In my eyes, it will always be MS, starting with the original Xbox, that spearheaded infecting and saturating the console market with PC style internet based competitive testosterone shooters. They almost single handedly completely sidelined all other genres and game concepts that previously had their niche on consoles and for generations separated and defined console gaming as a unique experience from PC gaming.
Storytelling, epic tear-jerking music, exploring, and adventure, tragedy and drama, you didn't play Quake and Counterstrike for these, you played console games. PC vs console were mutually exclusive independent experiences. Then Xbox came and took that away from consoles.
With their third console they show no signs of changing, just bunkering down and fighting harder for their target market at a time when it seems like the "photorealizticz dude bro shooter" fad is FINALLY starting to stagnate and become socially undesirable and a negative stigma.
I've been hooked on JRPGs and tragic adventure games since SNES.
I was all in with 360 in 7th gen after the PS3's bad launch. I even referred to it as the Sexbox. And in the end they let me down with nothing but COD/Halo/Gears/Madden rehashes with follow the giant arrow on the ground and blow stuff up FPS gameplay. Granted it was Microsoft+Activision+EA combined really, so not all MS' fault.
But MS with the Xbox brand and platform and Halo as the test bed was definitely the enabler for the MS+Activision+EA disease to overun the console market. Halo and XBL marked the turning point for consoles and not in a good way. We've known practically nothing but shooters and DLC ever since.
The consequence of making the console and PC market indistinguishable from each other and taking away console's identity and uniqueness is perhaps Microsoft's greatest unforgiveable sin.
If they made an honest attempt to change, I might cut them some slack. But they continue to stick to their old tactics of slapping a photo of a master chief helmet on a yet another box to counter press releases from the competition and make no attempts to diversify outside of the target market they are most associated with and have dug themselves into a hole with.
And even when they say they are changing with their public face they straight up lie and try to get their way behind your back anyway. A perfect example is the lack of a physical copy of Halo 5 in the $250 LCE. Inexcusable. The steel book doesn’t even hold a physical copy if you had one. Same Microsoft as it ever has been, still trying to covertly force their all digital agenda and wage their war against consumer ownership and physical media.
But who am I kidding... I'm a collector and have every limited version Xbox One anyway and a complete Xbox One exclusives only physical library (15-20 games I think)? So my opinion is meaningless. /facepalm
