Xbox One: Still Not Sold

 Recently Microsoft backpedaled on it's controversial decision regarding their DRM practices. While many were happy with the change, some of us still see more things that need to change. Some label us "Sony Cronies" or "Haters just to hate", Microsoft still has some legitimate complaints. I'm not particularly excited to have a peripheral I don't care about, the $100 difference is still disappointing, not allowing indie developers to self-publish, and more.

To me, it goes beyond that. I don't look at just the past month and make my decision to hold back for years on purchasing the console; I take into consideration the past few years of the Xbox 360's life and judge whether or not I want a console that may be going in the same direction.

And no. I don't.

You see, when Microsoft's Xbox 360 originally came out, I was sold on it. It had a large number of games coming out, the price was right, and developers loved it. Live was a fantastic plus, even if I wasn't fond of paying for it, but the ecosystem it provided was only out-rivaled by the PC itself. I was the consumer they were selling the box to, and I was the consumer willing to purchase it.

So much has changed in recent years. Microsoft put out a large number of exclusives the first few years of the Xbox 360's existence. Games that would once only be released on a Sony platform the previous generation such as Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and Infinite Undiscovery. They had some strong series just starting out including Dead Rising, Saints Row, Crackdown, Gears of War, and Left 4 Dead. Include the popular Halo series, and the Xbox 360 came out with a chip on its shoulder and a point to prove.

But somewhere around 2009-2010, the tone changed. The number of exclusive games started to dwindle, and the focus changed from hardcore gamer to a more casual gamer. Part of this was clearly the focus on Kinect to try and cash in on the popularity of the Wii success by taking motion gaming one step further. So some of the exclusives that did come out were Kinect exclusives. And as many review sites will show, didn't quite live up to what we were promised.

I also started to question where my $50 a year for Live was going to. I didn't really notice any change in the servers to make the online play any better. But what I did notice was more ad space. More difficulty finding the stuff I wanted. More media apps I had no interest in. Instead of my money going to better the Live service I was paying for, it was going to other media apps that I would have to pay additionally for on top of Xbox Live.

So suffice it to say, as I wasn't a big online gamer in the first place outside of a few games, I didn't feel Live was worth it anymore. Around this time I also found myself playing more Playstation games with a free online service, that outside of certain chat functions, didn't really seem that drastically different from what I paid for on the Xbox Live. I preferred the simplicity of the XMB, and the store was far less difficult to find things from my experience. Yes, the scheduled maintenance and slow downloads were incredibly frustrating (and still are), but wasn't enough to warrant a trip back to Xbox Live.

Then due to the way my shoddy house was built, having the Xbox was more of a pain to play due to the trouble I had to go through to set it up. Not Xbox's fault, but it was inevitably the reason I traded in my Xbox to Gamestop.

Fast-forward to May 2013 and the reveal of the Xbox One came to fruition. Instead of seeing a new potential gaming device I was eager for, I was greeted with a media box that had several functions I would never use. Oh, and it plays video games. Of course after receiving some bashing from gamers about the lack of games, we were promised games were coming for E3. Which, to be fair, they delivered on.

But the original reveal is where my doubts started coming in. For years Microsoft has tried to infiltrate the living room with a box of their own to challenge Apple, Roku, etc. The announcement back in May just solidified my opinion that this was the route they were still going. However, when they heard the disappointment from gamers, they felt they needed to "win them over" by showing them games.

The doubt still remains though. They showed their true hand at that conference and everything else has felt reactionary. Literally, everything.

For a company like Microsoft to come out and have employees (some very high ranking) not have any answers, have conflicting answers, and generally seem stumped when it comes to the gaming side of the console is pretty worrisome. Microsoft has been in the business for a long time, and for these employees to not even give a simple "We cannot discuss this at this time", feels amateurish. They should be embarrassed with how everything went down the following weeks. They scrambled and made it worse for themselves.

And if those problems weren't bad enough, then the smugness of specific employees really started to shine through. While not the worst offender, Major Nelson made some waves while doing an interview with Angry Joe. During the interview, Angry Joe made a comment about turning off the DRM, clearly referencing the complaints given to Sim City and how easy it was for them to turn off the always-online portion that was touted as not being possible. Before Angry Joe could finish, the Major decided to steal the microphone and correct him. Which, if you believe what Microsoft has reiterated up until that point, is correct. It simply wouldn't be easy for them to do this as the entire hardware was built from the ground up with this policy in place.

Four days later, that was no longer the case. Policy reversal. Nowhere near as difficult as they made it out to be, especially with as dead-set as they were about it being part of the "future of gaming".

But who really takes the cake is Don Mattrick. If anyone deserves to have a job re-evaluation, it's good ole Don. Who has been so gracious in giving his opinion about the Xbox One such as:


“If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards.”

“We have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity; it’s called Xbox 360.”

"We're delivering thousands of dollars of value to people."

"We're over-delivering value."


Good work there Don. Keep up the good work dismissing consumers and pissing on their valid complaints.

So to some, this may come off as a big bitching post that has no merit. To me, who has felt burned by Microsoft and their direction over the past few years, I can't justify purchasing an Xbox One right now or in the immediate future. They have to prove to me that I'm a consumer they care about, and right now, I don't believe I am. I want a gaming console first and foremost, and the PS4 is striking me as that console. Their management has a clear focus on the gamer while Microsoft wants everyone, and the way to achieve that, is by winning over the gaming fan-base first. But like with the 360, I'm afraid we will fade into afterthoughts for the most part.

But like I've tried to reiterate, I'm not dismissing the console entirely. It has things that I'm interested to try out, but not for $500. The Cloud features are promising, but according to developers, are still a ways from reaching it's full potential due to the current limits of Internet connections here in the States. The Kinect could be a really cool device, but most of what we have been shown now, is what we were shown with the last Kinect. So I'm waiting to see how that turns out. The games they've shown have piqued my interest including Dead Rising 3, Titanfall, and Quantum Break; but I want to feel confident that more games like it will be sustained in the foreseeable future.

Right now my pre-order is on the Playstation 4, and that will not change. But if the Xbox One receives positive reviews and they are committed to providing a robust gaming experience on par with the PS4 for many years, then I'll pick one up. But unlike Sony who has impressed me the past few years, Microsoft has done the exact opposite. This is the time to win me back. Do not disappoint me Microsoft.

Why Sony has an Edge Going Into the Next Console Cycle

Sony burst out of the gate in February with the intention of winning back gamers and clearing the smear the PS3 left on their name. They know they cannot make the same mistakes as last time with exclusives, a complicated console to develop for, and a price point that turns away consumers. Mark Cerny made a point at the PS4 reveal that Sony is moving forward in the right direction. People have voiced their complaints about his speech being long winded with no information they cared about.

But Cerny did one thing that Microsoft failed to do in their entire presentation. He made me feel like they cared. He made me feel like they understood the gamer. He didn't feel like a businessman coming out trying to sell me a product. Instead he came out, acknowledged the faults of the previous console, and the ways they went about correcting on them. The importance of developers were a major point both with the console structure itself, and later with indie devs and Jonathan Blow. Throughout the entire presentation, Sony focused on the gamer and brought out people who created the games and the console itself. Microsoft went the other route by not focusing on games and bringing out people who nobody could connect with.

Sony received some major help after the Microsoft press conference due to the lack of cohesive answers given by Microsoft employees regarding various console topics. Used games, always-online, fees, Kinect requirement; you name it, nobody seemed to have the same response. Microsoft, which should be professionals when it comes to announcements and what to hold off on, came out like a hydra with the numerous heads spouting conflicting information. And while Sony may be doing similar things, their responses were vague enough to get the attention off of them. But most importantly, everyone who spoke about it, spoke in a unified informed voice. Anyone who sees Microsoft flopping around like a fish out of water with their responses should be concerned about how things are working behind the scenes. Their Xbox One reveal was pushed back several times from their rumored date, and they still came out stumbling. It's hard enough to convince people to purchase this console based on the information coming out, and it's even harder when the company behind it appears to have no idea of what is going on.

Microsoft also moved away from what made the Xbox and Xbox 360 successful. In the later part of the 360 lifetime, games became less of a priority and the media aspects grew in relevance. The Xbox One follows the 360 by sticking with media as the first and foremost thing to talk about...but it still plays games! Their way of showing this is by having two first party games, one of which is pretty annual in Forza 5. Then they bring out the big guns in other yearly games in sports and Call of Duty. And among the games shown, no actual gameplay.

So a week before E3, the biggest E3 EVER one could argue, below is a list of exclusive games for each console that has been revealed (not counting PC, previous-gen versions, timed exclusives or just hasn't been announced for the other console). The list does not include games we know exist, but don't know the name for:


PS4:
1. Infamous: Second Son
2. Killzone: Shadow Fall
3. Knack
4. Drive Club

5. War Thunder
6. Primal Carnage: Genesis
7. Deep Down
8. The Witness
9. Final Fantasy
10. Blacklight Retribution
11. Diablo 3
12. DC Universe Online *free*
13. Planetside 2 *free*
14. Warframe *free*


Xbox One:
1. Forza Motorsport 5
2. Quantum Break
3. Ryse
4. Fantasia: Music Evolved


From the sheer number of announced exclusives, PS4 is destroying Microsoft. Don't fret, Microsoft has games up their sleeve for E3. But the same can be said for Sony. So both lists can still grow quite a bit not only next week, but before and after as well.

E3 will allow for Sony to open up a little more about their system. While the social media functions are important, that can be quickly shown at the end of a new game to demonstrate how it works. Introducing how Gaikai will be implemented could be one of the biggest announcements depending on what it embodies. And if they can prove that remote play works between the Vita and PS4, that could not only sell PS4's, but Vita's as well.

But one of the biggest questions is...how much? We know the consoles will release around the same time (October-Black Friday), but the cost is the big headscratcher. Sony isn't planning on making the same mistake twice with pricing as they already revealed they won't be taking the same hit they did with the PS3. Microsoft on the other hand is also incorporating an updated Kinect. And if the current Kinect is at $100, then what would the current Kinect be worth. Add the system on top of that, and Xbox may very well have a higher priced console. Figure in a subscription which could cost more this generation. Unlikely you say? It would make sense if they are adding in 300,00 more servers with additional content for users than what is currently provided on the 360. And if that is true, why would the 360 users be paying the same amount although what is provided to them is different?

Microsoft has wavered since it's announcement and Sony is riding high from a fairly positive reveal and Microsoft's mistakes. E3 will either make or break Microsoft, and Sony should be stable depending on what Microsoft has to show. But if Sony decides to put their foot down, Microsoft may not have a chance. Microsoft has to wow everyone and Sony just has to continue what they are doing. All expectations could flip come E3, but from the looks of it, it's looking pretty promising from Sony. But there's always Wonderbook...