The Xbox One - Controversial by name, controversial by nature

The rumours and rumblings and misinformation surrounding the upcoming unveiling of a new console are part and parcel of the whole ‘dawn of a new generation’ experience. The enthusiast community and forum goers love nothing more than a good gossip as they digest any potential leak of information. Durango was no different, but what was notable about this phase was how every single rumour about it seemed to be inherently negative. It was generally assumed that the rumours of used game blocking, always online and constantly on Kinect were too outlandish and stupid to be true. Which was why everyone was shocked into stunned surprise when it turned out each and every major rumour was in fact based on reality.

    What followed immediately after the reveal of Xbox One (another bizarre console name choice), was a cluster of titbits, sound bites and throwaway comments that confirmed the worst fears of many gamers. Microsoft have seemingly caved in to temptation, providing a console which requires an internet connection to function properly even for single player and extreme measures designed to curb the used games market, which effectively renders it impossible to rent games or even lend them to your friends; The very definition of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This coupled with the company’s refocusing on providing a multimedia entertainment device as opposed to a straight forward game console, and how many of their new partnerships and features will only really apply to US audiences, and it has left a distinctly sour taste in the mouths of many an enthusiast gamer.

     The backlash on the internet has been vicious and unremitting. This is a drastic change to the way we buy our video games and the terms of game ownership; a complete change to how video games have always been played, but whether this is positive change is very much up for debate. Microsoft have sought to dictate how you play your games, how you play them with your friends and what you do with your disk once you have finished with it. They say they are working on systems which would allow you to resell games (albeit with a likely cut of the resale value for them and developers), and it looks like you can play games on your friends console if you sign into your profile, but it’s needlessly troublesome. Hardly an evolution on simply sticking a disk on a tray and pressing start.

        Why have Microsoft done this? Well it’s an obvious attempt to court third parties to their side. The likes of EA, Activison and others have been calling for restrictions on used games for ages, and let’s not forget EA pushing ahead with always online for Sim City, among other titles. This is the direction the big publishers have been desperate to go in, and Microsoft has listened. They knew it would cause a furore, they only needed to see the outrage caused when the rumours started to break. Yet they went ahead anyway. Why is that?

      There are three things a console needs to have at launch. A solid, easy to understand and prolific marketing campaign, an affordable price and an array of intriguing titles which show off the consoles capabilities. Their marketing campaign may have got off to a bad start, but that Microsoft can rectify. What Microsoft knows for certain is that games and price are what really matter to their customers, and they will look to elaborate on these at E3. They are banking heavily on their upcoming library of titles to make gamers to admit defeat, accept these new policies and generate some hype. It’s a risky strategy. People have long memories. Not only that, but concealing these anti-used games and always online policies behind a smokescreen of PR jargon will only hurt them in the long term. I wouldn’t want to be on the Microsoft support hotline when a confused parent wonders why FIFA works on one child’s console but not on their brothers.

     So is it advantage Sony and Nintendo then? Not necessarily, they have their own problems to sort out. It all makes for one very, VERY interesting E3 where all three console manufacturers have something to prove. What is certain is we now have three companies trying to take the video game industry in three different directions. How the market will respond we cannot say with any real certainty. But at the very least having three wildly different competitors will surely be beneficial to us consumers…even if used games restrictions fobs us off.