Quote :

"Another feature that we didn’t speak out about was the fact we were building a natural social network with Xbox One in itself that didn’t require gamers to open their laptops/tablets to post to their other friends nor did they need to wrestle with keyboard add-ons."

why does this have to be abandoned because of their new policies? this seems like a totally different feature. also, it looks like i would be disappointed with the family share plan so now i'm glad they wont be releasing it.

i thought i would be happy that they reversed their policies, but now i'm kinda pissed off. i thought they would keep features for digital games, but still have the same disc based system we have now. i dont understand why they cant implement both.

it seems like they are just omitting all these other features out of spite now.

6/21/2013 8:23:32 AM

Maybe because Microsoft Engineers know better than you the amount of time it will now take them to change their code, infrastructure, and QA processes to make the shitty version of the Xbox you complained for ready by this fall.

6/21/2013 8:49:28 AM

hey man, if we can't complain about the DRM, we need to complain about them changing it now. gotta h8 MS for the fun of it...

6/21/2013 9:15:49 AM

check my previous posts in this thread. i've been ok with the changes for a while

6/21/2013 11:37:23 AM

My guess is, if they could make these changes so easily, there will be an option for people to have them in the future. Whether that comes in the form of software/firmware changes or in an entirely different version of the console, I think they will do it.

6/21/2013 1:05:34 PM

6/21/2013 2:08:39 PM

^^I doubt it's going to be easy to abandon all the futureware infrastructure they've been working on but someone determined they didn't have a winning business strategy with it so they're making the change. I do know that a company in the business of making money wouldn't just throw out features out of spite.

I must be the only person looking forward to the Kinect 2.0 and being able to turn the console on without a button press.

6/21/2013 2:51:43 PM

^ i often have to remind my gf that screaming "xbox on" doesnt do anything. she'd be happy.

6/21/2013 3:31:52 PM

Quote :

"I must be the only person looking forward to the Kinect 2.0 and being able to turn the console on without a button press."

No you aren't. I use my Kinect voice features all the time. Especially when I have to get up to grab a beer/or piss and need to pause a movie.

6/21/2013 3:36:11 PM

I am looking forward to it as well. The fact that everyone will have one could open up new possibilities for developing new games

6/21/2013 3:44:52 PM

Oh my dear lord.

http://www.examiner.com/article/rumor-microsoft-removing-kinect-requirement-without-xbox-one-price-drop

Quote :

" "BREAKING: @Xbox media relations confirms to me via email that #kinect sensor IS NOT required for #XboxOne. #privacy #drm #prism #microsoft" ".@Xbox confirms NO #XboxOne price drop due to NO kinect requirement. #XboxOne is "competitively priced" & xbox is "confident with the value.""

MS is hitting Sony 2005 levels of incompetence. Did everyone involved in making the 360 a success leave the company or something?

6/21/2013 3:54:08 PM

Who the hell is Brittney Sochowski and how the hell would she know? Edelman is a PR firm.

6/21/2013 3:57:00 PM

Lol so they updated the article,

Quote :

""This rumor is untrue and was an unfortunate copy/paste mistake by a member of our team. We’d greatly appreciate you running the correction below as an update to your story to help quell this rumor and shutdown the false cycle.""

What a crazy sequence of events since E3.

6/21/2013 4:37:23 PM

Quote :

" One of your pre-ordered items is now eligible for release date delivery and has been upgraded at no additional charge. Your new delivery estimate is: "Xbox One Console - Day One Edition" Estimated arrival date: November 27, 2013"

6/21/2013 6:27:13 PM

How has nobody connected the Kinect eye with the NSA thing yet? That's got to be an issue that's at least come up, right?

6/21/2013 10:48:24 PM

Except Microsoft has emphatically denied allowing the NSA access to their data aside from court-ordered subpoena to specific accounts.

Quote :

"In a statement to TechCrunch, Microsoft said: “We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don’t participate in it.”"

Jesus Christ, people. It's good tech that vastly improves the UI of the 360. If they can use it to identify me and target ads I'd be more interested in, great! I'd bet money the camera won't be running when the system is in standby, just the mic listening for a particular phrase to turn the unit on. And just put something in front of it or turn it around if you're that worried.

Every god damned laptop made in the last 10 years has an integrated webcam. Where's your paranoia from that?

6/22/2013 12:20:38 AM

You guys are ridiculous. Now you want DRM. WTF.

There is no reason why MS can offer both their DRM laden downloadable games and disc based games simultaneously. They are not mutually exclusive. If DRM shits is so good then in a few years no one will be buying discs, then they can go full digital. Otherwise, old fucks like me will be getting them coasters. I want to be able to play my XBONE 15yrs from now when I get all nostalgic.

Also, I'd beat a $1000 that MS developed XBONE with a DRM settings slider. I'm sure all this DRM feature/restriction stuff can be turned on/off in software with a switch. If they didn't, they are fucking stupid.

6/22/2013 12:40:24 AM

Disk DRM is the best solution for the actual enthusiasts, collectors, and players. The used game market needs to DIE in its current form. You have an industry adding no value, syphoning a billion+/yr from the game publishers. I also am not interested in giving up my physical disks and boxes because I'm a fan of the art and collector editions. Box art is a huge part of gaming culture and single handedly sold a ton of games, to me any way - you know, back before the internet. Allowing me the conveniences of the digital market and the option to collect what I love and enable the creation of better products and more developers to stay fiscally viable is what they sought to do and ass clowns that buy garbage like CoD and play games for maybe an hour before they lose interest have destroyed that.

6/22/2013 1:01:26 AM

Quote :

"Also, I'd beat a $1000 that MS developed XBONE with a DRM settings slider. I'm sure all this DRM feature/restriction stuff can be turned on/off in software with a switch. If they didn't, they are fucking stupid."

You're not involved with software development are you?

6/22/2013 8:43:30 AM

^^ absolutely perfect

6/22/2013 11:23:08 AM

You guys were wrong about the family plan too, there was no time limit
http://kotaku.com/rumor-about-xbox-one-family-sharings-downsides-has-fla-534484570

6/22/2013 1:00:46 PM

So much fucking misinformation from assholes who have it out for Microsoft.

6/22/2013 1:14:56 PM

The article raises some interesting points but ultimately no one will ever know what the full story is.

You could choose to believe that Microsoft, despite their attempt to generate more sales for game publishers by trying to crowd out the used game market and placing harsh DRM policies in place to prevent lost sales due to piracy, somehow convinced those same publishers that implementing a system where 11 people got a game off of just one purchase was the way to go...

or

It was just a demo system that had an integrated suggested sale system.

I lean toward the latter. Sure, it doesn't make sense for the family plan to be "glorified demos." They could just release downloadable demos of a game and get it out to more people without a limit of 10 people in a small group. Similarly allowing 11 people to play a game off of just one purchase doesn't make much sense either, especially when all other policies were aimed at funneling as much money back to game publishers as possible.

If the family plan was just demos the only benefit I could see is that people would be able to demo all games, meaning now not every game has a demo and under the new system they would. Also, if it was just demos I'd understand how MS would be in full CYA/damage control mode out there trying to quash every bad rumor regardless of how true, especially since no one really knew any details of what the family plan was.

There's misinformation from people that have it out for Microsoft, there's misinformation from people that think Microsoft is infallible, and then there's misinformation from Microsoft itself. Who knows what the truth is and who knows what the story will be next week.

6/22/2013 7:56:36 PM

geez, i wish ms had a competent PR and marketing dept.

6/22/2013 9:51:28 PM

Quote :

"The thing about microsoft charging less for games because of no discs blah blah drm etc...yeah I read those articles too. No fucking way Microsoft was going to charge less for games. That's they're entire revenue system. They just floated that out there as an unofficial rumor to try and save face. "Oh gosh guys, we were just trying to save millions of people money with this feature." Right...."

I feel like part of me believes this if only because they intentionally made the 360 incapable of wireless out of the box for YEARS (until the redesign a couple of years ago) even though both competing systems could do it. That is, unless you shelled out 100 dollars for the wireless adapter. Fuck that noise.

6/23/2013 1:11:23 AM

Quote :

"Except Microsoft has emphatically denied allowing the NSA access to their data aside from court-ordered subpoena to specific accounts. "

You know Skype lied about this in 2012?

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/skype-pushes-back-on-snooping-claims/?_r=0

6/23/2013 2:41:46 AM

And that has to do with what exactly? That someone else lied is not evidence that anyone else is lying. Be paranoid if you wish; I'm going to follow the evidence.

6/23/2013 8:36:54 AM

Microsoft owns Skype. It's not paranoia if the company has a track record of this behavior. It's reasonable suspicion.

6/23/2013 11:04:23 AM

They're going to have to give these consoles away.

6/23/2013 12:45:18 PM

http://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-video-games/zgbs/videogames/ref=pd_dp_ts_vg_1

6/23/2013 2:13:33 PM

Quote :

"If they can use it to identify me and target ads I'd be more interested in, great!"

wtf

6/23/2013 4:07:09 PM

I think he's saying that targeted ads are better than random ads.

I'd certainly rather see a trailer for a new comic book movie than a commercial for feminine hygine, so if I have to see an ad then one that has been targeted to my interests is preferable.

[Edited on June 23, 2013 at 4:12 PM. Reason : ]

6/23/2013 4:12:19 PM

this has been posted around, its credited to CliffyB:

Quote :

"Of Sony vs MS/Used/etc.. Before I get into this subject, I need to lay a few ground rules. This console launch is the most unique in the business’ history. Even last time when we did have the internet it wasn’t as vocal or amplified as it is now. Giant Enemy Crab, anyone? (Sony’s terrible showing at that e3 proved to not really matter as the PS3 went on to do well in the long run.) What bothers me is the internet pitchfork mob who can only see 6 inches in front of their face without thoughtfully analyzing a situation. Any ***** can go to quickmeme.com. Try writing a fully thought out article on a subject, like the folks at Polygon, Giantbomb, Rock Paper Shotgun, or Kotaku do. (Sorry Gamespot, back of the bus.) Microsoft tried to and ultimately couldn’t have it both ways. You can’t still have discs and then expect everyone to embrace digital. And, fundamentally, if you take something away that a consumer has been used to without some seriously smooth handling they’re naturally going to get upset. I love community. I always have, going back to the Unreal/UT days. (Remember Ownage?) I used to love hanging out in the UT chatrooms late at night. My interest did wane a bit in the Gears days as I was frustrated with our mistakes that were made in that era and the negativity that came out of it. But now I see the positive aspects of places like Reddit and GAF (not the negative) and I recognize that community is the backbone of any entertainment experience in 2013 and beyond. What I hate is the knee jerk dog-pile mob mentality that hit. I realized that not all Internet Memes are truthful or make full sense when I saw this one. Ha ha, **** the airlines, right? I mean how obvious is this. The plane can carry a ****ING SPACE SHUTTLE and the mean anti-consumer airline wants to bill me on luggage fees? Anyone who actually stops and thinks about this situation would realize that it’s about fuel costs. With Americans weighing more than ever and with fuel costs skyrocketing the airlines were forced to charge fees on overweight luggage so when you’re transporting your dumbells for vacation on muscle beach the cost is passed onto you. This is a business decision, albeit one that wasn’t handled the smoothly when it came to messaging, but my gut is telling me that running an airline is probably as hard as running a game development studio. Richard Branson, the ninja entrepreneur responsible for Virgin Airlines is famous for saying: “If you want to be a Millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” Now, the other day I tweeted “I mean, I want developers to get money on every copy of their game over Gamestop **** me right?” There’s a story behind this. For years Gamestop was a good partner for retail and console games. And then they started looking at their numbers. (And don’t believe what they say about what % of their profit is new to used, believe how they ACT at every single store. Basic life lesson there folks.) And they realized that ****, we keep all of the money from giving someone five bucks on a game that they paid $60 for and we can then go and undercut NEW by reselling the used copy for $55 or so. Profit. I’d then wager that an executive order came down to rewire every manager to push used whenever possible. And that’s part of the problem. They claim to developers and publishers to want to come to the store for new but when you’re there what is the staff taught to preach? Buy it used! I’ve said it before, when I was younger and had $42 to my name I traded games all the time and would have bought the **** out of used. Just because I’m successful now doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget that feeling of not knowing how I was going to pay my bills or how wonderful Ramen tasted. A few years ago Microsoft asked me to go to the Gamestop Manager’s show in Las Vegas. I was knee deep in development of Gears 3 and had already had a ton of press related travel, plus, I ****ing hate Las Vegas. (You want to see anti consumer, hoo boy.) But my Microsoft marketing guy told me it would go a long way. He reminded me that it’s a big fun event for the managers who would love to press the flesh. So I flew out there, came on stage, shot a T-shirt gun at the crowd (so fun) met the managers, and did my best to not remind myself that I was in a city that I really don’t like. Next up was the big exciting midnight launch for Gears 3. Exciting stuff; Big Sean played the event in NYC, the fans were stoked (sent over a few dozen pizzas to the fans in line as a goodwill and fun PR stunt!) and I got to show my future in-laws how amazing this business can be. Cut to flying home and people start sending me pictures of the extremely well put together finely printed leaflets at the Gears 3 launch that said “Trade in this game by November 6th and get more than you normally would on your trade in!” Mother****er. We had done a lot of work to keep the disc in tray, but those retail practices are deliberately set up to create a revolving door of game trade in. Folks say “Yeah, but Gamestop helps out a lot of games by pushing them!” to which I quote Chris Rock “Yeah, they’re like the uncle who paid for your college…but molested you.”"

6/24/2013 12:02:17 PM

Quote :

"Capitalism? Sure. It’s a free market and they’ve got every right to do this. I accept that. However when I see studio after studio closing and the aforementioned alluded titles failing I know something’s got to change. But Cars and Movies and Books haven’t had this problem, why are games different? Watch this video, and then come back to this blog, please. Now, I know only blaming used games really does come across as a whiny answer. There was a brilliant post on GAF that was quoted on Kotaku saying “We didn’t ask for increased budgets, or phoned in sequels, or tacked on multiplayer.” It was incredibly well worded (and I can’t find it in the mountain of e3 news now so someone link it to me and I’ll update this blog with the link.) It’s up to the developer and the publisher to find a way to solve these problems. (And yes, by voting with your dollars, the consumers have shaped where we’re at to some extent. In the AAA space there is a certain graphical fidelity required and rich feature set expected that are causing costs to skyrocket.) Add in the fact that there’s more things than ever in 2013 competing for your dollar and you have to have 8+ figure marketing budgets to run ads and what not. So here’s what’s going to happen now that Microsoft has largely matched Sony’s (well played) move at E3. The shift to digital is still going to happen (FOR BOTH) but it’s going to be slow and subtle. Suddenly more DLC will be made available. More microstransactions will appear. And Day One Digital will (hopefully) be cheaper and will have so many added bells and whistles that consumers (with reliable enough bandwidth) will have a hard time refusing the tasty downloadable edition over the disc based one. But you know, none of this **** matters if the GAMES AREN’T FUN AND FANTASTIC. And if they are? No one seems to mind throwing money at them. (Zynga, this is your problem now, btw.) I’ve said before if I worked at Microsoft I would not only POSITIVELY motivate users to go digital but also offer their own trading system in which they give you MORE money for your game than Gamestop and sell the used games for LESS than Gamestop. Include a Netflix style mailing system and move along your merry way by engaging the customer as opposed to treating them like criminals. Years from now college courses are going to be taught in proper messaging and they’re going to use Microsoft’s E3 delivery as a worst case scenario. I’ve known many of the folks over there for years, and folks, you know better. Before any presser you’re given a booklet that only says “Here’s what you should say if asked X.” They also brief you on the journalists you’re about to meet with “This is the guy from Giantbomb. He’s smart but has been good to work with in the past. He also likes Hot Pockets and long walks on the beach.” With the stakes this high those executives should have memorized that book and not have been rope-a-doped by savvy journalists who laid a trap for them to walk right the hell into. (****in’ Keighley strikes again) When users were complaining about changes to Gears’ multiplayer my (bad) answer was often “If you don’t like it, play the previous game you liked so much!” (Which is a thinly veiled **** You to the customer, honestly. Holy **** I just admitted I was wrong.) Microsoft was trying to sell well lit houses that require a fully intact electrical grid to a world that doesn’t have that yet. Nothing made this more obvious than the fact that our servicemen and women of the armed forces are often in poorly connected places. Even Gears had a HUGE military following. And nothing looks worse than saying “forget the troops” because hey, your *** isn’t getting shot at or dealing with IEDs, are you? I’ll admit, the once every 24 hour check was pretty silly. Customers can smell from a mile away when you’re treating them like children, peeking your head into their bedroom on a regular basis in an attempt to catch them doing something. Here’s the thing about Steam. It doesn’t FORCE you to be online. The ecosystem of Steam is so brilliant, from the community, to the summer sales, to the indie games, that you WANT to get online. My money is on the PC, mobile and tablets for the near future. I wandered around E3 looking at (too many) fantastic games shaking my head and worrying about how many are going to be deemed a failure due to the fact that yes, it may have sold 4 million copies, but it cost too much to make and market, so it was a wash. (Do your homework, several very high profile games have had this issue and no, I’m not going to call them out here.) At the end of the day I suppose it’s a beautiful thing that so many gamers actually give a **** and are willing to participate in the debate. Just remember one of the (positive) aspects of Capitalism is that it encourages competition. You don’t want one system to “win” because what happens is that the “winner” then becomes fat and lazy and the consumer has no choice. That choice is what often forces a business’ hand. (Look at the mess that is cable right now; many markets only have one choice so you could wind up ****ed with Time Warner.) By the way, Apple may be the ones who wind up “winning” this entire thing now."

6/24/2013 12:02:38 PM

bold please

I'm Krallum and I approved this message

6/24/2013 12:04:16 PM

^^http://www.destructoid.com/an-industry-that-needs-xbox-one-drm-is-a-failed-industry-256643.phtml

Quote :

"It takes a lot of naivety to trust so willingly in Microsoft, a company that's done absolutely nothing to earn our trust. It takes even more to believe that an industry so dependent on heavy-handed consumer control deserves to survive. Frankly, any industry that suffers due to the reversal of ONE console's DRM policies is an industry that deserves to suffer."

Quote :

"The PC proved it was ready for digital distribution, but it took years to do so. You can't just get up and start running when you're not even crawling properly, and in the years since Steam and GOG rose to become justifiable alternatives to physical media, home consoles languished with slow interfaces, clunky storefronts, and expensive games without any of the benefits we've come to expect from PC games. No mods. No quick option for patching content. No user fixes. None of that. Consoles need to work to earn their digital future. They can't just wake up one day and have it presented to them on a velvet pillow. "

Quote :

"What is it people like Cliff Bleszinski always say to gamers? Oh right, it's a business! Yeah, it's a business alright. You know what businesses are very good at doing? Failing. And if companies fail because they needed a console that inconvenienced consumers and imposed restrictions on other markets, well ... that's business for you. Prove you deserve to survive. It's a business ... and that means you're not fucking entitled to your existence."

I mean, they both make some good points, but Sterling knocked it out of the park. Resident Evil 6 sold nearly 5 million copies but was considered a fiscal disaster for Capcom. That's not the fault of used games.

6/24/2013 12:32:17 PM

what's GOG?

6/24/2013 12:36:09 PM

Quote :

"The PC proved it was ready for digital distribution, but it took years to do so. You can't just get up and start running when you're not even crawling properly, and in the years since Steam and GOG rose to become justifiable alternatives to physical media, home consoles languished with slow interfaces, clunky storefronts, and expensive games without any of the benefits we've come to expect from PC games. No mods. No quick option for patching content. No user fixes. None of that. Consoles need to work to earn their digital future. They can't just wake up one day and have it presented to them on a velvet pillow. ""

pretty clearly this guy just doesn't like console gaming in general, his complaints apply DRM or not.

its also pretty funny that he gives these reasons for why it doesn't work while tacitly acknowledging that steam works now. the first proposed system was the transition system that allowed the benefits of both, it was exactly what the author is asking for. the post-reversal system is what we already have.

6/24/2013 12:37:13 PM

Yeah, he was a bit overly harsh, especially in regards to the 360. MS did a pretty good job demonstrating they have the infrastructure in place to handle an all digital console. Sony, not so much.

6/24/2013 12:45:50 PM

and also, has MS even said that there will be same day digital downloads? because they said they were reverting to the in-place licensing agreements that do not include digital on demand downloads at launch.

6/24/2013 1:14:25 PM

At this point I just want to get a gaming PC and be done with it.

6/24/2013 3:11:52 PM

http://gizmodo.com/a-deal-with-time-warner-just-gave-your-xbox-300-new-liv-607302003

Microsoft just signed a deal with TWC to stream over 300 channels of live TV on your Xbox 360. I don't care too much for the 360 because it would take too long to turn on, navigate to the TWC app, launch the app, and change the channel; but I think this is a good sign for the Xbox One. TWC had been reluctant to deal the Microsoft before, but this could be a good sign for the future.

6/28/2013 9:48:03 AM

stilllll true

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

6/28/2013 1:03:34 PM

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-xbox-one-memory-better-in-production-hardware
Xbox One memory performance improved for production console
Microsoft tells developers that ESRAM bandwidth is up to 88 per cent higher.

Quote :

"Bandwidth is at a premium in the Xbox One owing to the slower DDR3 memory employed in the console, which does not compare favourably to the 8GB unified pool of GDDR5 in the PlayStation 4. The 32MB of "embedded static RAM" within the Xbox One processor aims to make up the difference, and was previously thought to sustain a peak theoretical throughput of 102GB/s - useful, but still some way behind the 176GB/s found in PlayStation 4's RAM set-up. Now that close-to-final silicon is available, Microsoft has revised its own figures upwards significantly, telling developers that 192GB/s is now theoretically possible."

6/28/2013 3:47:05 PM

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/11/fans-petition-for-microsoft-to-restore-original-xbox-one-policies?utm_campaign=fbposts&utm_source=facebook

i'd sign this

7/11/2013 10:26:27 PM

7/12/2013 7:23:43 AM

^ +1

7/13/2013 6:48:09 PM

Various websites reporting that the Microsoft will allow independent developers to self publish, and they can even use any Xbox One as a debugging/development console. Independent developers will have no API restrictions and can even access cloud API.

7/25/2013 10:25:51 AM

Have they said anything about how running it through a home theater surround sound system might affect the ability to do voice control?

7/27/2013 8:27:01 AM

no idea

in regards to independent publishing, they also said that there are no restrictions to RAM, independent publishers will have access to all of the same stuff.

PS4 looks worse and worse each day

7/27/2013 10:37:24 AM