I’m so sick of the “gaming” industry. I plan to play my NES and skip all this headache until the industry gets the proper business models figured out. (Hint: Pay attention to what Amazon is doing.)
I have a hard enough time paying for bits and bytes without a physical media copy as it is, so aesthetically offensive DRM schemes that try to turn software into a physical object just kill the value proposition for me. I might buy a Wii, but I’ll never buy an Xbox 360 or PS3. I don’t need or want my game console jacked into the interwebs.
And, by re-purchasing those songs, you’ve told Microsoft that you’re perfectly content with their DRM and they should continue the same practices. If you have an issue with what they’re doing, vote with your wallet.
“iTunes is great. Beg your pardon? I can’t play the music I buy on my car radio? Oh! Then thanks but no, thanks.”
Excuse me but not only does iTunes sell DRM-free music (called iTunes Plus) but you can also burn CDs of your music whether it has DRM or not. And they play on your radio. Or anything else with a CD drive.
I’ve recently sent an Xbox to my army brother in Afghanistan - should he be registering a profile or his hardware, and would either affect him adversely when he brings it back to the States?
I can personally confirm to all the people here that it is tied to the 360, not the hard drive. I never noticed it at first either, after my first replacement console, until one day our internet connection went down… and when I started Geometry Wars it was in trial mode.
Ultimately, though, I think that’s a testament to how good Microsoft’s DRM is. It still sucks, but as far as DRM goes it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s servicable.
One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t actually need to be using the content, you just need to have your account be logged in. Might prove a problem with Rock Band if 4 people are playing and none of them are you, but otherwise it shouldn’t be hard to just have people using your box sign you in and just not use that controller.
Also, you may have been a bit hasty in your repurchase of songs (and can I just say… WOW. $100? That’s pretty hardcore, man). I’ve heard that if you bug Microsoft enough they’ll invalidate your old copies and reissue you points to buy them again, although that was in the case of replaced consoles, so they may not do it for you.
When companies try to force consumers down a given road, that’s when you should start up the road-making equipment and go for the joy of forcing YOUR equipment to do as YOU please.
In other words, hack your iphone, ps, xbox, mobile phone, etc. Don’t take the crap you’re offered, make things work for YOU not the big corporations.
“I have nobody to blame but myself, I suppose. DRM sucks, but it’s unavoidable and arguably the future, in the form of ubiquitious consumer devices like the Xbox 360 and iPhone.”
This is such a cop-out. The future is screwing over the companies that screw over users. The very least you can do is try to resist.
DRM is the reason why almost every owner of XBox 360 and PS3 in Singapore plays only pirated games on modded consoles. Even players who are willing to shell out bucks for legitimate PC games got turned off by draconian content-protection measures.
They won’t admit it, but the reason why MS and Sony can even sell a single console here is because it is possible to (illegally) mod them. Ironic. DRM is allowing piracy to proliferate.
Personally, I only buy music on physical medium without DRM, eg. plain audio CDs.
Jeff, as an alternative to buying the Xbox wireless adapter, I would suggest buying a Linksys WRT54-GL router and using it in wireless bridge mode. I hooked up two of these devices (one in bridge mode and one as an AP) and serve all of my entertainment center with internet access at once.
All you have to do is download one of the many excellent third-party firmwares.
I suggest either tomato or dd-wrt, they both can support a router in wireless bridge mode.
Why not use a Steam like system as used by Valve. It wouldn’t solve all the problems but it definitely is an improvement. You still have to login and validate your account to use the content, but in my opinion it’s still orders of magnitude better than to pay twice for the content.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet or not, but I’ve played Half-Life games from about 8 different computers by now, and only had to purchase them once.
Anywhere I go, as long as I can connect to the internet, I can play any game I want that I purchased through Steam. Granted I have to either have the disk I bought from the store, or just download the game, but still, I can download it 100 times a day if I want to 100 different computers, and as long as I login with my account I can play it. However, only one computer can play a game at a time. I think Steam has gotten it right.
DRM is an ignored “feature” until your wallet gets stung. Then there’s a “never again” experience. People don’t listen or pay attention ahead of time, but you cost them $100+ for no apparent reason and you have their attention. This “feature” won’t last forever, because consumers will begin avoiding those products. Only products with a unique experience will be able to get away with it. Even then DRM will keep some from buying. Right now, the numbers look great. Lockin to your hearts content!
I personally don’t have a problem with taking my memory card with my live profile on between any xboxes that I use. Let’s face it, my live profile IS my identity.
I think that you are maybe among a minority in having two profiles that you sign into live with.
Anyway, I think that you should get some work done instead of playing Rock Band all the time!
Jeff, it may take some time, but I think TUR (digital rights management is merely a euphemism for “technological usage restrictions”, and should be replaced with its true meaning) is a dead end. Eventually, enough end-users will refuse to buy nearly anything that is usage-restricted, which will force any surviving hardware and content companies to wise up.
Ever since the atrocious “copyguard” of VHS tapes, content companies have been using TUR to prevent theft and to cause end-users to repurchase the same content for use on other hardware.
I’m not a gamer myself, but if I was going to buy a console, the least usage-restricted platform would be most likely to get my dollars.
I think the iPhone and Xbox 360 are such compelling consumer products that it’s actually a reasonable tradeoff to live with their DRM lock-in limitations.
Thats only a “reasonable tradeoff” for a while… then the only choices left will be DRM. If the mass market decides that DRM devices are OK, you won’t get to choose non-DRM devices.
And, God forbid, if companies decide that they don’t need general purpose computers, but that a DRM “green screen” type system is OK, then you won’t get to choose a general purpose computer.
This is all or nothing. If the general purpose computer dies we all loose, and we won’t get to go back.
“I’m sorry, but I simply can’t say no to the pure joy that is Rock Band.”
Then don’t complain about DRM. If you can’t give up not even the game, the extra content, you obviously don’t care about the issue as much as you make out. Pleasure over principles. I’m not saying it’s not a valid option, but you can’t have it both ways.
“Where are the free open source alternatives? (that don’t take a week to set up and configure)”
You’d rather spend $140, AGAIN, than spend one week (if that, come on, it’s not that bad) setting up an alternative and make a point against DRM in the process?
This is absolutely one of my biggest pet peeves with my beloved 360.
I discovered this groovy DRM model when I purchased additional Oblivion content.
Shortly after I played it and acquired some new items, I purchased a brand new HDTV that was out of the reach of my home WiFi network.
Not thinking twice about it I brought all of my equipment downstairs and plugged into my new TV and upon startup, Oblivion was “unable to verify content downloaded”. I could not play my content because it could not be validated online.
During the latest XBL outage many users could not play their new content because the network was unable to validate it.
Its a completely gimped model to an otherwise excellent console. It drives me crazy.
“By the way can anyone explain why with software emulation on the 360 and ps3 that developers create a emulation profile for EACH AND EVERY GAME. Silly”
Because it’s vital that the emulation be as perfect as possible. I can’t see the code obviously, but I’m guessing they will have emulated the hardware, but they tweak everything to perfection with the profiles. They just don’t let any game run on the generic hardware emulation because it may not work properly. If you’ve ever used an emulator post PS1/N64 you’ll know that a generic approach, while workable, doesn’t make for excellent emulation every time.