The seemingly insurmountable mistakes that Microsoft made during their Xbox One reveal are, by now, infamous within the gaming community. Being a loyal Xbox guy myself, I simply felt forced to turn away from them afterwards and felt no guilt or console loyatly when deciding that a PS4 was the way to go.

I have since changed my mind.

I saw today that MS is giving giving all Xbox Live Gold members a chance to play Sunset Overdrive, the complete game and not just the demo, for 24 hours, as in company speak, a way to comemmorate the one year anniversay or their latest console. Obviously they wouldn't choose to do this now if the Xbox One hadn't been such a completely polarizing disappointment upon release. Never has one of the major console makers given away a AAA title so close from it's release. Sunset Overdrive is part of the Xbox One's retail backbone and to this point, one of, if not arguablely the only, nex-gen releases that can be considered 'nex-gen'.

Watching Microsoft fumble all over themselves so entirely and submissively over the past few months has won my loyatly back. Now, I understand that's a double-eged sword as the policies they 'wanted' to put in place have not been forgotten and are still coming eventually.. from all three.. but for now at least, Microsoft has put the emphasis on the customer and not the studios, themselves, and the color green.

So what's your opinion?

Has Microsoft done enough to smooth over all the vitriol they so well deserved a year and a half ago?

If you're were a previous supporter who swore off being their customer, or a Sony fan who felt even further validated for being so, has Microsoft done enough as of late to win you back, win you over?

(Post was edited to reflect the fact that Sunset Overdrive is free and playable for only 24 hours, not quite the 'give-a-way' I'd initially written about. Either way, it's another attempt by Microsoft to appear more customer driven, as giving people a full day to play through a complete game could result in an overall loss of potential sales for the title. Gamers have an uncanny way of staying caffeinated and alert if it means getting through an entire game in only 24 hours)

Competition is a wonderful thing!

They won me over with the 360. Lost me at E3 , and won me back earlier this year. I'm solidly back in their corner. The Xbox One is a great console after the Microsoft 180.

They are certainly trying but not quite yet

And this is exactly what they were going for.  People confusing the game being free for 24 hours instead of free to play for 24 hours.

The game is free only during that 24 hour period, but as soon as the 24 hour period ends, the game is inactive.

A free game does not counteract the shitting bollocks that was the MS conference and E3 shows. However, lowering the price and removing their Micro heads from their Soft asses, does. I'll never own a Xbox of any kind as it has no appeal to me, but it's starting to - starting to - look worthwhile.

Liar

"Being a loyal Xbox guy myself, I simply felt forced to turn away from them afterwards and felt no guilt or console loyatly when deciding that a PS4 was the way to go."

Do you think that people can't check the few posts/threads you made over the course of the last year? Including "Impressed by the PS4...blown away by the Xbox One"?

The main issue is when Microsoft burnt its bridge with me and then proceeded to defecate on the ashes Sony was there to go "Its cool, we're here" so I chose PS4.

Now, Microsoft has done a pretty amazing job trying to undo all the insulting rhetoric of 2013. They shed Kinect, they offered great deals via game give aways, price drops and bundles. I will give them kudos that while I am still sore about 2013, I can see that much of that culture has been cleared out.

The question is given I own a PS4 and am very happy with it, why would I buy an X1? To me there are three Xboxs.

1. The average to fine Xbox - The original Xbox and currently the X1
2. The good Xbox - First half of the Xbox 360
3. The bad Xbox - Second half of the Xbox 360 and the reveal of the X1

Microsoft has made no secret who its target demographic is and I am not in that. I don't care about FPSs and I don't care about NFL. The X1 right now has one game I really want (Sunset Overdrive) that cannot get on PS4.

In summation, Microsoft has moved the X1 from being the first console I have ever hated in my life to a system I am indifferent to. Progress of a sort.

You only get to play the SSOD for one day so it's basically a demo. Also no...they haven't come close to winning me back. Its not just the crappy policies they tried to force on gamers, its their lack of commitment to their consoles. They all but stop developing for them after the first few years and I'm not paying for another Xbox console to become a bulky paperweight. My OG and 360 pretty much became useless after a few years while Sony continues to release games on their systems up to the start of the new generation.

They never lost me. Xbox4Life