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!!

This Isn't A Review

Ever since my vacation started I found that it's become extremely difficult for me to properly write anything. I have a lot of drafts started. I've taken copious notes and stuff down in my little notebook but I can't seem to string things together. Maybe it's because of the MASSIVE backlog of games that I have facing me everyday that just scream plaaay meeeeeeee plaaaaaaaaay meeeeeeeee (imagine a creepy old man voice or Scooby-Doo villian when you read that). Maybe it's because whenever I'm on vacation i tend to "decompress" (like George Costanza) to such an extent that I get too lazy to do anything (even play games....ohh noo). Or it could have something to do with the overabundance of ideas that I've had. Things for reviews and other purposes that I've put on the back burner for when I have more time to focus on them. Now that I have the time I just feel totally overwhelmed with both good ideas and laziness (quite the difficult combination. I feel like a scientist that just does NOT want to put on his lab coat to like split an atom or something...If that makes ANY sense at all). However I have found in recent times (like yesterday) that if I relax and just play a fun game, I feel a lot better. My head does not feel cluttered with ideas and I can start to form topics and want to write. Of course that's where my laziness comes into play which explains why I'm writing this a day later and after my shower (which tends to give me a LOT of great ideas and observations for some reason. I dunno there's just something about standing in running water butt-naked that gives me great material to work with. Honestly I don't know why. It just does).

One thing I have wanted to do with this humble little blog of mine is demonstrate how far video games have come. If you're a fan of games like I am and have been playing them for as long as you can remember than I'm sure you can relate to this. I feel that video games have slowly been becoming more than just art, but rather the new frontier for some great story telling. But what I have noticed is that only in recent years have video games actually gotten some proper recognition in this aspect. My personal opinion is that video games are far superior to any movie for these reasons:

1) Video games are not limited to a 2 hour time limit, unlike most movies (unless Peter Jackson is involved then it gets pushed to like 5 hours), which allows the writers to properly flesh out themes and character development that they want.

2) Video games are able to engage their audience in a far greater way than movies by not only immersing them into a new world, but, through the controller allowing them to interact with the world and thus develop a connection.

3) When someone plays a video game it's usually done in the comfort of their home. As opposed to being in a dark room that may or may not be filled with a bunch of people that are either talking or using their phones during the movie, which if you ask me is a HELL of lot more annoying.

Anyway what I'm trying to say here is that I feel video games are so much more than simple little distractions. Also just to clarify I don't hate movies or going to a movie theater. What I do hate is what has happened to the industry. It's all about making money not telling stories and entertaining your audience. Not to mention the lack of anything really spectacular to watch. I mean look at how many movies are made nowadays that are based off of books or are remakes of older classics, or are copies of movies that were released not only a year ago (I'm looking at you snow white movies seriously what the hell was that about?). I think Hollywood has tapped out of creativity in their desire for money. I know the ultimate goal of any industry is money but the way I see it is that you need to make a quality product first and to do that you need to put your heart into it and come up with something completely unique. Now with that said, I am trying to get more into independent movies. Or movies that do not get a nationwide screening (as those movies tend to have the heart I look for in media), but that is pretty difficult for me since well I don;t exactly live near any of these theaters that show them. So I'm kinda stuck with Hollywood or games and I think you know what I choose.

When it all boils down I'm not someone who thinks video games are never wrong. What I feel is that they possess much more heart and polish that Hollywood seems to have forgotten all about. That's what I really look for in media. I don't care if it's on television, in a book, a movie, or a game. As long as there is heart behind it I'll always appreciate the effort. I noticed now I keep saying "heart" just to clarify, when I say heart, I mean that there's an effort that isn't fueled by money. The effort is purely for making a great story and telling it in the best possible way they can. For now I'm gonna focus on talking about games that I feel demonstrate this quality. I'm not giving up on movies though. But for now I'm gonna talk more about games since well I love them and have been neglecting them here on my blog. You can expect some interesting views on them as well as something a bit different that I'd like to start. Anyway hopefully I did not come off as some all movie hating person but I do hope that you can see where I stand when it comes to games and stuff. Well thanks for reading and have a great day.