@moxyz1 This is my other concern with the Kinect setup. Xbox Live was already hacked, it isn't ridiculous to think someone would hack people's accounts and Consoles simply to spy on them. As uncomfortable as the thought of Microsoft spying on me to gain info for commercial reasons is, the thought of some pervert watching my kids play games is even more creepy. And if the as-of-now hypothetical pervert keeps a low profile, people may never know.
@CaveManCobb @roosteraxe1 I never said they did. They are forcing you to let them spy on you though. That's what I meant with the comparison. Like it or not, you're going to share with them.
When Sony announced it's going to have a "Share" button on the PS4's controller, I gave a sigh of shame to be a gamer. Do we really need to validate ourselves by sharing meaningless information about our day to day lives on the fly? However, this option, while idiotic and pointless, is strictly voluntary. Sony isn't going to force me to announce that I leveled up my lockpicking skill to 63 in Elder Scrolls 6, they just made it far too convenient for me to do so (which by the way, means I will be blocking a lot of friends from Facebook, because I don't care what mediocre achievements you've made in your latest game, all day long). Forcefully taking personal information about my family, friends' and myslef's reactions to everything your system does in order to manilpulate us better is complete lunacy. Trying to use this fact as a selling point for your console and thinking people will be excited by the invasion of privacy just goes to show how out of touch Microsoft is with thier customers. When they changed the 360 dashboard and ruined it, then told be people to stop complaining because it was better and they have no right to feel otherwise, then made Windows 8, a barely funtioning mess that was clearly intended for tablets, not pcs and adressed people's complaints with pretty much the same attitude, they showed what contempt they have for their customers. Now they are blatently going to spy on us, monitoring everything from our facial expressions, eye movements and heartrates during various enjoyment of media and they tell us not to worry because we can always turn it off if we don't like it. I'll stick with the "share" button that I will never use. Seriously, the only way that button's getting pressed is by accident.
So... their reassurance to us that their machine isn't a spying device is that we can turn it off. I'm surprised they're not using the option to unplug it as a selling point then. The fact is, as long as it's plugged in and connected to the internet, there's no way to know for sure it isn't watching you. I'm sure MS isn't intending to spy on us at all times, just while we're using their new system. When you consider the fact that they want you to use their system for all your entertainment needs though, and Kinect has to be on in order for the console to run, that means their intent is to monitor us at all times while we're enjoying entertainment. I know it's likely going to be a program that does the monitoring, but that's still creepy, and if it is going to be an actual person some of the time...uh...no thank you.
I wonder if the server admins who are spying on us will have the option to talk to us, and if so, will they be creepy, or motherly? "You're gonna wear that while you play Halo?" "Sit up straight", "stop touching yourself"... or "yeah mash those buttons""damn you're sexy when you frag""I love the way you stick your tongue out while you watch Walking Dead". Either way this is CREEPY and I don't like the idea of Big Brother watching me relax in my living room. Nothing good will come from this.
Most of the non-gaming things this does, my tv does without any console connected. So now I will have god knows who spying on me while I play or watch tv or whatver? I don't think so. Add to that the fact that I have to pay even more per month to unlock features I already pay for (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, ect.). Paying $60 a year to unlock features my console already had installed was bad enough. Doubling the price is ridiculous. Potentially paying extra fees to play used games on top of all that? Yeah... I think Sony may have already won this battle before it ever began. Not that I planned to give M$ any more of my money anyway. After having 4 original 360s fry on me and M$ not offering any kind of discount to upgrade to the slim (which is the model they should have made in the first place...not to mention it's not at all slim), I don't trust their ability to design hardware. As for their suggestion that we keep the 360 connected too, who has that kinda room on their entertainment center? Two giant Xboxes, cable box/dvr, PS4 and a Kinect? No thank you.
@Wolfkcing @corteztheg That tax will affect everyone in different ways. Once they feel they can tax extra based on content, they'll start rewording that law to include taxing all video games. Eventually it will spill over into other forms of media. Our government loves to tax anything and everything while giving nothing in return. These taxes won't go to help victims of violent crimes and their families. It'll go right into politicians' checking accounts.
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