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[Tookay]

He's 100% right.

It's absolutely insane that i have to ship a piece of plastic from NJ (closest Amazon warehouse) to my house in order to play a game.

They should have not included a disk drive in that thing and moved forward dragging the rest of the world with them.

...

I don't think you understand what the problem with the Xbone was.

 

[la flama blanca]

He is right; change will come and it won't just be MS.

Yeah and that change will be dictated by us and absolutely not by Microsoft.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Wow really?

Just admit that at least part of your future solution was WRONG

Not too futuristic, not too innovative just plain wrong

I'm sure you could've offered most of what you wanted to in a way that the general consumer would've been "cool that sounds like a great idea"

Make it an OPTION to opt in to your digital/physical nonsense
Scrap the 24 hour check in, as its dumb
FULLY DETAIL how family sharing works

Seriously the list of relatively simple changes that would've made it a much better approach is staggering

 

[fallagin]

You just keep hearing them say "It was a really good thing for reasons!!" Without ever actually saying what those reasons were...

 

[ypo]

Steam to Penello: Please kindly shut up.

 

[Nokagi]

Oh okay. So they will just give it a try next time. Good to know.

 

[coolasj19]

Your opportunities for discussion were three fold. The reveal. E3. Literally any point before Sony's conference.

Don't come saying those lies and blaming the consumer instead of the companies incompetency.

For the love of god and your own reputation STOP bringing up the DRM story. If you're not going to apologize, don't say anything at all. You'd think Albert, who had his finger on the pulse of the gaming community and tech in general, would know talk of this never flies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpEfaICblNw

 

[SanguineShark]

He is right; change will come and it won't just be MS.

Change isn't necessarily a bad thing. The way MS wanted to implement change, is. However, they seem to so strongly believe it was an issue of time and messaging, when it's an issue of the policies themselves.

 

[soul creator]

You can still go all digital on Xbox One and PS4, you just won't have to worry about getting locked out of your games when the authentication servers inevitably crap out. You're welcome.

You're also now locked into one store for digital games (and giant downloads), as opposed to multiple retailers, and disc installs. But yes, there's always the chance of the digital store being shutdown and not being able to play games (as with any DRMed digital game service)

pros/cons

 

[statham]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

 

[Caayn]

I fully supported their original plans (Yes I really do/did. So what.) But Microsoft made two fatal mistakes in their original message/policies.
1. They weren't clear with their PR. Nobody really knew what to expect and what the exact rules were.
2. The ability to freely trade and sell games. Microsoft made a dumb move by restricting that to select retailers. With that move did they not only put every smaller retailer out of the game. But also took away one of the major benefits of physical copies. It could have worked for example: If they allowed the user to disconnect the game from their account without the intervention of third-party like a retailer.

If you like it or not, digital is the future. I fully expect Microsoft to try again with the generation after the next-gen.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Gaben is wondering what the fuck this guy is talking about.

 

[spookyfish]

Penello left out half of the comment, there.

"I do feel like we never got a chance to have a rational conversation about what we were trying to do, which was fundamentally change how consumers' rights worked in the console software market," Penello told Engadget.

 

[Darksol]

Oh boy, it's the "our customers are too stupid to understand our genius" argument again.

You won't get a penny out of me so long as you keep saying I wasn't prepared for your brilliance.

 

[Dysun]

They are still holding on to "not ready" instead of "bad idea"

That's cute I guess

 

[Guevara]

So Sony can make them even more draconian and you won't have no choice but to lube up and take it? Memo: Sony are a business. P

Do you honestly believe Sony only competes with Microsoft? No: they compete with every other form of gaming. Nintendo, the PC, iOS, whatever Google/Amazon/Apple come out with.

I am not afraid of what Sony will do if they lose Microsoft as a competitor. We have lots and lots of choice.

 

[Rey]

This is probably very much a thread Penello will look at but not actually respond to if I had to guess.

Well what do you expect? Did you read some of the posts on page1 ?

 

[Boyzi]

Microsoft have lost my complete respect. Sure, they probably don't give a shit about people like me, but the fuck-tonne of hard earned cash I spend on video games will certainly not be going in their direction any longer. What once was a vibrant and healthy console gaming nirvana has be turned into a complete farce by the 'suits' at MS - and they STILL don't 'get' it. Poor show

 

[titusandronicus]

I'll never be ready for any system where I don't own the games. Be it through Xbox Live, PSN, Nintendo Network, or even Steam. I'm not paying for media that I don't actually own. Simple as.

 

[Arklite]

Microsoft wasn't ready, clearly.

On point. Microsoft's DRM reversal came as unexpectedly and suddenly as the fucking Soviet Union falling. They clearly didn't have their shit together internally, nevermind externally.

 

[xxracerxx]

You just keep hearing them say "It was a really good thing for reasons!!" Without ever actually saying what those reasons were...

Exactly.

 

[KarmaCow]

PC gamers have been ready (well, basically forced into it by piracy probably) for a while. console gamers haven't been though

As someone who plays mostly on the PC, I really dread this new generation of games where developers make their games 30+ GB for no good reason because I'm stuck on a 10Mb (though it's usually closer to 5Mb) plan.

 

[Neuromancer]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

I do. Bluray image quality > Streaming quality

 

[Latvian Hitman]

It's not so much that we aren't ready (assuming infrastructure gets there) for a digital future, we just don't want one that sucks.

 

[Quadraphonic]

That's one point that can be made. Another that I always considered more important was understanding what it took for Steam to get where it is today. Even if I give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and assume that their DRM was going to be pretty much exactly the same as Steam, I think it's a mistake to assume that Valve released Steam to the public and everyone immediately fell in love with it.

Yes, but Microsoft shouldn't be starting at the ground floor, either.

Just like with Sony and the PSN, even if it was 5 years behind Microsoft's, didn't give them a free pass to spend 5 years catching up.

What Steam learned and currently does can easily be applied to the Xbox.

 

[Silky]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

Nope.

Discs are becoming obsolete. The Blu-Ray is the last step before we reach an all digital future.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I'm ready for the Xbox division to be sold off, that's what I'm ready for.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Gaben is wondering what the fuck this guy is talking about.

.

You can go digital without fucking everyone in the ass.

 

[fallagin]

Well what do you expect? Did you read some of the posts on page1 ?

Yep, he knows he's not gonna get away with his bs here.

 

[mentallyinept]

I think the question I have is were they really prepared to make a compelling case for the move? Obviously, his point that people weren't ready is correct, but I'm not convinced that they were truly prepared to really pull out all the stops in trying to win people over in as much as they just expected people to accept it. There tended to be a lot of comparisons to other platforms/media that have gone mostly (if not completely) digital, but there didn't seem to be any understanding of how long that process was and what it took to get there. When they were scrambling to win people over with ideas like the Family Sharing plan, it was pretty clear that they really didn't have their message completely fleshed out.

This can't be stated enough.

If they refuse to understand why Steam works and is accepted by the enthusiasts, and why their solution was rejected so vehemently, they will make the same mistake again.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

When the system's plan is to have a 2tb HD, no data caps from ISPs and reasonable "check in" times, then you will at least have some people "ready".

 

[Baby Milo]

MS should have manned up and released it without a disc drive

 

[Maninthemirror]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

That's not just what MS wanted with xbox one

 

[HeroesInAHalfShell]

One step forward, two steps back... they really just don't get the issue, huh?

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

Microsoft wasn't ready, clearly.

It is not just Microsoft. All digital only works when the infrastructure is there to support it. Internet companies are still pushing back against increased speeds.

 

[DietRob]

I can't say I'm surprised at the overt arrogance of telling me the consumer that I just wasn't ready for all the awesome microsoft had in store for me.

Even more unsettling is the fact that they hope to bestow this awesome on me again at a time they think I might be ready for it. Guess I'll be a one console guy this gen. It would truly be in MS best interest just to have all of their PR people shut the fuck up and quit talking.

 

[eddfromtheriver]

So the threat looms on the horizon... nope... NEVER buying one of those things...

 

[Akkad]

I just don't want MS's version of the digital future, just don't trust them.

 

[Wynnebeck]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

As long as America remains largely a high speed internet-less country, no it's not. The rabid push back from consumers after hearing MS's policies back at E3 should have shown that.

 

[Lokbob]

All digital does not need always online and a camera watching you though.

 

[Frumix]

MS should have manned up and released it without a disc drive

Might've as well taken all the console unit stock and dumped it off a cliff then.
Guess this wasn't a 180. Just 179.

 

[aeolist]

there's also a kind of idiotic strawman argument going on where the people who didn't like the online requirement are lumped in with the crazies who refuse to buy anything digitally ever

there's two different arguments going on here

 

[Takamura-San]

They revealed the system and the features of things we can't do anymore on it.

They were so exited on the things they took and didn't bother to create a message of the things they would give. If any.

 

[krypt0nian]

Keep your shitty future, Albert.

Microsoft controls nothing. It pays to remember that.

 

[DC1]

Micro$oft have lost my complete respect. Sure, they probably don't give a shit about people like me, but the fuck-tonne of hard earned cash I spend on video games will certainly not be going in their direction any longer. What once was a vibrant and healthy console gaming nirvana has be turned into a complete farce by the 'suits' at M$ - and they STILL don't 'get' it. Poor show

Hey man. Fix that "$" and turn it into "Microsoft".

I'm trying to save your life here!

 

[eznark]

All digital future sounds great. Don't know why it requires a spy cam in my house though.

 

[Quadraphonic]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

Blockbuster was killed off by Redbox, not Netflix.

 

[Khalifa Jayy]

I'll NEVER go all digital. So fuck MS.

 

[Talamius]

I think the larger problem for DD on a console is that there's no competition to drive prices down and force providers to expand on features. On an all DD console, what motivation would there be to ever drop prices or improve their service? Titles remaining at $60 years after release would be commonplace. That's why publishers and console manufacturers are pining for that future. It IS awesome, it's just awesome for them and not the consumer.

Steam got to where it is now through years of refinement and competition. If Valve starts to drop the ball then someone will step up. That's not going to happen on a console.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

blockbuster is closing all their stores, Target has shrunk the size of their CD/Movie sections, the all DD future is happening. Do people even get discs through netflix anymore?

It's pretty clear that digital content is going to keep getting more and more important. However, I'm not quite clear on what the point is of your examples. People may in fact be embracing digital video (I know I do), but physical is still there as an option. As such, I'm not sure if I understand why you are alluding to the movie/music industries.