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[tomgreen99200]

QUOTE(warlordship @ Dec 18 2008, 08:31 AM)

I think YOU don't understand.  While it is annoying that people cannot get a demo due to distributing content in multiple countries, what I think most people are angry about is the steps Microsoft took to recover the demos.  
First, they closed the loophole allowing it to be downloaded outside Japan.  That is as far as they had to go.
But then, they forcibly logged people without a japanese IP off of LIVE when playing the demo.  Makes sense.
But then they actively CORRUPTED the demo.  That was a bit excessive.  I can see no reason to prevent people that have it already from continuing to play it, offline, without anyone else.

I agree, they are power hungry. I almost feel like at any moment they are just going to invade my house and start playing with my xbox without my permission.

[Markus1712]

QUOTE

We look forward to being able to offer our gamers a chance to experience a US demo...

Well, we Europeans, don't give a damn about USA. What about few premiere demos here?

[Fantmx]

QUOTE(tomgreen99200 @ Dec 18 2008, 09:36 AM)

I agree, they are power hungry. I almost feel like at any moment they are just going to invade my house and start playing with my xbox without my permission.

Microsoft is free to do whatever they wish with the software.   Do any of you children know what an EULA is?  Have you ever bothered to read one?  If you had, you would realize you do not own the software, you simply own a license to use it, which you did not have in this case.  This is no different than a company recovering stolen physical goods.  It has nothing to do with being power hungry, it has to do with them meeting contractual obligations.

[GamerBR]

Now you understand a tiny fraction what's like being on another region of xbox live and be unable to download cool stuff,not to mention the countries that don't even have the live officially launched and have most of the stuff locked to download(including the purchase of ms points) ,of course,the last will only happen if you sign up like you were from another country(my case).

[AcidPenguiN]

I think everyone's freaking out because of the use of the word "corrupted" as if MS did something innately evil because of the connotations of the word.

All they had to do was point the launch shortcut to null or something. That's hardly breaking into your hard drive and stealing your megabits like most of you fools are trying to make it seem like.

also fantmx, I'm relatively certain tomgreen was being sarcastic to point out how silly many of the people in this thread are acting.

[ninjucrx]

QUOTE(1nsan3 @ Dec 18 2008, 01:11 AM)

I just don't get it, xbox live is an online gamming network where EVERYONE can get togather and game with each other, so why release a game in only certian regions  at a time and not ALL AT ONCE.... its pointless, what do ya expect. i would try it also.... When a demo comes out, release it on the entire xbox live network.

end of conversation....

i guess now you feel the pain like people leaving out of america or whatever microsoft "accept" for full downloads.i can't get gears of war maps because am not in the "correct" location but a friend from my country studying in uk will do the job for the maps.fucking,bullshit.but i do play resident evil demo via a copy dvd.and nothing got corrapted.

[hamwbone]

one word...... WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA      

[Reaper527]

QUOTE(hamwbone @ Dec 18 2008, 12:07 PM)

one word...... WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA      

[LegendDJ]

Doesn't this violate some sort of privacy? Or is your hard drive and ALL it's content just being loaned to you. Why not just let the people who have the demo keep it and get over it.

[Devedander]

QUOTE(warlordship @ Dec 17 2008, 11:31 PM)

I can see no reason to prevent people that have it already from continuing to play it, offline, without anyone else.

Um it's the same reason you weren't supposed to have it in the first place... whatever that reason may be.  Maybe there is a contract in place, maybe there are laws that need to be addressed before US release, maybe they just don't want you to be playing it yet.  Who knows, the point is just because you feel entitled to it and can't figure out why they don't want you to have it, that makes squat worth of difference.

Let's say MS has a deal with the publisher to promote the game in certain regions first and is offered a $1mill off the licensing fee of aquiring that game on the 360 for "Making their best effort to ensure the game is promoted in the manner desired and on the terms requested by the publisher".  

So MS is sitting there and the publisher finds out that there is a loophole and demands MS close it.  MS does so.  Now the publisher says, you do everything you can to keep those who we didn't want playing this in the first place from playing it or we revoke your $1 mill bonuis for breach of contract.  MS says ok, we do everything we can to prevent anyone outside Japan from playing it.

Again "I don't get it" sums you up perfectly.  You don't.  

Being limited to offline play is certainly not nearly as fun as having online as well as an option.  But it's still playing it not in the region it was meant to be accessed.   So if MS has an obligation or even just a desire to ensure that the game is only played in a certain region, that is your "why" right there.

Do you think cops go "Well it's illegal to buy pot, but that guy already bought it and we didn't catch him, so now that it's already in his pocket, we'll just forget about it"?  

Stop thinking in a "how can I make this the best possible situation for me" way and start thinking about it in a logical and unbiased way and your "don't get it" problem will be solved.

[shloader]

Now it gets interesting. Imagine it's a future Microsoft console in your hands and they've decided to base the design around a cartridge due to scalability of the medium, cost reduction by giving the optical drive the axe, and the ever-dropping cost per GB of flash when all you need to read is 20 - 30MB/s. Backward Compatibility made available through an Accessory addon drive for sake of argument. You want to play the latest release of... hmmm... Lets say Street Fighter Whatever just for kicks. It's only available in Japan for the first couple months of its existence because Microsoft is trying to play nice with the Japanese market like Nintendo did back in the eighties and nineties. Just like the thousands that imported Super Mario 3 you want to play Street Fighter early. So you slap it in, turn your Japanese 720 on and ... ahhh... it needs an update for this game. An update that will supposedly apply directly to a reserved area of the cartridge space. Better hope you don't get a specific update due to the IP address you have when obtaining it.

Honestly I couldn't give a shit about Resident Evil but I do like a lot of what comes out of Capcom. Now think about it. If you had the option to import the game for your Japan collection of consoles what do you chose? Lets say you have consoles of the next coming generation from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft... and ah hell, Steve Jobbs is marketing a console, too (based on OpenGL one could dream). Who do you trust? Nintendo and Sony MAY try to block you from simply playing, Apple wouldn't dare, but Microsoft's resolve has been made clear by reputation.

Importers are a small group. Well, no one's denying that but in this day an age importers have a loud voice in the market they reside because they have a true "we saw it first" claim. Hate to think what would happen if importers had reason to bash Microsoft at every turn for horking up their cartridges. Oh I'm sure the local Microsoft subsidiary would be more than happy to replace such damaged cartridges, when and if a local release is made.

Now if this were a simple matter of Microsoft simply denying you the ability to play the demo then a lot of people that are paying attention to the issue wouldn't be paying attention at all. Hell this wouldn't even make it on Xbox-scene news. But the issue isn't that simple. They didn't simply do something equivalent to an electronic region lock.  Microsoft got in customer's hard drives and did a little free redecorating to a place any devout PC gamer would see as Sacred Holy Ground. Yes, the EULA spells out their right to impose themselves. Again, no one can deny that either. In the end it comes down to trust, and a lot of people feel that Microsoft is approaching fast a bad area to be in. Their reasoning was completely limp. Suppose Capcom really was pressuring them to take action. I doubt they asked Microsoft to go to quite the extent they did more I believe Microsoft wanted to shine like good little yes-men to cury favour in that market. Hope it was worth it.

Now in the end this was just a demo. Majority of us will forgive Microsoft in short order as they still have the more capable technology. Some of us will worry just a touch with their goals of online distribution. None of us, I think, are going to seriously hold this one incident against them... yet. I just hope Microsoft rethinks just how far they leverage EULAs in the console market.

[ImmortalAegis]

QUOTE(CsL @ Dec 18 2008, 10:57 AM)

Ban for what? Because of "importing"?

I wouldn't be suprised, the Xbox Live TOS has a clause about accessing content not intended for you.

[ssj4android]

I see no confirmation of demo tampering, just download blocking.
AFAIK someone who downloads the demo in Japan with a Japanese 360 then brings it along on a vacation to the US and connects to Live would have their demo corrupted as well. Are demos contraband now?