TheMovieCheese.net

So Microsoft have officially announced how games licensing will work. Click the link below to read the official statement:

(I strongly recommend you click the link before reading my post)

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license

On one hand, some of what they say sounds awesome and very promising, such as the ability to go round to your mate’s house and just play *your* games on *his/her* console simply by logging in. That’s brilliant.

However, A LOT of what they say sounds VERY worrying. Note how they say publishers “can choose” to enable you to trade in your game, and that “microsoft” does not charge a platform fee to do so? Does this mean Microsoft have created some sort of system whereby third party publishers can charge a small fee for traded games? Well if you keep reading, Microsoft very clearly state: “Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers.” – Now, as you all know, many publishers/developers are bastards (I’m looking at you, Electronic Arts) and as such, many of them would jump at the chance to charge their customers more money, or to just opt out of tradings all together. This must mean some sort of chip system will be put into place.

Also take not of the fact that you practically have to give up your right to play the game if you want to give it away. It’s clear to me that Microsoft’s main goal with the XBox One is the completely move into a digital era of gaming, whereby a large percentage of gamers are simply downloading their games as opposed to buying physical discs/media. This is fine, but in doing so, Microsoft are taking away your right to *own* what you’ve just paid £50+ for. Sure, this is something that has been around on PC games for years, but that doesn’t exactly make it any better just because it exists on another format. Also remember that most new PC games cost a measly £20, £30 at the most. I have a hard time believing that physical versions of XBox One games will be anything less that £50.

C|Net recently said:

Your Xbox One will have to connect to the Internet once a day or you won’t be able to play your games. So, apart from the inconvenience of not being able to play if your connection goes down for more than a day, it means Microsoft can at any time turn off its servers and the games you paid for won’t work. In 20 years, if you get your Xbox down from the loft to show your kids what you used to play with, it may well not work.

…and this really worries me. This essentially completely shortens the overall lifespan of the entire system and could reduce it to nothing but a black box of nothing. Oh well, at least it *is* built on PC architecture meaning you could possibly turn it into a half-decent PC if you knew how. Maybe.

The reason this worries me so much is that it essentially means that Microsoft is in complete control of your system. I’m not trying to be biased or a “fanboy” here, I’m just merely trying to show genuine concern for our legitimacy as consumers. If we pay around £400 for a console and £50 for each game, surely they should be ours? Maybe it’s just me being fucking retarded, I don’t know.

It’s such an astronomical shame because a lot about the XBox One really intrigues me. Sure, the name is horrible, and Kinect is nothing but an unwanted peripheral that will do nothing but add an unnecessary amount of money onto the overall price of the system…but hey, it’s a new XBox. It’s the first time Microsoft have had a Blu-ray capable system. The skype and television features looks excellent. It actually intrigues me that they have yet to announce a plethora of exclusive games (they MUST have something up their sleeves…surely). It’s just a shame that they’ve decided to take this very suspicious and worrying direction. E3 is just around the corner, and I’m actually dreading it…

So what are your thoughts on the privacy/trading issues surrounding the XBox One? Are you not really that bothered? Are you getting one anyway? (see what I did there?) Sound out with your thoughts below.