Xbox One

[bp9801]

Per Microsoft's used game policy..  nice to see clarification but wow is that screwed up.

 

"We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers. Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games."

 

Good news.

 

 

"Microsoft Studios will enable you to give your games to friends or trade in your Xbox One games at participating retailers. Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers. Microsoft does not receive any compensation as part of this."

 

WTF news.

[Guest_Jim_*]

Per Microsoft's used game policy..  nice to see clarification but wow is that screwed up.

 

"We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers. Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games."

 

Good news.

 

 

"Microsoft Studios will enable you to give your games to friends or trade in your Xbox One games at participating retailers. Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers. Microsoft does not receive any compensation as part of this."

 

WTF news.

What I read is that Microsoft has crafted tools for publishers to take advantage of concerning used games, though Microsoft itself will not. This means that, say, Ubisoft can say, 'Go ahead and sell or trade in you Xbox One copy of AC4,' while EA can say, 'Go ahead, but when you buy that used copy, we get a cut of the profits.' While I am sure many people will be furious with this system, I actually like it, or at least have a respectful appreciation for it.

 

It is not a blanket system; publishers decide which means consumers will have the ability to boycott those publishers they disagree with. (Returning to the hypothetical above, people could boycott EA if they feel they have too great a fee for used games.)

 

Publishers getting additional funds this way has two effects; shutting them up about losing money from used games and getting them more money from good games. The latter can definitely have positive effects by increasing the budget or corporate interest in making a sequel. If they make money from the used games, then they will also have data on how many used games are sold, again helping them determine how much interest there would be in a sequel.

 

Really a continuation of the previous point is that smaller publishers will be able to get more money too.

 

Something else that could happen, though is not necessarily likely, is we could see publishers start controlling used game prices in consumer's favor. Those business terms with retailers could place a cap on how much a used game costs. Is that likely to happen? I don't know. It could be a way to earn get good press for a publisher though. Of course, the retailer could then manipulate supply (if not against the terms) to increase their profits. (Lets say Valve decides that HL3 used copies cannot be sold for more than $40, when the new price is $60. Well, a retailer may decide to hold the used copies, forcing people to buy a new copy, and possibly increasing the retailers revenue. If use of such a tactic were reported though, I think the backlash could be quite severe.)

 

This solution, in my opinion, rests in a good place between doing nothing, which publishers don't want, and going draconian, which consumers do not want.

[bp9801]

That's true Jim, but it could also mean that some publishers won't even bother with used titles. Microsoft is effectively washing its hands of the whole thing and going "you know what? publishers can decide whether or not to support used games since we can't decide."
 
Plus there's the whole "participating retailers" bit. Would that mean only a few retail stores are set up to even accept used titles? It's still really rather vague and doesn't say much of anything other than the Xbox One supports used games but it's up to the publishers to make that choice. Maybe Activision or EA decide to not even mess with used games. It's still an open ended statement, but hey, E3 is a few days away so maybe MS is being intentionally vague so people can get pissed off ahead of time.
 
 
Oh, and I forgot the best part:
 
"In addition, third party publishers can enable you to give games to friends. Loaning or renting games won't be available at launch, but we are exploring the possibilities with our partners."

 

So not only is MS letting publishers decide on used games, it's also letting the pubs decide on whether or not you can loan games to your friends. And then there's the loaning/renting aspect being unavailable at launch. I mean, what. 

[DanTheGamer11]

Odd somebody deleted the post about the used game policies, here it is since nobody posted it since yesterday.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/microsoft-details-xbox-one-privacy-used-games-policy/

 

------

 

" You do not own the games you buy. You license them.

 

Discs are only used to install and then license games and do not imply ownership.

 

People can play games installed on your console whether you're logged in or not.

 

10 people can be authorised to play these games on a different Xbox One via the cloud, but not at the same time, similar to iTunes authorised devices.

 

Publishers decide whether you can trade in your games and may charge for this.

 

Publishers decide whether you can give a game you own to someone for free, and this only works if they have been on your friends list for 30 days.

 

Your account allows you to play the games you license on any console.

 

Your Xbox One must connect to the internet every 24 hours to keep playing games.

 

When playing on another Xbox One with your account, this is reduced to one hour.

 

Live TV, Blu-ray and DVD movies are exempt from these internet requirements.

 

Loaning and renting games will not be possible at launch, but Microsoft is "exploring the possibilities".

 

Microsoft may change these policies or discontinue them at any point."

 

Courtesy of Eurogamer

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-07-microsoft-kills-game-ownership-and-expects-us-to-smile

Edited June 7, 2013 by DanTheGamer11

[bp9801]

Odd somebody deleted the post about the used game policies, here it is since nobody posted it since yesterday.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/microsoft-details-xbox-one-privacy-used-games-policy/

 

Looks like it was merged in with your previous post, so it didn't go anywhere.

[DanTheGamer11]

 

 

Odd somebody deleted the post about the used game policies, here it is since nobody posted it since yesterday.http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/microsoft-details-xbox-one-privacy-used-games-policy/

 

 

 

Looks like it was merged in with your previous post, so it didn't go anywhere.

I didn't ask for it to be merged, it was perfectly fine as it's own post since it's not related to the controller. Oh wells

[Black64]

The last time a bought a brand new game for a console was back in "05 when the Xbox 360 came out. I hate the $49.99 and $59.99 game prices. I buy every game used for under $20 for my PS3 and Xbox 360. Right now for PC I buy games on steam and when they are on sale, and I only pay $2-35 for most games. Very rarely will I even consider paying more then $35 for a game.

 

No used games = Big mistake.

[Guest_Jim_*]

The last time a bought a brand new game for a console was back in "05 when the Xbox 360 came out. I hate the $49.99 and $59.99 game prices. I buy every game used for under $20 for my PS3 and Xbox 360. Right now for PC I buy games on steam and when they are on sale, and I only pay $2-35 for most games. Very rarely will I even consider paying more then $35 for a game.

 

No used games = Big mistake.

Well, considering that there will be used games for the Xbox One, it looks like Microsoft has not made a big mistake.

[ClayMeow]

That's true Jim, but it could also mean that some publishers won't even bother with used titles. Microsoft is effectively washing its hands of the whole thing and going "you know what? publishers can decide whether or not to support used games since we can't decide."

 

Plus there's the whole "participating retailers" bit. Would that mean only a few retail stores are set up to even accept used titles? It's still really rather vague and doesn't say much of anything other than the Xbox One supports used games but it's up to the publishers to make that choice. Maybe Activision or EA decide to not even mess with used games. It's still an open ended statement, but hey, E3 is a few days away so maybe MS is being intentionally vague so people can get pissed off ahead of time.

 

 

Oh, and I forgot the best part:

 

"In addition, third party publishers can enable you to give games to friends. Loaning or renting games won't be available at launch, but we are exploring the possibilities with our partners."

 

So not only is MS letting publishers decide on used games, it's also letting the pubs decide on whether or not you can loan games to your friends. And then there's the loaning/renting aspect being unavailable at launch. I mean, what. 

I'm with Jim on this...I think this is actually a smart move on Microsoft's part. They appease the publishers and wash their hands of it from the consumer perspective. From a business standpoint, it's a win-win.

 

Why shouldn't it come down to the publishers? That's how it's been on the PC for years - publishers dictate everything...DRM, always-on, number of installs, etc. With previous console generations, those things were always dictated by the console manufacturer. To me, MS is "opening it up" in a sense so it's more "free" like the PC. I think this is actually one of the few things MS is doing right with the XBOne and I do applaud them for that.

[_TheAlexO]

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I thought this was a nice write-up http://www.pcgamesn.com/why-your-next-generation-console-should-be-pc

[rivalary]

I disagree with Jim and Clay, it was actually one thing that made me wish I was a console gamer, that there were standards.  I hate the different DRM schemes that are present on PC games.  Steam is DRM, but if I buy all of my games on Steam, I know what to expect.  Now consoles are going to have the same negatives with none of the positives of PC gaming?  No thanks.

Edited June 7, 2013 by rivalary

[WarWeeny]

used games are nice but why the imense hassle around this topic is beyond me :S

if you like a game that is released recently then you can expect to pay the full price for it, if you like it but dont like to pay full price, wait when it is on sale.

 

 

its not that hard :/