Let me preface this entry by saying I have been the proud owner of two Xbox 360 consoles since July 2006. One is my wife’s, the other mine. There are functioning perfectly (knock on wood). I am writing this article however to bring this important issue to light. This issue effects users who have had their consoles repaired or replaced. These unsuspecting users quickly find out that all the Xbox Live Marketplace content they purchased, including Arcade games, can no longer be used offline.
To fully understand the issue, let us first understand the DRM implementation for Xbox Live Marketplace content. Here it is, straight from the mouth of Microsoft.
Usage Restrictions
When you download content from Xbox Live Marketplace, that content is licensed to the console you downloaded it to and the profile you downloaded it with. The console license allows anyone to use that content on that console, online or off. The profile license allows you to use the content on any console, as long as you’re signed in to Xbox Live (the reason you have to be signed in to Xbox Live is that your profile has to be validated with the service).
For example, if you try to play your new Xbox Live Arcade game offline on a different console, you may find that it only plays in demo mode. This is because the console is not the console to which the game is licensed, and your profile can’t be validated until you sign in. To play the full version on this other console, you have to sign in to Xbox Live.
As you can see, there are two elements to the license. The console license, and the profile license. Quite simply, your content is tied to your console first and foremost. Remember this, it becomes important later. Let’s assume you download Pac-Man from the XBLA. You have four profiles on your Xbox 360. Since that is the console you initially downloaded the content to (“Xbox A”), every single profile can play the full version of Pac-Man on Xbox A, regardless of which profile purchased it. This is called “offline” access to content. This means the profile that originally purchased the content does not need to be signed in to Xbox Live in order to access the content.
Your first Xbox 360 is always Xbox A, meaning you and your family can access the content offline. There are many reasons people need to access content offline. For example you may not always have an internet connection handy, or you might not want to be bothered by game invites from people on your friends list. Perhaps you bring your 360 on vacation with you and there is no internet connection there. For any number of reasons, people want access to the content they paid for. You bought Pac-Man and your entire family can enjoy it on Xbox A.
The profile license effectively allows you to “roam”. You can take your profile to another Xbox 360 (“Xbox B”), and access your content. On Xbox B however, you may only access your content while signed in to Xbox Live. If you port your profile over to a friend’s 360 (with a Memory Unit), sign in and download Pac-Man, only you can play the full version of Pac-Man. Once you sign out, your friend will only have access to the trial version. This is because Xbox B is not the original console the content was purchased on and downloaded to. (This assumes of course your friend did not already purchase Pac-Man on his console.)
What happens when Xbox A fails and needs to be replaced? Here’s where the problems begin. If your console fails, Xbox A is gone forever, along with all the privileges that go along with Xbox A. Your new replacement console becomes Xbox B, meaning you can only access your content while signed in to Xbox Live with the profile that originally purchased the content. Was your wife playing Zuma that you purchased on Xbox A? Your son or daughter playing your Pac-Man on Xbox A? Not anymore they won’t! No one in your family has access to that content anymore. Not even you, as the profile who purchased that content, can access the content without being signed into Live. So much for taking your new replacement console on vacation with you. For Xbox B, No Live connection = No content access.
Microsoft has every right to protect their content, but to punish those who have had their consoles replaced due to failure is unacceptable. I see threads appear daily on all the popular forums about this issue. Typically it takes three to four weeks to get consoles replaced by Microsoft. Little do these users know their consoles are “downgraded” to behave like an Xbox B and will suffer all the content restrictions that follow.
In fact, there is a whopping 32-page thread (as the day of posting) in the Xbox.com forums entitled “Can’t play full versions of Arcade Games” regarding this issue. Microsoft representatives have responded in the thread, but to date there is no clear solution. There is only a “workaround”. In short, the workaround is to first prove to Microsoft that Xbox A has been replaced, then create a dummy profile. Microsoft will refund the points to this dummy profile on Xbox B so you can re-download your content. According to the xbox.com thread, users have waited as long as a few months for the call back from Microsoft to refund these points.
I don’t intend to provide a solution to the problem here. I only want to bring attention to the issue. I am sure an iTunes like approach could be implemented where users can “authorize” and “deauthorize” the console tied to their content. I am just surprised that a software company like Microsoft cannot find a better solution than creating dummy accounts and asking users to call 1-800-4-MYXBOX time and time again in the hopes of getting their points refunded just so they can access their content offline.
I hope I have summarized the issue as best as possible. Perhaps Major Nelson can help raise this issue within Microsoft?
If you are so inclined, please digg this entry.
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