Ok, so most gamers on the internet are collectively dogpiling Microsoft’s “Xbone” with a lot of hate right now, and as much as I hate the knee-jerk reactions that internet fanboys are prone to (everything deserves a boycott!,) I have to admit, it’s been really hard to work up any enthusiasm for Microsoft’s new console. Today, MCV dug up a Microsoft patent that’s sure to make the internet lynch mob even angrier: the patent describes a feature on the upgraded Kinect that would allow it to count the number of people in the room, and then charge an additional fee if there are more people watching than the “maximum number of viewers permitted.”
According to the patent, content providers and publishers will be able to set a maximum number of viewers for each bit of content. If the Kinect sees that the number of people in the room exceeds that amount, the Xbox will prompt them to pay an additional fee if they want to continue watching/playing the content. According to the patent itself, ““The users consuming the content on a display device are monitored so that if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, remedial action may be taken.”
While Microsoft originally filed the patent years ago, MCV says that sources within the company have told them that Microsoft plans to implement the “feature” in the upcoming Xbox One. Microsoft has already stated that the Kinect needs to be hooked up to the system and turned on at all times in order for the Xbox One to function.
Personally, despite all of Microsoft’s mistakes lately (and they’ve been big mistakes,) I still don’t think they’re stupid enough to attempt a stunt like this. Then again, I also thought they weren’t stupid enough to try a lot of the things they’ve done lately, so perhaps I’m still giving them too much credit. Regardless of the validity of this rumor, Microsoft’s got ‘splaining to do come E3.
Source: MCV
