Xbox One

[Eleven]

I automatically read that last tweet with a Chinese accent because of the missing "s" in say. Though I am fully aware Kaz is not Chinese.

[Mister Jack]

You know, this makes a Gamefly subscription useless to anyone with an XBone, doesn't it?

[Alex Heat]

I expect GameFly to just kind of...shrug and move on.  It really is about all they can do in this scenario.

 

It's kind of sad though.  Had Microsoft just dropped the 'you must check in every 24 hours' and the whole used game thing, I'd have shifted back toward being relatively interested.  Instead, it just solidified my end goal of 'buy a PS4 and a Wii U, call it good'.

[Mister Jack]

It really irks me to think that with the way they've set this system up, even if you look past all that bullshit and buy yourself an Xbox One and have all kinds of fun with it, the day will come when it just turns into a useless brick hogging up shelf space.  I can still play my old Sega Genesis if I want to, but someday Microsoft is going to pull the plug on the servers for this thing.

[Eleven]

It's kind of sad though.  Had Microsoft just dropped the 'you must check in every 24 hours' and the whole used game thing, I'd have shifted back toward being relatively interested.  Instead, it just solidified my end goal of 'buy a PS4 and a Wii U, call it good'.

 

Yeah, me too. I kinda like the voice command thingies and probably will like the gesture commands (and find them useful watching videos). I actually do not care at all about the used games thing much, as I almost always buy my games new and rarely borrow games from friends, but the always online thing (well, every 24 hours) that prevents you from playing your games just sucks.

 

Edit: Hmm.. actually I do sell my old games so I guess that used games thing sucks too.

 

It really irks me to think that with the way they've set this system up, even if you look past all that bullshit and buy yourself an Xbox One and have all kinds of fun with it, the day will come when it just turns into a useless brick hogging up shelf space.  I can still play my old Sega Genesis if I want to, but someday Microsoft is going to pull the plug on the servers for this thing.

 

 

I would give them the benefit of the doubt here. They would just unlock everything. Instead of forever being hated by people. Much like if Steam goes bankrupt (absurd!) they would probably update the client to authenticate every game automagically.

Edited June 7, 2013 by eleven

[Mr. GOH!]

It's interesting to see enthusiastic Steam users decry the Xbone for similar restrictions to those placed on Steam games, myself included. I think it comes down to the fact that we trust Valve, but we don't trust Microsoft.

[Thursday Next]

I think it's more PC culture vs. console culture. The average person sees a PC as an internet machine. Always connected, always online, while a console is less so. It's still a thing you would stick in the kids bedroom or what have you and not necessarily hook up to the internet. Also, people are very used to PC software being something that you install on the machine so the software and hardware is more, integrated I guess. People don't think of Word or Excel as separate software, they are just part of what makes a PC a PC. Consoles are still thought of as machines that primarily run software directly off the disc, there may be some gamedata being saved, but the software and the hardware are still thought of as being two separate entities.

[deanb]

I've seen a few comparisons with Steam, though it misses a few points;

 

With Steam there's no requirement to be logged in every 24hrs to continue playing your games, you can just install your game and go Offline (as mentioned before now some games even let you play without opening Steam anyway).

Steam isn't the sole seller of PC games.

You can easily replace your Steam library with the aid of the Swedes should Steam ever close its doors.

Eh, it's a PC at the end of the day, can do pretty much anything you want with it. Even plug in a Kinect if you want, and your TV channels.*

 

Was thinking last night that the whole "one company to phone home to" as well as the implication of the re-activation powers of certain shop chains means in ~15years time all your Xbox One games will be useless. Already we have to live with the fact that XBLA and PSN purchases be it full games like ME3, smaller like Flower, or just random DLC and updates will be gone in about ~5yrs, now to live with the fact that even the disc based games will be dead without extensive work on breaking their DRM and/or attempting to emulate the console on PC.

 

 

In other news, just to add to all the "things that make the Xbox One kind of sucky"

That NSA news eh?

 

*Which on a thought that popped in my head the other day: Freeview is built into 90% of TVs in the UK, so there's no separate box with a HDMI-Out to plug into the Xbone to let it control your TV channels. And I'm going to assume it won't be coming with a tuner built in. So yeah it's only be useful for those few on Sky HD and Virgin, about 20% of homes, but glod knows how many TVs (dunno on Virgin, but it's extra to get Sky on multiple TVs)

[Mr. GOH!]

I agree with ThursdayNext. This is the first wave of backlash against the inevitable death of physical media.

 

Dean: MS isn't the only Xbone game retailer. There will be many more distinct retailers selling Xbone games than there are or will be selling PC games. I think the more apt criticism is that MS acts a central licensing authority for all Xbone games, while on PC you can choose which licensing authority to deal with. 

 

"Eh, it's a PC at the end of the day, can do pretty much anything you want with it. Even plug in a Kinect if you want, and your TV channels." MS wants this to become "Eh, it's an Xbone at the end of the day, You can consume pretty much any entertainment you want with it. Even plug in a Kinect if you want, and your TV channels."

 

Being able to pirate games after Steam dies is not guaranteed. I think it's more likely Steam will let you download and archive your games.

 

MS might be taking heat now, but as I pointed out earlier, all of Apple wildly popular products feature ridiculous DRM and an extremely strict central licensing authority. People are used to these sorts of restrictions elsewhere, and I'm fairly sure they'll get used to them on the Xbone. That's not saying it's a *good* thing (not an Apple fan at all), just that the early backlash may not amount to much harm to the Xbone.

[deanb]

Eh, physical media has been dying for a long time now, many people are happily consuming movies through Netflix, music from iTunes, books..sort of from Kindle. It's just the way MS are trying to carry this out that's the backlash.

 

If you wish to purchase any game digitally then MS is both currently and in the future the only retailer selling digital games. With Xbox One this also becomes the only licensor of Xbox One games too. Nearly everywhere that sells Xbox games sells PC games too (Though that might not be the same in the US I guess), and then you've got all the digital store fronts on top of that (which as mentioned is at One with Xbox One).

 

And until you can do even a tenth of the things a PC can do, heck even a tenth of a tablet, on an Xbox that vision will fail. Especially when apart from the games, most Smart TVs can replicate all the features and then some.

 

Rare is the game sold on Steam that is not cracked, rare is the non cracked PC game in general. The hope is of course on the games being released from Steam DRM, but at the point that needs to be done I'm not sure they'd be in a position to do so.

 

There was backlash against how Apple sells their stuff, hence DRM free music. Of course there's the whole app store stuff, but folks are shifting to Android in that dept, and even then most apps are a buck a pop, not $60+ a pop.

[Mr. GOH!]

Some U.S. game retailers sell physical PC games, but the number of such retailers has declined sharply in the past five or so years. And the inventories are always limited when compared to console games. I mean, these are the same retailers that push used so hard; why sell PC games that rarely get sold back to the store?

 

Of course the biggest problem is, as I said, that MS controls every single license of every single Xbone game. 

 

Most people only use a few functions of their tablets or PCs; well under 10% of what a given tablet or PC is capable of. I think MS and Sony have a fairly good idea of the sorts of functionality folks would want from a console as an entertainment controller and are focusing on such functionality. It may not look god to me, but I'm sure tons of folks will like it. Fuck, the mainstream press got a huge fucking Xboner from the Xbone reveal.

 

The cost of apps is irrelevant; consumers who are tech users are used to licenses being tied to a single account or device. The point isn't that it's good, it's that it's really nothing new.

 

The backlash is more that the death of physical media has come to consoles.

[TheMightyEthan]

It really irks me to think that with the way they've set this system up, even if you look past all that bullshit and buy yourself an Xbox One and have all kinds of fun with it, the day will come when it just turns into a useless brick hogging up shelf space.  I can still play my old Sega Genesis if I want to, but someday Microsoft is going to pull the plug on the servers for this thing.

 

This is really the only thing about the Xbone that bothers me much now that they've clarified some stuff.  The other restrictions just don't impact my usage patterns much at all, and are basically no different than the PC restrictions I already put up with (other than the 24 hours thing, but even with that I can't remember the last time I was without internet for more than 24 hours, except when I moved into my new house).  Though I, for one, have 0 faith that MS would unlock everything before a server shutdown.

 

*Edit* - Damnit, I keep forgetting that Kinect is required.  That's a really huge negative for me.

 

*Edit 2* - Although this is somewhat promising:

 

 

 

Microsoft also notes that the Kinect can be disabled at any time during console operation, though some games may require the peripheral to be active for certain gameplay features.

Edited June 7, 2013 by TheMightyEthan

[Waldorf and Statler]

The main reason I don't have a problem with Steam is because of sales. They need to keep competitive with the other online digital game sellers that offer the same games. Sony had PS+ and truly the reason it existed is to warrant the $50 a year, but that gave free games and discounts on shit. That was a step in the right direction. Microsoft has gold-exclusive deals and 'sales' that boiled down to 'you might as well buy it in a retail store as these kinda blow'.

 

And no I can't trust Microsoft to make as good of sales as something I can find on PC.

[Mister Jack]

If steam ever does shut down (which would probably require the death of gaming as we know it), Valve has promised to unlock all the games on your account so you don't need steam to play them.

 

I can't say I'm so optimistic as to believe Microsoft would be equally generous.

[deanb]

If steam ever does shut down (which would probably require the death of gaming as we know it), Valve has promised to unlock all the games on your account so you don't need steam to play them.

 

AARGH!!!! No they haven't!!!!

[Saturnine Tenshi]

What W&S said. I can get digital games on PC that for $5 while their console counterparts linger around $40 or $50—maybe $37.99 if during a sale! Even the PS+ deals are lame in contrast.

 

There's also the case that PC games are far more likely to be backwards compatible over operating systems.

 

As far as the Xbox One is concerned in particular, digital media is hardly the only issue there.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Saturnine Tenshi

[Mister Jack]

Also, considering this NSA story, don't believe Microsoft when they say the kinect can be set to not listen to you.

 

Seriously, don't do it. Remember back I said I knew a guy in the government who warned me about the Xbox? This is exactly what he was talking about.

[Waldorf and Statler]

Jack I want to believe you, but 'I know a guy in the government' is usually related to 'Bush did 9/11'

 

But to show you how good of a sport I am, I won't buy the Juan. Just for you.

 

I mean I wasn't planning to. But for you, I'll for sure not do it honey dick.

[Eleven]

Where do you get those fancy words you say? Crazy. I know someone like you in real life.

 

For the record, I hated Steam when they had the broken offline mode. And swore to buy digital games elsewhere. But, yeah, the sales... you just can't beat that. And they eventually fixed the offline thing so I'm fine with them now.

 

I do have games there I haven't touched that I bought for $60. I sometimes wish I could resell them.

 

GMG has a nice system with credits and trade-ins, but most of their games that I would buy are Steam activated. And I think a lot of disc based games too require Steam.

 

PC Gaming has long shut down the idea of trade-ins and used games.

[TheMightyEthan]

Jack I want to believe you, but 'I know a guy in the government' is usually related to 'Bush did 9/11'

Yeah, I've got one who side of the family who's all "we know guys in the government, and they're doing [X completely insane thing]."  Kinda poisoned me to that claim.

 

"There was a full-scale Muslim terrorist invasion of New Orleans under the cover of Katrina!  They had marines defending oil refineries against waves and waves of them!"

 

Riiiiiiiight...

[Waldorf and Statler]

Think about it.

 

Katrina when you rearrange the letter spells Muhammad.

 

edit: boy this comment is gonna look out of place in a new page.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Waldorf And Statler

[Mister Jack]

He works in computer forensics for federal investigations, which is why I give his claims any credence.

[Alex Heat]

 

Jack I want to believe you, but 'I know a guy in the government' is usually related to 'Bush did 9/11'

Yeah, I've got one who side of the family who's all "we know guys in the government, and they're doing [X completely insane thing]."  Kinda poisoned me to that claim.

 

"There was a full-scale Muslim terrorist invasion of New Orleans under the cover of Katrina!  They had marines defending oil refineries against waves and waves of them!"

 

Riiiiiiiight...

 

 

Horde mode!

[Waldorf and Statler]

I read that as Hodor mode for a sec there.

[Alex Heat]

There's unconfirmed rumors going around via NeoGAF that Microsoft is pulling the typical 'throw money at it' strategy for E3.

 

I'd say it seems doubtful, but then again, so did the need for 24 hour check ins and used game DRM.