If anyone has read the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury they would know that the state of the world, in that story, became the way it did because people wanted it that way. Books became banned basically because people decided that they had no use for them. They embraced a world that was more controlled by the government willfully largely due to technological and mass media control. In short, they lived in an oppressive world because they wanted to.
Now it’s no secret that Microsoft has reversed its decision to implement their 24-Hour Online Check, Region Locking and their Anti-Used Video Game policies.
It’s easy to cheer and be excited that Microsoft did the right thing and it is good news. However, I just don’t feel that this is something they should be cheered for. It’s not a decision that is pro-gamer. It’s a decision that was forced based on pre-order sales and how the competition capitalized on it by not including the DRM features that Microsoft was doing.
Due to their lack of pre-orders and the rate they going to lose money they had to shift focus but there’s one thing that I noticed that I’m sure others have noticed too. They have been pointing out that features such as the “Cloud Gaming” and “Family Sharing” will not be implemented (at least at launch) due to this change.
Now this is what it comes off to me as.
It appears to me that they are using these features to get people to be upset but in a way that they can control. They removed these features so they can get people to be upset and request that they put them in. Then they explain the only way to do so is to make the system always online and then require licensing to ensure authenticate copies are used. They are providing an element to be despised so they can implement their anti-consumer business practice and the sad thing is that it’s working.
I go onto various websites and I read the comment sections and there are people who are complaining or are angry that they’re losing on the family share plan or the benefits of cloud gaming. They blame the amount of people who cried out about the DRM calling them names like whiners and the like. I just can’t understand this thinking.
The Family Sharing plan is a novel idea in that it allows you to share your purchased games with up to ten people. It’s great in that it allows those people to install the games onto their systems and play but it’s still limiting. It’s great if you have a family member away at college because then they can download it though considering how the online connectivity didn’t matter to Microsoft enough when it came down to military personnel it’s still limiting. Whereas, using the disc you can share with virtually unlimited people without requiring downloading or installs. Just plug ‘n play.
By taking away this feature you just prevent a family member from downloading the game you bought but this really only affects family members who are fare away. If they live close by or even in the same home then it’s really not a problem or, at least, it shouldn’t be.
The cloud gaming feature is another feature that is being taken away, again during launch and could be returned, and Microsoft is saying you’ll lose the benefits of the cloud that allow games to play better, use better technology, etc. This one I have a problem with.
My argument is that games should be fun. There is no amount of technology, processing power, graphical power or whatever that can provide this. Ingenious design, creativity and well planned out gameplay will provide the fun. The rest are bells and whistles. Losing the benefit of the cloud should not ever affect the replayability and enjoyment of a video game. There are games today that are fun no matter what and if you look at games like Angry Birds, Animal Crossing or even Tetris you can see that these games utilize fun over power. The cloud cannot and will not ever provide that. A bad game will be a bad game no matter what kind of power it has.
But, as is shown, it seems to be working somewhat. People are upset at losing these features and are stating that they would rather have the DRM on their systems and are willing to put up with that so long as they can have the small features that are provided. To me, the bad far outweighs the good.
Who knows though, maybe the complete 180 will be permanent and then maybe it won’t. Until November rolls around we won’t know if any of this really has an affect on the sales of the Xbox One or not. But it still looks like Microsoft is taking a page right out of Ray Bradbury’s classic.
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