Consumerist.com Writes: Reader Kevin's XBOX 360 suffered the usual Red Ring of Death, so he sent it in to be repaired. He got back a different XBOX 360 with a different serial number. That would be no big deal, except Kevin has purchased a bunch of content through XBOX Live... content that is no longer fully functional due to Microsoft's broken DRM.
Here's a quick summary:
November 2007: Kevin's XBOX 360 is replaced, causing his content to lose full functionality. He calls Microsoft.
Microsoft keeps Kevin on the phone for an hour trying different methods of restoring functionality to his content. Nothing works. They say they will call him back in two weeks. They do not call him back, so he calls them. Microsoft makes him repeat the steps he tried the first time he called. They tell him they will call him back in two weeks. This cycle repeats twice more before Kevin gets a call from Frank at XBOX escalations. It's now the second week of January. Kevin periodically speaks to Frank. Frank has no answers for him.
February 7, 2008: Frank tells Kevin that there's nothing more he can do and, when Kevin asks when he can expect a resolution, Frank says "hopefully sometime in 2008."
Charging for early access has started to become a regular practice in several AAA games, and the gaming community should not tolerate this.
Don’t uh… don’t pay for it then? 🤷♂️ It’s 3 days early, let people who can’t wait pony up to pay for early access. I’d hope people have more control over themselves if they don’t want to pay extra. I personally, do not see an issue with the option. If I’m hyped for a game and they give you early access, I’ll pay. If it’s something I can wait to play on “actual release” I won’t pay extra. It’s as simple as that.
Except your entirely mistaken if you think it's "early access"
Theyre just charging you extra to play it on release. So gullible.
"Theyre just charging you extra to play it on release. So gullible."
Not really.
In some cases, paying for early access will grant you access to play those games at the same time media outlets and reviewers are playing their copies.
Besides, it´s a single player game. It´s not like early access to MP competitive games like Battlefield which EA would grant a full week early access to those willing to pay; which gives a unfair advantage to those gamers and breaks the game´s balance.
are you playing it earlier than retail release?
If that’s the correct answer, how is it not early access?
It's not early access...it's playing on release...early access is when the game isn't finished and needs a little more time...you also get it months in advance.
Let's not get confused here..
You get access to the game before it goes live for people who purchased the standard version of the game... thus you are getting early access.
Nope...you get access to the game the day it goes live. Those who didn't pay extra are blocked from accessing it as a punishment for not paying full price
Microsoft has been doing premium edition early access for awhile(Forza and Starfield recently) ...so why is it an issue now when Ubisoft does it?
It can't be the gamepass excuse as Ubisoft has day one subscriptions as well.
I´ve paid for Starfield´s Premium Edition to get early access to the game, plus Shattered Space expansion.
I don´t regret my decision and I mighty pay for it again to get early access to Fable and TESVI.
@VincentVanBro yea like the kind of idiots who worry about how adults spend their money.
@crows do you understand what the word scam means? Choosing to pay more money to play a game before other people is not being scammed.
as long as people are paying for it, it will be a thing unfortunately.
the fear of missing out is ... huge. especially online.
I don’t think it’s about missing out. Think of it like a movie you’re hyped for. You can see it early if you pay extra or just wait until Friday when it officially releases.
It’s nothing more than that.
Nope. You're not seeing it early. Everyone else is seeing it late.
When a product releases to the public...that's the release date. If they company then chooses to block access to the product unless you pay extra...that's not early access...that's day 1 access.
@Crows90
No, there’s a public release date and an early release date. Just like with movies having early screenings and then public screenings.
They let the public know the release date and then give people an option to play early by paying more.
Huzaifah from eXputer: "Sleeping Dogs from the early 2010s is one of the best open-world games out there but in dire need of a resurgence."
You say "yet" as if it's even possible anymore. United Front Games is gone, along with anyone that made this game what it is
That’s what happens when games sell poorly. And I’ve seen people wonder why people cry when a game sells badly… this is your answer.
Majority of the time it's true but if a company/publisher is big (in terms of money), they can take a hit or 2. e.g. I am not worried about Rebirth sales as Square will make Remake 3 anyway but if FF 17 doesn't sell then Square might need to look for alternative. <-- my humble opinion
Oh okay, Activision owned True Crime, but when that didn’t sell as intended it was canceled. Six months later Square Enix bought the rights and changed the title to Sleeping Dogs.*
*As per Wikipedia
Sleeping Dogs was a sleeper hit back then. It was fantastic. It actually still is. Would love a sequel to this, or at least a revive of True Crime series.
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II was an intriguing and unique RTS title, that sadly suffered in its console port.
Was just thinking about this game and wishing I had a way to revisit it. The way EA scrubs these titles from existence once their licensing runs out is horrid.
Indeed. The game can still be played online on PC.
Xbox 360 players, though? Bang outta luck.
I thought the general rule of thumb for 360 owners were to simply go out and buy another system every time theirs broke. I have seen them all post here time and time again doing just that. So just go and re-buy your downloads again. Problem solved.
or,
You could INVEST in a system that is NOT fundamentally FLAWED which in turn flaws every other facet of the system. Short answer, go buy a PS3 and enjoy gaming.
He should write to Bill Gates.
damn. ill be sending mine in for repair as soon as the box they send arrives. i hope they dont pull this sh!t on me.
Sheesh.. this is even worse that most of us thought. I thought they could just refund you points, and you could repurchase. But I guess then some would misuse the system and just send the console back to get the same points back and just buy something else, send it back, get refunded, buy something else etc etc.
Difficult one to fix if the DRM depends on code in the XB360 itself. Removing dependency on the console itself would mean the content can get swapped - for example - I buy ten items, you buy ten items, and after a month we just swap hard disks and we both get double the value.
Now they are linked to the actual console - but with the RRoD you don't get the same console - hence the keys won't work.
This problem is a biggie - as MS has a simple painful choice. Give you points, and risk you doing the same thing and getting free replacement over a period of three years, getting new content every time. Or breaking the DRM. Both options suck. For them anyway. Just shows you - get things ready before you start selling it.
File a complaint with the BBB. That seems to get Microsofts attention