Microsoft caves on Xbox One requirements

[akumadiavolo]

You still need to buy a premium membership on Xbox in order to use netflix.

Xbox still has a camera and microphone that is always on, and Microsoft has admitted to being in bed with the NSA spying thing for years.

Over 70% of Xbox owners have Gold memberships, and with the PS4 requiring PS+ for multiplayer I bet numbers there will be similar. And either way who the fuck pays 400-500 bucks for a netflix machine when a 50 dollar blu ray player can do the same thing? I seriously question the intelligence of anyone who has that as a deciding factor.

The NSA has a record of all internet traffic that crosses US DNS servers. So anything that happens online on XBO or PS4 is all the same. And don't forget, the kind of people who buy such expensive machines usually will also have smart phones amd laptops and other devices tht have mics and cameras and gps that can be exploited as well. The console that sits at home should be a very minor concern in comparison.

It's going to come down to the same thing it does every generation, who has the better games, and who can drop prices fastest.

[Squeeze]

I'm not surprised they caved. I'm still not convinced they won't revert back to the original set-up once they've conned everyone into buying it. I'm on the fence if I am going to switch to PS-4 or stay with Xbox. If I have to use that shitty "connect" thing, I'll just turn it around and have it face the wall looking at a picture of some fat guy with an NSA shirt on railing Obama in the tailpipe. See how much they like spying on that! On a side note, I think they did make a wise choice listening to the gamers. From what I hear they really got blasted with e-mail and YouTube bashing videos.

[Zundfolge]

In what way? Not being confrontational, just curious.

In sales. The PS4 is just as powerful, cheaper and has more games (and is backward compatible). Add all the angst and anger generated in the gaming community by the release of the Xbox One and you have the makings of a major revolt against MS here. Too bad because I still think Sony is more evil than MS.

[RblDiver]

If I have to use that shitty "connect" thing, I'll just turn it around and have it face the wall looking at a picture of some fat guy with an NSA shirt on railing Obama in the tailpipe.

That's what they'll see if they watch me, no turning around needed

[RblDiver]

The PS4 is just as powerful, cheaper and has more games (and is backward compatible).

No. PS4 is NOT backwards compatible.

[akumadiavolo]

No. PS4 is NOT backwards compatible.

This is correct. Both platforms will have a limited selection of the older games available for download, but both systems architecture is far too different from their predecessor to do hardware emulation. I bet we see 30-40 of the most popular titles released before it is killed off. Software emulation or completely re-writing the code of the game(essentially it would be porting it to the new systems) is very hard to do, so it won't be worth it for them to do it on a large scale.

I am really sad for the lose of the Xbox Family feature, as I think that would have been the best thing to happen to a game console ever. We also lost the ability to have a disc-less system while maintaining the ability to have a physical backup. Both of those features outweighed the downside of the security features to me. I think it's funny because a few years ago one of the things people most wanted was a physical media free console, then those same people complain when they put in security measures to prevent people from exploiting it. People just want to have their cake and eat it too.

[Byte Stryke]

For those gamers among us: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

Looks like they caved and are turning off the always-online bit and the trade-bit.

I'll admit, I wasn't really bothered by them. The online thing was potentially troubling (just in case of prolonged internet outage, but that happens very infrequently). As for the trade thing, I don't really have any IRL friends who are gamers who I'd trade with anyway. Plus, quite frankly I loathe the "used game market." Price it only $5 cheaper while screwing the person on the repurchase (I've resold _one_ game ever, bought it for $60, resold it 3 days later for $20). Plus, the developers don't see a dime from that second purchase, so I was thinking the trade restrictions would actually benefit them (well, trade-in, not necessarily trade-between-friends).

what in the ...


Thats like "I Sold my chevette yesterday so I Sent 80% of the money I got back to GM."


It isn't like you decompiled their code, made something new and resold it... you are selling your disc, with their PRODUCT on it that you PAID for
you OWN it, I am seriously getting tired of this licensing and ownership crap.

[RblDiver]

It isn't like you decompiled their code, made something new and resold it... you are selling your disc, with their PRODUCT on it that you PAID for
you OWN it, I am seriously getting tired of this licensing and ownership crap.

Well, technically speaking, no, you don't own it, you're just licensing the rights to play the game. That could be a whole different argument altogether. (Edit: I need to l2read the whole thing, saw you mention the license thing at the end :P lol)

[Zundfolge]

It isn't like you decompiled their code, made something new and resold it... you are selling your disc, with their PRODUCT on it that you PAID for
you OWN it, I am seriously getting tired of this licensing and ownership crap.

I wonder if the OUYA will be any good (its borderline open source).

[kawiracer14]

I bought my PS3 when I bought my new Plasma TV 4 years ago when blue ray players were still quite expensive. It is now a netflix and blu ray machine. I don't think I've played a game in 3 years. No new product for me!