The response to the XBox One has been astounding, it seems that everyone has jumped on the hate bandwagon, but is that hate justified?
There seems to be four key issues causing the gaming community's negative response; 24 hour checks, Konnect always-on, the used game policy and the price. Are these really issues, or is a community notorious for whining simply whining again?
First things first let's look at the 24 hour online check-in. In my opinion this isn't too bad, we(gamespot users) all have the internet as does the vast majority of people in the market for a console. If your internet is regularly down for more than 24 hour periods that's something you should take up with your ISP not Microsoft. In regards to this particular issue it seems that people got all worked up by the always-on rumour that once they turned out to be false they never got worked down.
The next issue is Konnect always being on and the fear that it's going to spy on you, to me this is blown out of proportion even more than the 24 hour check-in. People's phobia towards Konnect suggests that there is either a serious issue with paranoia or people are looking to hate the XBox One. While it's true that the XBox One will most likely record information about your preferences for commercial gain it's going to be no more than Google or Facebook do. It won't be recording you while it's in stand-by (this is easily tested by someone in the know) in fact Konnect almost definitely will not be part of the XBox One's information farming at all. Microsoft really can't get anything of much value for them through a camera.
At this point your probably thinking, "Oh God! Another Microsoft Fanboy", but I'm actually trying to be objective and approach this from a non-biased point of view, something that's been happening very little on this site. So now a look at the used games policy, and this is where things start to get negative. While I personally don't but or resell my games I appreciate that a lot of other people do and anything that puts the possibility and affordability of this in doubt IS a bad thing. The part of this that bothers me is not being able to lend games. My brother and I both own 360s, we lend each other games regularly and it's the same with my friends. The used game policy is a definite issue, and while it might not be enough to refuse to buy the console it can't be ignored.
Finally the price. It's $100 more expensive than it's main competitor. Why? You get more, kind of. Yes I'm quite sure that the reason for the higher price tag is Microsoft's attempt to make a media platform, but here's the thing, I just want a games console. I don't want to pay extra for a Konnect unit who's features don't appeal to me. I don't want to pay extra for TV integration that doesn't only not appeal to me but probably isn't available in my country. I'm sure I'm not alone on this front, having to pay for features we aren't going to use is an issue.
So what will I buy? XBox One or PS4? Well at this point it's too early to say. As always I'm going to wait a while for the price drop but my decision isn't going to be based on any of the issues stated above, my decision is going to be based on exclusives. Consoles are for games and games are what should dictate which console we buy. XBox One certainly has some down sides but if I prefer it's games library that's the console I'll purchase. If PS4 has the better games library then I'll be buying a PS4.
Now I want to know what you think. Which, if any of these issues are going to stop you from buying an XBox One? What is most important to you when buying a new console? Have I missed key issues with the XBox One? And most of all: Is the XBox One hate justified?
tl;dr Is the XBox One hate Justified? What is important to you when buying a console?
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