Just how badly does Microsoft want the Xbox One to fail

[TinCow]

There are four basic aspects of that list, and I don't think it's quite as hysterical a situation as people are making it out to be, though one aspect raises my eyebrows.

• You do not own the games you buy. You license them.
• Discs are only used to install and then license games and do not imply ownership.

That's not unusual at all, in fact that's the way games have always worked. Every single game disc you have in your home right now is the exact same way. You own the actual disc itself (meaning the plastic and other components), but you have NEVER owned the game code on the disc or on your computer. That has always been a license, the above is just the same way the industry has always worked.

• People can play games installed on your console whether you're logged in or not.
• 10 people can be authorised to play these games on a different Xbox One via the cloud, but not at the same time, similar to iTunes authorised devices.
• Your account allows you to play the games you license on any console.

So basically Steam. Big deal, we love Steam. Welcome to the digital age, console users.

• Publishers decide whether you can trade in your games and may charge for this.
• Publishers decide whether you can give a game you own to someone for free, and this only works if they have been on your friends list for 30 days.
• Loaning and renting games will not be possible at launch, but Microsoft is "exploring the possibilities".

This is a bigger deal, but the used game market has been a major problem for publishers/developers for a very long time. They're getting outright exploited by companies like Gamestop, and something needs to be done to fix the situation. I'm not sure whether this is the answer, but something has got to be done and maybe this is it. Whether it works or not and whether it's bad for the industry will depend on how the publishers respond and it's too early to know that.

• Your Xbox One must connect to the internet every 24 hours to keep playing games.
• When playing on another Xbox One with your account, this is reduced to one hour.

This is the biggest deal, and it could be a major one. I saw some statistics somewhere that about 75-80% of the XBox userbase is currently connected to the internet. That means that Microsoft is risking losing 20-25% of their customer base with this move. At the same time, the above features wouldn't work well without an internet connection at all. Every 24 hours does seem a bit extreme, a Steam method (offline/online mode) would probably be better. The reality is that this is an aspect that is not going to have any impact at all on the vast majority of owners, but a massive impact on a minority of owners. It'll take some time to see whether the decision to alienate that minority was smart or not.