The Glade 4.0

I kind of wish all of the internet could not make another post about the Xbox One or the PS4 until release, and there was a very specific list of features. Cheaper games? That's speculation. There's no proof that locking down the platform would ever have resulted in cheaper games, in fact, based on DLC on PC being much cheaper than console (even though DLC is technically a locked platform), it never would have been. *PC Master Race*

Pretty sure he addressed that via Steam as his example. When EA releases Battlefield 4 to compete with Call of Doggies again they might be inclined to gain market share by selling it cheaper because they would know they could make money off it used if it followed the normal BF route of being sold back by gamers who wanted something a little more Call of Duty in an FPS.

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The cheaper games thing was actually part of Microsoft's intent, to be more Steam-like and provide games from $0.99 to $60.

Source? They have the ability right now to provide any 360 game via digital distribution at any price, and yet, they haven't come down much. You can still buy almost any cross platform game for cheaper on Steam. I still feel like it was just a move to curb piracy, and give everyone else nothing.

Steam is somewhere between 60 and 70% of all online video game distribution. This includes Origin, XBox Live Marketplace, iTunes, iOS App Store, and Google Play. Kaffis and I spent several hours discussing the Steam-like possibilities of the distribution and sharing model; we read several well-placed "leaks" at high traffic, smarter gaming sites (i.e. not IGN or GameSpot) and forums from MS Engineers that indicated a Steam-like plan.

I told you guys that the next XBox and Windows 8 were all about platform consolidation ages ago. Well, "we" just denied an attempt to modernize our beloved past-time, an attempt to make it portable between computer room and living room at a fundamentally wicked level.

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I was playing SWTOR last night, grouped with a guildmate doing his Makeb planet missions.

The combined age of the two of us is 123+ years old.

Does steam require you to be online to play the games you have installed on your computer (assuming they aren't MMO/Online Only)?

You're not going to see people setting up price differentials between distribution methods on the same hardware platform. It creates the notion (however unfounded) that their pricing is arbitrary rather than related to the quality of the product and cost of production.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

No. However, they do require you to toggle your account between online/offline -- if I've got a PC in offline mode, I cannot log into my account at another computer. This accomplishes the same goal.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

That varies from title to title and publisher to publisher. You can also only have one site authorized for launching titles at a time. If you change authorization sites, you'll have to re-authorize your home PC when you get back to it.

Microsoft was simply trying to make that process automatic for an always-connected household. It may have been a bad way to get the point across, but Microsoft assumed that the XBox One was for always connected environments. There were all sorts of whitepapers at E3 about continued 360 support and plans.

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With the growing availability of day-one AAA digital releases (at least on the PSN; not sure how they're coming along on Xbox Live, but I'd assume similarly), is the DRM thing really even much of a concern? If you still want the ability to fire up games from your system rather than pop in a disc, wouldn't you have just purchased it from the XBL store in the first place? It's not like you were saving any hard drive space in the first place; the Xbone was still going to require you to fully install each and every game.

This really only matters for people who A) think they'll resell their games and B) who actively want physical media. I'd assume with their clout, and given that this is obviously their preferred sales venue, Microsoft will be pushing publishers so heavily to allow day-one digital sales of the games (which publishers really want too) that virtually each and every game will see a day-one digital release.

You can log into another pc once you're in offline mode, my wife and I do this all the time to play the same game one of us owns.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Walmart, Target, <insert regional big box retailers here>, are likely the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. Gamestop isn't an issue. Secondary sales aren't an issue. Pricing agreements with big box retailers are an issue. Moving to a digital distribution model allows Microsoft to break those agreements and force developers to choose a platform. It puts Sony and Nintendo behind the 8-ball so to speak.

At $60 retail, a price-point Microsoft established based on dwindling demand for physical media and changes to the supply-chain and logistics required for day-one availability, Microsoft would have tied both of their competitors to a price-point their research and modeling did not support. Sony BALKED at $60 for a game. They balked hard, because the economists and finance guys were banking on $75. Remember, Sony's entire profit engine for the console is in the licensing fees to publish for the platform and First-Party Titles. Microsoft already has VASTLY superior monetization for its hardware and online infrastructure. Microsoft profits from 360s that don't sell games. Sony, on the other hand, is largely subsidizing BluRay players with the PS3. Sony's already behind, and forcing Microsoft to NOT push the industry for a cycle, benefits ONLY Sony.

And then there's the whole OS and API consolidation thing going on. This means your console, your tablets, your PC, your phone ... all access the same license for the same software for the same game. As someone whose computing device preference strays to the fruit store, I find your apparent (as in perceived by myself) hostility to Microsoft's attempts to create its own 'ecosystem' (I hate you all) mind-boggling.

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Wait...I'm legitimately confused here. If anything, I'm encouraging it (I...guess?). All I'm saying is that Microsoft can still foster its desired digital eco...er, sales outlet with little to no trouble, even after today's reversal.

As for accessing the same license across different platforms, isn't Steam already doing that with Sony?

First, I'm sorry if I've misread your position on Microsoft in this run-up to the "Console Wars." Your position has appeared decidedly Pro-Sony to me of late. Mind you, however, I am mindful of my own extreme dislike of Sony Computer Entertainment International's business practices and copyright shenanigans. And I might still be bitter about the 60GB PS3 fiasco.

I don't disagree at a basic level. Microsoft can provide some of the innovations we need, but they have a bigger end-game in mind (I suspect). If the platform is solely the PC, Microsoft can no longer win. Despite their best efforts, Gabe Newell owns the PC gaming ecosystem (for better or worse). If the platform is your entire digital gadget set though, which includes your PC, then Microsoft can force a sea-change. There are elements of Microsoft's publishing structure and desires that fell away during the 360's years of dominance.

Having to keep up with Sony (perceptually), meant Microsoft couldn't punt on **** it didn't want published. Even then, though, MOST XBLA games have a higher production quality requirement the PC Indie set. Unfortunately, Microsoft still can't court a few of the more effervescent Indie developers.
Somewhat, and that was largely made possible by Valve's latest proof-of-concept initiative: Steam on Linux. There's also some other stuff afoot there that challenges basic assumptions most large developers and publishing houses have going on in the United States and western-centric markets. To some degree, those of us in America should be extremely thankful for Japanese and Korean video game developers for keeping OpenGL relevant during the previous decade.

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I wonder if MS's plan all along was to claim they were going to do all this restrictive stuff to generate "no such thing as bad" press then look like heroes for not doing it. Lets face it they've generated a lot of discussion on this, so that the sites are talking about them and not Nintendo and Sony.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

No, Microsoft legitimately caved. Trust me, this is going to hurt sales and push more people to Sony. Go read the forums and blog posts and comments. Wagner is being called a shill by his fellow Gizmodo contributors. They're accusing him of taking money, in point of fact, in the comments.

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In the end this won't move the needle at all. Little Billy and little billy's friends are still going to want the new Xbox to replace the Xbox they have currently and guess what? Their parents will buy it for them. This would've happened with or without Microsoft folding their hand pre-flop.

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I'm not sure why this would push sales away from Microsoft, considering there are tons of people like me who didn't want the Kinect spying on them. This specifically includes military base commanders (in addition to the other problems with the Xbone that would have probably had it banned from bases or at least non-functional). MS can now sell to the military. How would you not win out of that?

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I don't want an XBox One at all now. It's a 0 value item at this point. I don't need another TV-locked, disc-bound, location dependent video gaming platform.

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That's pretty much the case. It's an amazing joke, now, and my fury at the Sony-driven and Sony-generated media backlash is that consoles now stagnate for another cycle while Microsoft plans an exit strategy and we go back to a Sony only world.

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I want to trade and resell my downloaded games, too. But yeah, that infographic otherwise represents a paradigm I'm okay with. I'm not sure whether Microsoft can convince the publishers to go with a two-tiered pricing structure and whatnot, though, so I fear that even if we communicate this message to Microsoft, we may have **** our chance to have the left column, now.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I'm totally cool with not trading/selling downloaded games. Part and parcel of the quicker, easier delivery (and theoretically lower price point).