PS4 and Xbox One: Just how strict is the DRM?

Grant Brunner: This has been an interesting year for gaming consoles. Both the PS4 and Xbox One were announced to huge fanfare, but it wasn’t polygons or frame rates that attracted the most attention. Instead, DRM has been the biggest point of contention leading up to the launch of the next-gen hardware. Microsoft came out strongly in favor of an all-digital future, but ended up being sent home with its tail between its legs. Now we’re in something of a holding pattern, one that likely isn’t going to change any time soon.

[P0werVR]

One far fetched comment I've come across so far, is that it would prevent us from playing games...AT ALL!

[malokevi]

So strict that I don't give a rats ass.

[TomShoe]

Some people...

[malokevi]

are super duper? I agree!

[Kingthrash360]

my #1 problem:
if i BUY something i should be able to do anything i want with it.
example..i buy a chicken nugget sandwich salad. i only eat half and i feel its the best dam salad ever created. i should be able to share it with my girl or throw it in her face or trade it with her for her taco (giggity). na mean i gave you my money and its mine to do what i please with it.

[Blaze929]

"if i BUY something i should be able to do anything i want with it. "

sounds like a real..immature way to think.

[Kingthrash360]

really....explain. i mean hows that immature?
i work really hard for my money. i think it's mature to spend it wisely. to spend $60 on a game and $500 on a console i dont want to be told what to do with it... if i want to lend my game i should be able to. if i want to give it away i should be able too. if i want to microwave it and sell it on ebay... i should be able to. im not saying i would but im saying if i wanted to i could. because its mine...is this really a topic? whats so hard to understand? im not telling them what to do with the money i gave them...drm on consoles is wrong on so many levels.

[Blaze929]

I guess because the idea of that seems like something you snap out of once you grow up and realize the real world.

We should be able to do a lot of things with the stuff we buy with our money. But obviously life aint like that.

If i buy a gun, should i be able to shoot you? If I buy a PS3, should i be able to play pirated games on it?

Some things just have rules that come with them when we buy it, and DRM is a perfect example of them reminded us, you really only paid to have it..not do what you want with it.

[Imalwaysright]

Really? Comparing buying a game and wanting to play it when I feel like it without restrictions, to killing someone with a gun? The same with piracy which is a crime? Good lord the arguments people come up with to defend DRM are getting more and more ridiculous.

[Narutone66]

I don't approve of all the DRM being implemented, but if you agreed to the EULA, then you can't do anything about it. That's the fact of life. Regarding the comparison, in my opinion, it's a different situation. An example is, if you bought a dog, it's yours, but you can't do everything you like to do with it. You can take care of it, but you can't abuse the dog and kill it if you want to. You could go to jail for doing that.

[Blaze929]

@Imalwaysright

where in that post did i defend DRM even once? Narutone66 seems to have understood it:

"you can't do anything about it. That's the fact of life."

plain and simple. That's why I said, "if i BUY something i should be able to do anything i want with it. " sounds childish - because I don't know many adults who think like that to be honest.

[Imalwaysright]

Fact of life? Can't do anything about it? Have you been sleeping under a rock? Take a look at the Xbox brand recent history.

As for EULA's, companies like MS or Sony can put whathever they want in them but...

http://www.destructoid.com/...

We as consumers have to fight for what we belive our rights are and if I'm immature for believing so, then so be it.

[Kingthrash360]

blaze...really? guns? really....is that where you went? c'mon man we talkin games here. u wanna compare something similar like say movies? pirated and watchable on consoles...how about music cd's you can acually copy them and share them thru a ps3 quite easly. pirating is all bad but wheres drm for movies?music? some movies have a loss higher than games they are pirated way more and movies cost more to make..no drm tho. why? flippin obvious why. customers wouldnt buy restricted movies...lil timmy can't borrow lil roberts toy story 6 because his dvd player has drm and only can be viewed on his dvd...ect.

smh guns....and fact of life is people buy guns to shoot people or hunt or whatever else they do....i hear you dont need a 9mm for hunting....a 9mm is for "protecting your family" from...i dunno the boogieman. guns make no sense to me outside of hunting. i live in longbeach so no hunting out here lotta guns tho...O.o

[rainslacker]

Here's a lesson in real life Blaze.

Sure there is an EULA that everyone agrees to, thus making the game not really ours to do with whatever we wish. However, the reality of the situation is that companies want to keep selling us their games. The reality is, that if the consumer becomes disillusioned, they will stop buying games. The reality is, that companies know that there is little they can do to force overly restrictive DRM on us, without risking the backlash from the community which will ultimately lead to fewer sales.

That is exactly what happened with the X1's DRM, and that is the reality of life. Our money speaks louder than whatever reality these companies want us to live in.

I swear some of you need to grow some balls and grow up. Stop accepting everything as a forgone conclusion and act like consumers. Stand up for what it is you want, and not what these companies want. If they can't deliver, I guarantee you someone else will. You don't have to look more than a few months back to see this happening in real time. Unfortunately, this doesn't fit into your happy fallacy of the XBox reigning supreme.

I swear to God, at what point before this became a console war talking point has anyone ever believed that DRM was a good thing? Never, and that is a reality that's lasted for the past 20 years. So good job MS, you've succeeded where everyone one else has failed by making restrictive DRM acceptable.

[Volkama]

I know right? If I buy a $60 game it's mine, of course I should be able to copy it and give it to whoever I want!

Or maybe digital media and lunch are not entirely the same thing.

[Kingthrash360]

i never said copy....did i "copy" my chicken nugget salad or did i "share" it...dam xbots are losing all common sense...main guys pirating i guess. guilt?

[Volkama]

Well what you said was "if i BUY something i should be able to do anything i want with it". You then used lunch as an example.

The distinction between lunch and digital media needs to be acknowledged before you can really discuss things like DRM.

Xbot doesn't really seem appropriate to the conversation at all, but I wont bother explaining that for you :|

[rainslacker]

He actually can copy it. He can also give that copy away to someone else. That person however, does not have the right to use that copy. He could copy it and use it as a backup. He could copy it, give the copy, and the original copy to someone else, and then they would have the right to play it, or the copy.

Problem with discussions like these is that people make everything too black and white. There are many gray areas when it comes to licensing and copyrights.

They also take things a little too literally, although Volkama did specifically say copy in this instance, which would be considered piracy if you gave it to someone else, which is illegal if that person actually played the disc without having the original content.

[yellowgerbil]

the day that I no longer own my games is the day I stop supporting the gaming industry. The great thing about the NES is I can still enjoy it and Mario 3 is just as fun as it was 20yrs ago.

[DxTrixterz]

As long as I can just put in a disc game into console at whatever time I wish and as many times (just like now with PS3 and Xbox 360) without paying or not simply being able to just play it because somebody else before me who BROUGHT that game before me LEGALLY at full RETAIL PRICE I do not care about about any other DRM. I just want to take disc out of that case. put it into console and play. Is that really hard? Why do all companies try to make this basic operation so complicated? I'm cool with digital DRM (steam is amazing) but please for the love of god make DRM as far as possible from physical.

[TheSaint]

Why does no other entertainment medium employ DRM? What makes games so special??

It's BS.

[EXVirtual]

That's exactly what I'm saying. But some people think digital distribution should completely take over, because of either Steam or some other delusion.

[Pro_TactX]

What do you mean no other entertainment medium has DRM?

Movies: Check
Digital books: Check
Digital Magazines: Check
Music: Check

Every other form of medium has some form of DRM. It may be easy to circumvent, but it is there.

[rainslacker]

They have forms of copy protection. I believe Jimi is referring to physical media. Almost all digital content has ownership DRM. Some people are fine with it because it offers a convenience that they enjoy. The price is right for them, etc, etc. But many people still like the ownership of physical content of all types, and don't want to see it restricted like DD content is.

There's a distinct difference between copy protection and license restrictions.

Example:
Copy Protection.
Movies(DVD/Blu-Ray): Special encryption on the disc which make it so copied discs don't play, or don't play as they were originally intended. Also things that prevent transfers by altering the signal.

These are both copy protection, as if you have the original disc you can use it as an original disc.

License Restrictions
PS3/360 game. For the most part you can go and do whatever you want with the game once you own it. Play it, trade it, share it. You may be restricted from online play, as that is actually a separate license...one that comes with the original purchase of the disc in some cases.

What MS tried with X1:
Licensing restrictions were so great that you could pretty much just play the game. If you wanted to trade it you had to pay a fee. That fee forced the license to a single buyer unless someone brought out the license, or the purchaser paid to have it transferred.

So, while you owned the game(license), you weren't really free to do with it as you wish.

Sometimes it's good to step back in this argument and use the term "Do with it as you wish" in a less literal sense. Too many people are making up scenarios that make no sense to try and prove their point, and it really isn't necessary. If people like those restrictions, fine, but it's apparent that many people don't.

[MrDead]

I think it's ok to share and trade a physical copy of a game but when it comes to digital versions it’s a little more difficult. Can you imagine if you were able to share downloaded titles with people on your friends list on PSN, Steam or Live it would end up like Pirate Bay, one person buying a game and everyone else getting it for free? Having to sign it to the owners account to play these titles helps stop things spiralling out of control.

[Bladesfist]

Steam has this feature already, but there are a load of restrictions to make sure it does not get out of hand.