I've been bitching, whinging and flat out *moaning* about the Xbox One since I woke up the day after the launch and read through the various summaries of the launch event. Now, it's no secret that I'm significantly more positioned towards the realm of PC - I write primarily for a PC focused website, the platform is my primary games format and I've become less impressed with the conduct of console makers since they decided to turn their back on the customers that actually matter. You know, the ones that evangelize their systems and help to grow their takeup through word of mouth and bucketloads of free internet marketing?
But let's face it - the PS4's bottomless pit of an announcement was a pitiful excuse to stretch hype over 6 months as they fought off concerns of becoming gradually directionless and static. But, for all its flaws (like, you know, not showing the console it was launching) it actually had a focus on games, from start to finish, and exemplified Sony's growing commitment to supporting independent developers and creating a marketplace for innovation. We're told that their E3 conference promises to finally show off the kit, which we basically already know about now, plus embellish a little bit more on what they're planning to bring to the table.
Or, basically, why the fuck we should invest in a PS4 when a Steam Box has cheaper games and the capacity to upgrade. But I digress.
The primary problem with the Xbox is not the Xbox One at all, but more Microsoft's complete lack of long term direction or market realization. Since their campaign to convert the Xbox from a gaming centric device to some kind of Apple TV hybrid has gone down about as well with gamers as a cholera outbreak, Microsoft have chosen to interpret steady sales of the 360 as some kind of mandate to continue to make terrible decisions. These decisions include, but are not exclusive to, the lockout of IPTV applications to non-gold members and to, basically, force people to pay money to harness a primary aspect of the game they have already paid for.
Microsoft figure that Xbox popularity is almost guaranteed, in the same way that iPhone owners continually buy the next iteration without consideration to competition, and have thus created the iPhone 5 upgrade to the iPhone 3S that is the 360. Sure, it's the same OS (largely), same Kinect (basically), and upgraded hardware, so why shouldn't people just dropkick their old systems into the bin and move to the new hotness? Well, I'm sure the fact that none of their titles are backwards compatible would probably be a large factor in reducing the excitement of upgrading.
But what's most painful about this new direction is the focus on something Microsoft has been trying, unsuccessfully, to crack since the mid 90's - TV. They are fucking obsessed with it. From WebTV, to an entire version of XP dedicated to it, Microsoft, for some reason, want you to watch TV through their eyes.
This would have been all well and good... in 1997. But TV is increasingly becoming online, on-demand and unhinged. Smart TVs already include half the shit Microsoft is pushing, and they don't require TWO extra boxes to do the job. Don't have a smart TV? Well, you will within the next 3 years, since it's practically a standard now. The Xbox One's presentation tied itself so tightly into this "innovation" that it practically alienated its entire global install base (which is remarkably sizable and profitable) and relegated their launch devices to be the neutered and empty, missing half the features that took Microsoft almost a year to implement after the original Kinect launched.
That's not even the worst part. Then there's the DRM that needs to check in on your box at least once a day to check you are behaving. Plus the fee that's charged when you buy used game software either at retail or on your device. Then there's the extension of Microsoft's extraordinarily stupid "Gold" program that should NOT include access to multiplayer. Then there's the expansion of voice controls that don't work properly on the original Kinect. Then there is the lack of emphasis on decent titles and a lack of consistency on policy across the board.
It's clear that Microsoft are no longer happy to focus their strengths on the things they can do right - they want to have those dirty fingers in every pie, even if those fingers are literally *covered* in that disgusting cholera.
