Xenoblade X special edition.jpg

If you want to listen to the Xenoblade Chronicles X soundtrack it's not particularly difficult; it can be easily found around the web. Unfortunately, for some that are actually paying for the privilege, there can be surprising issues.

This relates to the gorgeous Special Edition of the game in North America, which includes a stylised metallic USB drive with 10 tracks of music on it. So far so good, but some that have used the drive have encountered some unexpected hindrances; we've summarised some of the quirks below (via Reddit):

  • The USB drive has some DRM (digital rights management) that prevents you from easily removing the ten tracks from the stick. Those that want to move the files into something like iTunes are finding that they can't do so, though others are naturally finding ways to get around it.
  • To do this the drive uses the 'Y' drive on the computer and effectively locks it for the purpose of playing the music on the stick. Though most PC users use letters such as C, D and E for their drives, some business use drive names like Y; in other words, don't try and use this if you already have and use a Y drive.
  • As a result of the above and the way the stick plays the music some are unhappy that they won't be able to easily put the music on their phones, play in the car etc.
  • The stick apparently doesn't support Mac, though this was made clear in small print on the packaging.

All of this seems rather unnecessary, of course, especially when numerous other special editions at least come with discs for music, rather than a USB that requires a Windows PC or laptop. It's also counterproductive, as crude DRM on 10 tracks of the soundtrack only serves to frustrate paying customers, doing nothing to stop the various rips of the full soundtrack that are on the web.

It's a pity to see issues like this, though at least the USB drive looks great, and the special edition has other lovely inclusions to ease the complaints.

Have you encountered these issues? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks to all that sent this in.

[source reddit.com]