Ok, so let’s start about 8 years ago, just as I was getting into high school. All the cool kids talking about the next generation of video game consoles. “The Playstaion 3 is the best!” “No, the new Xbox 360 is!” This was the argument to have. Everyone had their reasons why, and why they didn’t, choose one console over the other. At first, I was driven toward the PS3, simply because of the fact I loved my Playstation 2. At time though, I will admit, money was definitely more of a factor. With the ridiculous launch price of the PS3, the 360, with up to $200-$300 cheaper depending on the model, was the broke high school student’s next-gen dream.
Fast forward a few years, now with my own Xbox 360, and more friends who owned one, it was seemed pointless for me to swap consoles. I loved the controller, the user interface (and how it evolved over time), and the exclusives (Blue Dragon, Halo, Fable). There were not enough exclusive titles that I “needed” to play, for me to even think of switching (unless one game came out, which until now, it was just a dream).
Now fast forward to more recently.
With the first rumors of the next generation consoles, I felt like I would probably not even bother getting one. I would just simply beef up my PC and become a part of the glorious master race. “No used games? Always on DRM? Did Microsoft and Sony takes their next gen lessons from EA?” Now, obviously after the most recent E3, we know better than that, and now we get to my whole point.
I had honestly been looking forward to the new reveal of the Xbox One (most people incorrectly called it the Xbox Infinity at the time, an infinitely better name personally). Having owned a 360 for years and the huge amount I have invested into it, I figured the Xbox One would be the obvious next step. I was wrong. With the announcement that the always on DRM was true, and the used games had a fee in order to play, the Kinect 2 must be connected and on. Let’s not forget that you have to connect to the internet at least once a day, even for single player games, I felt like Microsoft was joking. Any day they would come out and say, “April Fools!” Clearly no major corporation that wants me to throw money at them would be this naive about what the consumer wants. What the hardcore gamer wants. Right? Then I realized, it’s May. This is real.
How could a company I have stood by for so long, wrong me like this?
How could they presume to know what I want without asking? I can’t borrow games? I really can’t buy used without paying a fee, that very well may bring the total cost higher than new? At this point, everything rested on what was coming next. The Sony E3 conference and the Playstaion 4.
I was ready for disappointment. I was ready to drop another few hundred dollars into my computer. So I watched. The game announcements amazed me. The presentation was incredible. Then, the news I had been waiting for. No used game DRM. You can share and borrow discs. I can play offline. They did everything right. It was almost like watching the sun rise after a very long night. And remember that game I said I would switch for? It’s here.
Microsoft has lost a loyal fan, and statements like, “…Fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360,” are not helping them bring back people like me. So, Sony, get ready, your fan base just grew (and I bet by not just a few).
