Microsoft Prattle v2

[bps21]

You know this flat out came down to getting crushed in preorders. If they cared what people thought they would have changed it after the reveal of the console and announced it at e3 to cheers. Instead they didnt do that, let Sony get all the cheers and now that they have actual data to show what people will and won't support with $ attached...now they feel the need.

 

[vivisectvi]

Someone posted this on GAF but not sure if real as the links do not work:

http://news.xbox.com/2013/05/qa

Update on June 19, 2013: As a result of feedback from the Xbox community, we have changed certain policies for Xbox One reflected in this blog. Some of this information is no longer accurate — please check here for the latest.

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

 

[bps21]

I believe xbox themselves put out a blog outlining the changes but of course the site crashed.

Also the best title attributed to today's news so far is: xbox one80.

Journalists the bar has been set.

Funnily I was in the early stages of writing an article for the site looking at the controversial system called The Doom that Came to Redmond...thank god I didn't get far.

Redmond is where Microsoft headquarters are located btw.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

Patrick Klepek just so happens to be moving to Chicago this week. So he posts this, and gets the heck out of Dodge.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

• Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.

Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.

 

[bps21]

They got rid of the family sharing plan...which I liked more than any of the things I hated. Damn it all.

 

[Damaramu]

I still don't like them....but that's just because Sony has impressed me so much!

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

lololo #Xbox180

 

[vivisectvi]

"Your Feedback Matters" - translation, "Please pre-order now, ok??"

 

[BlackFlagg]

I'll probably get one eventually now, but not until a price drop

 

[Smues]

Hooray now I can one at some point.

 

[Broward83]

Great, so no family sharing and I'll have to keep changing out discs instead of being able to play one while waiting for the other to queue up.

Thanks for all the bitching, idiots.

 

[bps21]

Great, so no family sharing and I'll have to keep changing out discs instead of being able to play one while waiting for the other to queue up.

Thanks for all the bitching, idiots.

This is where I landed too.

 

[vivisectvi]

http://youtu.be/6RtSGFryKwo?t=11m33s

 

[vivisectvi]

http://kotaku.com/surprise-xbox-one-drm-reversal-requires-day-one-patch-514419715

Even though it's June and the console doesn't launch until November, Whitten said that Xbox One consumers will have to download a day-one patch to enable the Xbox One's offline mode. Presumably, without it, the console will still think it's living in the Xbox One era of E3 2013.

 

[jimmy no nose]

I really thought that Microsoft just did a terrible job of communicating fairly decent ideas. After they did a terrible job of explaining things initially, the internet backlash was so crazy that they ended up in a position where they couldn't even attempt to explain things better. So in the end their only option now was to kind of take a step backwards. I really did like not having to worry about discs, trading in and sharing digital downloads, being able to access your library from anywhere, etc.

 

[vivisectvi]

I actually thought that the family share thing was an excellent idea. I don't see why it couldn't still exist for any digital titles you purchase, though.. but it sounds like they've completely done away with it.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Great, so no family sharing and I'll have to keep changing out discs instead of being able to play one while waiting for the other to queue up.

Thanks for all the bitching, idiots.

This is where I landed too.

Me too

 

[bps21]

They communicated their way into making into the same thing everything else is now. I think they were pushing for too much too abruptly. Digital future seems inevitable. Even so much as...I get out of work at midnight...so I get home with Madden or whatever is coming out and I can either buy it right now on the console or wait until tomorrow to get it on disc. Their previous policies were trying to get you to leave discs behind...the disc itself was just an unlock and download anyway...the exact same as downloading right from marketplace and just as valuable after you did. Does this have to be a bad idea? No. But they never could figure out how to explain anything to anyone without making it worse.

Like...hey I can download Madden the day it comes out and then someone in my "family" plan can be playing it while I do to? That sounds great. But all people saw was No disc! How can I sell it? It's a fair question and a fair point. What does a used digital game look like after all? They tried too much. They need to wait until someone has some proof that digital games will become cheaper at the rate a used disc does for starters...go to the games on demand section now...it does not inspire confidence in the least.

And now that they've reversed this...there is no benefit to buying it digitally. That's the major concession here...they were all in on a digital future...and now they've thrown it aside completely. Frankly because they hadn't earned it yet.

But years from now...if they want to push the digital future...they have to have put the work in. 6 months after a game comes out that I can get on disc for like 12 bucks used...don't be showing me 30 bucks in the on demand section. You have to first give people a reason to think they'll get some value by going digital. It's what I loved about the family sharing plan...but to be fair about it they never fully explained it and we saw what happens when they fully explain things...they just get worse.

 

[KingPK]

I hope people realize that GameStop is the biggest winner in all of this because they can extend their shitty business model into another generation.

 

[bps21]

I saw the quote about family sharing being something they "won't be able to deliver at launch" so I still have hope for its eventual existence. Hopefully they'll use it as part of a strategy to gradually move people toward's their digital plans...just now they won't have the DRM backlash since you can also just buy the disc and not be part of it. They say the stuff you download will still be able to go with you wherever you go, while discs you buy obviously will need the disc instead of the previous "disc just unlocks the digital" concept. When you think about it this was actually their greatest sin...the lack of choice for the consumer.

Forcing everyone into one side was a bad strategy. Allowing people to choose between doing things the way they always have or buying digital and doing it differently seems so obvious I can't believe it took all the backlash for them to realize it. Of course that's assuming they do eventually allow the family sharing again.

 

[Sabre]

While the family share and online friend scenario seemed awesome. They have clearly done this in desperation due to the overwhelming PS4 response. And i think it may hurt them even more, as it just gives sony more ammunition.

 

[bps21]

The reaction I've seen has mostly been the rebels rejoicing at the destruction of the second death star in Jedi.

 

[Edwin]

Yeah, this is kind of funny. I couldn't give a shit about used games or the 24-hour check thing. My bigger beef with the XBone was the packaged Kinect and the obvious cost drivers.

 

[Sabre]

Well i VERY rarely buy a new game unless it is something i want to play at launch. Mostly i wait for a reasonably priced used or just dont bother till its so old i get it cheap new.

The xbox one had originally made that null and void to me, as i dont keep an active paid membership for either console (nor plan too, as i hate online gaming usually). The U turn benefits me alot now, but im still going with the PS4 as it seems imo to be the better console for my needs, no doubt i will get a Xbox One eventually, but not until its a few years old i think.

 

[vivisectvi]

I am hoping that most people I knew who were turned onto a PS4 because of this stick to their decision. If only because I would like a larger list of folks (that I actually know IRL or converse with online) to game with online.

 

[Sabre]

If they are willing to pay for PSN to play online.

You know, this could be some cunning marketing. Msoft to turn off DRM then a year down the line when everyone has their console, they could easily turn it back on.

 

[bps21]

Why would they want to stop selling consoles?

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

I don't feel like entirely fleshing out the idea at the moment, but I'm not sure why their old plan couldn't be an opt-in type of thing, since some people dug the concept.

 

[bps21]

I don't feel like entirely fleshing out the idea at the moment, but I'm not sure why their old plan couldn't be an opt-in type of thing, since some people dug the concept.

I believe this is the plan. Allow people to continue to use discs with all the benefits and limitations as exist, and introduce a plan for those who prefer to buy digital to bring back the family sharing plan and push the benefits of going that way. That way would require some internet checks obviously...but for those that don't want it you never have to download a game or even have internet to keep playing the discs.

Like I said...they had some future planning good ideas, had earned trust in none of them, and were pushing you must have all of them.

The plan now looks like...ok...step back here's your same console everyone else makes...now we'll figure out how to get people to understand what we wanted to do.