Microsoft Outlines Used Games and Always Online Policies, Addresses Kinect Concerns

So it's been up in the air for a couple weeks but Microsoft has finally let the cat out of the bag on the AO and used games fronts.

Always Online:  The XBOX ONE MUST be able to connect to the internet at least once a day or it will not be able to play your games.  We had suspected that Microsoft would adopt an AO policy for this generation of hardware so we're not surprised.  Many people are outraged, no surprise there.

Used Games/Lending Games:  All XBOX ONE titles will be available as physical media and digital downloads on release day.  This means you can either go to your local retailer and pick up a copy, or download it directly from your console.  Either way, you own a digital copy of the game.  Once you install a game from disc, you no longer need to have the disc.  Any game you own you can play on ANY XBOX ONE console at any time (provided it is connect to the internet).  All your games will have a copy in cloud storage as well.

Also, anyone in your home from any profile has full access to any games you have bought.  That means that if you buy Halo 5 for instance, your brother, sister, roommate, etc can play the game without buying it on your console. 

Microsoft also says that you can pick up to 10 people that don't live with you to share your games with, but instead of checking in once every 24 hours, your friends console must access the internet every hour.  There is also a stipulation that you must have been friends with a person for at least 30 days before you can lend them games.  And then even if you lend it to all 10 people, only one other person than you can play it simultaneously.  I know that sounds complicated, but you can't just loan your game to 10 people and all play at once.  Just think if you wanted to play Halo 5 with your brother you can just loan him the game and he can jump right in with you!  This works with any game you have shared in your library!

You will also be able to gift games to your friends, but this is on a permanent basis.  Once you gift a game to someone you can't get a take-backsie.  Steam people are already familiar with this system.  There is a catch to some of this though and I want to be clear that I'm not sure what all this pertains to, but it will be left up to the developers to decide whether to include some of the features.  So that means it may be up to the dev if you can loan out the game, or gift the game, but we'll clarify on that when we know for sure.  We do know that some of that support will be left to the devs.

It is said that it will be up to the publishers (not Microsoft, unless they just so happen to be the publisher in a certain case) whether or not used games have a fee associated with them.  Microsoft says that they are designing the XBOX ONE to work with any game disc and the publishers of the games call the shots with what happens on the resale front.  It is said that publishers will individually work with resellers on what games can and can't be resold and at what price.  We'll see how this develops.

Games will also be playable before while downloading.  So now you don't have to wait for that 30GB download to complete before you can play.  Sure, you'll have to wait for the minimum download before you can start playing (which I expect may be different for each game), which will be great because no one wants to get a download going right at midnight and have to wait 6 hours for the download to complete before playing.  Hopefully it'll be only about 3GB and you're rolling!  I am hoping for digital preloads like on Steam where if you preorder the digital copy it will allow you to download the game the day before it comes out, and then unlocks at midnight.  Here's to hoping!

Kinect:  While you do have to have the Kinect physically hooked to the system, you can regulate it via the system settings.  If you want Kinect to be able to power your system on by voice (which Microsoft says when the system is "off" the only thing the Kinect can recognize in that state is the phrase "XBOX ON"), or you can opt to turn it off altogether in the settings.  It is said that you can turn the camera and/or mic off also at any time.  Hopefully this eases the mind of some people that are paranoid about Kinect watching them all the time.  Microsoft also says they will be up front about what information Kinect collects and how it will be used.  More info on Kinect as we get it.

So there you have it.  Microsoft has lifted the veil and I'm sure that it will be met with a fair share of flame.  None of this is a shock to me, and now that I know I can get digital copies on day one, I might not be buying any game via retailer in the future.