The next Xbox rethinks DRM, Achievements and Xbox Live friends, our sources say

[VGKing]

thranx said:

VGKing said:

Online passes block out an entire section of the game. If the developers wanted to, they could lock out everything. 

This wouldn't exactly block used games, but it would make used games unplayable unless you activate your game. It doesn't have to be always online, a simple 1-time activations is all that would be needed.

No they cant. they can only block online stuff. They cant block offline content as there is no way to do it. Currently at least. that can change in the next gen if they put hardware in that allows some sort of offline control, or if they require you to be online.

Yes they can. They can require a one-time activation in order for you to start playing the game. Don't PC games already do this?