Will Xbox One allow you to trade in and resell disc-based games? Yes…sort of, says Microsoft in its fresh “How Games Licensing Works on Xbox One“ explainer, before winding up like some star NFL kicker and punting the ball downfield.Before we proceed, give this a quick read — the relevant text:
Trade-in and resell your disc-based games: Today, some gamers choose to sell their old disc-based games back for cash and credit. 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.Give your games to friends: Xbox One is designed so game publishers can enable you to give your disc-based games to your friends. There are no fees charged as part of these transfers. There are two requirements: you can only give them to people who have been on your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once.In our role as a game publisher, 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. 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.
Continued-
http://techland.time.com/2013/06/07/microsofts-xbox-one-used-games-policies-are-clear-as-mud/
3 comments:
Not to mention:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/28/germany_privacy_chief_peter_schaar_calls_xbox_one_a_twisted_nightmare_for.html
Has no one read 1984. This is the most advanced telescreen ever. Its always on in standby mode unless you unplug it.
As for the game-swapping, a most bizarre development. At a time of ever-tightening copyright controls, a top gaming platform introduces file-sharing. I've never played a hacked game on an xbox, I have no idea if that is even possible. It's still super DRM-heavy, But, in the past, companies have been pressured to back out of heavily restricting their files so maybe its a positive step. Maybe they're just letting it happen because of how much money their making from mining the user data. You can only give the game once, maybe second-use doctrine is the bridge to total imposition of the first sale doctrine. An interesting sidenote, Apple has completely phased out the built-in disk drive in all models, most software is moving to downloading from the internet, only game consoles remain, and DVDs if you count those, certainly on the decline.
From Cory Doctorow (BoingBoing.net)
Microsoft does a 180 on DRM in the Xbox 360++
As the specifications for Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One have emerged, more and more gamers have expressed, forcefully, their dismay at the developing picture of a console that is totally built around DRM, taking away cherished customer rights like lending or selling their games. Microsoft has stubbornly refused to acknowledge that this might even be a problem (see their talking points memo for an example of the lengths the company was prepared to go to in order to dodge this question), but the pressure appears to have built to a breaking point. Yesterday, the company abruptly announced a complete 180' reversal from its rigid DRM commitment, such that the Xbox One will have about the same level of DRM as its predecessor, the Xbox 360 (which, it must be said, is DRMed up to the eyeballs).
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