There is no doubt that the Xbone's pre-launch PR trail has been catastrophic. Now to be fair, maybe MS do have good reasons for the check in. Sharing digital games with friends is an interesting concept and, in countries where the extra features actually work, (like their NFL deal) they might be nice, not reasons to buy a video game console by any stretch but the kind of thing where if you do have an Xbone they could be a nice touch. Netflix isn't a good reason to buy a PS3 but it's there and I use it and I like it. There's nothing wrong with extras as long as they don't detract from what it's meant to be, a video game console to play video games on. No we shouldn't be angry about having to check in every 24 hours to prove we're not thieves, we shouldn't be angry that things we bought and paid for aren't ours to do with as we please and we shouldn't be angry that the Xbone will watch you while you sleep. Okay, we should be angry about that but that's not the real reason to be angry with Microsoft right now.
The reason we should be angry is their attitude towards us, the consumer. Microsoft have told us a lot of things that made us unhappy and rather than address our concerns they told us to just shut up and take it. Like I said, they could have legitimate reasons for doing what they are but do they care to tell us what those reasons actually are? No, they just want us to quit our bitching and buy one. Most telling was Mattrick's recent "We have an offline console, it's called the Xbox 360". The most dismissive and horrible thing he could say in response to people's legitimate complaint that their dodgy internet connection might not be very friendly to a console that needs to go online in order to actually let you play video games on a system you already paid 500 bucks to play video games on. Well Mattrick, there's actually another option for offline gaming, it's called the Playstation 4 and it is currently your direct competition. That and his constant assurance that "He can't explain it to us but we'll see when we try it." Well in fact I won't see, because unless you give me reason to beforehand I won't buy one. You see that's how this works, you convince me to put down 500 bucks beforehand. I'm not ponying up the cash first and hoping I see what secrets Microsoft had in store for me. These two comments make it seem like Microsoft think they have a monopoly. First of all they act like our only other option is their old machine, and second of all they think we're all going to buy one and "find out". No Microsoft, they're are other options.
This is why you should not buy an Xbone, at least not until Microsoft's attitude takes a dramatic turn for the better. If you buy an Xbone you are directly validating Microsoft's arrogance. We are the customers, we give them our hard earned money and we keep them in business. They need to show us some respect and if they don't they should suffer for it. The video game industry has been getting more and more toxic over the past decade, DRM stopping everyone BUT pirates from playing games, gating off online multiplayer, a feature you already paid for when you drop what will be 65 bucks on a new title next generation (if they want to withhold half the game from me then let me pay half price for the single player only, why on Earth should I pay full retail for half a game?),equating used games to piracy, getting me to enter code after code to access content that's already on the disc I paid for with actual money at launch and now just being openly disrespectful to us, their customers. Do not buy an Xbone for the simple fact that we don't want to prove Microsoft right. We do not want to show the industry that we'll just quietly roll over and let them stamp on the other side of our face. Vote with your wallets and let Microsft know they can have our business when they show us some goddamn respect.
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