@J_Allard:
I think you can't disagree that there is a big difference between filing a concept for a patent,
and really invest huge amounts of resources into the development of an electronic device,
and force them onto consumers who essentially just want to play video games which doesn't require the device at all, and add none to less to the gaming experience they want.
You also talked about the lack of common sense in the OP, but forcing DRM and require a 24 hour checkin also lacks some common sense.
If Microsoft really listened to their customers and fans in the first place, they could have known they would receive a big backlash from the online community. Or how about removing the start button in Windows 8 and tell the customers that THEY have to get use to it, how's that for a lack of common sense ?
I know, they reversed their decisions, but only after a while when the sales figures didn't reach the target they had in mind.
And that's what bothers me somehow ... as long as the money keeps coming in, they don't care that much about their customers or the fans. And in the meantime they are doing their bests at downplaying the competition with false advertising and agressive tactics.
Instead of giving their fans what they want, they focused on KILLing Sony at E3. Really ? Kill ?? ... there's absolutely no common sense in such attitude.
That remindsme of @endimion reply ... I think if Microsoft had it their way, you would only have one choice and one choice only for everything... gaming, TV, Internet, etc ... guess who ?
You can call it tin foil hat conspiracy all you want, but I've seen more than enough business tactics where Microsoft tried to enforce their monopoly position.
And I think they have more plans than we could imagine today with this kinect device and XBox platform.
@sales2099: I can asure you that companies like Microsoft are very interested in what you do, and for example, what your habits and hobbies are.
Because data, and especially social data, is going to be the next goldmine, and the more date you can gather from a multitude and variety of sources, the better.
Yes, it would take a lot of computing resources and processing power to get the information you're looking for out of it.
But there's Azure .. a multi billion dollar cloud structure to do the neccesary work 24/7, 365 days a year.
And when they finally get the information out in such a way that 3rd parties find very valuable, they're sitting on money. And those 3rd parties could be anyone .. not only game developers and -publishers or TV providers, but what about banks, insurance companies, employers etc.
What if they decide you are really irrelevant, or even worse, a risk. Would you get that morgage you wanted, that new job you needed, that insurance ?
You would become a statistic entity, a logical equation instead of a human being.
You also said it's about videogames, but as I pointed out before, not for Microsoft.
I'm not wearing a tin foil hat or blinkers, I got my eyes, ears and mind wide open, and I can see the potentials of the combination of Xbox, kinect and Azure.
Gathering information about what games I play and what I might like to purchase is quite innocent and limited.
But this kinect device with Microsoft behind it feels like uncontrollable and a bridge to far.
