Thursday, June 6, 2013

Microsoft Announces Some Positive News on DRM, Used Games and Privacy



Microsoft instead of waiting for E3 has clarified on there most confusing topics, like DRM, used games, and privacy

Microsoft in a bold move came out today and clarified on there used game fees. Basically they are letting the publishers make the decision whether or not to put a fee or not. Microsoft has said that none of there owned studios will implement this fee. Microsoft has also said that games can be given to friends that have been in your friends list for at least 30 days and the game can only be traded once. Also to note you can also have up to 10 people in your "family" that can access your games and be able to play them as long as they have already been downloaded to the console. This seems to be a lot better then what we thought would happen so I am very happy to hear this straight from Microsoft. I think its clear that Microsoft isn't pushing the fees the publishers are. If the publishers are willing to push the fees its up to them which makes me wonder if Sony may be implementing a similar system. There is no need for Sony to comment on the Used games immediately sense they have almost no negative media on them but I would like to hear a defiant answer form them at E3.

Microsoft also addressed there privacy policy with there new Kinect. They said that the Kinect will only be listening to key words and not listening in on personal information.You can also determine how the Kinect will work when setting up the device. There exact words were "You are in control of what Kinect can see and hear. By design, you will determine how responsive and personalized your Xbox One is to you and your family during setup. The system will navigate you through key privacy options, like automatic or manual sign in, privacy settings, and clear notifications about how data is used. When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded." It also says that while playing games you can determine whether or not the Kinect is on, paused or off. You can put the Kinect in a paused state while playing the game, while only be able to listen to "Xbox off" to turn off the system. I think this clarified what the Kinect is actually doing and it is not invading the users privacy. On the other hand I can see how some people may still be spectacle sense it will be "always on" as long as the system is on and it will be listening to you sense it has to react to the key words like "Xbox On". Some people will still be worried but clearly if they are that worried they shouldn't buy it. For me this is great news and shows that the Kinect wont be invading on anyone.

They also said that the Xbox will have to connect to the internet every 24 hours. “With Xbox One you can game offline for up to 24 hours on your primary console, or one hour if you are logged on to a separate console accessing your library. Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies." I kinda don't like that we are forced to connect to the internet every 24 hours. I feel this will be preventing some people from even playing there single player games sense not everyone has internet yet. I see why they are doing this but am surprised they would do it. They are blocking out a portion of there audience by demanding an internet connection. Unfortunately this is something you will just have to deal with if you want to buy the console. This just means I cant bring it to my grandmoms house because she has no internet connection yet. At least on the bright side of this you can watch TV if you cant connect! Right?

I am very happy that Microsoft decided to address there problems and come right out and give us a statement  Hopefully this clears things up with people and will start to change the perception of the Xbox One form a negative to positive. Lets hope Microsoft doesn't make similar mistakes at E3 like they did at there reveal. 

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