zwolanerd

Good heavens is this ever dizzying.  So now Microsoft has (relented? backtracked? realized the error of their ways?) changed their minds about some of the XB1 features: no more DRM preventing used game sales and no checking in online every 24 hours.

Yay!

…maybe?  I should stop being surprised that people can gripe about any and every thing. Just this morning, not even 24 hours after the announcement, I read a “well, now we’ve done it, we’ve ruined everything forever because we made Microsoft change their minds about this” article. I can’t remember where I read it and forgot to bookmark it, but the point was “we were going to live in a new age of lower prices and freer yada yada yada” and I kind of gave up after the “lower prices” bit because, sure I was hopeful that would be the case, but I wasn’t in any way figuring it would be.

Look, I can appreciate efforts to change the infrastructure of a thing if it needs to. But in some cases it’s okay to have coexisting infrastructures, something Microsoft and Sony have both been doing already: yes, play your on-disc games, but, sure, have some digital-only downloadable games, too, have fun!

I had pretty much come to the decision I was sticking with Xbox before they announced this, for two reasons:

1. I’m pretty deep in the Microsoft ecosystem, they all tie together pretty well, and there’s the promise of even more in the future.
2. I like to be an early adopter when I can be. Yes, I know I just registered my discomfort about all of the stuff, but the more I thought about it the more I decided it was the way to go. These announced changes are icing on the pumpkin bread for me.

Granted, they still haven’t addressed the indie game question, and I hope they do, but it won’t affect my decision, most likely. I support the idea of indie games and want people to have that avenue, but I have rarely availed myself of the offerings, so I’m probably not the best person to speak to this.

Here’s hoping this is the last article I write about the XB1 until the “I got it and I love it!” one later this year, which I’m also hoping is one I get to write.

Tags: XB1

Written by: Mark