Microsoft revealed today that it was doing a complete 180 on its DRM and always online policies. This means no checking in with Microsoft’s servers every 24 hours and that you will be able play used games and borrowed games without restriction. This also means that you will be able to trade in your old games at places like GameStop and BestBuy. Also the system will be region free, meaning that import games will be playable on any system. This does a ton to help level the playing field between Microsoft and Sony when it comes to sales of their next generation consoles. This is also a testament to Microsoft for being able to admit that they were wrong and actually listen to their customer base, you also have to think that $$$ has a lot to do with it. This announcement may have done a lot to help level the playing ground, but the PS4 is still $100 cheaper than the Xbox One. I’m just glad to see that fans of either console will get what they want when it comes to their decisions.
Let us know what you think about what these new developments mean by leaving your thoughts in the comments section.
But you have to ask yourself… Were they “wrong”? I’m guessing your a hardcore XBOX gamer, and you thought your world was crashing down when you learned that you couldn’t borrow, trade, and sell your games. Logging in every 24 hours was going to kill your bandwidth, wasn’t it? The truth of the matter is that Microsoft was attempting at revolutionizing the video game market. They wanted to move towards a more digital consumption world that was completely legal. You would have been able to lend and sell your games (digitally) and in the end gained more of a return than what Disc Replay, Gamestop, or some other used disc retailer would offer you. The logging in ever 24 hours (which would take very little data) is only a small price to pay to keep people form borrowing and keeping games. You know… illegal things. When you get down to it, Microsoft’s PR dept. is just a failure. The world they were introducing was revolutionary, and in a year or two they will probably begin to implement the DRM slowly, and with a firmware update, change everything.