“Trading Tapes”: Perspective on XBox One’s “Pre-owned Fee”

When I was a kid I would go to friend’s houses to play video games.  One thing we’d do is stuff a backpack full of “tapes” (don’t ask, I don’t know why we called them that, I was 8, OK?) and bike to their house and play games all day long.  We’d swap games sometimes, we’d trade, it’s what we did.

Fast forward to me in my rocking chair here.  A friend posted up an article which said Micorsoft’s new console, the “XBox One”, apparently will have issues with this.

“Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc.”

My initial reading of this is “Oh, great, I can’t bring my game to a friend’s house and play it there.”  But on re-re-rereading it COULD be that I can take the physical game to their place, put it in the tray, and play it there but the game will whinge on about installing it and charging my friend for the privilege.  Could.  This is, after all, Microsoft.

Needless to say, I’m not planning on buying this or any of the latest generation consoles for reasons like this. It’s painfully obvious to me what this is all about “anti-piracy” that punishes those of us who want to pay for a game and bring it to a friend’s house.  You know, have fun with friends?  

Friends.  Umm, you know, people you know?  

I understand that Microsoft wants us to sit in our hovels and do nothing but use their products.  I don’t even think they live in the real world.  Then again, this may just be a sign of the times.  I know this isn’t true, because I’ve seen my nephews sitting on the floor with their friends playing Halo split screened.  But it may be that Microsoft thinks this isn’t the case.  I hope not.  I don’t want to see a day when kids won’t leave their houses to play games because “I can’t share this with Tommy ‘cuz it’s DRM’d”.