Reason 5,948,392 why Micro$oft is evil.
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Reason 5,948,392 why Micro$oft is evil.
Royalties and Restrictions for Peripherals?
Microsoft plans to tightly control third-party peripheral makers.
August 12, 2005 - The payment of royalties by licensed third-party software developers to console makers have long been a staple of the gaming industry; in contrast, third-party hardware makers have generally escaped such financial considerations. However, Microsoft appears to be trying to reverse this situation, according to recent reports by GamesIndustry.biz and GameDailyBiz.
Both reports cite information presented in the most recent quarterly filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by peripherals manufacturer Mad Catz that indicated the company had acquired an "official Xbox 360 video game accessories license" and that its products would carry the Xbox 360 licenses logo. As stated in the company's annual report, the agreement with Microsoft covers "specific product categories, including wired control pads, steering wheels, arcade sticks, flight sticks, and dance mats" for the Xbox 360. According to the GamesIndustry.biz report, the Mad Catz contract appears to specify that the firm is only permitted to make wired controllers for the Xbox 360, seemingly preventing the company from developing other acceessories such as wireless controllers, memory units or add-on hard drives. It is not known at this time whether any third-party will be licensed to manufacture these devices.
In order to enforce its new royalty/licensing program, Microsoft plans to institute a security feature in the Xbox 360 that would prevent the use of unlicensed peripherals with the next-generation console. According to the licensing agreement with Mad Katz, a third-party peripheral manufacturer will have to purchase a "Xenon Chip" (named after the Xbox 360's development codename) which will execute a protocol with the console that will confirm that the peripheral is an officially licensed product. Unlicensed products will not execute the protocol and thus be unable to work with the console.
Industry analysts have speculated that while this represents an untapped source of revenue for Microsoft, the plan may cause some third-party manufacturers to shun the Xbox 360 in favor of other next-generation consoles as they would be unable to sell their products at lower prices than those of the console manufacturer.
-- Wade Steel
Microsoft plans to tightly control third-party peripheral makers.
August 12, 2005 - The payment of royalties by licensed third-party software developers to console makers have long been a staple of the gaming industry; in contrast, third-party hardware makers have generally escaped such financial considerations. However, Microsoft appears to be trying to reverse this situation, according to recent reports by GamesIndustry.biz and GameDailyBiz.
Both reports cite information presented in the most recent quarterly filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by peripherals manufacturer Mad Catz that indicated the company had acquired an "official Xbox 360 video game accessories license" and that its products would carry the Xbox 360 licenses logo. As stated in the company's annual report, the agreement with Microsoft covers "specific product categories, including wired control pads, steering wheels, arcade sticks, flight sticks, and dance mats" for the Xbox 360. According to the GamesIndustry.biz report, the Mad Catz contract appears to specify that the firm is only permitted to make wired controllers for the Xbox 360, seemingly preventing the company from developing other acceessories such as wireless controllers, memory units or add-on hard drives. It is not known at this time whether any third-party will be licensed to manufacture these devices.
In order to enforce its new royalty/licensing program, Microsoft plans to institute a security feature in the Xbox 360 that would prevent the use of unlicensed peripherals with the next-generation console. According to the licensing agreement with Mad Katz, a third-party peripheral manufacturer will have to purchase a "Xenon Chip" (named after the Xbox 360's development codename) which will execute a protocol with the console that will confirm that the peripheral is an officially licensed product. Unlicensed products will not execute the protocol and thus be unable to work with the console.
Industry analysts have speculated that while this represents an untapped source of revenue for Microsoft, the plan may cause some third-party manufacturers to shun the Xbox 360 in favor of other next-generation consoles as they would be unable to sell their products at lower prices than those of the console manufacturer.
-- Wade Steel
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From: glass case of emotion
Originally Posted by umop-apisdn
Why, just, why?
