Anyone else hear "We're not gonna take it" in their head every time Xbox One is mentioned? Well anyway, I do fear the use of DRM on consoles. If you don't know what that is, it basically means that publishers will charge you money to play a used copy of a game. So before E3 comes up, here are a few concerns that Xbox must address if they have any hope of regaining their position. Notice I said regain their position, not beat Playstation. Sony has already won at this point since they have appealed to the gamers.
1. No DRM. Simple right? I'm not going to pay extra for a used game plain and simple. I know developers need more money, but figure something else out. Developers rarely make money on a game, the revenue from game sales just covers their cost. Most of their money comes from DLC and merchandise. You think Angry Birds makes money when they charge a couple of bucks per download? No. They make their money from the toys they sell. I don't even know if the DRM money would go to developers so there's another problem.
2. No permanent online requirement. Do you really think I won't have a power outage sometime in the future? I live in Ohio and although we don't have to worry about hurricanes or earthquakes, we do get hit by the residue of storms that have hit the coast. The result? Ohio has power outages at least once a year sometimes more. Their rarely bad enough that we have to throw all the food out of our fridge but the fact that they last about 24 hours means I would be unable to get onto the Xbox. So what? Will the box explode if I'm not on it for 24 hours? Will I lose all my data? Will Microsoft invade my house and make me play it? Who knows?
And what if I want to play a different system. I haven't touched my PS3 for months, not because I don't like it, but because I'm playing the free Skyrim download I got with the console. I will return to my PS3 but it's not going to die of neglect. It's waiting there patiently for me. Same with the Wii, WiiU, the N64, and the Dreamcast. When I get into a good game all the others go off. And I go through phases where I will play a game for a while and then switch it up with many different titles. I'm not going to feed them everyday like a pet.
3. And another thing. I don't have great internet service. My service is fine but its not the absolute best you can get. If I don't have the absolute best internet services, can I still play?
4. Get the games. Xbox One was revealed with a Call of Duty game and a few EA titles. Never mind the fact that EA has been called the worst company ever this year. So Microsoft did not put their best foot forward. I want to see new franchises or something that will bring me to play Xbox. That's what brought me to buy a Playstation.
5. Always watching. I don't need a system to watch me while I play. When I get out of the shower do you know where I go? I go to my room cause that's where my clothes are. You know what else is in my room? My game consoles. What am I gonna do if the Kinect sees me naked? Strike a pose? And no, I'm not going to move the Xbox One to the living room. For that matter, I don't know if I want an Xbox One at this point. ;p
6. Bad entertainment. This may come as a surprise to Microsoft but I DON'T WANT A HALO TV SHOW. I want a halo game. I doubt getting Spielberg to work on the show was cheap, that's a lot of money that could've gone toward developing a new franchise or Halo 5 or something.
7. All in one. Remember: XBOX is a GAME system. I don't get a game system to watch TV or surf the internet. There are devices dedicated to that process. I have a TV, a cable provider and a laptop, what am I supposed to do with a box that does them all. Give me a stripped down Xbox One if that's the case. You think I got my PS3 to surf the internet? Nope. I tried it once and went right back to my computer. The only thing I want to use the online connection for is to play with other people, that's it. If you want me to surf on your box, give me something that I can do that I can't do on a computer. Like how a smartphone is different from a computer.
8. Kinect 2. The Kinect was a bad idea, there were maybe 5 games that actually worked. Most of those games were dance games and the other game that caught my interest was the Gunstringer. And even that game didn't play too well. I don't have a Kinect, I don't want a Kinect. I play games so I can be a couch potato. I may swing a Wii mote around but only from my chair. If the Kinect was so poorly received, then don't revisit it. Name it something else or at least make it look different from that peripheral. If it works better than great! I would love to play a game that really recognizes my voice or pilot a mech like on Steel Battalion. That's cool!! What's not cool is flailing my arms around just to get something to work. And how much space do you think I have in my room? You think I have 25 feet so the Kinect can scan me? The Wii and WiiU motion sensors don't need that much room. And no, I wont move the system to the living room again.
9. "Xbox. On." Xbox one was shown to be able to turn on and off without a push of a button. When this was displayed on a stage there was no noise interference or wind blowing. I do live with other people, and I have a window in my room. If there is noise pollution is the Xbox going to turn off during my gaming? I'm not saying I have powerful winds moving through my room, but if I want to watch TV after playing for a bit and an Xbox commercial comes on, what's to stop the Xbox hearing it's own name and turning on or off? The tech is certainly there to make a receiver block out noise pollution but I don't know if the Xbox has it. Is it as good as Rosetta Stone or is this some device that Microsoft made?
10. Old Games. What about the 360? Right now I have to log in in order to access my account on Xbox Live so I can get my achievements. Is that going to stop once to 360 comes out. The Xbox One is not reverse compatible, if it used cloud games that would be fine but I haven't heard anything about it. What I want is to be able to say "Here is my copy of Sleeping Dogs for the 360. I want to download it from the cloud onto my 360 for free since I already own it." Now that's fair right? If I already own something, I should be able to move it to other devices to a certain degree. And what if I want to sell my game online? What if I don't want to sell my game back to Gamestop and sell it myself on Ebay or something? Can I do that, the person won't get a used code from me of course which means they can't play it and I can't sell it. I don't have the money to buy a new game every time I go to the game store. Unless I really like the game, I'm not going to pay full price for a game. I got Sleeping Dogs for $20 at a used game store and while I loved it, I wouldn't pay 60 bucks for it. Maybe $30 or possibly $40 but that's pushing it. And it's not a bad game but it's not worth all that money. That being said, there needs to be help for good games that don't sell well. Make it so they're only online so you don't have to pay for the costs of distributing the game everywhere. That being said, if, God willing, Sleeping Dogs 2 comes out, I'll be the first in line to get it.
So these are the things Xbox must address, and PS4 too for that matter, at E3 2013. Let me know what you think.
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