins and passwords. Now there is probably no question that banning them from the ecosystem makes sense.

 

[MfA]

But in my friend circle people have more issues with mandatory kinect then with the price point or 24hr DRM. Could be a cultural thing.

Something I've wondered about the Xbox one, if Microsoft was served with a warrant to turn a xbox one into a surveillance device would they have to comply?

 

[AlphaWolf]

Something I've wondered about the Xbox one, if Microsoft was served with a warrant to turn a xbox one into a surveillance device would they have to comply?

You can't compel someone to act as an agent with a warrant. They could ask for data they have collected.

 

[ERP]

I have no idea on the legality, but if it did happen there in IMO no way they could keep it secret. Too many people would need to be involved inside MS (or any other company).

Plus I think if you were going to do that you'd be much better off starting in the PC space.

 

[brasnial]

Big brother is watching us all the time people .....in london there's a camera on nearly every street corner ......I'm being watched all the time but no fear .
I have them beat the next time I decided to brake the laws of the society I live in.
I'm wearing a tin hat as a man on the internet said its makes me invisible to CC TV

 

[wco81]

Do you have cameras which send feeds of you to some strangers?

Cameras inside your own home? Bit different than cameras in public spaces, don't you think?

 

[MfA]

Unless there is a law to build in a stealthy surveillance mode it won't be done in the PC space, things like webcam LEDs have absolutely no good reason to not be always functional (except for incompetence of course) and it's generally obvious when the PC is on period. The xbox one on the other hand has stealthy surveillance by design, it's trivially subverted.

 

[dagamer]

That's not what I meant. Sony's patent share is higher when it comes to Blu-ray Disc patents, not the player tech. BDA simply collect the fees and distribute them accordingly. It may be a small sum in MS' eyes, but it still funds their competitors' activities.

MS does dislike Blu-ray because they tried and failed to kill it. And it is a revenue source for Sony, not just because of the royalty. They press the discs too. There are fewer companies handling them, which is why Sony is still the dominant manufacturer there.

If the disc distribution is still around, it will hamper how low MS can charge for digital games. The retailers won't want the digital games to undercut physical discs.

Digital downloads already undercut physical games. Why do you think retailers poo poo the Vita when a stunning 60% of all game purchases are made digitally?

I know I keep repeating myself like a broken record but Vita is proof that digital downloads will take over naturally anyway.

 

[MfA]

You can't compel someone to act as an agent with a warrant. They could ask for data they have collected.

So never any continuous surveillance or any diversion of data not normally stored but only processed? Only something stored during normal operations?

 

[Davros]

Davros (who, as you all know would never refer to himself in the third person) cordially invites the good people of b3d and mfa as well to take part in his (well technically brits) poll
so come on down y'all (see i am fluent in american)
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=63825

ps: Steam have already puled an "agree with our new terms or we will take all your purchased games away from you"

 

[AlphaWolf]

So never any continuous surveillance or any diversion of data not normally stored but only processed? Only something stored during normal operations?

I'm only saying they can't compel MS to change their normal operations (which would in effect be compelling them to break the law) to specifically gather data for them. If MS isn't lying when they say you can set kinect to send no data, then there would be nothing there to get, provided you use that setting.

I would presume any data that is sent would be about as protected as your phone calls...

 

[MrFox]

Kinect and tin foil hats have nothing to do with this thread.

 

[BoardBonobo]

GIBiz has a rational breakdown on MS's DRM strategy.

Boils down to:

Why did they pick a fight like this when they didn't need to?
If they'd been patient they could have avoided such a wide ranging, negative, PR breakdown.

 

[ERP]

I suspect the general sentiment at MS is that this may be the last time they ship physical hardware, or at least there will be a LONG gap before the next time they do.
It would be extremely hard to try and implement or change a licensing model say 5 or more years from now, so they wanted to be forwards looking to a time when downloads are the primary way people get games.

But I'm guessing.