First off let me say wow, what a nice event by MS. I knew going in thanks to what MS had said leading up to it that there would be little in terms of software, so I was not disappointed by that. I thought the console looked good enough, the controller looks bad ass, and the features of the console appeal directly to me and look incredible. However, what the fuck happened after the event was over? There's so much crap out there right now, no one knows what it real and what is fake and what is going on. It's worse than before the event when MS refused to comment on anything. Now they just can't shut up. One MS person will say one thing on twitter or in an interview. Then someone else has to clarify. Then that person actually needs clarification on their comments etc etc.
So by now all the negative rumors/confirmations are known. Lets list them.
- Always online is, for all intents and purposes, real. You need to log on once a day.
- Used games are essentially dead on the console. More than just used games, this means no trading, no renting, nothing. Even an act as simple and innocent as taking a game to a friends house to play it, requires you to log on with your account on their console or they have to pay a "fee". And by "fee", I mean they essentially have to buy their own copy of the game.
- No backwards compatibility.
- Kinect must be plugged in for the console to work.
So basically I am asking, is there anything MS can do to make you buy this console anyway, even with these (and other) negative aspects?
1. Always online for me is not an issue. Especially only once a day. I live in the US, I live in a great city, I have reliable Internet that Speedtest tells me is faster than 96-97% of the rest of the country. So for me, not an issue. But what if you have spotty Internet? What if your Internet goes down for a few days? Earlier this year a box that Verizon screwed into my wall shorted out, and it took almost 4 days for them to get someone out to fix it. Apparently my Xbox One would have only worked for a day after loss of connection. What the shit? That sucks. However, that was once in.. 7-8 years with the service. So basically, one time this generation.
2. The blocking of used games is a huge deal for me. And lets not kid ourselves, blocking used games is exactly what they are doing. Like I said above.. the worst part is this does not only destroy used games. It ruins your ability to rent games. It makes it almost impossible to lend games out to someone, unless it's someone you really trust. After all, they'll need to log onto your account just to play the game on their console. MS says they are bringing about a way to resell games. Depending on how good this is, my complaints here could be greatly reduced. If I can sell my games I no longer play, losing the ability to rent is less of a deal breaker because if I waste $60 on a turd I was unable to rent before buying, at least I can resell it. If the MS solution sucks, then this is probably a deal breaker for me. Maybe they'll end up setting something up with retailers like Gamestop? Like, Gamestop has a dedicated station where you bring the game in, they pop it in and it removes the license from your account in the cloud. Gamestop then gives you credit for the game. MS would allow Gamestop to sell the games for less than the MSRP, but now the developers get a cut. A bitter pill for Gamestop to swallow, but better than nothing. Another solution is MS creates their own online selling/trading marketplace. Who knows. This news was really depressing, mostly because we all know the PS4 is likely to follow suit.
3. I don't mind not being able to play retail games, but I really thought they'd at least make XBLA backwards compatible. It gives them an enormous library of AAA gems right at launch. And hell, at E3, maybe they announce this. But with PS4 being completely void of any BC, if Xbox One had any sort of BS, I think MS would have announced it. So for me this is a bummer with optimism for an announcement, but overall not a deal breaker since PS4 is in the same boat.
4. The only thing that worries me about this is how much extra cost is associated, and what the power consumption would be. I actually don't mind the Kinect being there and hope it's improved to work in smaller rooms as my game room is not very big. Being plugged in to work.. meh. If you don't like the Kinect, just plug it in and forget about it. If you want it, there it is. That is my take.
So overall I am eagerly awaiting more information on used games. They will keep me as a customer or lose me based on how this particular facet of the console operates. The dumb as soup comments made from Major Nelson and Phil whoever today got them off to a terrible start in that regard.
tl;dr - XBOX ONE LULZ MORE LIKE XBOX DONE.
Is there anything MS can do to make these features work for you or are you washing your hands of MS this gen?
