Xbox 180: A Victory For Gamers... But Why?

So, I bet you all heard the news right? Microsoft have announced that they've reversed their anti-consumerist tactics with the Xbox One. You can now play offline without a 24 hour check in (after an initial one at the system setup), you can play disc based games without installing them on the harddrive, and you can buy/sell and trade in games new or used. Great news for gamers right? Of course it is. Though, there is a real possibility that the 10 person game sharing is dead now. It is for downloadable titles, but disc based games still need clarification.

Why did Microsoft do this? They claim that it's because of feedback from the community. Sorry Microsoft, but I call shenanigans on that one.

This is a company that didn't give a damn about the community during the development of the console, at the reveal of the console, and before, during, and after E3. This is the company whose executives said things like "If you can't connect, stick with the 360," and "We need to educate consumers about the DRM system's benefits," and "We're not going to change the DRM" and Major Nelson even getting after Angry Joe saying changing the DRM isn't so simple. Why all of a sudden does the community matter when the community has been shouting their anger from the rooftops for weeks over these issues with no success until now?

The answer is simple. The community isn't why Microsoft changed their mind at all. The reason Microsoft changed their mind is likely 3-fold.

I think the first reason is due to what Don Mattrick said about military personel or anyone without an adequate connection sticking with the Xbox 360. The core gamers were going to b*tch regardless, but when Microsoft essentially said "we don't care about the service men and women, they opened themselves to a whole new level of hate from a different crowd of people. I mean, these are who risk their lives so that companies like Microsoft can get fat, bloated, and as arrogant as they are in a capitalist world. They chose the 360 as their favourite console and likely would have expected that same support from the X1 only to be met with "Tough sh*t soldier, #dealwithit." Yeah, that's not really going to go over so well.

I think the next reason has to do with the rumour that Gamestop cancelled all further pre-orders and stopped ordering any X1 units recently. Gamestop had also previously been handing out pamphlets detailing the restrictions present in the X1 to all of their customers, especially the ill-informed, so that everyone knew what they'd be getting into with an X1. Gamestop, as one of (if not the) largest video game distribution retailers in the world, would have been the hardest hit with the X1's DRM against used games. After all, these measures against used games were created specifically to target stores like Gamestop. When Microsoft targeted Gamestop's primary source of income, Gamestop fought back, and you don't want to lose one of your largest distribution partners if you want to succeed.

And the final reason I think is thanks to the Jimmy Fallon show. If you haven't already seen the segments, I'll link the videos after I've made this point. Jimmy Fallon recently had 2 segments as part of that show's Gaming Week. One segment was dedicated to the X1 and its multimedia features (and Killer Instinct), while one segment was dedicated to the PS4 and Knack. During the PS4 segment, Jimmy brought up that the PS4 was the only console that supported used games (obviously he's not a fan of the WiiU) which caused his studio audience to applaud. What does that have to do with anything? Well it proves that even the casual audience, the mainstream tv watchers that don't look into these issues, have heard about what's going on with the X1 and prefer Sony's methods over Microsoft's. You wouldn't consider typical fans of the Jimmy Fallon show to be hardcore gamers as well. I know that's a gross generalization, but it's also hard to completely dismiss.

So when Microsoft saw that the casual audience didn't like their policies either, that must have been the final trigger for them to do something about it, considering that the casual audience is their primary demographic with the X1.

Xbox One Segment: http://www.youtube.com/watc...
PS4 Segment: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Basically, what all this means, is that Microsoft saw every other audience complaining just as much as the core audience and recognized the sinking ship they produced.

This is a victory for gamers to be sure, but it should be recognized that Microsoft had every intention of going through with these practices, and that this too is still subject to change at their whim. It's also important to note that Kinect is still mandatory and the X1 is still $500, so no one should rest on their laurels just yet.

In any event, the gaming industry today learned a lesson. No matter how many hypocrites exist among the core audience who will complain about yearly releases and terrible sequels, yet buy these games anyway, gamers are capable of incredible solidarity when they feel threatened and you'd be hard pressed to find a more expressive group. Remember that the next time you try to tell us what we like and what is our future instead of just asking us what we think is cool and what we'd agree with being the future.

[Donnieboi]

Yep exactly, MS could no longer rely on the ignorance of the casual audience, now that they were informed by Fallon of all the dangers of buying an Xbox One.

[DragonKnight]

That's exactly what I think. I mean, Fallon's studio audience wasn't chosen to be core gamers and he has no reason to fake applause for the PS4. It stands to reason that Microsoft's bad practices were known beyond the core gamers.

[Christopher]

As I said a long time ago, it's not news until the mainstream knows about it. And, Jimmy Fallon proved that it had already gone mainstream. If it hadn't reached that point? They wouldn't have changed a single thing. They would have controlled the vernacular and marketed people into their original plan.

http://n4g.com/news/1263077...

[DragonKnight]

Completely agreed. That's why I don't think Microsoft give a damn about the core gamers. The X1 wasn't even targeted to core gamers in the first place. I mean, yeah they changed their stance now, but the question people should be asking is "would they have if the mainstream didn't know?" My answer is "Not a chance in hell."

[rainslacker]

Even now MS is going to have a hard time selling to that casual crowd if the news is out there. They are less likely to keep up to date, and may forever have a negative impression of MS due to this.

It's much easier for people to remember the bad stuff, and very rarely does the good news make it out to the mainstream.

Basically the damage is done, and it's going to take a lot for MS to reverse it. At the very least they changed it early, dare I say, before it got any worse.

[Mr_Nuts]

@DragonKnight

So true

What I am scared of though that people are going to be like

*** Oh they changed their mind, good for Microsoft, they are listening so much to their fans, I'm going to get an Xbox One now ***

When basicaly this is only half the battle we've won. Kinect is the next issue, not to mention indie devs who can't self publishm Kinect spying on you, games which will probably dry out after all the E3 ones are released so by the time Halo 5 comes out we'll go back to the same old pattern we were in before

I could go on

[shivvy24]

@ rainslacker , people still think to this day ps has less games/exclusives ! this was due to launch ! so this x1 reveal is gonna hurt the console for a long run !

[jmc8888]

Also.

Steam announced sharing games without requiring everyone that uses steam to 'check in'.

In other words, the whole rationale that you needed these checks or the console was a brick in order to enable sharing, was just as what people with common sense were saying, complete BS.

Microsoft never needed such restrictions in order to enable sharing. They were just trying to use anything as an excuse for why the console 'needed' to check online.

It's pretty funny though. Steam, is a free program, and they weren't gong to force you. Xbox One was a $500 console you bought, and THEY were going to brick you if you didn't connect.

But the victory isn't over

Kinect 2 needs to be removed as a requirement.

Here's what simple everyday webcam's can do
http://www.guardian.co.uk/w...

This is just a small bit about microsoft's major whoring of you out to others

http://www.zerohedge.com/ne...

Then realize the Kinect 2 is the most advanced piece of spyware ever invented. It can not only hear and see you, it can recognize you, it can tell your heartrate, it can tell your mood, it can see you in the dark, etc etc.

Oh and thousands of companies are buying and trading just regular data about people, and the Kinect will take that amount of data and push it up a couple of notches.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Excellent blog, and it brings up an intriguing point:

If Microsoft decided to change their policies due to the masses and the casuals (i.e the public) and not due to the one-month-straight of complaints from gamers, what does that say about their perception of you? Is everyone simply going to brush aside all of the rude, dismissive comments made by Microsoft's PR?

If Microsoft didn't care enough about core gamers to listen to their complaints, what makes you think they'll care about you instead of the TvTvTvSportsTvCalladooty crowd?

I think Microsoft has already shown their hand. Just because they decided to fold on this particular issue doesn't mean I want to keep playing poker with them. They still probably have a revolver underneath the table pointed at my junk.

[DragonKnight]

Microsoft don't care about anyone but themselves. They never have, they never will.

[Imalwaysright]

The shill lost his job!! Good riddance. I for one won't miss you.

[fsfsxii]

Good riddance for sure.

[generalthadeape]

@ dedicated--your poker analogy gains you a bubble-- I liked it!

[iliimaster]

good read

[smashcrashbash]

@ MikeMyers I love how people are treating Microsoft like some sort of hero now instead of glaring at them and telling them that they damn well better change it.People who defend Microsoft are always so ready to forgive them for the $hit that they do instead of watching them more carefully and seeing what they will do to compensate for taking DRM away.These are the very same people who were talking down to you about your complaints, telling you that you are overreacting and refusing to change their minds.and now of course Xbox fanboys try to pretend what just happened didn't just happen just like they do everything else.You are like those abused housewives who keep running back to the people who abuse them. Microsoft gave you a big middle finger and talked down at you and to save their asses they finally backpedaled.And now all the crap that they said before they changed their mind will be auto automatically forgotten. And to add to it trying to drag Sony fanboys into it.We are not the ones who disrespected you and told you they were not going to change it and then come crawling back with everyone pretending that they did it for the good of gamers

[zerocrossing]

Excellent blog as usual Dragon.

I would like to point out that even though MS may be pulling a Xbox 180 (sorry couldn't resist) the fact that they even had the intention of following through with their anti-consumer policies in the first place speaks volumes of where MS's loyalty's truly lie, they are still very much on the side of the publishers and if you ask me this change of heart is more to do with a fear of loosing big on Xbone sales due to a rise in bad press.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the rumour of MS going back on their controversial DRM policies came shortly after the Jimmy Fallon show, where unanimous cheers of praise from the audience where directed toward Sony's PS4 and their un-restrictive stance on used games, so it would appear that those who MS where counting on being their core demographic (the commercial driven casual crowd) have caught wind of all the bad press and like any consumer who values their "consumer rights" have chosen to stand against that which they feel threatened by.

Given the sheer scale of this un-precidented turn around, I'll probably (hopefully) get my own blog up tomorrow and flesh out some of these points further, but I'll say this for now. MS had every intention of screwing all of us over so, don't think their philosophy has changed just because their current policy has shifted due to fears of loosing out this coming gen.

[HonestDragon]

Excellent blog, DragonKnight. As soon as I heard that Microsoft was back peddling from this always online, no used games policies that people hated, I shook my head and only replied, "Of course they are". Telling us that everything the Xbox One is offering and all of the features it has is the future of gaming only shows that they are really out of touch with the video game community.

I will still not buy an Xbox One. The games are not even a proper excuse both before and after this revelation that Microsoft are taking off the things people didn't like. They may be interesting and cool to play, but the damage has been done. I'm sticking with Sony and Nintendo all the way this generation. Also, I'm upgrading my PC for potential titles in the future.

These are my reasons for sticking with those groups. Sony for their single player games and any potential games that have multiplayer. Nintendo for their franchise titles and party games. PC for all of the multiplayer and Steam games I could enjoy. Xbox One? Still a no from me. For all we know, Microsoft will probably tweak those now thrown out policies where those can potentially be worse or better. Only the future will tell as we near the holiday season.

[Software_Lover]

I know I've been playing Devils advocate lately but.....

People forget about.... You will get 2 jobs for a ps3
They didn't "care about the gamer". They changed.

People forget about ...... You dont need rumble.
they didn't "care about the gamer". DS3

People forget about the removal of features because of pirates. WTF do you think Microsoft was trying to do?

Microsoft had the initial set of games when they launched. Sony didn't. Things changed.

Although I did buy a 60gb ps3 at launch, I wasn't happy with what Sony was doing. But I could see the good. Many people say, there was no good in what Microsoft was trying to do. Well, I beg to differ. There were advantages and disadvantages yes, but it depended on your perspective.

Many people are happy for this revelation. Some are happy because they can now play their system offline. Some are happy because they can now bash Microsoft for something else. Some are happy because they are on drugs, I don't know just saying :)

Now for the bluntness.......... Why do people think one "corporation" can change it's ways but another "corporation" cant? Why does one "corporation" get mulligans every time they mess up but the other "corporation" gets hounded?

Final question. Do you think Tretton put those last 3 slides in their E3 conference because they care about gamers? Or did they put it in their because they had seen the backlash these last few months and were gonna use it as marketing to get more money? Be honest.

I'm getting a ps4 this year and an XBone next year so this so called "battle" is pointless to me. I understand alot of us have a deep affiliation for the playstation brand. I have had everyone since the original, but I can appreciate everything that Microsoft brought to the table.

BIG EDIT:
Just wanted to let you know I agree with your 3 points.

[DragonKnight]

Yep, Sony 2006, or rather Ken Kutaragi really, were as terrible as MS are (were) now. But, looking over what you pointed out, it's important to notice even those examples are different. Ken didn't speak for Sony as a whole, that's why he was "fired." Phil Harrison I believe was the one that talked about Rumble, and look at him now, also that was just legal puffery due to the lawsuit that was going on. Removal of OtherOS isn't comparable to restrictive DRM against used games.

I'm not saying that Sony weren't boneheads, but they weren't on the same level as Microsoft arrogantly and proudly proclaiming that they were screwing everyone over.

"Now for the bluntness.......... Why do people think one "corporation" can change it's ways but another "corporation" cant? Why does one "corporation" get mulligans every time they mess up but the other "corporation" gets hounded?"

I don't think that. But what I've seen is years of trying to listen to fans and changing versus years of "We know what's best for you." Sony has a share page dedicated to fan suggestions, and it has worked in many cases. Microsoft think they they know what people like/want better than the people themselves do. They changed it now. Let's see if they will open themselves up to the possibility of further acknowledgement of fan feedback. From minor to larger issues. They don't have to outright do what everyone wants, but they can at least listen.

"Final question. Do you think Tretton put those last 3 slides in their E3 conference because they care about gamers? Or did they put it in their because they had seen the backlash these last few months and were gonna use it as marketing to get more money? Be honest."

Marketing of course. But here's my question. Do you think Tretton would have used it for marketing if he hadn't been forced to talk about thanks to all the stupid people who insisted on grouping Sony with Microsoft in terms of these policies, demanding that Sony answer Microsoft's policies at E3 when Sony's policies were clear from day 1? Or do you think that if people hadn't been so blind and ready to throw Sony under Microsoft's bus, more games could have been shown at Sony's E3 presser?

[Software_Lover]

Marketing of course. But here's my question. Do you think Tretton would have used it for marketing if he hadn't been forced to talk about thanks to all the stupid people who insisted on grouping Sony with Microsoft in terms of these policies, demanding that Sony answer Microsoft's policies at E3 when Sony's policies were clear from day 1?

I can agree there. Sony without a doubt did a better job conveying the positives about their system. They told gamers what they wanted to hear. Microsoft hid away like a punk. All execs, except that retard Mattrick, were put on a leash. Do you think they knew they were gonna have to changed things at that point?

[Redempteur]

Nobody forgot about sony in the 2006 days.
heck even sony was joking this year about giant ennmy crab.

The whole deal, the whole arrogant attitude is gone for now. if it comes back , gamers will punish just like they did before.

The thing is that microsoft is following the horrible sony 2006 path , so OF COURSE they will get the same treatment and gamers will say "screw this".

[Puty]

Spot on. You actually used a picture of Angry Joe, unfortunately he bought - that there was because of the listening to the fans - right away. I posted this on his website:
"I can’t believe you really bought this Joe.
If they listened to the feedback, they would announce it RIGHT ON THE E3. You saw what outstanding reaction was when Jack Tretton proclaimed it? MS would be the same, hell, even better because their conference was first if they did it then.
No, they stood behind that terrible idea, and AFTER that, when they saw that their games STILL didn’t convince anyone(and the launch of the console is near). After the researches past E3 they HAD to do it because they would end up with the console which nobody wants."