Xbox One U-turn - has Microsoft done enough?

Guardian - Are you pleased with Microsoft's DRM concessions on the Xbox One, or do you think more needs to be done?

[Need4Game]

Nope, make it $299 with Kinect, and can play games without Kinect attached.

[PSVita]

They still need to make money lol

They could just remove the need to HAVE to have kinect and sell two different SKUs.

[mikeslemonade]

I told you so..

I told you Microsoft would either change there stance or price before the launch of the console.

[Godmars290]

You honestly think that a $200 price drop isn't a bit much?

[brish]

For new hardware they would be losing a lot of money by selling it at $299.

I think they should have a $399 option that doesn't include kinect.

[NihonjinChick]

I don't think that's going to happen since Kinect is required for it to work.

[pompombrum]

^^^You mean like how they couldn't just "flip the switch" and take out DRM? Kinect is an accessory at best and them treating it like anything else is going to backfire.

[jmc8888]

What's sad is that there were all these morons talking about how the DRM was 'built into the console', and how they couldn't take it out.

It takes one big sheep to believe that.

Now people are sadly saying the same thing about Kinect2.

It's so sad that people don't have the critical thinking skills (and barely any is needed) to see past all this bs.

These same people generally think that
a) Kinect won't spy on them
b) Because it 'wont' spy on them, they won't get exploited from it
c) also therefor thousands of companies WON'T be trading this data
d) there's no reason for anyone to see them in their underwear or know how big they are or whatnot ($$$$ on one end, blackmail on the other, and a whole lot in between).

The simple fact is Kinect2 will be exploiting you, the question is, some will be exploited more than others. Some might just get double their health or life insurance. Others might have far worse done to them.

[georgeenoob]

You guys need to stop taking these fanboys seriously.

[Hicken]

I don't think too many take you seriously, so there's nothing to worry about.

[harkki86]

i don't know about you guys but i already had enough with the 360. despite being a girl i thought all the kinect stuff was totally lame (even though i was the target audience for that junk) and now microsoft still wants to force us to buy it? yeah right.

i was really hopeful for the next xbox because i was hoping they would go back to the way they were when the xbox 360 first came out. they made a lot of great games back then!

[fermcr]

@Need4Game

$299 !!! Why not give it away for free and include 50 games with it ?

You should major in business school. You have a gift... that would take any company to bankruptcy.

[Zichu]

You have to realize, a price drop would mean they would most likely increase the price of something for them to make a profit.

They could do it to anything... LIVE, GoD, MSP, Controllers, Headsets, etc.

I would prefer it if they would release an SKU without Kinect and drop the price from £430 to the PS4's price which is £350.

[himdeel]

MS cannot remove Kinect now. It's the feature that they are touting as a unique feature to Xbox One games. Besides why would any developer bother implementing Kinect features if now not every Xbox One consumer has one.

[RedSoakedSponge]

one word: no.

[talisker]

Mandatory camera watching all the time is worse for me than any DRM and Internet requirements.

[asmith2306]

Exactly! No one seems to be talking about having a camera under your TV all the time. M$ have said that it won't be on, but I dunno, these days I wouldn't believe that.

[xxLuckyStrike]

Unless it was Sony haha!!! I'd pay top dollar or euro to see the spin on that one. Given that Sony now charges for online multi-player. Sony elitists were jedi mind tricked while high and drunk off all in the M$ bashing. Then later awoke only to eat all their words compiled over the last 8+ years. Now praising Sony for charging them on the way to bank!!! Spin it baby!!! Spin it!!!

[Foxgod]

I dont see how kinect watching is a problem is you can take your console offline.

If you are scared off that, just never go online...
And while at it, never use a phone, never use a laptop, a pc, or any other form of interactive media, because they might be watching.

[Retroman]

Dont you think you went little over board with that?? boogey man not coming out of kinect 2.0

[Foxgod]

Personally i think people already go overboard when they claim kinect is watching.
yes theres a camera in it, yes the console can go online.

But all the stuff i mentioned has a camera and go online.
Heck even tv's are build with camera's for skype calls.
People who cant handle the combination of internet and a camera, should avoid internet alltogether.

I dont mind however, so il be enjoying my X1 games this year.

[jmc8888]

No Foxgod, there's your perception of the world, then there is the reality of our world.

If you spent five minutes, or hopefully a whole lot more paying attention to what is happening on this blue dot in the milky way, you'd understand your position is extremely ignorant, and completely false.

You lie to yourself with asinine sophistry, and think, incorrectly I might add, that you actually came up with a valid point. You didn't.

First off Microsoft already admitted they were going to use the data to advertise to you and all sorts of creepy stuff. Imagine you and your boyfriend/husband having a minor little argument, and within some short time period you get a phone call, and all sorts of other ads about couples counseling. You want to know WHERE I got that 'over the top' example? From the PATENT of a Smart TV. That's right. Basically Microsoft has said Kinect will do the same, but with a whole lot more information and far more creepy ways to advertise to you.

You also assume that everybody with access to such data is on the up and up.

Too bad, because that isn't the case.

This information will then be sold to thousands of corporations. So they'll make money off how big you are, whether you need glasses, if you smoke, what food or beverages you consume, alcoholic or not, and so much more.

Since you're now aware that thousands of companies ARE CURRENTLY BUYING SIMILAR DATA, why wouldn't they want what Kinect gives them? After all, if they can make more money doing it...it's only business.

So why would insurance companies want a record of your physical size? Simple....money. To see if you are the same size as when you took out your life insurance policy, or to see if you should be on another health insurance plan. After all, if you're fat (and I'm not saying you are) then if they aren't 'charging' you like you are, then they are losing money. Thus Kinect gives them the info to save money...by costing YOU MORE money. See how this works?

Now that you know what sort of motive, and what sort of data you give them, I bet if you really tried you could sit there and think of many ways you can be exploited. Because anyone with a Kinect2 will be massively exploited.

But it goes much further, because the NSA and many other institutions, and corporations, and other gov'ts are listening in on you.

I guarantee you your life is currently crappier than it could be, simply because such operations exist. Simply because besides Kinect you are right, we are being illegally spied upon. Because the data they get has been used to collude. It's like a shadow information market, and those that pay for it, get an advantage. Do you realize how much that can impact stock markets, mergers, and all sorts of business dealings? Well it does and it is.

Right now the NSA doesn't even own it's computers...so those who are watching us, have a corporation watching THEM. Amazing.

[jmc8888]

It's called fascism, it's what this country now is. People shouldn't think its harmless because fascism caused hundreds of millions of deaths last century...and at THAT time, people with a very similar 'it doesn't matter' attitude allowed it to occur. Just so you know where YOU stand.

Also you act as if all these other things are happening, so why does it matter? That it's tacitly ok. Plus you assume that you can't do these things without allowing the spying.

How would you like to have your Kinect beaming naked pictures of say a future child? I mean, maybe you'll have one in the next 7 or so years Kinect2 will be in your life. Would you like that? No, of course not. But its very possible it will happen to someone.

After all, similar things have already occurred with laptops.

You really need to wake up before you wake up and there are metaphoric walls all around you.

Because everything that I've told you, is true. EVERY BIT OF IT.

Before denying people's facts, you might want to look around first...because whether you like it or not, I'm not just acting out to save my own butt, but mostly to save the butts of the ignorant, who because they are ignorant, will be the ones that suffer the most.

You don't live in candy land, you live in fascist land, and you are just a consumer to them, that is, until things have broken down far enough that you don't have any money, and then...to them...you're nothing.

Can't handle the combination doesn't have anything to do with it. It's what the people have the ability and fake authority to do with that combination, which is in fact really happening that is concerning.

Just because you put your head in the sand, doesn't change the FACT that it is happening.

I feel so sad for you, oblivious to reality, and open for complete exploitation.

I hope it doesn't happen, but it'll only not happen if people like me and a few million others continue our fight.

Otherwise, you will be exploited, and it will impact your life.

A smoker may enjoy smoking, but rest assured, a good number of them will get cancer.

I think that analogy is appropriate, except EVERY kinect2 user WILL BE EXPLOITED, the only question is.... how often and to what degree.

[Urusernamesucks]

Drm is worser imo

[MasterCornholio]

In my opinion they still need to lower the price by any means necessary. Like getting rid of Kinect and making it optional for example.

Motorola RAZR i

[TemplarDante]

I dont trust the bastards, Yes, thats what I call people that want to steal my consumer rights.
YES.. they reversed their policy.
But that was because Sony forced their hand. I still dont trust them.
If you do, you are both foolish and naive.

[Jdoki]

First off, I am buying a PS4, and am not (yet) planning to buy an XBOne.

But let's be clear here. No large company can be trusted. Have people already forgotten about the CD rootkit craziness that Sony instigated.

[Software_Lover]

Yes they have. Sony can do no wrong, and when they do, it was for us because they love us.

EA was wrong (Sim City DRM, online passes)but they can implement changes (got rid of online passes, showed a great looking Battlefield 4) and all is well.

Ubisoft was wrong (Splinter Cell and Assassins creed DRM) but they can implement changes and show great games (Watch dogs, the division and the crew which are online only by the way) and all is forgiven.

Microsoft was wrong (wanted to implement a DRM console) but they implement changes (got rid of the DRM 5 months before the console even released) and people hate them forever, its not good enough.

I give Sony the nod for dropping online passes with the ps4, but they had to because they are now charging for online. It's a win/lose situation for many people. But many of us were paying for PS+ anyway.

It's just the way the world works. I bubbled you up though.

[ziggurcat]

They need to drop mandatory kinect, and come out with a SKU at $399 that doesn't come with the camera.

[ASBO-5]

Look, I like bashing M$ as much as the next guy but how many of the same exact articles do we need???

[MikeyDucati1]

To the average gamer or N4G member? No, not by a long shot.

[RandomDude655]

This is the guy that will be running Xbone

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

Good Luck!

[Jdoki]

Whilst I'm not a fan of DRM, I use Steam a lot so I know that if done right it can be OK. The DRM was the only real differentiator it had over Sony. Now that's gone the XBO is a pointless console.

I'll stick with PS4, PC and maybe a WiiU if they start launching games I want to play.

[Wizziokid]

Get rid of the mandatory Kinect and then I'll buy the console. Until then, no.

[Majima]

They did their best to scare me away (which worked btw). They need to do a hell of a lot more to get me back on board. For me the PS4 is a day one purchase. The primal rage towards the Xbone has subsided but I still don't feel like I need the One in my life.

[The Meerkat]

We know they've changed what they're saying.
But how can we be sure they've changed what they're thinking.

I'll play with my PS4 until I'm sure MS are on my side.

[No_Limit]

This piece made me pulled out an old song "Can you take me high enough" from the one-hit wonder band, Damn Yankees.

OT, Done enough? WTF, the system won't even be out until November. Another flame article I see. To Sony fans, even if it is free it won't be enough. With games like Forza 5, Killer Instinct, Dead Rising at launch and improvement to the already great xbox controller like rumble trigger and direct Wifi and not to mention poring money into building 300,000 servers and 1 billion into internal game developments and opening 5 new game studios, I'll say it is quit an improvement from the X360.

[baodeus]

I think base on n4g peep, MS should give it out for free, remove Kinect, make live free, give out game for free, then maybe they might get it. Better yet, MS should scrap all of their research and call it quit. That way, maybe we can get back to talk about games on n4g instead of stupid article and troll comments. Quantity sure are abundant on this site, but quality is no where to be found.

[NihonjinChick]

N4G is not the only gaming site this happens on.

[BlasterGR]

Remove kinect and lower the price. Thats what gamers want. Oh and dont forget to find a way to unlock those 3gigs that are reserved for the OS.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

nope...get rid of the mandatory kinect microsoft!

[No_Limit]

Sorry, IMO, removing the Kinect will just make the Xbox1 just like a X360 with upgraded graphics. I am glad MS is sticking by their gun and including the Kinect in the package as it will allow developers to develop new ideas without worrying about market segmentation. That is another reason that I don't want the PS4 because to me it is just a PS3 with prettier graphics.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

soooooo....which department at microsoft do you work in buddy?

[C0MPUT3R]

Where is the power button on it?
.
It doesn't have one.
.
The only way it can turn on is by saying Xbox On.
.
Thus Kinect is Mandatory until they do a revised model.

[Foxgod]

Buying into rumors again arent we?
They voice control can be turned off (it says so on the official XB1 site), so theres obviously a way to turn it on and off without voices.
Most likely with the controller.

Besides, does it matter how you turn it on or off?
I dont see much hassle in saying two words.

[The Meerkat]

"Xbox OFF!" (shouted by a nasty little brother)

Now just imagine you hadn't saved your game in 30 minutes or we just about to win an epic online MP battle.

Those two words could really upset your sh!t.

[True_Samurai]

These idiots obviously dont know that the white Xbox symbol on the console IS THE POWER BUTTON
Damn these guys don't know what they're talking about

[True_Samurai]

Pssss hey I'll tell you a secret it's the white Xbox symbol in front of the console ;-) here's another bonus You can just say Xbox On our better yet wait for it wait for it Press the white Xbox symbol on top of the controller! *mind blown*

[Grown Folks Talk]

They could give everybody in the world a system for free, plus make all year 1 games free, & people would still complain.

[Foxgod]

Dont worry, if you are into games, then you cant complain much about the XB1.
At GDC they will unveil more games, and they are even on TGS this year.

For me personally they already have done enough, but the more the merrier.

[mmj]

It's still $100 more expensive and with inferior GPU, what they need to do to make it appealing is:

> Sell Kinect separately.
> Fit a GPU on par with PS4.
> Drop the price to PS4 levels.

Even if they just remove Kinect and lower the price same as PS4 it's still overpriced because they cheaped out on the GPU.

[Foxgod]

They also said the same thing about the 360 its specs, compared to the ps4.
Remember how the 360 was supposed to need blu ray?
and yet GTAV comes on 2 dis's, and one of them is only required for installation.

Remember the much faster XDR memory, as opposed to the DDr3 in the 360?
The faster processer in the ps3.
What difference did it make in the end?

Nothing, both platforms have the strengths and advantages, and both are being enjoyed by millions of gamers.

And i also have a ps3, was i amazed by the looks of the uncharted and killzone series? yes, more amazed then the gears series and Halo4? no, they are about the same.

[mmj]

PS3 and Xbox 360 were two very different architectures which used different hardware to obtain a similar level of performance, PS4 & Xbone use near identical architecture besides choice of GDDR5 v DDR3+ESRAM and the fact that Microsoft have chosen a much more inferior GPU.

Xbox 360 was also considerably cheaper than PS3 and PS3 still did well, this time around instead of selling similar hardware at a lower price Microsoft are now going to be selling slower hardware at a significantly higher price.

[sly-Famous]

We must not kid ourselves, the xbox one will still sell well, just not a well as the PS4. The thing is even with all the trash talking from MS and Sony, Sony still wants the Xbox to do well because if it does well it will mean income for Sony because of BluRay.

[airgangstarr]

u might see both consoles do well at launch more so the ps4 but after that i dont see alot of sales quarters 2 or 3 in 2014

[Software_Lover]

I actually thought, for a sec atleast, that we were finally done with these articles.

It seems as if I was wrong.

[ginsunuva]

They didn't do anything. They just excepted some bad policies.

Now they're a big heavy, ugly, box with no games or (real) exclusives, and mandatory Kinect.
Why would you stick with some disgusting American company who doesn't even know what games are, and want to secure DLC and milk Halo.
Especially after they tried to rape you?

[MadMen]

They took 2 hits, policies and price, they fixed one now they need a cheaper 399-349 sku. If they do that, they will have adjusted and be competitive at launch and all will be forgotten.

[sarshelyam]

I think they've done too much. A company redacting its policies, although ultimately an intelligent business move for them, speaks volumes about how they perceive the industry.

They cut the policies and, in the process, all of the features that would have defined the XBO as a platform making changes.

I was never truly sold on the system, the PS4 came out far too strong, but those features intrigued me. Now they're saying money is far more important than making a difference, or a change.

I also can't feel comfortable in the fact that if they can simply turn of the DRM stance with a firmware update, what's to stop them from turning it back on once their install-base is...healthy. I'll be looking at their TOS very closely and I'd recommend everyone else picking up an XBO do the same.

[swerve121]

Well im sure they cant take the Kinect out now. Remember all the developers are using it. They dont wanna piss them off. I really think its gonna offer some unique gameplay