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[Ocaso]

This is an amazing turn of events. I knew something big had happened when I saw I was having trouble accessing NeoGAF, but I never expected this! A victory for consumers and a clear reason why competition is of utmost importance in any industry. It's all about the games now. (Well, aside from the price/power disparity! Not much to do about that.)

 

[Spoo]

What's the one thing you can't get back by backpedaling?

Consumer trust.

Rewarding Sony's position that was not inspired by a competitor's move. Team PS4

 

[f0nz0]

So..this is great news..but who's to say a year or so down the line Microsoft wont change the terms of service when they launch a new version of live, and reinstate these policies??

 

[Lettuce]

Does MS realize how easy it is for them to sell consoles if they removed that stupid shit Kinect and set the price at $399? Its amazing how much they fucked up this entire thing when it was all in the palm of their hands.

That can be fixed, 2 packs. 1 Kinect bundle $499, and one core bundle $399

 

[neither]

However, Microsoft were fully aware of the huge backlash their new policies and DRM stance brought about before the console was even revealed yet they still implemented them. This didn't change after their reveal, it was still the case at E3... when the backlash was only intensifying. The top brass were justifying and talking up these policies up until a few days ago... now a week after pre-ordering has been happening en masse and the figures are becoming crystal clear, Microsoft suddenly side with the consumer and realise their mistake... they hit the panic button, they can't afford to be dropping too far behind straight off the bat, don't get me wrong it's still a win for consumers to an extent, especially for the people who were always intending to get this no matter how pissed off they may have been with all this DRM nonsense that Microsoft have been touting. I'll probably never get a One because of how they've gone about this whole situation, there was never any genuine attempt by Microsoft to placate the consumer base until their was hard pre-order data pouring in. The whole thing has become a PR nightmare and they really couldn't have handled this any worse than they already have.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Rojo]

Victory!!! nice this new gen just got interesting.

 

[Darryl]

i'm glad. this entire DRM crap has made reading about gaming so incredibly hostile. it's fueled console wars more then anything i could possibly imagine. i've never seen so much hardware talk in my life.

 

[Mister Negative]

Let's all take a step back for a second.

This...This is crazy, right? Like, that this is even happening? This is nuts.

 

[Biker19]

This happened because we made noise. Every single one of you that made noise - you won. Everyone that said "be quiet and wait for details" - you were wrong.

Good job to everyone. Videogaming saved for everyone.

I don't exactly think it was because of us that they changed their policies, but because of the bad press that they were getting behind it.

 

[Touch]

I don't want to hear the counter argument "It's not the simple" ever again.

 

[Flopfan]

it's official , Sony saved the next generation

 

[dosh]

Welp there goes family sharing.

It sounded so good too.

Yep, that was the only interesting thing MS pulled out these last few months: great idea, and I hope we'll see this happen down the road for digital content, on all platforms. I've been waiting for a digital equivalent of lending a disc to a friend for years now.

 

[Speevy]

Yay, now college kids, soldiers, and poor people can play Xbox again.

Bring down the price.

 

[les papillons sexuels]

Good lord.

he's 100% correct. People wanted new, now they got old. Yay for stifiling potential progression.

So now we're going to get another 10 years of the same BS DLC and paid online crap and it's because people want to save 5 dollars on a used game from gamestop trade ins.

 

[RebornYeti]

I wonder what this means for games heavily reliant on the cloud. Will they just not work?

 

[Jake Tower]

I was leaning towards the Xbox One because of game sharing. I couldn't careless about being online once every 24 hours because I am. Because of a small group of people who aren't online getting campaigned from people who are online, they remove the best new Xbox One feature.

Now? Not so much. There isn't any advantage of the Xbox One anymore. And the funny part is? This won't add any new sales from the people who were heading towards the Ps4.

fuck you eduardo

 

[Delicious Waffles]

Good to hear. They came to their senses and knew everyone was pro-PS4. If they didn't change these policies, they would've been royally screwed.

I've always been 360 > PS3 so, next gen, I was planning on going XBO over PS4 but all the restrictions and bullshit really pushed me towards PS4 like everyone else. This news kinda changes things. I say kinda because the price is still ridiculous. PS4 is still better from the price conscience. However, the 360 fanboy in me wants XBO.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Senaxx]

Hey, maybe you missed the part where a lot of their good features are gone because of the loss of DRM? Family sharing, not needing the disc, instant game swapping are all gone now. Those are some of the features that I liked the most.

Why not game swapping? Only for disc based games, since you still need to install disc based games to the hard drive. But if you buy your games digital you have the option to to game swap (i think?)

 

[Creaking]

Very cool for all the gamers who didn't want to miss out on this. I still don't want to get a console being managed by Microsoft though.

 

[Izick]

Suddenly it hurts that Double Helix is doing KI.

Please watch some videos on it.

Almost every single impression I've heard of it has been positive to total praise; especially from some fighting game fans. I guess DH created a team of fighting game devs to make this game, and it's all coming together to look great.

 

[kewlmyc]

Hopefully all the shitting on Xbone on this forum will come to an end.

It won't and you know it. I guess I can keep my preorder now though.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

To late for me MS.

Even in this statement, it shows that MS believed in the policies and regard them as the future.

I, for one will not give them any money that will be used to help them towards that goal. This is obviously a move to appease gamers now, collect our money, just to fuck us over at a future date. If too many people forgive and forget on this, then it may get to a point where MS are in a better position to pull this off later.

Not to mention that they just proved that they are liars. So please MS, tell us again how these policies were needed for your gaming utopia.

No, is not late. Actually it was now or never, this changes the panorama of the next gen significantly.

 

[Eppy Thatcher]

Good on em. No wonder they've been trying to shut certain people up ... back room conversation was "we of course have to change this right??" While in the front room "Buy a 360 then! Bam!!"

We now have a race... shweet.

 

[Spawnling]

 

[ironcreed]

They knew they fucked up and really had no choice. I still hate the mandatory Kinect, but they are thankfully taking care of my main concerns. I'll likely check one out one day now because of this. Drop the price and I will sooner, rather than later.

 

[Metalmarc]

It is just a trick for now, once they have the sales, they will sneak them back into a update and will ms laugh at everyone, im not falling for it, and too bad those that do, good luck with that, don't go crying when they implement it in a mandatory update for a a particular game 12-18 months down the line, you have been warned

I will stick with my 360 and ps3/4

 

[uguus]

All I can see right now is the celebration montage scene at the end of star wars vi with all the different civilisations partying haha

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

The people supporting DRM and always online saying it couldn't be easily changed must be pretty embarrassed now.

 

[dripdripsplash]

This is big, this is huge!!!

At first the only think I was thinking about console-wise was who had DRM and who didn't. Therefore PS4 was a sure purchase. Now I'm forced to think furtherer unto prices and games. PS4 is still 100 dollars cheaper though and I don't really have a problem with Kinect, maybe those menu features won't be as gimicky as we all think. Hmm but what about the exclusives, hmmm I've always been a PlayStation gamer never had an Xbox maybe it's time... This is tough now !

 

[Lynd7]

Haha yes!! I won't be buying one for a long time, but fantastic they backtracked.

I still have a feeling they will slowly roll out some of the policies over the course of the generation. I think they will phase it in as choices though. Like the game sharing or not using the disk etc, that will allow them to bring back their plans. Although thats still a lot better than forcing people to do it that way.

 

[beastworship]

seems the major nelson masses are displeased with family sharing/disc-less play being removed. guess they don't consider digital downloads on day one still being available. family sharing was poorly explained and won't be missed by anyone beside brand loyalists. most people over 30 probably prefer playing offline singleplayer at this point because multiplayer is so hyper competitive and emotionally exhausting which allows the people actually paying money to enjoy content instead of just their kids/nephews/cousins or so on. this really is a good move, and since i don't go all in on consoles i'll probably only buy a xbox one now years after launch like i did with the 360.

 

[Marleyman]

This almost make them look worse...

All that talk about how these things were better for the customer suddenly means nothing?

I don't get it; they tried something, the consumers didn't want what they wanted and they changed it due to the consumer flipping out. How is it worse?

 

[Ferrio]

So..this is great news..but who's to say a year or so down the line Microsoft wont change the terms of service when they launch a new version of live, and reinstate these policies??

None. As the person above you said, I think overall MS has lost alot of trust from the consumer base... and it'll take awhile to regain it.

 

[Brashnir]

This almost make them look worse...

All that talk about how these things were better for the customer suddenly means nothing?

It means nothing after the customer tells you in a loud, unified voice that it's not better for them.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

https://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/347472168717807616


ahahahaha

 

[dripdripsplash]

This is big, this is huge!!!

At first the only think I was thinking about console-wise was who had DRM and who didn't. Therefore PS4 was a sure purchase. Now I'm forced to think furtherer unto prices and games. PS4 is still 100 dollars cheaper though and I don't really have a problem with Kinect, maybe those menu features won't be as gimicky as we all think. Hmm but what about the exclusives, hmmm I've always been a PlayStation gamer never had an Xbox maybe it's time... This is tough now !

EDIT: Whoops sorry for all these double posts.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

No! Pressure from gamers and Sony [and large PS4 preorder numbers] were cruical for changing Xbone DRM policy.

True, I guess it served a worthwhile purpose, in the end.

 

[Cimarron]

Posting this again.

Someone should redo this gif as a xboxone. LOL!

 

[DangerStepp]

Oh Cliffy...

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I'm probably being cynical just...

However, Microsoft were fully aware of the huge backlash their new policies and DRM stance brought about before the console was even revealed yet they still implemented them. This didn't change after their reveal, it was still the case at E3... when the backlash was only intensifying. The top brass were justifying and talking up these policies up until a few days ago... now a week after pre-ordering has been happening en masse and the figures are becoming crystal clear, Microsoft suddenly side with the consumer and realise their mistake... they hit the panic button, they can't afford to be dropping too far behind straight off the bat, don't get me wrong it's still a win for consumers to an extent, especially for the people who were always intending to get this no matter how pissed off they may have been with all this DRM nonsense that Microsoft have been touting. I'll probably never get a One because of how they've gone about this whole situation, there was never any genuine attempt by Microsoft to placate the consumer base until their was hard pre-order data pouring in. The whole thing has become a PR nightmare and they really couldn't have handled this any worse than they already have.


Too cynical?

Right on the money.

he's 100% correct. People wanted new, now they got old. Yay for stifiling potential progression.

So now we're going to get another 10 years of the same BS DLC and paid online crap and it's because people want to save 5 dollars on a used game from gamestop trade ins.

Your neophilia blinds you.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

This seems like a very irrational argument...

Why are you bringing hypotheticals into it? Who gives a shit 'why' they back pedalled? The important thing is that they did.

Eurgh, no pleasing some people.

You're not using your head.

People should absolutely give a shit why MS back pedaled; it'll educate them and decrease the chance that they will fall for crap like this in the future. MS convinced a lot of people that connectivity was borderline necessary. I mean, "offloading AI to the cloud" and all that bullshit. Now that people know it's bullshit, they're better educated and that benefits us all.

That MS changed their stance IS a good thing, but why they changed is significant as well.

 

[Muffdraul]

"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."

Hmmm. A few weeks ago I went to play my downloaded copy of GTA IV, but it said something was wrong with my connection, couldn't connect to XBL and therefore couldn't authorize the game to launch. The problem was on MS's side and when I tried it again an hour or two later it worked fine, but... hmmm.

 

[Nibiru]

I think DRM is now back in the hands of third parties. I expect EA to say their games require an online connection since they could call them online games rather than offline.

I would like to see them try after they came out themselves after Sim City and said that DRM is a failed strategy.

EA Labels President: DRM Is A Failed Strategy, But SimCity Didn't Have Any DRM

Of course I agree that they will do it again but to see all these people back peddle will be awesome.

 

[KennyLinder]

It's New Coke all over again

 

[Kikarian]

It's great news.

But MS will keep trying this and won't stop until it's embedded into the system.

 

[Spongebob]

I'm guessing that EA will re-instate their online passes.

 

[outunderthestars]

It means nothing after the customer tells you in a loud, unified voice that it's not better for them.

Agreed. I see nothing wrong with a company listening to consumers and making substantial changes to an upcoming product based on clear feedback.

 

[Conciliator]

When I saw this I thought "Holy shit, no way", but in retrospect it almost feels like they had no choice. This was inevitable.

Also in retrospect, wasn't this just really dumb, Microsoft?

 

[Twilight Gap]

So.... can we call it the Xbox 180 now?

 

[Branduil]

So..this is great news..but who's to say a year or so down the line Microsoft wont change the terms of service when they launch a new version of live, and reinstate these policies??

That would probably be pretty difficult technically with games that have already been sold.