Disappointment. I love my 360. But Microsoft appears to be losing touch with what gaming is.
The Xbox was revolutionary with it's online capailities. For a console it was a huge step up from what we were used to. Microsoft pretty much set the stage for online gaming on a console.
The Xbox 360 took the next step and had all the social features any gamer could ever want (Achievements, gamerscore, gamercard friends lists, voice and video chat, cross game chat etc. etc.)
Now, to Microsoft, having all of that isn't good enough. They are thinking what can we do to make the next Xbox even better? What's the next step? Well, I know what Microsoft isn't going to focus on... Gaming. They'll tout the next Xbox as the next great platform in home entertainment. Gaming? What's that? The next Xbox will be all about social media integration, catered ads, surfing the internet, watching movies, seeing the latest trailers, W8 integration, reading the hottest tweets, checking facebook, skyping with relatives, buying apps. All on a closed platform. And they'll probably charge you money for the privelage of using their service (Xbox live gold will primarily be sold for gaming purposes, but I'm sure Microsoft wouldn't miss the chance to keep other services under the XBLGold umbrella). The next Xbox will be like a watered down PC with crappy social media integration. Now, if it has the games, I don't give a rats ass how Microsoft handles themselves. But right now, I don't think MS cares about the core gamers. They saw the potential in the casual market and they want that slice of the pie.
There will be a large focus on apps and an app store. They will show off casual app store games and features. Social media integration, W8 integration and perhaps some kind of cloud service will be the main attraction. Some games will make an appearance but they won't be the main attraction.
I sincerely hope I'm wrong. But I've seen the future, and it's filled with disappointment.
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