What do the millions of people that bought Diablo 3, SimCity, and the defenders or the Xbox One have in common? They all just don't care about the terrible precedents they help to set.
To anyone who cares about little inconsequential freedoms like "choice," and "privacy," and "ownership," the Xbox One is indefensible. We'll come back to that later. Right now, I want to address the Xbox One defenders.
A common tactic that XBros like to use when defending the anti-consumerism, anti-privacy, anti-choice aspects of the Xbox One is to state anything negative they can dredge up about Sony from their Past mistakes. Clearly, they can't say anything about Sony now because Sony has been handling things masterfully.
When anyone brings up concerns over privacy violations or the used games market, XBros bring up online passes and ToA's conveniently ignoring how much worse Microsoft's own statements about these issues portray the Xbox One.
Another common tactic is the "we don't know everything yet" defense that is pretty much the pinnacle of irony considering how the XBros used to mock Sony fans with taunts of "I thought this was the year of the PS3, instead we have to wait for next year," or "wait for E3." These statements ignore the official statements already made by individuals like Phil Harrison, a VP at Microsoft, and others who were at the reveal all saying the same thing. But of course, waiting for E3 makes all the indefensible decisions that have already been made perfectly ok.
Now let's come back to the issues shall we? These are questions I would like to ask the XBros who are defending Microsoft's terrible decisions.
Kinect 2: It has been confirmed that Kinect 2 is a MANDATORY device for the Xbox One. The Xbox One WILL NOT function without the Kinect 2 always connected to the Xbox One, and always turned on. Once connected and turned on, the Kinect 2 will, when not in use, maintain a "low power state" in which it will always be listening thanks to its always on microphones. Now that right there was enough to make MOST people who heard that immediately concerned about privacy, including a German Federal Official who classified it as a surveillance device. Microsoft maintains, and the XBros defend to the death, that they have a strict privacy policy that anyone can read about. But here are my questions.
How can anyone be sure exactly what Microsoft will hear with the Kinect 2? Are you happy about the Kinect 2 monitoring conversations, listening for buzzwords to tailor ads for you to see constantly? How can anyone trust Microsoft's Privacy Policy when they were found to be listening in on Skype conversations?
http://www.zdnet.com/big-br...
If the Kinect 2 ISN'T going to be spying on anyone, what reason is there to force users to have it always connected and always on?
Wouldn't Microsoft have to consider the individuals who DON'T want to use their Kinect 2 driven features? If so, why not offer options? How can you not be upset by even entertaining the thought of users being monitored in any way?
Online Requirement: Here is a 100% truthful fact. There is no place in the whole of this world that has an always 100% stable network infrastructure. Nowhere. Even those places in the world with the best networking options such as Japan do not have 100% constant stability forever. The Xbox One is heavily focused on being online. Having internet is crucial for some of the Xbox One's most basic abilities and mandatory as the Xbox One will require a connection once every 24 hours under the guise of being necessary for "updates." This part isn't necessarily untrue, as Microsoft are terribly annoying with their updates as evidenced by any user of Windows having to deal with Microsoft's constant updates.
This connection requirement renders the Xbox One useless and pointless to whole countries with no internet, or spotty internet, as well as individuals who at times need to cancel their internet (like college students) to pay bills.
Clearly the Xbox One is for those people who desperately need to remain connected and can't live without it. Though those individuals are numerous, they aren't the total populace. The 24 hour check is also going to be used for another feature, to be discussed after.
So XBros, how do you defend Microsoft's clear lack of attention to real world problems concerning online infrastructure? How fair is it that the XBox One has to "accommodate certain offline modes" instead of just allowing people to remain offline to begin with and enjoy the system that way? Why should people be punished for not having the best and therefore most expensive internet packages?
Used Games: There have been plenty of people who made the very correct assumption that the Xbox One is the console that publishers like EA have always wanted. The Xbox One seeks to end the used games market.
The "policy" in place in regards to used games on the Xbox One is either buy new, or play on someone else's profile if you want to play a used game that you borrowed from a friend or bought used.
Basically, because the Xbox One forces installations of all games onto a non-removable hard drive, if I lent a game to my friend the only way that friend could play the game without having to pay (possibly full price) to play it is if my friend played it on my profile. Here's the kicker though, we can't both be on my profile at the same time
Remember those online checks every 24 hours? Yeah, those checks will check for multiple people using the same profile and whether any of those profiles are playing the same game. Whichever unit is the unit that the profile was created on, that unit will be fine, but any other won't be. Because of the mandatory install, the other units will have to pay for the game. So although MS will allow you to lend your games to friends, those friends can only play those games for free on your profile. Although MS will let you resell your games, the fact that they are used games may not net you a discounted price.
XBros: What part of forcing online checks to determine who is or is not playing a used game DOESN'T sound like even the smallest form of privacy violations? How is it a good thing for anyone but Microsoft/Greedy Publishers to force friends to pay (possibly full price) just to play a borrowed game on their own profile? Why should used products come with a full, brand new, retail price tag attached to them?
There are so many more issues to discuss and questions to ask XBros, but this blog is already long enough and there really is only one main question that needs answering.
Who in their right mind can be so much of a corporate apologiser/defender, that they would willing defend anti-consumer and possibly anti-privacy decisions/implementations/tact ics just for a few seconds of convenience, and the ability to watch tv on a device that requires you to already own a device that lets you watch tv in the first place?
The Xbox One is highly anti-consumer. It's Microsoft's push for control, not just presence, over the entertainment of the casual majority. And no amount of deflection onto another company, nor pleas of patience can erase what was already said, and what was clearly the design intent of the Xbox One.
The Xbox One is a device for businessmen to exploit/control, and the uninformed to blindly purchase on impulse.
Ben Sledge from TheGamer Writes "I’m already impressed with Supergiant’s commitment to improving body diversity in the Hades 2 technical test."
Hardcore Gamer Writes "Buckshot Roulette is gaming's latest surprise hit, and for quite the good reason, with its twisted and unique gameplay, and tension-filled atmosphere."
Despite all the hype, marketing, development time and resources behind them, these blockbuster titles would disappoint fans.
The Order 1886 wasn't disappointing.
It was great.
Maybe do an article about Games Journalists Lied About. That would be a good read.
Sure, the campaign was terrible, but MW3 isn't even the top three most disappointing COD games...
Xbro for life thanks for the joy I had fun.
i used to play xbox 360 a lot but mine broke and this was before they gave the warranty. i just decided that it was not worth it i mean i play to have fun but if my system is not reliable then what is the point? and now microsoft wants xbox one to be some kind of super-console that connects everything. i'm sorry but that just isnt for me. when i sit down i would just like to play games you know? maybe i will just find a new super nintendo like i had when i was a kid and that will be the console i play for the next few years.
OMG Bro, wait for Eeeeeeee3! Phil Harrison was totally JK'ing! Ps4 will probably end up havin' the same DRM and prob worse.
/sarcasm
You can already see the apologists at work. In 5 months a blog or comment like these will be considered "trolling" because enough tools will have bent over by then and accepted it.