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Yantelope
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They'll turn it on again in the future though. No fucking way did all their infrastructure and planning vanish like that. It'll be back. For one the way they're trying to balance out the 30-40% power deficit over the PS4 is with this "cloud computing" stuff. Sure it's all bullshit to work how it would need to, but without an online connection it won't work at all.

I'm assuming you mean post-launch? So, pretend to turn it off now to sell more units at launch, then turn it back on later? That would just be begging for some massive class-action lawsuit, no?

 

 

I'm not sure that's illegal. You know that will be in the ToS/U.

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They'll turn it on again in the future though. No fucking way did all their infrastructure and planning vanish like that. It'll be back. For one the way they're trying to balance out the 30-40% power deficit over the PS4 is with this "cloud computing" stuff. Sure it's all bullshit to work how it would need to, but without an online connection it won't work at all.

I'm assuming you mean post-launch? So, pretend to turn it off now to sell more units at launch, then turn it back on later? That would just be begging for some massive class-action lawsuit, no?

 

The class action lawsuits that signing up for XBL already disallowed you from doing?

 

 

That would be perhaps the shittiest thing they've ever done to xbox customers. A stunt like that would get me to swear off Microsoft consoles for life.

They already upped the price of XBL to cover ESPN stuff that next to no-one bothered with. And the RROD. Oh and the cheap parts on the disc tray wrecking many discs.  Oh and even bothering to suggest these plans on DRM.

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You know, I've been seeing it said that gamers' voices have been heard, but I don't feel like this is a "heard voice" moment.

 

Microsoft was being pretty stubborn about implementing these restrictions, so much so that they developed quite the attitude when faced with all the criticism and backlash from an online presence. I honestly think that if it weren't for the harsh reality of countless consumers flocking to their competitor and actually looking at how many were swearing off the Xbox brand (all the trade-in's), Microsoft would still be where it was.

 

That isn't listening, that's covering your ass. If Microsoft was the listening type, they would have had a different E3 conference. No, they stuck to their intentions and wanted the consumers to listen to them. To tell them what consumers should want and why it's the future of entertainment. Of course, that's how many industries work: paving "the future" as they see it.

 

If this were truly a "heard voice" moment, it would be more of an open forum as to how Xbone can adapt to a realistic consumer and what they feel restricts their experience and expectations of a next-gen console.

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I think that's a cynical view. You can't back down at the first sign of trouble (pre E3). What they should have done at E3 was stick to their guns (which they did) and explain their system effectively (which they haven't, up to now).

 

They still haven't made clear what they intended to do in the first place. They wanted to consumers to listen to them, which is fair, as they are introducing something brand new. But the message was not clear. All the positives we've heard about only came to light after E3. When no one was listening, and when everybody was convinced the system is not going to get any better.

 

I was convinced the system was bad after E3. But when word of their sharing policies leaked out after E3, I was almost sold on the idea. I was willing to give it a chance.

 

Now, all they've done is make their supporters angry. Those angry people still won't be convinced.

 

As for the Kinect, an option to turn it off should be included. I would like it to come bundled. I want devs to think about how to use this thing properly, having been assured that everyone has one.

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I get changing to disc based DRM for retail games, but really what they should have done is kept the family sharing and friend loaning stuff for digital games. I don't want to check in every x hours / days / whatever. But, if I want to play a shared game that I don't own, I'm fine with an online check in on starting that game.

 

This would have given digital games a genuine benefit over retail which would move more of the consumer base to digital and then later in the generation (or next generation), once discs are done with, they could release a PSPGo style device that only does digital and the destruction of specialist game retailers will be complete.

 

Removing the sharing features for digital purchases is throwing out the baby with the bath water.

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I'm glad they aren't forcing it on day one adopters. But people are going to stay skeptical. A lot. Like I said before, the damage to their brand has been done. Of course it will sell better now but they have to improve their PR stance now.

I'm seeing someone who works in PR and we've been having this discussion for a while now. Brand damage has occured. They need to improve their image in the next 4 months.

 

However it is wise to remain skeptical since they do want to do this. They played their hand and now are retracting it. It means the public is now aware of their intentions. To be fair, what needs to cull some of the suits responsible for this debacle. This error wasn't on a ground level but on an exec level (as most such decisions always are).

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It does seem odd that MS is making digital less of a value proposition while simultaneously removing the more onerous DRM. I mean, both MS and Sony WANT folks to migrate to digital, and I am certain that people will, eventually. They way to do it is to ease consumers into digital by making it a good proposition on your console when compared with physical retail discs on the same console. It happened on PC, so there's no reason it can't happen on console. MS just fucked up its strategy with the ridiculous DRM and phoning home requirements on the Xbone.

 

ETA: Easiest way to encourage digital for the Xbone/PS4: same-day AAA digital releases discounted $10 for digital versions. 

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A part of me wonders if Don Mattrick will still have his current job when the dust settles. I mean, he fucked up BIG time. He may not be responsible for those policies everyone hated, but he did the worst possible job at softening the bow. Such a huge reversal does not happen every day, and his remarks are at least partly responsible for making it necessary. Had he emphasized family sharing from the beginning, they might have been able to barely justify what they were trying to do.

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Are they doing away with digital sharing though?  The press release doesn't say one way or the other.  It says that for disc-based games you'll have to have the disc in the tray to play them, but it also says that all retail games will be available digitally at launch and that you can play any of your downloaded games on any Xbox console.  It's unclear at best, but it leaves open the possibility that the sharing will still be available for digital purchases, just not disc-based purchases.

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Oh, also, regarding the class-action thing: it remains to be seen whether those no-class-action-lawsuit provisions in ToUs will be enforced by the courts.  I would expect they won't be, because it would be a giant subversion of the legal system, but the courts often do things I find inexplicable, so who knows.

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