Let?s Get Off the Xbone Hate-Train Already

[Zelgon]

I think it?s about time us ?gamers? stop hating Microsoft?s Xbox One console.


Let me start of by saying, I am not a xbox ?fanboy?, by any means. I own both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles since early in each respected lifespans. There are things I like, and don?t like about both. But this isn?t about that generation of consoles; this is about the upcoming generation.

Yes, Microsoft made some pretty bad mistakes when announcing Xbone. They didn?t market well enough. They didn?t explain the features well enough. They let some guy or group of people decide to call it ?Xbox One? instead of anything else. (I was voting for Xbox Infinite) We as gamers immediately showed our dislike and in the midst of Amazon?s preordering, when Microsoft wasn?t getting the preorders it wanted/needed, they pulled the infamous ?180? and went back on all its grand plans.

Was this a victory for us as consumers? Did we ?stick it to the man?? Yes, we did. We showed Microsoft that we weren?t afraid to say, ?We matter.? We weren?t afraid to demonstrate that we as consumers are important. Congrats to us. I hope that this is a lesson to every major corporation, reminding them all that the consumer matters.

During my victory party I couldn?t help feel a little melancholy. I, unlike it seems many other gamers didn?t mind xbone?s DRM rules, I was very excited for the xbone?s family sharing feature. I honestly felt like Microsoft was trying to push the industry forward. Innovate in ways that the other Big 2 didn?t. I thought what they were trying to do was a great step forward in the future of gaming. After all, we are going to be stuck with these consoles for the next 10 years or so.

Now before you dismiss this article entirely, listen to what I have to say.


DRM

I suspect this is where I will have the most negativity. I didn?t like the DRM restrictions, more so I didn?t mind them. I felt that right now, it was necessary to accomplish what Microsoft wanted. If there weren?t a ?check in? then the risks for pirating would go up. If I could go to a buddy?s place, rip all his games, go to another buddy?s place rip all HIS games, and then never put my console online again, I saw that as cheating the system. Sure that would be pretty cool to do, but it wouldn?t be just. Having to check in every day just meant they were making sure everything was synced the way it should have been. No foul play. Our friends at the ?big three? are constantly battling pirates, it just makes sense that they would have that in mind.

I understand the arguments against the DRM rules. ?What if I don? t have a good Internet connection? or ?What if I just want to play offline?? or ?What if the power goes out, or I take my Xbone to the cottage with no Internet?? These were all valid concerns. I could tell you my solutions, but they would have involved tethering the Internet on my phone, after all it is just a check once a day, doesn?t need much, but I digress.

Family Sharing

Now this is what excited me most out of everything.

There was a lot of speculation about what this really means, but I?ll break it down. It meant you and 10 people could be in a ?family? and share your libraries. You and the ?parent? could play the same game together, and anyone in the family could play the full version of the games. I know there was some debate if this meant just a trial run of the game, but Spenser confirmed with Kotaku in a interview that it was the full game, no restrictions. Since all the policies were taken out, we will never see how that would have looked like. Needless-to-say it was going to be an exciting new feature that everyone would enjoy.

The rumor mill says that they may bring this back in some variant so I hope that will happen. I would love to see this work, and even better if it?s incorporated with physical disks. I love my physical disks.

Kinect 2.0

I bring this up because this was something a lot of you misheard, or were misinformed about. You had the option to completely turn off the Kinect. No, I don?t mean when you turn the console off, I mean actually turn it off while using the Xbone. I don?t know how this got so out of hand, but it?s true. The only limitation to having it off was that you couldn?t use the features it offered like Skype, Kinect games, voice commands, those things. The reason Kinect comes with the Xbone is to assure developers that yes, they will have the Kinect, and so you can use that hardware in your games. Now developers know %100 anyone who owns an Xbox One owns the Kinect hardware.

--
Maybe I rambled there for a page or so, or maybe I just wanted to get the record straight. It?s gut wrenching reading comments about how horrible the Xbone was going to be. I think I made my tongue bleed by biting it so much. And even now, after the infamous ?180? people are still on the Xbone hate train and it just doesn?t make any sense.

You need to understand the difference between DDR3 and DDR5 RAM. Newer does not always mean better. DDR5 RAM is designed for graphics cards, so yes, it will do a slightly better job with graphics. DDR3 ram is design to handle multiple data. So it will do a better job at handling Physics, and AI, those sorts of things. I tried to refrain from going into crazy depth so everyone can understand. Just because PS4 is using DDR5 RAM doesn?t make it more powerful, just slightly better in a different way.

People are claiming that PS4 is better since it Microsoft is using 3 GB of the RAM for it?s OS? Now Sony announces it uses 3.5 GB of RAM for its OS. Am I saying that means that Microsoft is better? No way. This is barely a difference; they are pretty much the same. I just wanted to clarify how similar these consoles are, and how unnecessary the Xbox hate is.

Microsoft has completely forsaken the entire direction of Xbone because the majority of us gamers said we didn?t want it, and yet, most of us gamers don?t care, we believe Microsoft has already dug their grave. To that I say? ?Ugh?.

I believe it should come down to the exclusives and day one games, after all we?ve already determined that the consoles are now pretty much the same.

PS4 Exclusives

1. The Order: 1886
2. The Dark Sorcerer
3. Drive Club (Day One)
4. Infamous: Second Son
5. Killzone: Shadowfall (Day One)
6. Knack (Day One)
7. Octodad
8. Deep Down

Xbox One Exclusives:

1. Below Crimson Dragon
2. D4
3. Dead Rising 3 (Day One)
4. Forza Motorsport 5 (Day One)
5. Halo Sequel
6. Killer Instinct (Day One)
7. Kinect Sports Rivals
8. Quantum Break
9. Project Spark
10. Rabbids Invasion
11. RYSE: Son of Rome (Day One)
12. Sunset Overdrive
13. Zumba Party Fitness

Keep in mind I omitted games like Titanfall, which is being released on PC. This is about console only exclusives.

In terms of Day one games, looks like Xbone: 4, PS4: 3. They are so close together that really it comes down to your preference in games. It?s this that makes the consoles stand out from each other. Not hardware not specs, but the games. For me, I was a huge fan of Killer Instinct, and I really enjoyed Dead Rising, so it?s a no-brainer. Xbone for me ☺


I?m just tired of hearing people hate on Microsoft so much. They haven?t dug their grave, they attempted to innovate and quickly realized we weren?t ready for that, we didn?t want that right now. Your decision should be based on what makes the consoles different, the games.

Yes, Xbone costs $100 more. I don?t think that is going to break the bank, and what you?re getting out of it is a complete experience, even if you want to disable it. But I mean, would being able to tell your console to turn on by your voice be such a bad thing? Not to mention all the other features the Kinect offers? It all comes down to opinion I guess but to me I think having Kinect is worth the extra 100 bucks.

I?m not a Microsoft fanboy. I?m planning on getting both consoles eventually. There is no way I?m missing out on Naughty Dogs next game, especially after The Last of Us. Give me another Jak game, or even Sly Cooper and I?m like putty in your hands. Keep it about the games person, that?s what?s important here.

TLDR: Xbone wasn?t so bad with DRM restrictions. Made Sense. Xbone and PS4 too similar to compare, decide based on the games, which is most important. Not a Xbox Fanboy. fuckyaNaughtyDog

Kyle Calzavara
@Kylzavara

 

[shrekfan246]

Did I just go through a temporal loop and get transported back a month or something?

Not only is this almost word-for-word what all of the "defenders" were saying to the "haters" back at E3, it's actually been fairly quiet comparatively speaking for the last few weeks. Why would you bring this back up just to tell people to shut up about it?

I can't even... there's only one point I want to address, I suppose.

I could tell you my solutions, but they would have involved tethering the Internet on my phone, after all it is just a check once a day, doesn?t need much, but I digress.


TLDR: Xbone wasn?t so bad with DRM restrictions. Made Sense.

That's good for you.

You know the last time I had my consoles hooked up the internet?

Neither do I.

It's not about how it "wasn't so bad", it's the principle that they felt they could mandate and restrict how I would've used the console I spent my money on. If I don't want to connect my console to the internet, I shouldn't have to. And as far as unreliable internet/phone tethering is concerned, not everyone has a smartphone. I don't. My phone has the capability of using the internet, but I don't use it for that so I don't have a plan that supports it either.

So, basically, like I've always said in these threads, everyone else isn't in the same situation as you are. If the DRM "wasn't so bad" for you, then good for you. But it was for other people. Specifically the people you're telling to "stop hating" Microsoft and the Xbox One.

 

[Zhukov]

But it's comfy. The hate train has leather seats and they're about to serve drinks.

Look, the internet connection DRM thing was a complete deal breaker for me. I am not buying a console that will stop working if my internet goes. Fucking period. And that's not even considering the possibility of Microsoft's servers having issues.

Yes, they reversed it. But only because everyone screamed at them. They wanted to do it. Going back on their stupid decision doesn't get them positive points in my book, it just takes away their negative points and returns them to zero.

Then there's the $100 more expensive thing. No, a hundred bucks is not going to break my bank. But neither would flushing a hundred dollar note down the toilet. Still don't want to do it. If I don't have to spend that extra $100, and I don't, then chances are I'm not going to.

As for games, I haven't seen a single thing of interest from Microsft thus far. That Sunset Overdrive trailer looked vaguely cool I guess, but it was a pre-rendered affair with no gameplay. I learned my lesson from Dead Island.

To be fair, Sony haven't impressed me on the games front either.

So no, at this point I am still pretty firmly in Fuck Microsoft territory. Choo! Choo!

 

[Zelgon]

Did I just go through a temporal loop and get transported back a month or something?

It's not about how it "wasn't so bad", it's the principle that they felt they could mandate and restrict how I would've used the console I spent my money on. If I don't want to connect my console to the internet, I shouldn't have to. And as far as unreliable internet/phone tethering is concerned, not everyone has a smartphone. I don't. My phone has the capability of using the internet, but I don't use it for that so I don't have a plan that supports it either.

I brought it up, just to say that it wasn't the worst thing ever, and I felt it was needed, right now, to stop people from abusing the sharing feature... but your right this conversation is pointless now.

When I say we should stop hating Microsoft so hard, I'm referring to the hate it's receiving now, after it reversed it's rules, how PS4 console is better, when they are slightly different, and that the focus should be on the games, that it's the games that make the biggest difference.

Microsoft tried something and it failed so they reversed it, why hat them for that?

 

[TehCookie]

No thanks, I'll keep hating it. It's already a bad console with no good games and if the new controller is uncomfortable as the 360's that's a minus too. The DRM and kinect were just icing on a shit cake that made much more fun to hate because rather than my opinion of hating it they did something actually terrible. I'm not some lifeless kid who can play their console everyday so it can check in.

Also how does tethering your phone help with no internet? There's no cell signal either at my cottage with no internet. I live in America, not some first world country.

 

[Not Gabe Newell]

This attitude right here? This one? It's exactly what both publishers and developers want. They want to pull whatever shit they can and simply sit back in silence, until either:

a) The community simmers down and stops talking about it.

b) The community turns on each other, with one half complaining, and the other half telling the complainers to shut up.


By all means, we should be grateful that Microsoft reversed those god-awful policies, and we should definitely forgive them if they ever apologize for it. But understand that we shouldn't forget what they did either.

Nobody's obligated to be angry or upset, but then again nobody has the right to tell others to shut up or stop talking about something just because THEY don't want to talk about it. Hell, I'm sure there's still people out there upset about Mass Effect 3's ending. I personally don't want to talk about it, but they can talk about it if they wish.

 

[Evonisia]

Aww... but it's fun to watch the Xbox One Hate Train (in fact calling it the "Xbone" is hating on it in some form) because undoubtedly the Xbox One will be the console to hate during the 8th Generation (7th Generation's being the PS3) so we may as well get used to it now so it becomes more tolerable later on rather than ask people to stop just to let them start again when the console comes out.

 

[shrekfan246]

Microsoft tried something and it failed so they reversed it, why hat them for that?

Because this is the internet, and if there's anything the internet does well, it's latching onto something and not letting go until both sides of the discussion have transformed into polarized caricatures of their original positions and it more greatly resembles a schoolyard slap fight than an intelligent debate.

Also because Microsoft has great precedent with shoving products they wanted onto their customers regardless of feedback; RE: Games for Windows LIVE, Windows Vista, Windows 8, really the entire Windows platform from its outset, Xbox Live, Microsoft Word Suite, etc. So it's just being a savvy consumer to be wary that they might re-implement these DRM features a few months/years after the Xbox One has launched.

For what it's worth, I don't "hate" them. But nothing they've shown about the Xbox One has appealed to me, and as with most multi-million-dollar corporations I don't trust them to hold the customer's interests in mind. So right now, Sony and Nintendo are more looking like "the lesser of two (or three) evils" if someone wants to buy a console rather than explicitly being 'better'.

 

[Foolery]

You can't tell me what to do! *begins shoveling more coal into the engines*
I'm a conductor, muthafucka!

Anyway, back on topic. Nope. No thanks. I don't hate the machine, but I don't have an interest in it either. I'm hesitant of the next-gen altogether, and expect slow adoption of any new consoles.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Waaaa? I haven't seen a straight up xb1 hate thread in a while. Moreover, just cause they got rid of their restrictive bull and turning everything around doesn't mean I want their crap. It's Microsoft. At my school, we have notes on all the computers telling people to not print off blackboard because there's a glitch with IE10 that causes documents to print out as like 1,000 of random symbols and nonsense.

My point, is that's it been my experience Microsoft usually makes crap and I won't spend $500 on one of their products period. I don't want to pay more for a nerfed console with dashboard ads AND a subscription service (pick one), can't play games off disks (so you're gonna get a full hard drive really quick), and web cam motion controls especially considering they were fully prepared to sell out their customers to publishers

 

[Andy Shandy]

Man, if you think this is a hate train, you should've been around when E3 was about. Not fully hating the Xbox One and loving the PS4 was jumped on quite a bit. Although in all fairness, it was like that all across gaming websites. It's settled down slightly now though.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

You do know the "Family Sharing" was just a glorified demo right? The people who were given the game through that only got to play it for about an hour.

Also the DRM restrictions are stupid. Just because they won't affect you negatively, doesn't mean it won't affect other people negatively.

 

[AITH]

I?m just tired of hearing people hate on Microsoft so much. They haven?t dug their grave, they attempted to innovate and quickly realized we weren?t ready for that,

Considering you don't have an issue with DRM, this will likely fall on deaf ears but this excerpt above is the main problem with your post. Microsoft didn't try to innovate any more than a cow farmer tries to drive up sales by killing all the neighbors chickens. These 'innovations' would have caused companies like Gamefly and Gamestop to lose a ton of Xbox sales/subscribers since there's no backwards comparability and having to pay extra defeats the point of purchasing a discounted used game / getting a rental. Now you may not like companies like this. You may feel that they are a leech on developers' earnings or something to that effect. But the fact remains that these companies line up with what the consumers want. More games for less money.

We weren't ready for the innovation of more money for fewer games? Hardly. We weren't ready for the innovation of a gaming console that focuses more on television and social media than advances in the gaming experience? Dafuq?

Now of course it is in Microsoft's best interest to make products to try to reclaim a portion of the lost market. You can't blame them for that. Unfortunately, instead of going a different route like creating their own used games market to help reclaim some of those lost sales, they decided on an option that sticks it to the consumer instead of only their competition.

 

[tilmoph]

What hate train? Seriously, what hate train? People railed against them when they announced several very dumb things in a row and tried defending them like morons. That's not a hate train; that's consumers voicing their opinion. And now, we don't even have that. Some people are turned off by the always on kinect, but that's been beaten into the ground enough that no one even posts about it. The most we have is the occasional, pre-180 fan who's annoyed about Microsoft's 180 either complainig about the loss of features. Those get negative feedback because duh.

Also, and this sin't just you but it's really starting to annoy me, don't refer to gamers as some kind of entity or collective that makes group decisions. It's fine as a term for consumers of games, such as "do gamers like x genre" or "will gamers buy games at y price", but for taking actions, it's not an appropriate label. We aren't a clubhouse, we share a single common hobby that has such a wide range of personalities and products that it's pointless.

 

[Church185]

holy christ, snip

I think for the most part everyone has jumped off the hate train at this point, they have now simply transferred over to the take "take pot shots at it for the lulz" train. While they have removed everything about it that initially made me abandon the S.S Microsoft, the trust that I once put in that company has gone. So now I'm left standing looking at the new consoles without any loyalties, and I've decided to go with the PS4. The whole kerfuffle made me pick my PS3 back up, try out exclusives that I hadn't tried before and even give PS+ a try. On the whole it has got me really excited about what Sony is doing next gen.

 

[Roxas1359]

Man, if you think this is a hate train, you should've been around when E3 was about. Not fully hating the Xbox One and loving the PS4 was jumped on quite a bit. Although in all fairness, it was like that all across gaming websites. It's settled down slightly now though.

Heck remember when the PS4 reveal happened back in February and people were completely calling Sony's doom for a while since they didn't even show the console. XD

OT: No, I will dislike what I please thank you. In all seriousness I used to love the 360, but after a while I started playing my PS3 more and more after the only huge games that seemed to be on the 360 were gun-metal gray shooters and I don't like shooters much. Then when Microsoft revealed their plans it just made my opinion of them worse, not to mention the constant belittling and mistrust they seemed to paint on the face of every consumer. They may have reversed the decision, but remember you still have to update it on day one so as to disable all of the DRM stuff. So yes the technology is still inside the Xbox One and it is possible for them to turn it back on when they please. Wouldn't be the first time a company went back on something after it had launched with it. *cough*PS3 Linux*cough*

 

[skywolfblue]

Kinect 2.0

I bring this up because this was something a lot of you misheard, or were misinformed about. You had the option to completely turn off the Kinect. No, I don?t mean when you turn the console off, I mean actually turn it off while using the Xbone. I don?t know how this got so out of hand, but it?s true. The only limitation to having it off was that you couldn?t use the features it offered like Skype, Kinect games, voice commands, those things. The reason Kinect comes with the Xbone is to assure developers that yes, they will have the Kinect, and so you can use that hardware in your games. Now developers know %100 anyone who owns an Xbox One owns the Kinect hardware.

So you can turn it off, and have spent $100 more on a brick you don't use, and have half the consoles features disabled. Or turn it on, and bask in the glory that is Big Brother Microsoft watching your every move and selling it to advertisers?

No thanks, I'd rather save that $100 and buy a PS4 that hopefully isn't quite so creepy.

Yes, Xbone costs $100 more. I don't think that is going to break the bank, and what you're getting out of it is a complete experience, even if you want to disable it.

"Complete Experience"? WTF does that mean anyway? My "bullshit marketing term" detector is going off the charts.

If you want to buy an xBox One? Go ahead.
But there are plenty of legitimate reasons for people to genuinely avoid it, in this case the "hate train" is well deserved.

 

[Genocidicles]

Even after all their policy changes, there is still plenty of reason to hate the xbone.

How about the mandatory Kinect? I don't like motion controls, and I don't want to be forced to pay for something I have no intention of using.

Plus there's the whole "The dashboard is made with advertising in mind!" thing.

 

[Ticklefist]

13. Zumba Party Fitness

Jesus. Don't pad the list or anything.