Video, Film, and Television

Microsoft’s About-Face on DRM

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Remember how Microsoft’s DRM/Once-a-day Internet connection on XBox had everyone angry?  Well, they’re taking it out.

Of course removing it changes some features:

  • Physically purchased games won’t “follow” the player to other machines (digital content will of course).  You’ll need to take the disk with you.
  • Game sharing with family members is gone.

That tells me one important thing – Microsoft really figured people were going to go for this or accept it, it’s integrated enough into their plans and technology.  I think they were actually surprised (and it seems this will be removed at first login, so they really were planning on this going through).

This is good overall.  Microsoft listened.  I’m hoping that will steer the Xbox towards a better evolution toward the seemingly inevitable living room media machine.

– Steven

 

Hollywood Is Brokener. Or something

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Lynda Obst has an excerpt from her new book on how Hollywood is broken, which follows what we’ve been discussing here.  The excerpt alone is informative and paints a workable theory about risk-adverse Hollywood since you can’t plan easily in an age where balance sheet reliables have suddenly shifted.

As the resident Career Guru here (I also think of myself as the resident sex symbol, but that’s my own delusion), I’d also note something else – Hollywood exerts an irrational pull on other careers.  How many gamers base ideas on blockbusters made for balance sheets, how many writers operate under the delusion they want to write some big film, how many people want to be in the industry peripherally?  If it’s melting down, the impact will be far wider than we expect – and if it’s melting down, some people should ask where they’re getting their ideas from . . .

– Steven