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The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

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Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#81

Post by lelandbatey »

lotso wrote: post #65
rmrfrmrf wrote: post #35

Try hard as they might, it's impossible to make those "features" sound good. This one is especially amazing: "You could re-sell your physical disc game to Gamestop or any participating outlet that opted into Microsoft’s revenue sharing system." Gee, thanks, Microsoft! It's not like those outlets will pass the cost right onto the consumer or anything (oh wait, they will). It's incredible how the Xbox team thought, "Lo…

>It's incredible how the Xbox team thought, "Look at that money over there. Let's take it!" What's next, Wal-Mart charging Ralph Lauren every time a customer comes in wearing a Polo shirt (because why should other clothing companies get free advertising in their store)? Could you explain this analogy because it makes zero sense to me. >The other issue? For the author to be completely honest, every "benefit" mentioned…

It's interesting, because in this whole thing I've noticed that there's a reason that I am ok with Steam on my PC when I'm not ok with digital downloads for a console.

Primarily, it's because of the kinds of games that are released and played on them. On PC, I have games that are inherently ALL about the online experience, games like TF2, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Starcraft 2, Counter Strike, ARMA, and many more. These games (from what I've seen) make up the biggest contingency of PC games, and they all "fit" within Steam and it's business model very well.

However, on console you have an entirely different type of game: the game as a story. These kinds of games make up the bulk of the console market, games like Uncharted (1, 2, and 3), the Bioshock series, the Mass Effect trilogy, the Far Cry series, the God of War games, etc. Even just the way you label them (series, trilogy, etc) shows the difference: these are static creations.

Ultimately, on a platform that most people use to consume STATIC pieces of content, why do we need to be chained to some other service? Why must I have an internet connection to enjoy a great single-player experience?

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#82

Post by sgift »

Not really - Microsoft did this to themselves, the Internet is not responsible. Microsoft could have done something else here: Think. Yes, all these people could have used their brains to add all these "new" (or rather: old) mechanisms without killing of the scenarios defined as forward looking by Microsoft. They could have been forward looking AND caring for the status quo. But in typical sore looser fashion it is far easier to go back to only the old way and whine around "And our new ideas are out now! You did not want them! And now you do not get them! You evil people!"

But at least it is better than the first iteration.

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#83

Post by mynameisvlad »

rurounijones wrote: post #60

> "Most people aren’t Richard Branson and most people have enough of a connection, however intermittent, to authenticate once a day." Military Personnel nonwithstanding... > "Who knows, maybe Microsoft will change the policy again and have people opt in to the online check so that they can share their libraries with their friends. Maybe they will have another tier where people opt in to these benefits. I hope so." An…

> WE WERE NOT GIVEN A CHOICE

As consumers, we are rarely given a choice.

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#84

Post by lelandbatey »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #83
rurounijones wrote: post #60

> "Most people aren’t Richard Branson and most people have enough of a connection, however intermittent, to authenticate once a day." Military Personnel nonwithstanding... > "Who knows, maybe Microsoft will change the policy again and have people opt in to the online check so that they can share their libraries with their friends. Maybe they will have another tier where people opt in to these benefits. I hope so." An…

> WE WERE NOT GIVEN A CHOICE As consumers, we are rarely given a choice.

Well, we're always given a choice in the end: buy it or don't buy it.

It's what I've done in the past, and it's what I'll do now. I'll just not buy it. Because if you complain, but buy it anyway, you're really saying that it's still worth while to you.

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#85

Post by nos4A2 »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #79
chaostheory wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is it different than Steam, other than the point than speculating that Microsoft would never aggressively discount games as much as Steam does now They don't allow developers to self-publish, and Valve is privately owned by a benevolent dictator who won't be prone to public investor pressure for short term quarterly profits. People trust Valve to do the right thing. Microsoft on the other hand has a history of…

> Microsoft on the other hand has a history of just shutting down their DRM servers without making it right for the customers who bought into their DRM'd products. Source? Microsoft is incredibly well known for supporting products int he long term. They only shut down Xbox Live for the original Xbox in 2010. And Windows XP is still infamously supported.

My Kin studio and Zune say otherwise.

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#86

Post by lelandbatey »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #79
chaostheory wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is it different than Steam, other than the point than speculating that Microsoft would never aggressively discount games as much as Steam does now They don't allow developers to self-publish, and Valve is privately owned by a benevolent dictator who won't be prone to public investor pressure for short term quarterly profits. People trust Valve to do the right thing. Microsoft on the other hand has a history of…

> Microsoft on the other hand has a history of just shutting down their DRM servers without making it right for the customers who bought into their DRM'd products. Source? Microsoft is incredibly well known for supporting products int he long term. They only shut down Xbox Live for the original Xbox in 2010. And Windows XP is still infamously supported.

When what's being created is a timeless piece of art, 10 years is not long-lived support. People still play NES games, and I want to be able to play my current gen games 30 years from now.

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#88

Post by mynameisvlad »

lelandbatey wrote: post #84
mynameisvlad wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WE WERE NOT GIVEN A CHOICE As consumers, we are rarely given a choice.

Well, we're always given a choice in the end: buy it or don't buy it. It's what I've done in the past, and it's what I'll do now. I'll just not buy it. Because if you complain, but buy it anyway, you're really saying that it's still worth while to you.

Sure, but then you were also given a choice with the Xbox One all along.

It sounded like you were saying that people should get a choice between the old system and new. But that's silly, and never happens in the real world anyway.

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#89

Post by asynchrony »

lelandbatey wrote: post #81
lotso wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's incredible how the Xbox team thought, "Look at that money over there. Let's take it!" What's next, Wal-Mart charging Ralph Lauren every time a customer comes in wearing a Polo shirt (because why should other clothing companies get free advertising in their store)? Could you explain this analogy because it makes zero sense to me. >The other issue? For the author to be completely honest, every "benefit" mentioned…

It's interesting, because in this whole thing I've noticed that there's a reason that I am ok with Steam on my PC when I'm not ok with digital downloads for a console. Primarily, it's because of the kinds of games that are released and played on them. On PC, I have games that are inherently ALL about the online experience, games like TF2, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Starcraft 2, Counter Strike, ARMA, and many more. Th…

The majority of the games that you listed for console are also available for PC (on Steam).

Re: The Internet Just Made Microsoft Kill a Car for a Faster Horse

#90

Post by batiudrami »

lelandbatey wrote: post #81
lotso wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's incredible how the Xbox team thought, "Look at that money over there. Let's take it!" What's next, Wal-Mart charging Ralph Lauren every time a customer comes in wearing a Polo shirt (because why should other clothing companies get free advertising in their store)? Could you explain this analogy because it makes zero sense to me. >The other issue? For the author to be completely honest, every "benefit" mentioned…

It's interesting, because in this whole thing I've noticed that there's a reason that I am ok with Steam on my PC when I'm not ok with digital downloads for a console. Primarily, it's because of the kinds of games that are released and played on them. On PC, I have games that are inherently ALL about the online experience, games like TF2, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Starcraft 2, Counter Strike, ARMA, and many more. Th…

That might be correct for you, but it's not really for most gamers.

Each year the annual COD release on consoles is huge on consoles (bigger than on PC). FIFA is similarly huge in Europe. Halo, one of the biggest console exclusives, is praised at least 50/50 for it's single/multiplayer content. Online gaming is a big part of console games, even if it isn't for you.

At the same time, most of the games you mentioned as single player experiences are available on PC. Plus many (I'd say most, even) PC-exclusive titles are heavily single-player focused.

Obviously, this doesn't affect your personal reasoning, but I don't think it's shared by many people.

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