Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer detailed a sweeping restructuring plan in an internal email to employees. In the memo Ballmer said that Microsoft will be organized by function within four groups: OS, Apps, Cloud and Devices.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese government is preparing to lift the 13 year long ban on game consoles in the region. Such a move would be good for the industry, but first console makers such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft would have to kowtow to the demands of the government. Apparently efforts to eliminate the ban are strongly supported by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

According to a Bloomberg report, former Xbox chief and current Zynga CEO Don Mattrick has been an admirer of the social game maker for quite some time. In fact, in 2010 he tried to convince higher-ups at Microsoft that it should buy Zynga. This was prior to the company going public and during the company's popularity with games on Facebook, according to Bloomberg.

Speaking to the Reddit community, Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb said that he was sorry that fans were disappointed that the first free game for July in Microsoft's Games for Gold program was Defense Grid. Fans expected to receive Halo 3 or Assassin's Creed 2 - which were announced as games being given away free as part of the program during E3.

Update #2: It looks like no one will replace Mattrick, according to a memo obtained by Kotaku attributed to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Instead of replacing Mattrick, all of Mattrick's subordinates in the division will now report directly to Ballmer.

Fez creator Phil Fish has criticized former co-publishing partner Microsoft for doing what he considers "nothing" to help sell his game on Xbox Live Arcade. Fish took to Twitter yesterday to complain about Microsoft's lack of support for him and his game and gave no quarter in his harsh criticism:

Microsoft will spend $700 million on a new data center in West Des Moines, Iowa - according to the Des Moines Register. The data center is the result of a deal with the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board, which has approved through the state $20 million in tax credits for the computing giant for what has been named ‘Project Mountain’.

In Episode 57 of the Super Podcast Action Committee, hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight talk about several GamePolitics polls, Microsoft's decision to pull a 180 on its various Xbox One policies, Cliff Bleszinski's public comments about the whole thing, and a whole lot more. Download Episode 57 now: SuperPAC Episode 57 (1 hour, 16 minutes) 69.5 MB.

Borut Pfeifer and developer 17-bit Studios signed an exclusivity deal with Microsoft for its game Skulls of the Shogun. The game was released in January on Surface, Windows Phone and Xbox Live Arcade in January. Now that that window of exclusivity is almost over, Borut Pfeifer is relieved.

Seguros Universales, one of the largest insurance companies in Guatemala has sued Microsoft over what is being called an unwarranted and extortion-like anti-piracy raid. With the help of local law enforcement Microsoft demanded an on the spot payment of $70,000 from the company for the use of pirated software or they said would have all of a company’s computers confiscated.

Speaking to Polygon, Microsoft has confirmed that the required Xbox One launch-day patch is not tied directly to offline functionality. Before consumers can start using the system they will have to download a "day one" update.

Two equity research firms have weighed in this morning on Microsoft's decision yesterday to give up on its Xbox One used games restrictions, region locking, and internet connectivity requirements. First up is BMO Capital Markets, who said in a note to investors this morning that this was good news for the industry - and in particular GameStop.

Microsoft has done a 180 on its universally maligned DRM policies for the upcoming Xbox One.  Yes, universally maligned.  Every Alpha Centaurian I've spoken to thought that 24-hour check-in requirement was crap on toast.

In case you missed the news, the Xbox One can now be used offline (after a mandatory day-one update), games are no longer region-locked, and discs can be freely lent, resold and rented.

Realizing that it has lost the war on Xbox One's online requirements and its used games policies, Microsoft announced today that it is abandoning them altogether. Microsoft has changed its stance on always online and used game policies to be more like they were on Xbox 360. In a blog post explaining the changes President of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, Don Mattrick, laid out the changes.

The newly designed Kinect for Xbox One may run afoul of a bill called the "We Are Watching You Act," if it becomes law. The law sponsored by Congressman Michael Capuano (D-MA) and Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), requires companies to "explicitly" ask consumers for permission to store their data. The device would also have to inform the user how the data is collected and who will see it after it is collected.

While Microsoft has had its fair share of bad press surrounding the Xbox One console, those still considering a purchase when it is released later this year will at least be happy that the price of new games will remain in line with Xbox 360 retail disc pricing. Games will retail for $59.99, according to an unnamed source speaking to Kotaku.

When asked by CVG if Microsoft plans to change course on its "connect once a day" requirement and policy on used games for Xbox One, Microsoft executive Phil Spencer said that his company's stance on those issues is fixed and "definitive" - at least in the short term.

Last week, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One requires internet access and that used game sales are subject to the whims of publishers.  You will not be able rent or loan your games at launch and there's no guarantee you ever will.  You can give a game to someone else but only if the publisher allows it and even then, the recipient must have been in your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once.

Polygon's Colin Campbell pulls no punches in an excellent sit down interview with Electronic Arts' chief operating officer Peter Moore.

More details have been revealed on the new Xbox 360 consoles that have been released to retail outlets today. The newly redesigned console comes in three SKUs: a 4GB model, a 4GB model with Kinect included, and a 250GB model.

The 4GB vanilla option will cost $200, a 4GB with Kinect included will cost $300 and the 350 GB Xbox 360 will cost $300. We assume that these newly designed models will eventually replace older models on the market now.

Microsoft held its Electronic Entertainment Exp Xbox One press conference today, finally showing off some of the games that will ultimately make or break its system as it goes head-to-head with Sony's PlayStation 4 later this year. The most notable news coming out of the event is when the console will be released and how much it will cost consumers when it hits retail.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter does not believe that third-party Xbox One game publishers will disable used games using the system Microsoft has put in place to do just that on its next-generation platform. Pachter goes so far as to say that any publisher that disables used games runs a serious risk of significant backlash or boycotts from consumers. In a note to investors today, Pachter said the majority of publishers will not block used games in the system's first few years.

Got Xbox One questions?

Of course you do.  Microsoft's messaging since its console unveiling has been a confusing mess.  Does Xbox One require an internet connection to play offline?  Does it block used games?  Can the all-seeing eye of the Kinect be turned off?

Deadline is reporting that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer - with entertainment studios president Nancy Tellem in tow - is taking meetings with big Hollywood studios and television companies to drum up support for Xbox One as an entertainment hub for the living room.

The #PS4NoDRM campaign that bombarded Sony executives with messages on Twitter not to include DRM schemes for used games in the PS4 earlier in the month let us know this morning that they are ramping up for a second and final push of their message on Wednesday, June 5th starting at 8AM EST / 5AM PST/ 1PM GMT.

E3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited?  Are you excited?  Oh man, it's like Christmas in June!

I don't know about you but I'm taking a vacation day on Monday, June 10 so I can stay home and watch all the conferences.  Yes, I'm that big a video game dork.

Here's the show schedule for June 10th (all times PST):

Earlier in the week Sony fans took to Twitter to urge Sony executives not to include a DRM-scheme on PS4 games similar to what Microsoft has planned for used games on Xbox One. While a number of Sony executives said that they were grateful for the feedback, they were smart enough to not actually talk about this issue.

If you missed Episode 53 while it was being recorded live on Google +, you can catch it on YouTube now or find it on iTunes. During the show Andrew Eisen, E. Zachary Knight, and James Fudge talked about the latest GamePolitics poll, Nintendo's monetization of "Let's Play" videos on YouTube, the continued trials of Wii U, and Xbox One's various positives and negatives.

When Microsoft made its Xbox One public last week it apparently hadn't been able to secure the domain names associated with its fancy new console. Now it has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum in the hopes of getting the names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net, according to Shacknews (based on a Fusible report).

Update: This Kotaku story citing an unnamed Microsoft rep. notes that the Kinect does not have to be on all the time:

"Yes, you can turn the system completely off," the Microsoft rep said. "This would use no power and turn everything off. We’ll share more details about how it all works later."  Article author Stephen Totilo speculates that this involves pressing the console's power button.