Microsoft surprised by 'how negative' reaction was to Xbox One DRM

4.8
Microsoft's director of product planning Albert Penello says the firm expected controversy over its original always-online Xbox One pitch, but was surprised by "how negative" the reaction was.

"If I had to go back and wish that I could rewind time and redo one thing, that would be the one thing," he told Rev3Games, admitting flaws in the firm's messaging.

"I think with time, people have understood what we were trying to do, and in fact I'm sure you've seen it with the fans. They were saying, 'God, I wish some of this stuff would come back'," he said, likely in reference to the axed Family Sharing plan that would have allowed gamers to share all their games, digital or retail, with friends.

"People got in their minds that what we were trying to do was evil or anti-customer when, in fact, we were looking at what Steam does, we were looking at what iOS is going, we were looking where the customers were going and saying 'I think we can actually give you a better all-digital experience."

"So was I surprised that people had a reaction to it? No. I mean, we knew it was going to be a controversial decision. Was I surprised how negative the reaction was going to be? Yes," said Penello.

"We were surprised at how vocal it was, we were surprised at the reaction and the assumptions that people had about what we were trying to do. So we did the famous '180'."

But Penello insists that an all-digital future is imminent. "Nobody debates there's going to be a world, whether it's this gen, or next-gen, that discs are going to go away, it's gone away in just about every medium," he said.

"I think if anything we thought it was going to happen sooner than the customer. We took a hard stance on it.

"I hope that in some point in the future some of those cool features - some of the Family Sharing, the household sharing stuff, the games are always with you - we want to bring that stuff back."

Posted:
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/428147/ms-surprised-by-how-negative-reaction-was-to-xbox-one-drm/

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"Microsoft surprised by 'how negative' reaction was to Xbox One DRM" :: Login/Create an Account :: 128 comments

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ZigsPosted:

Dr-Ponyfile
TTGxExecutive @Dr-Ponyfile I don't think I'm going to use the Kinect much after I get the console either. I play a lot of shooter games and racing games so the Kinect really has no connection with those at the moment that I know of. So you would buy option 1 of the Xbox One. (If you read the entire pyramid, you would understand what I mean ;) )


I will quote this one haha, And yes I would choose option 1 as I like to have both options open to me at any one time I was reading the other news the Microsoft Illumiroom looks awesome if only they would capitalize on that that would be awesome but they said it was too expensive I don't mind splashing the cash out on something like that imagine if you have friends over that would be awesome.



Yeah I saw that earlier. That would be really cool for shooter games but It's Too Expensive Apparently. I wander how much it actually costs. I don't think it said it in the post

Dr-PonyfilePosted:

@DavidDo0m I am not saying that the Kinect is useless in every aspect. What I was trying to say was not a lot of poeple have embrassed the Kinect Sensor and whats the point in having to pay the extra whatever amount for the sensor and only using it once disconnecting it and letting it gather dust I udnerstand that this is an option that people have chose not to use the kinect but I still think there should be an option where you can buy the console without the Kinect and save yourself some money, but they can't as Microsoft claim it is an Important part of the infrastructure.

Dr-PonyfilePosted:

TTGxExecutive @Dr-Ponyfile I don't think I'm going to use the Kinect much after I get the console either. I play a lot of shooter games and racing games so the Kinect really has no connection with those at the moment that I know of. So you would buy option 1 of the Xbox One. (If you read the entire pyramid, you would understand what I mean ;) )


I will quote this one haha, And yes I would choose option 1 as I like to have both options open to me at any one time I was reading the other news the Microsoft Illumiroom looks awesome if only they would capitalize on that that would be awesome but they said it was too expensive I don't mind splashing the cash out on something like that imagine if you have friends over that would be awesome.

DavidDo0MPosted:

Dr-Ponyfile
Scared_of_Water
DavidDo0M
Dr-J
daRealRush
-Mark I think they should of done a better job at explaining it. They never really gave detailed answers which caused confusions and people to exaggerate the terms.

I think it would of been accepted by the community if they would of flat out said the terms of use for the DRM policy.



I think that was the problem, when they was explaining how the DRM was, it really confused me, and a bunch of my friends. If maybe, they explained it better, than the DRM would still be here!


Besides that, the kinect always being on was a big problem to a lot of people. That would have had to go.


It all seemed rather simple to me. First of all, it was NEVER always on. It simply required a daily connection. That was required to keep people from robbing them blind through Family Sharing. Also, they NEVER said the Kinect was required for the X1 to be operational. That was another case of misunderstanding. It was NEVER required that the Kinect stay connected. They said it was necessary for initial set up and that it was required that you buy it, as it is part of the bundle. They didn't come back and change that policy. They merely clarified it since so many people, gaming sites included, had misinterpreted the message. I'll admit that Microsoft "screwed the pooch" in their attempt to convey their policies, making it confusing to those incapable of complex thought process or understanding. However, I stand firm behind my belief that none of their initial policies needed to be changed.


I see someone else took note on them never saying the kinects always had to be connected


As DavidDo0m stated misinterpretation of announcing the kinect may have cost Microsoft Billions if they did not do the famous '180' shall I say, but a lot of people don't like the kinect anyways and the argument is why sell something for instance the Kinect use it once to set up the Xbox One, and then put it away and never use it again costing an extra 100. Why can't they sell it without the kinect if it is so called "Required" for the X1 to function properly ?.


I questioned the inclusion of the Kinect myself until Microsoft clarified the reasoning behind it. Now, I agree with them on it. They want more developers to utilize all the nifty little tricks that Kinect offers, such as "leaning from behind cover" in CoD, voice controls, you have to be quiet or the zombies will hear you and come after you in Dead Rising 3. Neat little gimmicks that draw you in, make you say "wow, that's neat" and make the game feel more immersive. Some studios were utilizing Kinect, but most were not. However, by making the Kinect inclusive, it is more likely that developers will beginning factoring in the Kinect's capabilities since they now KNOW FOR A FACT that every Xbox One owner does, indeed, own a Kinect.

ZigsPosted:

@Dr-Ponyfile I don't think I'm going to use the Kinect much after I get the console either. I play a lot of shooter games and racing games so the Kinect really has no connection with those at the moment that I know of. So you would buy option 1 of the Xbox One. (If you read the entire pyramid, you would understand what I mean ;) )

Dr-JPosted:

Dr-Ponyfile @TTGxExecutive I can see where you are coming from the console would be cheap the point I was trying to point out with my last post is why if the kinect is definatley required for the X1 to function which is True Microsoft stated this. Why do we only need to use it once and then disconnect it and never use it again that is just nonsense and wastes money you idea with no disc tray I would always buy one with a drive personally for the fact I have Blu Ray discs and I love to watch movies in clear quality and sound with my system but the fact of the console only being around 100 USD if they just sold parts that would be interesting to see if it ever did go ahead.


Yea I guess, I'm just happy that's it's all together in one drive now. Games and movies. I don't care about anything else

Dr-PonyfilePosted:

@TTGxExecutive I can see where you are coming from the console would be cheap the point I was trying to point out with my last post is why if the kinect is definatley required for the X1 to function which is True Microsoft stated this. Why do we only need to use it once and then disconnect it and never use it again that is just nonsense and wastes money you idea with no disc tray I would always buy one with a drive personally for the fact I have Blu Ray discs and I love to watch movies in clear quality and sound with my system but the fact of the console only being around 100 USD if they just sold parts that would be interesting to see if it ever did go ahead.

ZigsPosted:

Dr-Ponyfile
Scared_of_Water
DavidDo0M
Dr-J
daRealRush
-Mark I think they should of done a better job at explaining it. They never really gave detailed answers which caused confusions and people to exaggerate the terms.

I think it would of been accepted by the community if they would of flat out said the terms of use for the DRM policy.


I think that was the problem, when they was explaining how the DRM was, it really confused me, and a bunch of my friends. If maybe, they explained it better, than the DRM would still be here!


Besides that, the kinect always being on was a big problem to a lot of people. That would have had to go.


It all seemed rather simple to me. First of all, it was NEVER always on. It simply required a daily connection. That was required to keep people from robbing them blind through Family Sharing. Also, they NEVER said the Kinect was required for the X1 to be operational. That was another case of misunderstanding. It was NEVER required that the Kinect stay connected. They said it was necessary for initial set up and that it was required that you buy it, as it is part of the bundle. They didn't come back and change that policy. They merely clarified it since so many people, gaming sites included, had misinterpreted the message. I'll admit that Microsoft "screwed the pooch" in their attempt to convey their policies, making it confusing to those incapable of complex thought process or understanding. However, I stand firm behind my belief that none of their initial policies needed to be changed.


I see someone else took note on them never saying the kinects always had to be connected


As DavidDo0m stated misinterpretation of announcing the kinect may have cost Microsoft Billions if they did not do the famous '180' shall I say, but a lot of people don't like the kinect anyways and the argument is why sell something for instance the Kinect use it once to set up the Xbox One, and then put it away and never use it again costing an extra 100. Why can't they sell it without the kinect if it is so called "Required" for the X1 to function properly ?.


If you they the console come with no Kinect and no blu ray/disk drive, the cost of a console could easily be around $100. They should sell things seperate like I suggested with the disk drive.

Dr-PonyfilePosted:

Scared_of_Water
DavidDo0M
Dr-J
daRealRush
-Mark I think they should of done a better job at explaining it. They never really gave detailed answers which caused confusions and people to exaggerate the terms.

I think it would of been accepted by the community if they would of flat out said the terms of use for the DRM policy.


I think that was the problem, when they was explaining how the DRM was, it really confused me, and a bunch of my friends. If maybe, they explained it better, than the DRM would still be here!


Besides that, the kinect always being on was a big problem to a lot of people. That would have had to go.


It all seemed rather simple to me. First of all, it was NEVER always on. It simply required a daily connection. That was required to keep people from robbing them blind through Family Sharing. Also, they NEVER said the Kinect was required for the X1 to be operational. That was another case of misunderstanding. It was NEVER required that the Kinect stay connected. They said it was necessary for initial set up and that it was required that you buy it, as it is part of the bundle. They didn't come back and change that policy. They merely clarified it since so many people, gaming sites included, had misinterpreted the message. I'll admit that Microsoft "screwed the pooch" in their attempt to convey their policies, making it confusing to those incapable of complex thought process or understanding. However, I stand firm behind my belief that none of their initial policies needed to be changed.


I see someone else took note on them never saying the kinects always had to be connected


As DavidDo0m stated misinterpretation of announcing the kinect may have cost Microsoft Billions if they did not do the famous '180' shall I say, but a lot of people don't like the kinect anyways and the argument is why sell something for instance the Kinect use it once to set up the Xbox One, and then put it away and never use it again costing an extra 100. Why can't they sell it without the kinect if it is so called "Required" for the X1 to function properly ?.

Scared_of_WaterPosted:

DavidDo0M
Dr-J
daRealRush
-Mark I think they should of done a better job at explaining it. They never really gave detailed answers which caused confusions and people to exaggerate the terms.

I think it would of been accepted by the community if they would of flat out said the terms of use for the DRM policy.


I think that was the problem, when they was explaining how the DRM was, it really confused me, and a bunch of my friends. If maybe, they explained it better, than the DRM would still be here!


Besides that, the kinect always being on was a big problem to a lot of people. That would have had to go.


It all seemed rather simple to me. First of all, it was NEVER always on. It simply required a daily connection. That was required to keep people from robbing them blind through Family Sharing. Also, they NEVER said the Kinect was required for the X1 to be operational. That was another case of misunderstanding. It was NEVER required that the Kinect stay connected. They said it was necessary for initial set up and that it was required that you buy it, as it is part of the bundle. They didn't come back and change that policy. They merely clarified it since so many people, gaming sites included, had misinterpreted the message. I'll admit that Microsoft "screwed the pooch" in their attempt to convey their policies, making it confusing to those incapable of complex thought process or understanding. However, I stand firm behind my belief that none of their initial policies needed to be changed.


I see someone else took note on them never saying the kinects always had to be connected


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