Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoooft....

So today I stumbled upon this article on yahoo:

Yahoo Finance: Someone Claiming To Be A Microsoft Engineer Posted A Long Rant About Xbox One On 4Chan Last Week

It struck me as an interesting read. I mean, I already bashed the hell out of the Xbox One and I assumed this was Microsoft's way of saving face and not admitting that they made a huge mistake, but hooo boy was I wrong on this. Basically, some dude who may or may not be a Microsoft engineer came out and posted this in what can be described as either a fed up attitude or an incredibly snide one (bordering douche levels of assholetry - work with me here, I know them words is stupid lol). I will say this, though: if REVOLUTIONIZING the whole gaming industry business model to benefit consumers was Microsoft's goal all along, then why in the flipping HELL would you lead your console's introduction with "LOOK LOOK WE CAN SEAMLESSLY TRANSITION BETWEEN A GAME AND YOUR TV HOLY SHIT!!!!!", instead of breaking down and leveling with your die hard fans about your vision? Why the hell would you decide that rather than calling your new product something synonymous with change or a revolution, you call it the "one"? Hell Xbox 360 sounds fucking badass. Playstation 4 makes me think of Megaman. Why? I'm not sure. I guess it has something to do with my childhood, and something about keeping a numeric value just gives the impression of an evolution of a previous iteration of your product. Xbox One sounds like an obvious step back.

What bothered me also was Microsoft's supposed vision for the One. If they want to make DRM more accessible and less douchey, then why restrict us on any other option? As a gamer, I feel I deserve the option of owning my games physically as well as digitally. If you create a product that is too far ahead in any direction, then a lot of progress can be made for your company. Example, when the Playstation 3 came out how many of us honestly had any Blu-Rays to play? Not many of us, so it took YEARS for the technology to catch on, and that attributed to the mistakes and hardships Sony experienced with the Playstion 3. Xbox One just seems to take its fan base for granted and more than that, it seems to take GAMERS for granted with a device that possesses features we do NOT want. Now there was a part in there where the dude said "We want to own your living room"....WHY? This is where they CLEARLY went wrong. When developing a console I believe that you should always have the gamer's best interests at heart. This is where Sony delivered to us in spades. They came out and not only did they learn from their mistakes, but went the extra mile to ensure that they did not alienate developers. How can this be seen as a negative?? It isn't, it's a strong positive. It also shows people that gamers want a gaming device, everything else comes extra. Within the article, they mentioned Steam and compared their DRM stance to Steam. As a Steam user, I can say this: Steam is awesome. Part of what makes it awesome is that it enhances my PC experience. I have access to tons of great games. But the key difference here is that the computer was designed to be online. For as long as it's turned on, it is constantly connected. This, I believe, is what makes Steam such a success. There is no real negative and us, as gamers, have no risk or inconvenience. When it comes to a game console making internet mandatory, however, things get a little shady due to the question of WHAT a game console should be. Should it be more like a computer, or its own standalone device? It's a question that, presently, I do not possess the answer to. However I try to keep an open mind to things that sound intriguing, not intrusive or restrictive.

Now I know I sound like I'm praising Sony to the highest point of existence, and I will admit that I do possess a nostalgic bias and brand loyalty to them. A lot of my childhood gaming memories happened with the Playstation brand right next to Nintendo. Xbox is new to me, it's strange and I see it as Microsoft extending their reach to line their pockets with more money. I never felt that Microsoft gave a shit about gamers, and yet here I stand, owning a 360 and loving it. What I wish to do here is stress 2 things.

1) MICROSOFT HAS THEIR HEADS SO FAR UP THEIR OWN ASSES THAT THEY CANNOT SEE STRAIGHT ANYMORE

Looking beyond the Xbox brand, let's take a look at Microsoft as a whole. Everywhere you look it seems there are reports about how much the company is in trouble. Now I doubt that they will go under or close down or anything like that, but it seems like their newest OS, Windows 8, is fairly despised by people. They don't like it. It's as clean and simple as that. I tried it out on a friend of mine's laptop. He was having trouble with it and I figured that I'm decent at computers and I know Windows pretty well.....I could not do a god damn thing on it. It was baffling. Although Windows 8 is probably not as terrible as the internet would have you believe, I'm sure it still stands that there is a negative connotation associated with it.

2) Microsofts interests have taken the same twists that Nintendo's has.

Remember the Wii? Wasn't it kind of weird to have a gaming device with gimmicky yet simple motion controls? Wasn't it somewhat interesting to see how many non-gamers were buying the device for various reasons? Despite how terrible of a GAME console the wii turned out to be, Nintendo took the fucking living room by storm. It was an insane phenomena that I cannot understand. Yet it worked. Temporarily. Nowadays, Nintendo is paying for that hubris and have finally dedicated the Wii-U to being a game platform, if their E3 Nintendo Direct was any indication. Bravo, Nintendo, I am proud that you too have leanred from your mistakes. Xbox seems to want to do what Nintendo has done and target the non-gamer. Welp, all I can say is that the same trick probably won't work twice. I say this because your competition's console's are 100+ dollars cheaper than your new supposed revolutionary device. You fucked yourself hard. See, when Nintendo released the Wii, it was $250. Pretty cheap for a revolutionary game console, dont you think?

Well I don't know what will happen with Microsoft and Xbox. I can only hope that with time they realize their mistake and create experiences for the often taken for granted gamer. Now after that loooooong rant, I am going to drink a beer and play some games OH YEAH!!