Microsoft drops all DRM.

I personally didn't care either way about the DRM, as of now I have a fast conenction, and all my systems are always connected, anyway. So no harm done to my personal experience.

Even still, glad to see MS responding to the outcry from the web, whether valid, or over-exagerrated or whatever the case may be.

MS has just proved in a major way it cares about it's fans, and pleasing the masses.
 
PzR Slim
Good. I'm sure we will get lots of people in hear congratulating MS on their decision........
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It is a good decision but they only did it because they had too, they were getting battered in all the polls against the PS4 so had to do something and there are still quite a few other reasons to not buy an Xbone for me.
 
PzR Slim
Good. I'm sure we will get lots of people in hear congratulating MS on their decision........
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Just as Sony are still reeling from an update causing many people's consoles to stop working entirely. Microsoft know exactly what they're doing and they've announced this at the perfect time.
 
LaBounti
I thought they cleared that up by saying you only need to check in every 24 hours? 1 hour on someone else's system. Not always on.

Edit: Even in that official message he doesn't mention always online, just the check ins.
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They did, but the 24 check-in is essentially mitigated by having a permanent connection to the internet anyway, however, the thought among many of us was the second the connection was severed for whatever reason... that's when the 24-hour clock would 'actually' begin.

While them saying it's not necessarily "always connected" it was nothing more than semantics.
 
Terronium-12
They did, but the 24 check-in is essentially mitigated by having a permanent connection to the internet anyway, however, the thought among many of us was the second the connection was severed for whatever reason... that's when the 24-hour clock would 'actually' begin.

While them saying it's not necessarily "always connected" it was nothing more than semantics.
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Ah yes I understand now, you got 24hours to reconnect. I assumed it was a play till Midnight thing. Makes perfect sense.
 
Glad to see Microsoft finally wake up. No way they were going to get away with these asinine restrictions.
 
Skip the Kinect, drop the $499 price tag (preferably below $399), then we can talk. Though, still fantastic news regarding Microsoft rethinking their inane policies. At last.
 
After reading Don Mattrick's response on GameInformer I was genuinely surprised by this. I am glad they realized their mistakes and changed for the better. And this was all through people's comments and feedback! We can change things, people!
 
ASH32
It is a good decision but they only did it because they had too, they were getting battered in all the polls against the PS4 so had to do something and there are still quite a few other reasons to not buy an Xbone for me.
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Please, list those reasons why. You seem unbiased and on a even scale. Enlighten us.
 
Props to MS for realising their mistake (take note EA), if only they drop the price we'll have a real fight on our hands.
 
I suppose this is good news for anyone who was worried about the online/used game thing. Personally, neither of those were ever an issue for me (I think I have bought a total of one used game ever, and I'm always online anyways) but I can see where it could be for some people.

However, this is honestly semi-disappointing for me. Hopefully, they will retain the ability for publishers to demand always-online/cloud access. The possibilities of the constant-cloud connection are really, really cool, and forcing devs to not use it would be a bad move in my opinion.

Let the devs say "Online Required" so they can utilize the cloud integrally in their game design and it's fine, but if they're gonna say that every game has to be playable offline, I will be really disappoint. All you have to do is look at what FM5 and Titanfall are doing with the cloud to see that it's worth pursuing, and the possibilities for open-world games are even better, so I really hope that this doesn't kill the push in that direction.
 
Actually pretty surprising considering Major Nelson supposedly put his foot in his mouth over it just last night; but this is great news for all regardless.
 
Tornado
Actually pretty surprising considering Major Nelson supposedly put his foot in his mouth over it just last night; but this is great news for all regardless.
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On his website I presume?
 
HighSeasHoMastr
However, this is honestly semi-disappointing for me. Hopefully, they will retain the ability for publishers to demand always-online/cloud access. The possibilities of the constant-cloud connection are really, really cool, and forcing devs to not use it would be a bad move in my opinion.
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This is going to cause a nightmare for devs. Especially for guys like Turn10 who have seemingly already done a lot of production based around the console's original specification. A lot of money is going to be lost because of this!
 
Moglet
This is going to cause a nightmare for devs. Especially for guys like Turn10 who have seemingly already done a lot of production based around the console's original specification. A lot of money is going to be lost because of this!
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No it won't. Each developer can still simply ask buyers to maintain a connection on the web to access all the features, which most users with Live/PSN do anyway.
 
DeathSmiles
No it won't. Each developer can still simply ask buyers to maintain a connection on the web to access all the features, which most users with Live/PSN do anyway.
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It's not as simple as that when games like Forza 5 rely on the cloud for their AI behaviour.
 
I'll be that guy.

Kinect is still a requirement and that's an issue for me. Change it and I WILL purchase an X1 over PS4. If not, still looking at the latter.
 
Moglet
It's not as simple as that when games like Forza 5 rely on the cloud for their AI behaviour.
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No, they use the cloud to improve. Any information collected for the AI will be saved on the console if the console were to go offline that console will use the information learned to drive the AI. Also there will still be difficulty levels. Just look at interviews.
 
Moglet
This is going to cause a nightmare for devs. Especially for guys like Turn10 who have seemingly already done a lot of production based around the console's original specification. A lot of money is going to be lost because of this!
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In the case of T10 they're already safeguarded because the game doesn't rely entirely on an internet connection; you would have downloaded some Drivatar profiles and if you chose to, you would have kept those profiles without accessing the cloud server for updates and what have you.
 
Moglet
This is going to cause a nightmare for devs. Especially for guys like Turn10 who have seemingly already done a lot of production based around the console's original specification. A lot of money is going to be lost because of this!
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It'll be a real shame if some cool features, like Drivatar for example, are lost because people only wanted to see the negative aspects of the new console.
 
phillkillv2
No, they use the cloud to improve. Any information collected for the AI will be saved on the console if the console were to go offline that console will use the information learned to drive the AI. Also there will still be difficulty levels. Just look at interviews.
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Ah, I didn't know that, I must have mis-read what they said about it. Thanks for the info. 👍
It would appear that this is a win-win situation, then. People can still get the very best features if they're connected to the internet but if you want to take your console away or just disconnect because your internet goes down, then you can.
 
Moglet
It's not as simple as that when games like Forza 5 rely on the cloud for their AI behaviour.
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It actually is. Just say that the game is "Online Required" and don't let people play it offline. Like an MMO or something, no connection=no game.

Now, that of course means that the no online connection required for the console is sort of meaningless if most/all games require a connection, but for a lot of people it already sort-of is meaningless, because they're always online already.

Alternatively, you could just say "Online access required for full functionality" and just have no AI when not connected. Basically cuts the game down to buying/tuning/painting cars, photomode, and hotlapping, but it's better than nothing at all I suppose.
 
HighSeasHoMastr
I suppose this is good news for anyone who was worried about the online/used game thing. Personally, neither of those were ever an issue for me (I think I have bought a total of one used game ever, and I'm always online anyways) but I can see where it could be for some people.
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It wouldn't have affected me on a material level either, but the principle of their new policies was just dreadful and anti-consumer, and therefore anti-my-dollars.

Let the devs say "Online Required" so they can utilize the cloud integrally in their game design and it's fine, but if they're gonna say that every game has to be playable offline, I will be really disappoint. All you have to do is look at what FM5 and Titanfall are doing with the cloud to see that it's worth pursuing, and the possibilities for open-world games are even better, so I really hope that this doesn't kill the push in that direction.
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I imagine games can still require online access for certain features. I agree with your above point.
 
This change doesn't erase the sad sad explanations and defense of their policies.

Phil Spencer
Don Mattrick
Major Nelson

They all failed, The best way to clean it up and save all of their jobs is to remove the system killing features.

There is absolutely nothing preventing a game from being always online. Even Sony said this is left up to the developers. Forza 5 could be one of those games.
 
Can't say I wasn't expecting such a move to happen eventually. I guess this is one positive we reflect on, although making the call sooner would have spared them a few blushes.

Hyland
Skip the Kinect, drop the $499 price tag (preferably below $399), then we can talk. Though, still fantastic news regarding Microsoft rethinking their inane policies. At last.
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Yeah. Making Kinect an optional extra rather than a necessary part bundled with every Xbone would probably result in it level pegging with the PS4 in terms of price, and would also mean that I may actually consider getting one.

That said, the console itself would still look as though it's worth $500 alone, but I do wish it wasn't so comparatively dear in the UK and Europe.
 
DeathSmiles
Please, list those reasons why. You seem unbiased and on a even scale. Enlighten us.
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Most people say that the Xbox One has the better launch games and yet because of the higher price, the DRM and always on Kinect they are way behind the PS4 on most of the polls I've seen. They would then be trying to play catch up if the sales reflect the same trends and if the rumours of the PS4 being more powerful turn out to be accurate that may be almost impossible to do. Microsoft had to do something, while this isn't enough to get me to buy an xbone, it may have clawed some of the customers back.

I will only be getting one next gen console this time, after owning two for the last two gens and not using one of them enough to justify it. I don't like that I have to pay extra for the Kinect which I don't want as it would be at best a paperweight and at worse a potential spying device, either way or anywhere in between I don't want it and shouldn't be forced to have it. I also have a DFGT wheel and while this may or may not work on the PS4 the chances are a whole lot better than on the Xbone where it will not work.

I probably won't even get a next gen console at launch with GTA 5 and GT6 coming for the PS3, but unless something drastic happens the PS4 will be the console I get when there are some good games out and I have the money.:)
 

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