First, Microsoft announced that the upcoming Xbox One gaming console would severely restrict a user’s ability to resell games or play previously owned titles. Then Sony announced that its competing PS4 wouldn’t have any new restrictions, and Microsoft was basically forced to give them up. But that hasn’t stopped some consumers from being justifiably concerned that, once Xbox One has garnered a substantial user base, Microsoft will pull an about-face and institute the harsh digital rights management programs it had intended. [More]
xbox one
Amazon Offering $10 Game Trade-Ins For Customers Who Want To Upgrade Their Xbox
By 8.20.13
One of the big knocks against the upcoming Xbox One gaming console is that it not backwards-compatible with titles for the Xbox 360, meaning you’d need to keep your old console hooked up to your TV if you want to play all those games you’ve acquired over the years. To ease that pain for some customers, Amazon is offering a $10 trade-in program on a handful of Xbox 360 games that will also soon be released on the Xbox One. [More]
The Xbox One Will Use Kinect To Provide Targeted Advertising
By 7.8.13
When you spend $500 on a video game console — and upwards of $60 for a single game — you might hope to not be inundated with advertising. But the new generation of Xbox will be just as ad-filled as the Xbox 360. Even better, Microsoft wants to use the mandatory Kinect audio/video sensor to provide ads targeted directly to the user. [More]
Xbox Exec Flees Microsoft To Fix The Failing Virtual Farm That Is Zynga
By 7.1.13
A couple weeks back, Microsoft’s Don Mattrick defended the Xbox One’s most controversial aspects — and irking a number of military personnel in the process — by saying that people who wanted to play a video game console without connecting to the Internet could just buy an Xbox 360. He then had to take it all back when the company decided it didn’t want to lose customers to Sony. Now Mattrick is jumping off the U.S.S. Microsoft to go tend virtual fields as the CEO of another much-derided gaming company, Zynga. [More]
Microsoft Decides Maybe It Doesn’t Want To Ruin Xbox One, Removes Restrictions
By 6.19.13
Well that was fast. Not even two weeks after Sony announced its upcoming PS4 gaming console wouldn’t have the insane restrictions on used and resold games that Microsoft had instituted for its new Xbox One device, reports say the boys from Redmond have decided that maybe some of their policies weren’t exactly the greatest ideas. [More]
Microsoft Hopes Publishers Will Provide More Value To Consumers If Xbox One Games Can’t Be Resold
By 6.13.13
Microsoft continues to try to convince concerned consumers that the highly restrictive policies for lending out, reselling, and giving away Xbox One games are actually just the next step in entertainment evolution and that we’ll all come to thank the company for what it’s doing. [More]
Microsoft Exec: If You Don’t Want To Always Be Online, Keep Playing Xbox 360
By 6.12.13
Following Sony’s crowd-pleasing announcement that its upcoming PS4 gaming console will not require the user to constantly be online, one might have hoped that Microsoft would ease up on that continually connected model for its Xbox One device. But no, the company is sticking to its guns, basically telling anyone concerned about this issue to kiss off. [More]
As Expected, Sony Backtracks A Bit On Restriction-Free Games For PS4
By 6.11.13
Last night, Sony delivered a mammoth kick to Microsoft’s rear-end when it announced that the upcoming PS4 would not put any restrictions on how users share games for the new console. But this is obviously too good to be true 100% of the time, and now Sony is having to clarify what it meant. [More]
Take That Microsoft: PS4 Will Not Restrict Used Games, Won’t Require Internet Connection, Also $100 Less Than Xbox One
By 6.10.13 — Updated: 6.11.13
While Microsoft got all the press on Monday morning for announcing the availability of its upcoming Xbox One console, Sony finished the day at E3 with a huge middle-finger to Microsoft, confirming it won’t stop you from selling, buying or giving away your used games (at least the ones on disc). [More]
Microsoft Confirms Release Date, Price Tag On Xbox One
By 6.10.13
Microsoft has just spent two hours showing off games for the upcoming Xbox One gaming console, but the company waited until the end to announce the information most people want to know. [More]
Latest News About Xbox One And Used Games Only Muddies The Waters
By 6.7.13
Among the major concerns Xbox users had about the unveiling of Microsoft’s newest console, the Xbox One, was whether or not gamers would be able to play used games. Some retailers who make mountains of cash selling old games also have reason to worry. The company is now attempting to clear up those concerns, but it is really just making the picture murkier and testing the boundaries of copyright law. [More]
Microsoft Eases Concerns (Slightly) About Being Spied On By Xbox One
By 5.28.13
Among the major concerns about the upcoming Xbox One gaming console is that the device’s new Kinect sensor is so thoroughly integrated into the the system that it will always be on and listening/watching what users are doing. In response to consumers who would rather not be monitored 24/7, Microsoft has issued a statement that quells some concerns while raising others. [More]
4 Early Concerns About The Xbox One
By 5.23.13
Earlier this week, Microsoft finally got around to showing off Xbox One, the console some gamers have been waiting for since the Xbox 360 came out eight years ago. The company made sure to highlight all the cool bells and whistles of the upcoming device, but also skipped over a number of issues that are already giving some folks reason for concern. [More]
The Xbox One Is Intended To Be An All-In-One Home Entertainment Solution
By 5.21.13
It’s been eight years since Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, a wildly successful gaming console that has gradually evolved into a home entertainment hub for many users. Today, the company finally got around to releasing details of the “Durango” project, its code name for the next generation of the Xbox. [More]
