A few weeks ago, Microsoft held a press event to announce their next generation console, the Xbox One. Almost immediately the press event and the system itself felt very harsh backlash from gamers and game journalists. Let's dive headfirst into this can of worms and find out why.
First off, the event itself. Probably the biggest problem with it was the fact that Microsoft showed almost no games. Out of the three they talked about, only one was a new IP, Quantum Break. The other two were the next Madden and Call of Duty titles. Most gamers are more concerned with what games they'll be able to play on the system, not what other neat things the system can do. What I mean is that Microsoft seems to be really pushing the television aspect of the Xbox One. Basically, you'll be able to watch live TV through the console. For a fee of course. Most gamers are looking at the redundancy of having two cable boxes hooked up to on television. The other problem with the event is the seemingly random timing of it. Why didn't Microsoft wait till E3 right around the corner? They claim that they wanted to focus on the software at E3, but they only said this after the press event was a huge flop. Who knows if that is what they were really planning or if the statement was damage control. Really though, I think this video pretty much sums up the event best.
The second problem is with some of the console's "features." Firstly, Microsoft recently announced that the system must be online at least once a day. Basically the console has to "phone home" to Microsoft once a day or it can't play anymore games. This means all games, not just ones that are specifically online games. This effectively shuts out anyone who doesn't have an internet connection or anyone who simply doesn't want to play online games.
Secondly, Microsoft is kicking around some ideas concerning used games. What seems most likely is that their will be a fee if you want to play a used game on the system. The kicker is that it's up to the game's publisher or developer as to whether or not they want to institute the fee for that game. Another idea is that their will be a limited number of times a game can be registered to an account. This is a bit like Apple's home-sharing options. While I understand that developers don't make a profit on a used game sale, this system is effectively cutting out an extremely large group of people. I haven't met a gamer that hasn't bought at least one used game before.
The final problem is that the system has a built-in Kinect sensor that must always be on. The Kinect being the motion sensing, voice recognizing add-on that you probably have collecting dust somewhere if you have one at all. The problem is that this seems like a very Orwellian-like invasion of privacy. Having a camera in your living room or bedroom that is on all the time is not a very appealing idea. Another concern is the question of whether or not Kinect functionality is going to be mandatory in games for the console.
All in all, Microsoft really has their work cut out for them in convincing gamers to buy this system. Probably why they've been releasing press snippets like this one claiming that these functions are not set in stone. Whether or not the system has to have all these things, who knows. Guess we'll just have to wait until we get closer to the release date.
I totally agree with your prints about the problems with the X-box One. The whole press conference and their part in E3 were a disaster! It almost seems like Microsoft enjoys shooting themselves in the foot. The whole debacle with the X-box One is simply embarrassing. I can see why a major company like that would want to band used/trade-in games but I completely can not understand why they thought it was a good idea to actually ban them. Why they talked up the fact that you can watch television on the X-Box One was such a pointless thing to do. Anyone who would get an X-Box One obviously has a television; the television features on the X-box One are totally useless. The fact that you have to always be connected to the internet even if you are playing a single player game is such a baffling thing; I cannot see a single reason why they would require that and of course their is the slightly creepy inability to turn off the X-box One. That certainly sends a shutter down my spine but then again I can be somewhat paranoid at times. The overpriced system along with the many problems are definitely things Microsoft needs to work out sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteAgain great post!
Claire