Xbox One To Require Xbox Live Gold For DVR Functions
Microsoft and Sony, despite being rivals, do have quite a few similarities. After all, both companies new (and old) consoles happen to have a lot of the same features, like online multiplayer, Netflix streaming, and more. But the big difference between their philosophies is that while Sony will let anybody and everybody use those services for free, Microsoft puts them behind a paywall called Xbox Live Gold.
And unfortunately, that paywall scheme isn’t changing anytime soon. Microsoft announced through the Xbox website in the graphic you see up top that the DVR function, which will allow players to record up to 5 minutes of video at a time and upload it online, will be an Xbox Live Gold feature, as well as Skype and even OneGuide, the TV service they touted when the console was first revealed.
Of course, I don’t think anybody is too surprised to see that most of those features are Gold-only, especially the DVR and Skype function. However, when you consider the fact that the OneGuide portion was so heavily pushed when the console was revealed, it looks kind of bad to me that one of the major features of the Xbox One seems to require that Gold subscription. Quite frankly, it’s a little insulting that Microsoft is essentially saying to folks “You can have this built-in, local feature of the console, but only if you pay us more money!”
