Microsoft Clarify's Family Pack and It Sounds Interesting

You'll be able to link other Xbox Live accounts as having shared access to your library when you first set up a system, and will also be able to add them later on (though specific details of how you manage these relationships is still not being discussed). The only limitation, it seems, is that only one person can be playing the shared copy of a single game at any given time. All in all, this does sound like a pretty convenient feature that's more workable than simply passing discs around amongst friends who are actually in your area.

[wishingW3L]

no it does not. X(

[xHeavYx]

I laughed when I saw the name of the website. Yeah, they are not biased at all

[malokevi]

It is literally copy-paste from Xbox.com...

http://news.xbox.com/2013/0...

Bias much? HA! Pot... kettle... black... I think you get the idea.

[NatureOfLogic]

Simply put, MS made a complicated restrictive console that takes away your current freedom of trading your games. They tell you what to share, when to share and how many times you can share. Something I currently don't have to worry about with any of my purchased physical content.

[JokesOnYou]

The source of the info is the official xbox website so its not like their making it up.

-KingElixir its NOT complicated they just f-up the message, it was stupid really, they should have yelled this from the rooftops when asked about drm restrictions, Yes you can only sell your game at participating retailers or to someone on your friends list for 30 days but:

"Give your family access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere: Xbox One will enable new forms of access for families. Up to ten members of your family can log in and play from your shared games library on any Xbox One."

-This does not tell you what to share or when to share it and of course their not going to let you share it a million times, don't be ridiculous, who shares their games with more than 10 people? Despite the drm this is a good thing about X1 no matter how much you downplay it.

[BALLARD32]

Neither is 99% of N4G.

[0ut1awed]

Biased or not it still points out some good thoughts. It's funny how everyone can't even read a article about the ps4/xbone comparison without immediately hating on the xbone. How is that not biased?

Now I'm not saying microsoft has been doing some stupid shit with the xbone. I mean I currently have not one, not two, but three ps4s on pre-order. I have ZERO Xbones on preorder...

Still, learn some critical thinking skills before commenting on a article. One of the biggest rules is go into the article unbiased. Actually reading the article past the title shouldn't even need to be said...

[dcbronco]

0ut1awed

This is N4G. You're talking crazy talk.

[0ut1awed]

LOL bubble for you sir.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Nelson of ms eplained everything very clear about the 10 family sharing mumbo jumbo. He said that you are able to share up to 10 people, but just like a library, only one person out of those 10 people can play that shared game at a time. (Drops mic and walks away).

[safsaan]

@Army_of_Darkness so just like a disc. no difference, except its with 10 people and noot unlimited and without the disc being transported physically to your friend.

[JokesOnYou]

omi25p its 1 at a time, watch Major Nelsons interview for clarification
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

-but damm anyone who says that's not a great deal is lying, with this policy basicly you and a friend can go 50/50 on FULL RETAIL GAMES, or potentially 10 people can chip in, unless you want to play multiplayer together....and basicly I can now let my 2 nephews who live on the east coast borrow all my games. This is going to save me hundreds of dollars that I spent last gen sending them games.

[Saigon]

@JokesOnYou

I don't know why you do not open your eyes and see the fud that MS has presented, though you are entitled to your own opinion. You are preaching that they relayed the message bad but that is not the case. MS initial plans was to be heavily restricted on how games was to be shared or even played on their console. Only just recently have they back peddled and opened their system up to allow certain features, which they are still doing based on the results of E3 and from what it seems like this article. Sad part is that a lot of MS fans are praising these moves as though they are futuristic in sense when technically they are not.

The world is not ready for an always online console; and I hate that most people are sitting their saying well, my phone is always on line; not realizing that it is different technology. Same situation with the iPad and all other tablets, its different technology. People need to realize wifi and mobile connectivity are two different wireless signals. Just because you can receive one signal does not mean you can receive another and people need to know the difference.

I have two (3 not counting the PS3) blu-ray players at home. One is connected to the internet the other isn't, by choice. That made me realize their are many people out there that do not connect their standard devices to the internet. Mainly because it is not used as much for online activity. Or maybe they have other devices that already provide the online functionality and they just want a basic player for use.

In MS case, I cannot have one system for constant use and another for backup or emergency use. Meaning one online and the other offline. Both devices would need to be connected in order for me to use either one.

This family thing sounds cool, but with the restrictions...i don't think it will be the best idea.

[SilentNegotiator]

So we used to be able to buy multiple Gold subs at a discount rate, and now we have to pay full price to allow multiple people to use at once? Awesome?

Up to 4 brothers want to play each other on their separate Xbox 360s = $100/yr

Only 2 brothers face each other on separate Xbox Ones = $120/yr

Xbox Live Gold didn't get more expensive, but multiple persons is now exponentially more expensive.

[4Sh0w]

Silent I don't know what you mean the price of xbox Gold membership hasn't changed, why do you assume there won't be any discounted deals on Amazon or through other retailers just like now? And whats even better is now users on the same X1 can share gold membership.

"Xbox One lets households share one Xbox Live Gold subscription across multiple accounts"
http://www.theverge.com/201...

[SilentNegotiator]

@4show

Of course there might be sales from retailers. But not anything official from Microsoft.

And I don't know what the point of your link posting was. Like I said, the problem is the inability for multiple people to play AT THE SAME TIME, unlike with the family pack that Microsoft used to offer.

[bviperz]

I said it before and I'll say it again. Microsoft will end up changing their policy. The game sales will stink if only a few people need to buy a game and then rest can share the library with up to 10 people. That's just a dumb business model. I believe that's why, at this point, it's still not very clear on how exactly this is going to work. They want folks to buy the consoles first before you realize the true restrictions to 'game library sharing'.

[omi25p]

Yes it does.

person X can have 10 people in his shared list.

Person X buys Battlefield 4. Any of those ten players can play Person X's copy of battlefield 4 completely free without having to pay for it.

That means singleplayer, Multiplayer anything.

So if you were to buy Battlefield 4, you and you're best friend could play it together from other sides of the world off of one copy of the game.

Now to me that sounds brilliant.

It could be worked so if ten people all had each other in there shared list. 5 of those players can buy Battlefield 4 or any other game and the other 5 can play with them for absolutely nothing.

Which will be good for saving people money.

If it works out to be as good as im hoping then i can kind of understand the ridiculous 24 check in period.

[SaffronCurse]

I Highly doubt Publishers will allow users to share their games without paying, especially games with multiplayer such as Call of duty.

[NatureOfLogic]

"Person X buys Battlefield 4. Any of those ten players can play Person X's copy of battlefield 4 completely free without having to pay for it."

You really think developers would allow their games to shared so freely like that? That would mean that one copy of the game would really be two, which would be a major exploit, and one million times worse than used games or pirating. I don't think so. MS's solution to trading games wouldn't be a flawed system that could so easily be exploited and abused. They would lose almost all of publishers support.

[omi25p]

Well so far its been confirmed. If it turns out to be true then great.

But i understand where you're coming from with developers, Especially from the likes of EA.

@Kobe357.

Actually it says the original owner of the gamer and ONE person from the shared list can play it.

Also Neither the PS3, PS4 or the Xbox 360 have this game sharing feature.

@ Yo mama

Oh i just reread this bit

"person A owns 10 games. person B owns 5 games. person C owns 15 games. person D owns 10 games. if person B is playing a game on person's A list of games, person C and person D cannot play a game from person A's list. however, that means person C can still play the games from person B, person C or person D"

Yeah you are right but still its a pretty good feature.

If two games come out on the same day one person buys one of those games and the other person buys the other. You both play through the game you bought, then switch over to the other game your friend bought.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

"So if you were to buy Battlefield 4, you and you're best friend could play it together from other sides of the world off of one copy of the game"
Uh..did you read the article buddy? ONE AT A TIME!
"The only limitation, it seems, is that only one person can be playing the shared copy of a single game at any given time."

And you can do this on the PS4 except its not limited to ten people :-/. Why are Xbox fanatics getting over a feature that was available on the 360 except on a broader scale?

[thechosenone]

two people can not play the same game at the same time!

Major Nelson has confirmed.
http://youtu.be/6RtSGFryKwo...

[Yo Mama]

@ Omi25p

WTF are you talking about? It specifically says that each shared game can only be played on ONE console at any given time. Reading comprehension fail. Jesus Christ, some people....

"The only limitation, it seems, is that only one person can be playing the shared copy of a single game at any given time."

[Bimkoblerutso]

I'm with SaffronCurse on this one. If it's true then sure, that's not quite as bad as it could be, but at this point that explanation sounds HIGHLY suspicious.

Most publishers are not known for their charity and goodwill.

Edit: Oh man....Yo Mama is right....no that still sounds terrible.

[malokevi]

@Kobe

""So if you were to buy Battlefield 4, you and you're best friend could play it together from other sides of the world off of one copy of the game"
Uh..did you read the article buddy? ONE AT A TIME!
"The only limitation, it seems, is that only one person can be playing the shared copy of a single game at any given time.""

One at A TIME???? OMG!

Your probably one of those people who complained endlessly about how you can't share games with a friend.

And, lo and behold, now that theres a perfectly good way to do that, sans disk... ITS A SHAM! ZOMG 10 people cant play 1 game simultaneously, somebody get an MS rep in here so that we can kick him to death!

Think about it... you wan't to play your game on the primary console, feel free. AND, any time, whether your playing or not, one of your buddies/family/acquaintances can dip into your games library and play whatever they want.

Sounds absolutely incredible to me. Anyone who says otherwise is approaching this from a... how do I say... "limited" perspective.

[LightofDarkness]

Ok, Malokevi, now explain to me how there's any advantage to Microsoft's method if only one person can play the game at a time, just like before. There is none. There are only disadvantages and limitations.

[Baka-akaB]

Why are you so hyped ? Two persons (and it used to be five ) can freely share digital content AT THE SAME TIME on ps3 .

And an INFINITY of friends could borrow your disc , and only be able to use one copy at the time likewise , but without number restrictions at least .

Sounds to me you guys are trying to turn PR bs into a positive . So you 10 folks shared battlefield 4 , or even a single player game . Then what ? you're gonna have a schedule and calendar for who gets to play ?

To each their own , i'll keep truly sharing stuff in both the physical and digital realm

[Irishguy95]

That is not how it works...You and your best friend can play it...just so long only one of you are playing it.

[ThanatosDMC]

Nope only one person at a time could use it sadly.

[CYCLEGAMER]

Even better, what if you and a friend both want to buy Ryse, you could split the cost 50/50 and get the game for $30 bucks. With not being able to play at the same time, maybe the person who pays the tax gets to play the game first.

[fr0sty]

This is much like PSN's current policy allowing a game to be installed on 2 different devices before one of the machines has to deactivate their copy in order to install on a third machine. They just kept the same policy but let you choose between a list of 10 people that can download your games vs. 2 at a time. They still kept the 2 at a time being allowed to play the game at once, however.

[malokevi]

@lightofdarkness

2 at a time buddy... 2 at a time.

"limitations"? If infinite access to your friends games, and vice-versa, is "limiting", then the sky must be red and pigs walk on the ceiling.

Any excuse to complain...

this just makes it easier to share the love. Certainly don't have this on my existing Xbox360.

Who cares if you can share a physical copy? This is WAY better!

I'm completely done with physical media as of this generation. I see no point in it anymore. My games exist in perpetuity on the cloud, and that sound absolutely dandy!!

And I quote (to clear this up...):

" You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.""

[tarbis]

@omi25p
"Also Neither the PS3, PS4 or the Xbox 360 have this game sharing feature."

This is where you're wrong. At a time PS3 and PSP was able to share a digital copy of a game up to 5 PS3s or PSPs and play it at the same time. And that digital copy of the other 4 are not rent either. They own it. However, it was reduced to 2 PS3s/PSPs only. This is I'm sure due to complaints from publishers who are not getting revenue from free sharing of games. Imagine 4 other people get free games. That's $240 potential revenue. Many complained when that happened, me included.
And you think this will sit well with publishers and developers? Don't make me laugh. I won't be surprised if this feature is taken down immediately. They're losing $540 potential revenue there and especially when they know who are on your "family" network. They can easily use this as an advantage by blocking whoever is in your shared family network and force them to buy when they decide to change policy on the fly.

[kickerz]

@ kobe
so you really think your going to lend 1 Ps4 game to more then 10 people? heck in the last 5 years ive maybe lent 2 or 3 games to my brothers or friends and that was after I was completely over that game. people are making a MASSIVE deal about this. I personally think the only thing PS4 has over XB1 is the $100 cheaper price.which is huge for some people i get it, BUT I have a job and stable internet so I will be getting XB1 on day 1, cause i prefer their games. If Ps4 starts to get amazing games i would like later down the track i will get that too. easy.

[ShwankyShpanky]

Bu... bu... but I thought the game industry was in trouble from used game sales and people playing games without paying the publisher/developer and the Xbone DRM is going to save the industry by reducing used game sales. :P

Xbone DRM announced: "Yay! Publishers will get paid for their work!"
Xbone sharing announced: "Yay! Eleven people can play for the price of one!"

[JokesOnYou]

KingElixir

I actually partially agree with you, I think they mean anyone can access/play the game at separate times not 2 people playing the 1 copy at the same time, that would be stupid because that would be essentially be at minimum 1 lost sale per copy....that wouldn't make any kind of financial sense or this would be a huge exploit in favor of consumers, also I think the 2nd user isn't going to have access to multiplayer, I mean as much as I like xbox, I know Microsoft/publishers aren't crazy why the hell would you introduce DRM, only to allow a even bigger exploit/loss of sales due to sharing?....still even being able to share a game with 10 friends on any console is a very, very nice feature.

[malokevi]

@shwanky

"Xbone DRM announced: "Yay! Publishers will get paid for their work!"
Xbone sharing announced: "Yay! Eleven people can play for the price of one!""

Xbox One DRM announcement: "Shwanky: "what? I cant share my games? LIFE IS MEANINGLESS!!"

Xbox one sharing announcement: "Shwnaky: ...Xbox One is totes lame."

[stuna1]

What you wrote is false! And I won't even debate it! I'll just let you hear it for yourself.

Google Angry Joe's interveiw with Major Nelson, it'll be all answered with that!

[tiffac008]

Actually you can share digital games/content that you purchased with the PS3, PSP and 360.

You simply need the account of the person that has the game in your console and download away.

This was the modus operandi of the members of PinoyPSP.com where they shared alternate accounts (which they put the exact amount of money on the alt accounts wallet to buy games/content) then share it around the community. After you're done deactivate the account and pass it along. That's why this account share feature was reduced on the PS3/PSP.

If I am not mistaken this can be done with the 360 with your Live account.

Edit: You can even do this on the Vita the only hassle is you need to reset your Vita to factory setting to change the registered PSN ID or buy an extra memory card for the shared account.

[NeoTribe]

Sorry but your wrong. keep trying though, its funny to see people try to justify such a god awful product.

[ShwankyShpanky]

@malokevi: Nah, I could tell it was "totes lame" well before the share announcement. I don't really share many games, but that doesn't mean I favor forfeit of my consumer rights. I also don't own a gun, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to forfeit my right to do so.

So anyway... which is it? Is A) baked-in DRM good so that publishers and developers can maximize their profits, or is B) sharing good so that 11 people can all play the same single purchased copy of a game? (Especially release week for games, where there wouldn't generally be used copies available, but why buy a new one when you can both play your buddy's copy at the same time? Sounds like a lost sale to me.)

If A is true, then doesn't B negate it? If B is true, then what is the point of A?

[wastedcells]

This is bull$@&? Just let us do whatever we want with our games or sell new releases for way less then $60.00

[ALLWRONG]

I'm not one for the new Xbox but the plan does sound pretty damn good. Too bad about everything else though.

[callahan09]

Wait, so Person A's library can only be accessed by 1 of the 10 family members at a time? Not 1 game from Person A's library, but the entire library? If my brother is playing my copy of Halo 5, then nobody else can play my copy of Fable 4, so Fable 4 just has to sit there being lonely and nobody can play it?

That's stupid.

Just recently I loaned my copies of Uncharted 3 and Dark Souls so my brother and a different friend. They were regularly online at the same time playing those two respective games. You're saying that on Xbox One, that scenario is now impossible? I buy a lot of games and loan them to my brother and friends a lot. They wouldn't like this new system where they can leech off me anymore haha.

[Vip3r]

Far too complicated.

[NatureOfLogic]

For the causal market they're after, It is quite complicated.

[Heartnet]

Tbh it sounds complicated but with the right menu system this could be a breeze with a walkthrough setting it up.

IF lets say there was a "Sharing" Menu where you could see the 'family' members and just click to see what games you Could play of theirs at that time then it wouldnt be complicated at all.

Especially if all you need is a gamertag and the other persons approval to set it all up.

[JokesOnYou]

Whats so complicated? you set up your friends list, then any 10 of you can play a game from each other library at 1 time, hell it wasn't to complicated when sony did a similar sharing structure with vita/ps3....NOTE, only 1 person can play any 1 game at a time but he that's a pretty awesome feature.

[kneon]

The xbox site says

"You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time."

So you and one other person can play your games. So if you have two or more kids and you want to play as well then you're screwed. This wording is per LIBRARY, not per game. Unless they change this there would be little point to owning more than 2 xb1's no matter how many people want to play

[yewles1]

"Microsoft Clarify's Family Pack and it sound worse."

Fixed.

[ltachiUchiha]

The problem with this feat that makes it suck is that if your a 24/7 xbl user this feat will only benefit with single player games which isnt what the xbox one is about. Always Online is made to play games with friends which most likely this feat is completely useless since only one user can use it at a time. What if all your friends want to play together in a halo game? U cant just use that one account to play with everyone else which sucks. Atleast with ps plus you can have 1 account & if other accounts are created on that system, they also have access to ps plus with their account, now thats an awesome feat.

[Heartnet]

This is why they can allow this feature to exsist though.

By making multiplayer fun and making others wish to play with friends they can allow ease of minds to publishers that this feature wont be easily exploited and in turn create a confined economy of people selling 'family' status on an account with tons of games.

and fyi ur example of accounts also created on taht system also mean that only 1 player have access to ps plus as you can only use one account on ps3 at one time (as in u cant simultaneously play 2 games on ps3 using 2 differnt accounts).

And whose to say single player isnt what Xbox one is about? Online aspects can easily be incorporated into single player games.

[Lord_Sloth]

.

[from the beach]

I'm still treading with caution until Major Nelson weighs in on this.

But there's huge potential here.

[Ron_Danger]

He has. 2 people can't play the same game at the same time. There goes all the shared multiplayer rumors.

[whoyouwit04]

You are wrong along with a lot of people on this site. For all you people who think only one person can play at a time you need to watch what Angry Joe has to say he is someone who has had a interview with major nelson. He clearly says that for sure the owner of the game and one friend/family member can play the single player game but he wasn't sure about the multiplayer.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[from the beach]

That's why I'm waiting for it in black in white - you can do this, you can't do that.

Two people playing multiplayer from the one game would be an awesome feature, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't suddenly make family share crap. There's a scale of how awesome this could be.

[theWB27]

If people really don't think having the ability to play any of the games in your shared friends list library without paying for them yourself isn't a good thing, is just being shortsighted and biased.

That's the potential to save money on 9 other purchases if your list works together to buy certain games. Yes please...

[NihonjinChick]

I agree it sounds good but it only sounds like something that would only be good for single player games.

[theWB27]

You can still play multiplayer...but even with if you wanted to play multiplayer with your friends you would still have to buy the game yourself, right?

[omi25p]

Why would it only be good for single player?

Person X "I've just bought Halo 5. Do you want to play Co-op campaign?"

Person y "I cant i don't have that game"

Person X "That's fine its in my shared list, Just download it for free"

[ltachiUchiha]

omi25p

Even if person y downloaded the game, he still wouldnt be able to play co-op with the other person unless he has his own copy. Remember only one user can use this game at a time even if 9 other friends are sharing the game which blows because microsoft is hardly known for making any good single player games. Most of their games are known for good multiplayer. Im talking about microsofts 1st party games not 3rd party games.

[Heartnet]

If the friend isnt to interested in playing with each other then its fine.

Also if the game has online leaderboards then this is a way you can compete with each other using one copy.

BUt what ms is saying really is that if you want to play 2 copies of a game at one time then u need 2 copies but this game can be shared anywhere at anytime which is pretty amazing. Dont even have to pick it up! and never that feeling its the last time ur gonna see that disc :P

[The_Blue]

cool

[True_Samurai]

I bet half you didn't even read it. It sounds great! Add your friend to your family list! "Hey dude just got finished with that Ryse game you wanna try it out?" "YEAH man I just checked it out by your gameplay on studio editor looks sweet. Imma download it asap thanks!" Now doesn't that sound cool?

[omi25p]

Actually the Original owner of the game and 1 person from his shared list can play it at the same time.

So i wouldn't be "hey I've finished Ryse want to try it out"

it would be

"Hey Ryse is awesome so far come try it out"

[True_Samurai]

Even better! :-D

[malokevi]

Thats freekn amazing... you and a fellow XB1 owner could go tit-for-tat on every game purchase.

[Captain Qwark 9]

This^^^

I dont think anyone on here actually reads carefully and they are trying to spin what major nelson said. The owner of the game can play anytime and simultaneously 1 family member at any given time. This feature absolutely trounces the ps4.

and at the same time the other 8 member can try it when its not being used. Much in the same way you would just lend a disc. The only difference is those people can be 3000 miles away and still borrow your game. And yes people can argue "well you limited to ten, I give thedisc to as many people as I want"... Yes that's true but realistically I have 3 friends that ever asked to borrow games. Never once in my gaming life have I traded a game with more than ten different people. Also one of the last times I did I never got that game back. Now I dont have to worry about someone being a dick like that

[Ramuh]

This reminds me of the "share feature" of the ps3. You used to be able to "share" with five but it was knocked down to two. They giveth and taketh away.

[BLAKHOODe]

And there was a reason they took it away. You would think Microsoft would have been paying attention.

[GameCents]

Sony game sales and financials were horrible as it was without having to support game sharing. Microsoft is in a different boat financially.

[Yo Mama]

At least the people you shared it with could play at the same time on different systems.

[Heartnet]

Yep but as soon as u got another ps3 / ur old one broke u were out of a game lol ( assuming all copies were used up )

Happened to me.... sucks

[Yo Mama]

You should have called Sony and they would have deactivated your old system for you. It resets the shares to 0. Then you could have logged back in with your new PS3 and downloaded them again. They allow you to do that once or twice a year just for those certain circumstances.

[xursz]

People are talking up this up like it's a new concept. Digital buying has been around longer than current gen....

[danny818]

How about taking the fucking game to ur friends house. Isnt that better.

[omi25p]

Kind of awkward if you live in England and your friend lives in Australia.

[andibandit]

Buy a boat, and get som AI fish to tow you across the ocean.

[TotalSynthesisX]

LOOOOOOL. Bravo.

[CC-Tron]

What if your friend(s) are 5000 miles away?

[whoyouwit04]

only a sony fan boy would say that. If your friends lives in California, Organ, Mississippi, gergia, and Alabama and you live and New York you mean to tell me you are going to drive to each one of those states . I swear I just wish you sony would for once get off sony's high horse and give credit to Microsoft for coming up wit a genius idea.

[glopez]

Thank Sony for coming up with that idea, buddy. I've been doing that on my ps3 for years.

[danny818]

I heard u have to pay to play ur game. I find it useless tho. Why would i let someone play my game across te globe. Wouldnt that beat the purpose of the anyi used game restrictions?

[Heartnet]

What if you forget about if and they trade it in a month later :O

youve just lost a game and a friend :'(

MS SAVING FRIENDSHIPS EVERYWHERE!!! ;)

[tarbis]

whoyouwit04:
Yeah, right! If you actually read the article. You can't use the same game at the same time. So, the jokes on people like you who think this is a good feature.
How in the blue hell can you play your Call of Doggy multiplayer with your 9 other shared friends if you the original owner is using the copy? Best to tell them to buy their own copy instead. LOL!
And not only that. It's region restricted. That means if your soldier friend who is in Iraq, Iran or wherever, is outside the U.S. The game can't be shared either even if your friend has a U.S. account.

PSN's current feature allows you to share a game with one person that CAN ACTUALLY OWN AND USE AT THE SAME TIME WHEREVER, WHENEVER, OFFLINE OR ONLINE! Wouldn't that be much better?

[tiffac008]

We also do not know if this feature is behind a Paywall and/or if there is an extra hidden cost to activate it.

[D-riders]

this is worse than ps3 allowing 5 accounts

[Godmars290]

The XBO's problem is that it offers convenience without choice. Of then having to pay for that non-choice.

[NatureOfLogic]

At the end of the day, It doesn't matter. MS is trying to control and limit your ability to trade or play used games. This shouldn't even be a discussion.

[ExPresident]

Exactly. The fact that it has taken Microsoft this long to even come close to clarifying why they believe this plan of theirs is good, tells you its bad. If it doesn't make sense first, its probably a bad idea.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck..... now insert "bad idea" for duck.

[ThatArtGuy]

So, what happens when the person that originally "owns" the content doesn't log in for 24 hours? Does everyone suffer the effects of not being able to play? How far has MS and everyone thought into this?

[ExPresident]

Yeah or you know, you lose internet for some reason that you can't control and now you cant play crap because your console cant "check-in".

[Eldyraen]

Good question but it shouldn't really affect anything due to the way the cloud 'should' work. The internet access requirement sounds to be console specific so the games stored on the cloud should still be accessible for anyone that has sharing privileges. Banning however is another matter so simply don't rely on obvious tools for your gaming habit.

Granted it is something that could be elaborated on as well just to making things clear.

[GameCents]

Oh no, I cannot play my friend's game for free anymore because he hasn't logged on! Oh the injustice! The suffering I'm enduring!! I need to sue somebody for this!

[ThatArtGuy]

It was just a thought. If someone is going to profess this as a great feature, then they'll have to know what the possible downsides are.

[InTheLab]

Wont be available at launch which is still 5 months away....and they're not telling you when it will be available.

So again, you're at the mercy of MS.

[wishingW3L]

another thing people don't realize is that 2 people can't play the same shared game at the same time. So if you're sharing Forza 5 with other 10 member and someone else is playing it then you can't play your own game!

This is just a confusing mess in hopes that people get the wrong idea (and it's working BTW) about what is going on with it when nothing has really changed. XB1 is still a console primarly driven by DRM and many other annoying restrinctions. People think that you can share 1 game with 10 family member and that the 10 of you will be able to play the same game at the same time... But you can't. Basically they are limiting your game sharing to only 10 people while with PS4 you can share the disc with as many people as you want and they don't have to be 30 days on your friend-list nor live on the same region because the console (PS4) it's region-free.

[Eldyraen]

I can bet the 'parent' account holder can boot shared users on starting the game. I haven't used Steam on multiple PCs in a while but in the past at least if you logged on the other would be logged out (if both using online mode anyways).

Regarding multiple users at the same time for any game... they have said on many occasions that it worked just like a disc. Only one person can access it at a time as 2+ using the exact same disc is impossible as well. Some people though haven't understood that due to all of MS's PR interview blunders.

[safsaan]

2 people can play single player at the same time unlike a disc based game but not multiplayer like a disc game.

[strigoi814]

I highly doubt this one..EA, Activision and some developers wont even last supporting this family plan thing..coz they will loose 9 target consumers automatic

[whoyouwit04]

Well every one thought the one console Manufacture wouldn't have some form of DRM with out the other haven it, but what happen? So, what you think is of no concern.

[MoveTheGlow]

I've never heard of Microsoft Clarity before, nor did I know they had a Family Pack. Oh, third-grade grammar. How you still evade us all...

:P

[xXxSeTTriPxXx]

The question that needs asking is why they keep calling it a family pack?..how would the xbox know your family from your friends?...what are the requirements for this pack?... because its being specified as a family pack, not a family/friends pack.

[Red_Devilz]

What I gathered from Angry Joe show where Joe interviewed Major Nelson, that Even though the "game" is "shared" among up to 10 people in "family", Only 2 people can play it at a given time.

Thank you Your Majesty! All hail Mikroshaft!

[wishingW3L]

so you watched it too? lol

Major Nelson said it himself. You can share the game with 10 people but that doesn't mean that the 10 of you can play the same game at the same time. That's the part this crappy article is missing, so nothing has changed. MS are just limiting the usage of the game to 10 people while with the PS4 game you can do with it whatever you want and let as may people as you want play the game and from any part of the world too because the PS4 is region free.

And BTW, the second guy can only play the game up to 1 hour alone until the main one stops playing and then the second can continue.

[shaenoide]

This system is even worse than the used game market for publishers. You can share games with people all around the world at ease. What about the DRM in the first place? I'am lost with MS stretegy ><

[wishingW3L]

you can't share around the world because the system is region locked. And it says "share" but you're not sharing the game you're just letting them play it but no more than 2 people can play it at the same time. And the second guy can only play it up to 1 hour or wait until no one is playing it to be able to play it as much as he wants.

[quenomamen]

Oooh thank you MS, this is awesome ! This almost makes me forget about all the other BS.

[Red_Devilz]

Hahahahaa.....Guys just check this out. Sums up the whole Xboner $hit.

I can't take credit for this. Thanks to the guy who made it. Clearly he put more efforts than Mikroshaft in this one

[Red_Devilz]

$hit, looks like there is some problem with the link. Sorry about that

[AceofStaves]

I think this feature could be an excellent addition to XB1, if they implement it properly. Will the shares be affected by the status of the source account (checking in on time, etc.)? And what happens if friends have a falling out? Will the owner of the 'master copy' of the game be able to kick someone out of their 10 and replace that person with someone else? If so, I'm guessing that shared copy will be useless to the one who got kicked out.

I'm sure MS will have some kind of notification for if you go to play your shared copy of a game and somebody else is already playing another shared copy, something as simple as "This game is currently being played by another player in ____'s circle. Please try again later" would be fine.

All MS has to do is provide clear, concise answers to a few questions. They're letting the message be dictated by others because of their reluctance to address these issues head-on.

[Swiftfox]

My question about this feature is: Is this feature region specific? Can “family” members only share in your game library if they are located in the same region as you?

For an example: What if I live in the NA territory and my brother lives in the UK or JP regions? Would we be able to play each other's games spite having region specific systems and games?

If “Yes, you can,” then why region lock the system in the first place?
If “No, you can't,” it means hypothetically my friend who lives down the road from me could benefit from this feature, but my own family stationed overseas could not. In addition—even if in the same region, both family and friends would need to own a second copy of the game to play the game with me.

Who is this feature really for? How is this system an improvement over the old method of renting a game or borrowing a game on a region free system?

[Baka-akaB]

I wouldnt expect this to bypass region locking .

[Swiftfox]

Realistically, I'm not expecting it to either. I simply noticed the document didn't cover the use across regions, noticed people saying “share games across the world,” and brought the question into focus.

If Microsoft is offering this as a replacement for current methods, consumers need to be informed and question everything it can't do as well as what it can.

[4Sh0w]

Well if you are in the military stationed overseas, you buy your console from a military base PX which are all region locked to North America, so military 360 owners currently still play under the North American region even though they are station in places like Japan and I'd imagine that this will be a feature that is in fact region locked which means 99% of the user base will be sharing games with family and friends in the same region, on the off chance that you live in the US and want to share with family in Germany, I'm not sure but its possible maybe to buy his console in the US and sign up his profile as American, ship it to Germany??? Not sure if that will work. Who knows but honestly its hard to plan and appease every single situation out there, that's asking a lot.

[OrionNoctis]

Cosa Nostra...lol

[roland82]

Pretty good features. Too bad everyone is on the microsoft hate train and will try and downplay everything they do. Most of my friends I play with live in different states and it would be neat to try their games to see if I like it without them having to mail it to me. I also don't see the big deal about having to connect to the internet once every 24 hours. There is no way you're going to be able to fully enjoy the ps4 without internet anyways.

[hkgamer]

Definitely one of the best features of any consoles.

it's probably one of the only features that will make me want to have an Xbone. However, I don'r really have any XB friends and will probably need to go online to find some (¬.¬)

Anyone know if this feature works without a live account?

[GrumpyGamer]

you will have to have a live account the question is will it work with a silver account and I understand "the shared copy" not to be the one you bought so there is a second copy (already confirmed) for your "family group" to use

[hkgamer]

not really a second copy for your family group to use since they wont be able to play it if you are playing it yourself.

Think your family members can play any game from your list as long as no one else is playing that game. Or maybe I am wrong and only one person can play from your list at one time.

[SpinalRemains]

Microsoft,

You shot and killed my dog, and now want me to be happy you're offering me a plant?

No thanks, bro.

I would rather game off the disc and continue to choose how I acquire my games or whether I want to rent them.

[mochachino]

Cool feature.

[luckyjat]

Can't even spell "clarifies"....

[koolaid251]

This sounds better than letting a friend borrow 1 disc now you can borrow his whole library of video games. Can ps4 do that?

[baodeus]

you can: 2 possibilities

1.just drive over and give him/her all of your discs (if he/she is close by) and make sure you know them well. I don't know how many time i have lost my games because they got misplaced, or people don't return the games (they lost it, or don't remember to).
2. mailed them to him/her if they are far away (price for shipping have gone up drastically in recent years so think carefully before you do)

so what do we see here?
digital vs disc based\used game:

Plus:
1. So it is much more convenient than lending a game in disc format
2. If you only like single player games (which many ps fan on here do, and there are tones of games still have single player mode), this should be perfect for you, since you can save a lot of money this way (only one of you need to buy that game -> $60 become $30 brand new). How is this not better than used game? Can you get this type of deal with used game?
3. If you just want to try out games before you can decide to purchase, this is also great for you

Negative:
1. it might not work in other regions, where as you can mail a disc over sea or to other countries, although mailing like this increase the price of the game: purchase price + n(number of shipments)
2. you don't have "true" owner ship of a piece of plastic disc.

[blacktiger]

It's all BS to look good. Think about it guys, they seriously don't want you to resell unless they make money.
Then what makes you think Family pack is real, I mean if it's really is a sharing, my god, I got 4-6 friends and we can create a family list and guess what?! We don't even have to wait till all our friends finish the game, we can just quickly play right after he finish.

This would be a worse than DRM, I mean usually most people have to wait till their friends finish their game, so that force them to buy the game. But witht his family plan it will kill faster than DRM.

This family plan is not even cleared up and MS is trying to convince they have something good in MS XboxOne!

[SilentGuard]

If MS is going to allow me to share all my games with ten people, and conversely allow ten people to share their games with me, why are they making such a big fuss over used games? It seems to me publishers and MS would be losing a lot more money allowing all this game sharing than they would by allowing used games.

[MRMagoo123]

I think the sharing games thing has a lot more explaining to be had before ppl get excited about it, as you said they are talking about used games costing the companies too much yet at the same time making it so 10 ppl can share one game, im thinking if 10 ppl share the same game itll lose more money for devs that used games sales. All i can say really is there is prob a lot more to this sharing thing than they are letting on and its prob not as good as ppl think.

[Geovanny]

Sike

[Sideras]

123kinect.com, yeah I'm not even reading that.

[Sadist3]

If anyone still lets people borrow games, it's definitely more convenient to do it through the cloud than to physically go drive to someone's house and give them a copy.

[MRMagoo123]

I wonder how this game sharing works with region locks, i wonder if you have a "family" member in another country whether the game will work there, I also wonder how anyone is gonna be able to DL these games to play, they are gonna be what ....30gigs a game or so, that will take a good few hours to DL, I really think there is a lot to this that ppl dont know and I have a feeling it will be a disappointment to many. I think there will be a lot of restrictions as to who can play the games and where they live and how long they can use them for. If you guys think it will be as easy as clicking on a friends game library and starting up a game you will be in shock when it comes out.

[hazelamy]

firstly, it's clarifies.

secondly, that's a nice feature, but it's not enough to outweigh the other anti consumer restrictions they've put in place.

what is with the schizophrenic attitude from ms?

you can't resell your games but you can share them with ten other people.

i doubt many preowned games ever have ten owners.

and they refuse to answer the question about what happens when they no longer support this console.
do x1 owners lose all their games, or more accurately have them stolen from them.
they still haven't clarified that yet.

[Kidmyst]

I love these articles where MSFT clarifies something yet it says more details to come, or only MSFT knows the full details. Wow, just relase everything already. I don't even know if MSFT knows what they are doing. If a friend buys Forza and comes home to play but I am playing, does it kick me out?