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Major Nelson alludes to Xbox One games being playable long term

I dont think MS will shut down the servers without a firmware patch to stop the 24hr check in.

However, the games will be shit anyway because the magic thats the cloud gets blown away.
 
Did you expect him to come out and say, sure we'll shut the servers down as soon as the Xbonetwo releases? He has no idea what's gonna happen at that time. No one does, which is kind of the point.
 
Not good enough. The Xbox One needs to come with a guarantee - preferably a set date - when the authentication servers will be shut down, and the system patched to stop requiring them.
 
Translation: "stop asking so we can get your money now and you won't know the truth until it's too late."


Sorry Larry, I'm not buying the thing or any games until this question is answered. Saying the generation hasn't even started yet is a complete cop-out that tells me nothing. In fact, it makes me suspect that the actual answer is what I don't want to hear, or you'd just come out and give us the truth.
 
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
 
Even if they allow us to keep our games, ridiculous as it sounds, what about all the cloud features they are touting? Do you just have to play a gimped version of the game in the future?
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
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We all hope you're right(well, everybody except the haters who want it to fail), but the problem is that we haven't gotten any answers about this. Its an obvious question and they've so far avoided detailing anything about it.

Thats worrying.
 
that's not something we would do isn't very re-assuring as there could be big changes in staff by the end of the generation.
 
Seems like what a lot of Microsoft folks are saying is, in one way or another, "Trust us." Yeah, like they've earned any ounce of that trust so far.

They want people to buy the system and then they'll explain things better. No, it doesn't work that way. That's the anti-consumer way. The Microsoft way.
 
That's a whole lot of wishful thinking, I fear.

I seriously doubt they will be able or willing to support the XBone games after the generation. Servers cost money, and with the massive "cloud" push they have going on these servers will be rather costly to maintain. That is, if you believe the PR.

Even if you think it's just codswallop the fact remains that they have built an immensely intricate DRM system that would take a bit of money and man hours to neuter.

They are a business. That much at least is indisputable. Now why would they invest money and precious resources - just so that they could be able to spend even more money and resources on server maintenance, at zero profit for them? Out of the goodness of their collective hearts? Yeah. Not seeing it.

Plus, we have a prior incident of them just cutting off all access for the old gen system when the next generation came around. How's that Live on XBox 1 faring nowadays?
 
That's something we wouldn't do.
Except we did it before...
And we'll do it again...

MS and legacy support are two words that never go in the same sentence.
 
Is it really that unlikely that they would maintain the system for doing tiny online checks in perpetuity? Ending original Xbox Live was a whole different matter.
 
I’ll just say this: We haven’t even started this generation, so it’s kind of early to talk about the end of the generation. That’s certainly something we would not do. That’s not the way the system is designed. It’s designed for flexibility. But let’s get the system out there first.
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This is by far my #1 issue with the system.

And, No, it's not too early to talk about that.

Microsoft you have a history of shutting off your game servers. Can you still access the original Xbox Live, the original one before the 360? No. Do you also want to talk about the Halo 2 servers?

Mystery said:
Because Microsoft has never shut off a DRM-based service, denying all consumers the ability to retrieve or transfer their paid content before.
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Another example.

Sure I trust you Microsoft.
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
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You're trying to apply common sense to a company that won't let you play your own purchased games if you haven't report in after 24 hours
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
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But... if they don't patch the drm out... they can sell you the same games again...
 
One thing people didnt thinked...what if the generation after xbone there is going to be a new microsoft console with BC of xbone including digital games?
 
Don't worry I heard from a source that you will have an option to stream any old games available on Xbox One to your Xbox Two console, backwards compatibility via the cloud.

It will be revolutionary.
 
Right. MS has given us zero reasons to believe this will actually be the case, but let's take it on blind faith.

Hell, I don't even know if this console will be alive and kicking in three years, let alone the end of a generation. At the very least, a BC-ified Xbone would've showed Microsoft showing commitment towards the idea of protecting and preserving digital goods. But they didn't do that. Their funeral.
 
Major Nelson said pretty much exactly the same thing when Angry Joe asked this question, so I guess that's his talking point: something that people might take well, but it vague enough to not actually mean anything.
 
Wasn't Tolito supposed to have an 1on1? Was it canceled or is it available at Kotaku - couldn't find one at first glance...
 
The Omega Man said:
You're trying to apply common sense to a company that won't let you play your own purchased games if you haven't report in after 24 hours
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But that's a logical byproduct of trying to carve a purely digital experience out of a digital/retail hybrid industry. It's definitely a boneheaded move given the climate of the industry and our current technological threshold, but it's certainly not outside the realms of common sense for the type of platform they're trying to push their division into.
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
Click to expand...

That's one of the big problems with the Xbone though. They keep trumpeting that "everything is in the clouds, games are designed to take advantage of the clouds, etc". Well what happens when the next generation comes along, do they continue to support the XBone with clouds, do games even work the same without clouds?
 
Trust us, we won't let you play your games unless you check in because we don't trust you. We want to watch you and listen to you at all times to make sure that extra person isn't getting a game experience without paying for it. You can't sell something to someone else you don't know after you buy it, but we will let you keep playing your game that requires our servers to be active once we move from them.


Yea no thanks M$ you can go to hell.
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
Click to expand...

What financial incentive do Microsoft have to do this?

The only way Xbox one games will be playable in 15 years time or once the platform has stopped being supported, is via a streaming service in which you will have to rebuy them. Likewise for Sonys digital titles. Considering the rights involved, it will be a very limited selection of titles as well.

Even steam isn't safe.
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
Click to expand...
This company won't even let you play the games you paid good money for if you don't check in within 24 hours - what on earth makes you think they'll suddenly reverse course on these decisions?

After everything that has come out about this horrible console, I'm actually shocked that someone could give them the benefit of the doubt on anything at all.

He doesn't allude to anything in that interview. He deflects, then says 'let's get the system out'. ie 'Buy it and we'll see later'. He has no answers.
 
helium121 said:
Even if they allow us to keep our games, ridiculous as it sounds, what about all the cloud features they are touting? Do you just have to play a gimped version of the game in the future?
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EA can barely keep up the servers for there own games for 2 years. I doubt this cloud hosting is free. What if we have games unplayable 2-3 years from there release date?
 
If anyone wants to roll the dice on this they are welcome to.

As someone who still plays NES games on real hardware among other retro systems, I won't be. I simply don't trust them and won't buy a console that potentially means all my games become coasters 10-15 years from now.
 
If Microsoft is so concerned with doing the right thing they wouldn't have put the online check in place to begin with. They also wouldn't be demanding you use the Kinect.

They are all talk. They've got a bullshit excuse for everything.
 
I'm sure games that aren't connected will be playable once the Xbone is at the end of its life, if MS disables the 24 hr authentication.

What I'm worried about is single player always online games that rely on a server to be playable , since MS is pushing this "power of the cloud" bullshit quite a bit. I highly doubt those servers will be up 10-15 years from now.
 
Never forget: MSN Music

This was MS's first attempt at an iTune rival. An online music store, with DRM. When it failed to take off, MS shut down the service, and turned off the authentication servers. Meaning you could never re-authorise or transfer your paid for music.

Don't believe a fucking word when MS (or anyone else, for that matter, this isn't just a MS issue) say they won't turn of servers. Unless you have this in a written contract, the comments from PR chumps like MN are worthless, and go against actual events in his company's past.

Edit: beaten two times! Still, it's worth repeating every time long term access to Xbone games is mentioned.
 
Ollie Pooch said:
This company won't even let you play the games you paid good money for if you don't check in within 24 hours - what on earth makes you think they'll suddenly reverse course on these decisions?
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I am very sure that patching the Xbone in order to remove the 24h-check-in wouldn't be a big deal. However, I am less sure that they wouldn't try to resell games as "classic games" on the Xbones successor instead of patching the Xbone.
 
weekend_warrior said:
That's one of the big problems with the Xbone though. They keep trumpeting that "everything is in the clouds, games are designed to take advantage of the clouds, etc". Well what happens when the next generation comes along, do they continue to support the XBone with clouds, do games even work the same without clouds?
Click to expand...

Now that's a legitimate concern. But that's a different question all together. Although it's definitely not an issue exclusive to Microsoft, considering that games like Diablo III and Destiny are starting to have their experiences more and more integrated within the online space.
 
harSon said:
Anyone who thinks Xbox One games aren't going to be playable long term are delusional. They'll just patch the DRM out of the console once it gets to the point where they're no longer supporting the system. Using the original Xbox as an example of why they'll simply let the platform be unplayable in the distant future is completely misguided. There's a big difference between having to host servers for games with little to no active users, and allowing consumers to play the games that they've purchased 10-15 years down the line.
Click to expand...

Could you give me one example of a single company ever doing this?

DIVX didn't do it. Plays For Sure didn't do it. Real Rhapsody didn't do it.
 
ElTorro said:
I am very sure that patching the Xbone in order to remove the 24h-check-in wouldn't be a big deal. However, I am less sure that they wouldn't try to resell games as "classic games" on the Xbones successor instead of patching the Xbone.
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Yeah, the latter is far more likely. I wouldn't at all trust a company that is happy to keep your purchases locked down like someone on parole for the first few years of the system's life.

As for their 'cloud' claims - if you went offline for 23 hours a day, would that mean your game doesn't get any benefit from this nebulous 'cloud' stuff? Does the game work at all? Are there graphical downgrades? Is the 'cloud' just empty PR fluff to justify their DRM? Why is the messaging for this sytem so murky and confused?
 
weekend_warrior said:
That's one of the big problems with the Xbone though. They keep trumpeting that "everything is in the clouds, games are designed to take advantage of the clouds, etc". Well what happens when the next generation comes along, do they continue to support the XBone with clouds, do games even work the same without clouds?
Click to expand...

Technically, I don't think that that would be that much of a problem. On a cloud infrastructure, you don't have to assign resources to services permantly. You can pretty much do it on demand, meaning that they could keep the services running because the resources necessary for these services would scale down naturally with decreasing user demand.

However, services always need some sort of administration, even if it is only for fixing the occasional technical problems or porting them onto new OSs and environments. And I am not so sure that they would continue providing that.
 
Ollie Pooch said:
This company won't even let you play the games you paid good money for if you don't check in within 24 hours - what on earth makes you think they'll suddenly reverse course on these decisions?

After everything that has come out about this horrible console, I'm actually shocked that someone could give them the benefit of the doubt on anything at all.

He doesn't allude to anything in that interview. He deflects, then says 'let's get the system out'. ie 'Buy it and we'll see later'. He has no answers.
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"That's certainly something that we would not do."
"That's not the way the system is designed."
"The system is designed for flexibility."

Those quotes are a tad bit more profound than mere deflection. You can call them incomplete and open ended, but it's definitely not deflection.
 
Considering the Classic XBL servers are already down after being up for less than 10 years, I'm not holding my breath.
 
harSon said:
"That's certainly something that we would not do."
"That's not the way the system is designed."
"The system is designed for flexibility."

Those quotes are a tad bit more profound than mere deflection. You can call them incomplete and open ended, but it's definitely not deflection.
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It is deflection, because it's avoiding giving any straight answer at all.

Why not just say "That won't be happening", not the equivalent of "Buy the system and see".
 
Satchel said:
From Kotaku

They asked him about the concerns many of us have about the long term viability of our game library.



While its not quite official confirmation, it's good to know they're aware and will look into allowing us to use this thing well past its end cycle.

This was my only concern about the console, so its good to know it most likely won't be an issue.

lock if old. Search from phone wasn't great. Posting from phone so hopefully thread is ok.
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You're reading that with some rose colored glasses there buddy
 
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