Re: Teach Me to Post Something...rakishanMay 26 2006, 00:25:16 UTC
I remember they tried something called DIVX (not to be confused with the MP4 compression scheme) that allowed you to purchase a specially encoded DVD disk for ~$5. A special DIVX player would play it for a few days. I can't remember if it required online access to contact special servers that maintained records of all movies you watched and had purchased. Then, if you liked the movie, the player would ask you to "purchase" the right to play the movie in perpetuity on that player.
This new scheme (and use that word very specifically) was touted as being the next step in the progression and that it would take over. It didn't, mainly because consumers stayed away, and with good reason. Should that special player ever die, all of your movies became unwatchable. Oopsie! Sort of sounds like the current model of XBox Live Arcade.
We have yet to find out if once you purchase a Live Arcade game, that game is downloadable on another 360 just by putting in the same Login. I'm curious to see if a "visiting login" would be given it's own set of download menus and that once disconnected from Live that 360 would have access to the full games but without saving and scoreboards.
Anyway, the DIVX fiasco proved yet again that encryption and extreme protection are inevitably inconvenient (bad) for the consumer. I think that at the point where Xbox 360s start (we know they have already!) to go bad, we'll be seeing the same sorts of issues.
Re: Teach Me to Post Something...mottscMay 26 2006, 17:46:25 UTC
DIVX did indeed require it to talk to a central server. They had a few levels of subscription after the initial period. You could pay per view, go for Silver which let you watch it whenever, and go for Gold which would let you play it on your friend's DIVX player as well.
This new scheme (and use that word very specifically) was touted as being the next step in the progression and that it would take over. It didn't, mainly because consumers stayed away, and with good reason. Should that special player ever die, all of your movies became unwatchable. Oopsie! Sort of sounds like the current model of XBox Live Arcade.
We have yet to find out if once you purchase a Live Arcade game, that game is downloadable on another 360 just by putting in the same Login. I'm curious to see if a "visiting login" would be given it's own set of download menus and that once disconnected from Live that 360 would have access to the full games but without saving and scoreboards.
Anyway, the DIVX fiasco proved yet again that encryption and extreme protection are inevitably inconvenient (bad) for the consumer. I think that at the point where Xbox 360s start (we know they have already!) to go bad, we'll be seeing the same sorts of issues.
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Why do I remember this crap about a DEAD format?!
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--Fumark
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