Thursday, July 11, 2013

Microsoft: Who's The Xbone Now?


     So just the other day petitions began appearing online for a return of the DRM that Microsoft just recently rescinded for the Xbox One or “Xbone” as the internet has taken to calling it. So, what the hell is going on here? Are these Xbox super fans? Or educated consumers that understand that sometimes progress requires sacrifice.

     Whatever they are you have to hand it to Microsoft, they sure know how to twist a knife. After unleashing the bad news, their atrocious DRM scheme, to the world and subsequently hitting the undo button on their corporate processor, they tell us about all the good. Of course, many of these plans could have vanished or been pushed back until years after the consoles release. We may never know.

     Although you would've needed an active internet connection to access most of your content before being locked out, a strategy not entirely dissimilar to Steam’s own DRM, the plus of being able to access your content anywhere at anytime was beautiful. How many times have you wanted to show your friend a new game and then forgot the disk? With this plan you wouldn't have to worry about your disks at all. You would simply log in and have instant access to your entire game library.

Why is it okay for Steam to have nearly identical DRM policies and not the Xbox?

     The family plan would allow family members (or friends you flag as family) to access your content from any console that they sign in on. This essentially means that, while you wouldn't be able to all play the same game at the same time, any game that you're friends buy, you could play as well.

     If your friend doesn't happen to be in your family and lives halfway across the country, swapping a disk with him would be a hassle that may involve the game getting lost in the mail. With this program however, you could simply give him the license to play the game from his console until such time as you want it back. How many times have you let someone borrow a game that you suddenly want to play, but wish you wouldn't have to wait for them to give it back?

     These are all brilliant ideas that, if executed properly, could have changed the entire idea of digital ownership as we know it. All of your data would be with you at all times, you could let your friends play your content digitally, and you could potentially sell the licenses much like you currently do when you trade a game at your local video game store.

     It’s hard to argue that in many ways the minus’s outweigh the possible gains, but one wonders if they had told us the good stuff before the bad, would events have turned out differently? Or was it Microsoft's plan all along to not share all the positive bullet points until the last minute, and then re-add the DRM policies at a later date when consumers have warmed to the idea?

Leave your own comments below. Are Microsoft’s policies crazy or are we being terrible consumers for not letting them take a chance?

As of this moment there are 14,065 signatures.