Hello Audience and welcome to the 1st official DarkReign Gamer Digest. Before I start, I would just like to make a few things clear about myself and my nature.
As a gamer, I don't like limiting myself to a single console. I own many consoles dating back to the Atari. I do, however, maintain a personal preference toward the Xbox simply because of the controllers ease of use in my hands. I also enjoy a vast array of genres, but I confess to disliking JRPGs and Sports/Racing games, so I will avoid mentioning them to avoid my biased opinion.
With that said, let's start thiks party:
There's been a lot going around about the Xbox One lately. Lots of rumors regarding the various features being implemented in the new console that you may or may not like. Microsoft recently settled concerns regarding the license transferring of games and the potential fees not being an actualy thing, there's still a lot of buzz regarding the online-confirmation DRM and the Kinect's "1984" functions.
While many of the "functions" regarding the Xbox One and Kinect 2.0 that we've heard about are true, the results that people are predicting are of a lot less concern than people are making it out to be. On other websites I've mentioned comparisons between the Kinect and the novel '1984.' I've also expressed my concerns regarding the viability of the Xbox One as a retro console far off into the future. These topics, however, are less a concern of my own than a probing of the community to gauge responses. The results are always varied, but from what I've ascertained, a lot of people really don't seem to understand how the Xbox works and how a company in general functions. Anybody interested in reading any of my other comments regarding the XB1 can find my username, DarkReign2021, over on X360A, where I've taken up a Devil's Advocate role, both challenging and defending the nature of the Xbox One from the rumors in the beginning up to the recent press releases and regarding the upcoming event at E3. http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3063
I've decided to address a few of these details. Mind you, this is mostly speculation, but understanding the position of a company who's aim is to make money releasing a product that people have deemed not worth buying doesn't really make a lot of sense, now does it?
-Yes the Kinect must always be connected for the Xbox to function. This is in an effort to eliminate the publisher/developer dilemma of not wanting to support the device because only a percentage of their audience would be able to utilize the device. By supplying every gamer with a Kinect at launch and making it a necessary tool to use the Xbox itself, gamers cannot sell, give away, or otherwise eliminate ownership of the Kinect, thus guaranteeing to Developers that 100% of their fanbase will be able to play the games they build (regardless of whether or not the fans themselves are actually willing to play a game utilzing Kinect functions.)
- No the Kinect is not "Always watching and listening." The Privacy setting on the Xbox One enable users to alter a multitude of functions regarding the Kinect, ranging from shut-off of the Standby mode while the Xbox One is powered down to the ability to 100% disable the motion and voice-sensing technology even while the console is running. Should you not want the Kinect to be clued-in, it's as simple as turning it off. The Xbox One functionality is tied to a single segment of code within the Kinect software that acts similarly to the Licensing used in games. Once it detects its there, it doesn't care beyond that point.
- Yes the Kinect can collect visual and auditory information. Again, this can be shut off with privacy settings. That said, it's no different than what we have today. Internet Ads are determined based on keywords we've used in our online searches and the content on websites frequently found in our history/cookies. Information collection is involved in every aspect of our daily lives, ranging from the style of clothing we wear to the type of neighborhoods we live in and beyond.
- No our information will not be sold to 3rd parties. Again, referring to the above, this is something that is present in our daily lives whether we're aware of it or not. Every time you sign up for a website, you use an email address or link through a twitter/facebook profile. Hell, just signing up for social sites in general is a good example.) In doing this, you've entrusted all of these various companies with personal information and run the risk of this information being sold to a 3rd party. This, however, would be in breach of customer privacy and violates pretty much every ToS ever written. This breach of privacy would destroy the reliability of any company and would lose them the trust of their entire support base.
Microsoft is a company. As a company, Microsoft is interested in providing products that make them money. Seeing as Microsoft is one of the largest companies in the world and the founder was at one point (and actually just recently returned to being) the wealthiest man in the world, I'd say Microsoft is pretty damn good at what they do. They may not surpass the Playstation this generation, but they're not going to release a device so terrible that nobody would willingly buy it. Everything people have expressed concerns about is blown way out of proportion, the hate mongering and rabble rousing is magnifying the problem, and people aren't looking at things clear-headed enough.
In addition to this, people do have to accept that videogames were always destined to reach the point it's at now. It's this way with all new technology. People were frightened when CDs replaced Cassette Tapes, CDs replaced Cartridges, DVDs replaced VHS, Analog Sticks replaced the D-Pad, Ebooks replaced paper novels, etc... there's always fear in the unknown, but regardless of whether we like it or not, it's going to come eventually.
While this may sound like I'm "just settling" that's not the case at all. I still express my concerns for future concepts regarding the industry and I still find myself hesitant of the potential downfalls in the new functions being implemented in the Xbox One, but I also keep a level head about these functions, acknowledge the truths, disregard the unfounded rumors, and understand that 99% of the "popularly" expressed concerns have less than a 1% chance of ever actually happening to any of us. To this day, my two biggest concerns remain as follows:
1. When the Xbox One becomes retro, how will it work when the servers are shutdown and it can't check Online confirmation. Genuine concern given the history of the original Xbox being shut down, but we also must acknowledge that the Xbox One had a very basic Network structuring that was actually only added to the Xbox through separate software that had to be installed through a disc. This left a lot of holes and weakness that prevented it from being about to fully-utilize the entire console. It also hindered the Xbox 360, a device built with Online connectivity in mind by allowing the two networks to communicate together, thus shutting it down was not a surprise.
Xbox One, on the other hand is similarly built with online connectivity in mind and is designed off of a heavily modified variant of the same engine used to create the 360's network, thus the two networks are much more compatible with each other. In addition to announcing continued support to the 360 until 2017, it's entirely possible the network for the 360 won't ever be shut down, a perk that could similarly be attributed to the Xbox One when it comes time to move on to the next console.
2. What if Hackers shut down the online service like they did to the PSN on the PS3? It's true that LulzSec compromised the network, resulting in the 2-month downtime. This, however, was as much Sony's doing as it was LulzSec. Lulz didn't take it offline. Sony voluntarily opted to shut it off in the attempt to strengthen it's security and protect it's users information from the hackers that broke in before. As a result, they made amends with the gamers by offering a multitude of free and discounted games, all ranging from Mini-Pick games to Arcade games to full-length retail releases.)
The Xbox One, given it's dependence on being almost constantly connected, is sure to have the best security Microsoft can possibly devise. While all security systems can be broken given enough time and effort, the effort in which to do it is going to be astronomical and most hackers aren't so much interested in what trouble they can cause so much as the fact of whether or not they can do it in the first place and what hidden functions they might find within the console software itself. Customer information is buried deeper beyond the simple console commands themselves. People will be more interested in hacking it to avoid the 24-hour confirmation than stealing credit card information anyway.
In the event that the Xbox One ever actually was compromised and our information was breached, Microsoft knows that shutting the network off implies that it becomes a big fat black box that can play Blu-Rays and Netflix and nothing else. And while it would suck to not be able to play games for a little while, I would think people would be more appreciative of the fact that Microsoft is taking steps to prevent customer bank information from being compromised. In addition, it's entirely likely that Microsoft has a fallback contingency for just such an occasion. For instance, if MS intends on taking the network down for any amount of time, they could very well have a means of extending the deadline time until a point where the servers will be ready to be restored again. If they're going offline for a week, they could easily just push the time from 1 day to 10. This gives them the week plus a couple days leeway. (A kill code to completely disable the online-confirmation DRM is also a high possibility for if they ever do decide to permanently take the machine offline.)
The other point of contention regarding the next-gen consoles is in the laid-back nature of the PS4's reveal. Sony has had very little to say, regarding both the attention surrounding the Xbox and the silent approach regarding the PS4's own features and functionality. Sony is no doubt taking advantage of the negative hype surrounding the XB1 as it plays right into the success of the PS4, but you have to wonder how much different the PS4 really be. What we've seen so far suggests the XB1 can do everything the PS4 can do, plus more, but that the PS4 also has the current appearance of being much more centrically focused on providing a core gaming experience. This, however, can easily balance out after E3 where Microsoft is going to show off their exclusive game lineup and Sony is likely to show off more of the non-gaming related features. This includes the likely announcing of the very same features that have the Xbox community in an uproar. Game licensing, online confirmation, etc....
In an industry where two competitors are so closely aligned, the slightest difference in features can make all the difference. One console having DRM while the other does not, for instance, can make all the difference in the world for one console. This has been the case in the past with features like CD vs Cartridge and Blu-Ray vs. DVD and so on. Even if PS4 declines to utilize such features, how long does anybody really expect Microsoft to stand by it as well?
There's so much more to be said regarding the Xbox One and the PS4, but without much information and so much of what we do have being mixed with rumors and speculation, there's not much point in going on further until after E3. And with E3 coming just next week, I expect to have a full reviews on the new features revealed on both consoles and all of the games revealed for each of the 8th generation devices.
Always remember, "The Cake is a lie, there is no spoon, and it's just a game." Until next time, friends. DarkReign out.
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