No.
Just no.
Now I haven't posted much lately because, frankly, I've not had much to say. Why waste time on nonsense, right? Well, Microsoft gave me something to say, and that something is "no."
Now, I'm sure you all have seen the Xbox One, and I'm sure I'll get at least one or two posts defending that piece of anti-consumer garbage (especially when I put this on Giant Bomb), but I'll say it anyway since it's my blog and I can do whatever I like.
It doesn't matter what games are on it. It doesn't matter how many wonderful features they add. The deal was broken when they announced it would be Kinect mandatory, online mandatory, and encumbered by DRM, I made my decision. Obviously, this is all about breaking the used games market, and that's obviously the game industry's right. However, smart consumers have the right to say "naw, I'm good. I'll sit this one out."
The problem is that this is all a move to force people onto a peripheral that no one liked in the Kinect, and in kowtowing to the misguided tactics of EA.
Now, let me expouse one important truth. The reason gaming is a bottomless pit of money is not because of used games. It's not because of piracy, at least not on the consoles. The reason for gaming's status as a nigh-impossible industry to make steady profits in is that, once you get past Call of Duty, you basically have an industry that spends like Hollywood to serve a market the size of the comic book industry's. With the exception of Nintendo and a few other small 3rd parties, the game industry has reached the point where a company can stare in the face of three and a half million copies of a game and call it a failure. And with costs ballooning and the market narrowing due to DRM that many can't even use, that three and a half million is going to get harder to reach.
You know, it's funny. Some time back, I asked you all to ponder what we should sacrifice for higher quality graphics. Well, Microsoft has provided a potential future. We are now being asked to sacrifice all consumer rights in exchange for a modest improvement in graphical quality, and now we're at a crossroads in gaming. This is where we, as a whole, decide whether we're going to take a stand, turn our backs on this nonsense, or bend over and prove that we'll buy anything, no matter how hard we're screwed. Thankfully, at least the UK is showing early signs of standing on the side of common sense,
Also hilarious is how Sony's facebook obsession and Microsoft's anti-consumer agenda have driven me to the Wii U, a system that I wasn't too hot on just months ago. Guys, your system announcements aren't supposed to be driving me to the competition. That's not how it's supposed to work.
That said, I understand that, barring Sony saying "we're not doing any of that MS crap" with clarity and force, that I'm not going to be doing a lot of gaming - or at least next-gen gaming - for the forseeable future. Nintendo's not going to get a ton of 3rd party support, and even if Nintendo seriously ramps up first-party output, I don't expect to buy nearly as many games as I used to. It's sad, but sometimes it's just time to move on. I guess we'll always have Paris, eh? And at least I'll have more money. Maybe I can get back into anime or something. Or maybe start reading some comics.