M is for Microsoft. Also Masochism.

I'm going to begin with a comment I saw at the bottom of an article written by the PA Report about the XBox One's release of information related to their outlook on owning games, buying used games, lending games, the once-a-day console heartbeat required for gaming, and the attempt at shrugging off any expected outrage onto the publishers:

"It's not every day that you get to see a major corporation pull the straight edge so eagerly across their throat".

I don't think anyone could say it better, provided one cares about consumer choice, game ownership, privacy, and not being treated like you're a card-carrying digital pirate. Microsoft's attitude towards the consumer, frankly, takes my breath away, but my fingers can still type. As a lifelong gamer, I reject this brave new world that Microsoft would like to cage us in. I obviously don't speak for every gamer. Only the ones that care about the world outside of a cozy little bubble.

Chances are if you're savvy enough to find yourself here, you like gaming and already eagerly awaited news of either the "XBone" or the PS4. You've probably already kept a wary eye on any further announcements if you're currently undecided on whether to buy either one or both. Maybe you even bought a WiiU, or at least entertained the thought of it. I won't re-hash the actual information, because you can find that splattered over any website that gobbles up that information.

I'm going to try to weave fire and acid into the words I'm writing about that information, so read up and come back if you aren't aware of what Microsoft seems to be planning on doing. I hope that this early information is Microsoft testing the waters and can still change much of what we saw. But here is my reaction given what we know right now:

As much as I came to love the XBox 360, I'm willing to not only not buy an XBone, but I'm willing to review how much money I spent over the last several years on the 360, the Kinect that I later bought optionally (and quickly became indifferent to), the accessories, the Gold subscription, and the games, and violently wave that stack of cash in Microsoft's face and proudly declare "NOPE". This would be followed up by a 30 second barrage of curses that would make sailors blush, plants wilt, and curl the hair on any animate or inanimate objects in a 2-mile radius.

Kinect Schminect

Microsoft. Buddy. Pal. Muchacho. What makes you think that I want a Kinect in the same package as the XBone, or at all? What makes you think that I would even want to plug it in even if I had no choice? Oh, you're going to make me cause you think it adds to the ease-of-use and intuitiveness of the consumer experience? You don't know fuck squat about what I want then. Controllers are faster and more efficient at navigating your UI, and I cannot conceive of a way to make the Kinect faster without increasing the frustration factor of selecting the wrong things.

I couldn't stand the voice commands before, and when I want to blast music in the background instead of whatever in-game sounds there are, it becomes a moot-point doesn't it? I see no value in barking at my in-game avatar when muscle memory has made the use of a controller so much more seamless. With a controller in my hands, technology becomes an extension of myself and I'm not painfully aware of the Kinect's inability to properly figure out what the fuck to do with my gyrations.

If, for some ungodly reason, I found myself in the possession of this console without paying any money, I would probably point the Kinect at the wall and put electrical tape over the mic and camera for good measure. If it requires a facial recognition to log into an account, then the last game this Kinect/XBone is going to play is a FPVF, First-Person Viking Funeral. Fire is the only way to kill such a beast.

Fair Use? More like "Fuck Youse"

My brother and I have borrowed/traded games in the past. It's what we do. It saves us money, especially when we don't know if we will like any given game that the other has already bought. Same goes with friends. I can lend stuff out, at my leisure, or hell I can just give it away if I so chose. And when I know I want a game, but either cannot find it due to it's age, or I'm on a tight budget, I go to GameStop. Microsoft's new console will effectively draw and quarter GameStop. If the PS4 announces similar approaches to preventing used game sales, then executive leadership of GameStop should be shitting themselves. Time to sell the deed to the farm. Hell, maybe the XBone is a big enough nail for that coffin that it won't matter, since close to a third (if not more) of their used-game business will be cut out.

And then of course, Microsoft is trying to point some of the blame at the publishers. Based on the publisher, some secondary market opportunities will be looser than others. And only through approved third-parties. Want to bet that GameStop is on that list? Doubtful. Much like the Kinect, the consumer will probably have no choice on what they do with a game after they buy it. Options look limited and all of them seem to be chained directly to Microsoft the macabre puppeteer. They may think they're being lenient, or even generous, with the options they've laid out. Somehow, having "permission" from Microsoft to share my games makes me feel less thankful and more ragey.

The Pulse of DRM

Then there's the heartbeat. There's a lot of misguided rage about having to keep the console on for 24 hours in order to maintain an active account, but the idea that I am required to have my console plugged into a reliable internet connection while I'm playing games feels like Microsoft is some sort of pimp and every 24 hours I better be somewhere or I'm gonna get pimp-slapped. And if I were to sign into my account on my brother's console, I'd have to have this check every hour. Do I hear an Over Attached Console meme forming in the corners of the internet? And for what purpose is this? To make sure I'm not playing a pirated game? That I haven't modded the console? Is the risk of someone doing this really worth dousing your brand in gasoline and lobbing a torch onto it?

Now, I know that the PC is rife with DRM software and methods of distribution, like Steam. However, there are games I can play that don't require internet and sure as hell don't need to "check-in" to allow me to keep playing. I avoid games that have DRM requirements. Some multiplayer games require internet, so it's not like I can avoid a stable internet connection to play. I still get a choice of what to play though. I think the threat of piracy has been proven as a non-issue. Most pirates won't buy a game they either can't afford or wouldn't risk the money to play in the first place. The idealogy and thought-process that leads a company to assume that a game pirated is one game's worth of profit less on the books, in my mind, is a fallacy.

The Bottom Line

Vote with your wallet. I don't know if Sony will have similar plan laid out. If they were smart, they would be paying attention to the outcries of disappointment and rage. Don't follow Microsoft into that burning building. Play your cards right Sony, and the PS4 will regain the prestige that the PS2 had in the gamer's eyes. Unless Microsoft changes their attitude, I will not buy the XBone. Not a chance. I will do everything I can to persuade anyone and everyone I know to avoid buying one. I will be the worst type of customer. Anything to make it clear that going down that road is unacceptable. And if the E3 rumors I'm reading right now are true. Fuck you Microsoft. Fuck. You.

'Scuse me. Got to go get a Guinness and play some Firefall. On a PC. At this rate, I won't need anything else.
 
Sláinte
-WF aka Cuculainn