My thread got
closed... I'm assuming because the mods thought it was too close of a duplicate to this thread. I don't know. Still I'd like to give people a better chance to read my thoughts relating to this announcement so I'll post them here. If this is violating some sort of GAF policy, please can someone let me know?
My thoughts were specifically regarding:
'Owning' your Xbox One Games, taking into account their latest information brief as detailed in the link provided by this OP.
My view was tailored for those of us who see games not just as a disposable or transient experience but who collect and perhaps re-visit those games many years, even decades after their orginal release. With Microsoft recently confirming many details of how they are going to apporach Licensing and Connectivity Features, we can now disect and predict with a greater degree of accuracy how they might allow the playing of Xbox One games, both now and well into the future.
Firstly lets examine some of the key points from Microsoft's new Official announcement:
With Xbox One you can game offline for up to 24 hours on your primary console, or one hour if you are logged on to a separate console accessing your library. Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies.
http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/connected
From this point we can see that the ability to play your Xbox One games is tied directly to the ability of your Xbox One to connect and communicate with the Xbox One Online servers. Hence after 24 hours if there are no servers... your games will not work. Again your entire game collection is only playable while Microsoft allow you to play them. This is a mechanism Microsoft have complete control over.
Various reasons exist why servers for multi-player games are eventually shut down. These include cost, lack of players and the need to encourage remaining players to role-over or buy into the latest product. For Xbox One - Every game, be it Single player or Multi-player, now require an online connection to 'check-in'. Microsoft have not and are unlikely to say that they will maintain this 'check-in' service indefinitely.
Then there is this:
Access your entire games library from any Xbox Oneno discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud.
http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/connected
As stated above, one of the primary reasons why support for older games get cut, is cost versus return. As the Xbox One ages and Microsoft eventually turns to its successor, certain questions arise. Specifically how long will it be viable for Microsoft to hold potentially hundreds if not thousands of digital copies of games in the cloud, which data I assume would need to be duplicated across multiple servers in different regions to maintain reasonable speeds. Remembering that their focus will be to shift resources towards their Xbox One successor. Clouds are a great idea but they need to be powered and have a considerable expense attached. Considering the modern game can run into tens of gigabytes, it seems not a matter of if, but when those clouds services will need to be put to more profitable uses.
Also there is this:
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.
http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license
The key words in the quote above are 'opt in or out' and 'terms'. From this we can safely assume there will be a detailed EULA (End User License Agreement) attached to all Xbox One software. In terms of collecting older classics for the system that may end up being out of production, options may be limited or non-existent depending on what the publisher chose back in the day. To achieve the resale of games as stated, it is assumed this process will have to use either electronic or software based DRM. Either way, there will be costs associated with such a system, including implementing, accessing, maintaining, and expanding or adding to such a system. Yes even if its database driven.
The bottom line is, these costs will need to be recovered not just while the system is popular and in use, but into the future when support for the device slows or comes to a halt. If the DRM system that supports the resale or purchase of these games is closed down, how then do you acquire rare or earlier games that are no longer in production.