So we've finally seen some games.

Of the handful of titles they announced…Ryse, Titanfall, Project Spark, and Quantum Break all have my attention.

But I have to ask myself: Do I REALLY wanna play them enough to put up with MS's BS policies?

Yeah, Microsoft's conference didn't really impress me all that much.

All of the games were generic and the same things I have been playing for the last 5 years. The only game that sounded interesting was only shown for like 4 seconds.

So it looks like Microsoft decided to pull all the restrictions away from the X One.

That's great that they listened to the people and all, but I think the damage has been done. The tech and the option for Microsoft to turn that shit back on at any point during the X One's life cycle still exists.

So they could wait until everyone gets one, then do an "update" and everyone will be stuck with the damn thing?

Yes, that or they put the resurrections on the next iteration of the X One.

The tech is still there for Microsoft to implement at any time.

I do applaud MS for putting their pride down to do this (well, it was probably more than likely the stock holders did it), but they are going to have to work to gain our trust back because they still did try to screw us.

I don't see that happening, simply because when the next console rolls around it won't be pretty for them.

Yeah, but the terms and conditions you agree to state you cannot sue them for any reason.

I didn't say sue. If people buy the Xbox One, and Microsoft "flips the switch back on" then you can guarantee that any future releases Microsoft has will not be purchased.

Or you could save yourself the headache and buy a PS4 :lol Look, I used to be in the XBox camp. Fable, Halo, KotOR, Jade Empire (I loved Jade Empire). But.. The 360 was always a second away from RRoD, and now with the One? I mean their biggest announcement for launch titles were Madden and Call of Duty. You're in the Templar's Cave and you're about to Choose Poorly.

I still can't fathom why anyone would pay these ludicrous prices for these things between the shady business practices and general lack of focus on the fucking games. Just get a gaming PC.

I want an xbox one. I never understood the hate. Their policies were to turn console gaming into what steam is for the computer. DRM is also available for the ps if publishers choose. If you look at launch games they're generally the same and personally I think the x1 has a better line up(dead rising). MS wants to bring the living room into one device and I dont mind it. The ps4 does have better hardware but they vary from the x1 in functionality right? If I'm not mistaken ps4 is graphics and x1 is multitasking, that's what I hear. If I'm wrong please let me know, I want to get the fact rights. I want the xbox but I'm still open to the idea of the ps4. I just dont get what makes the ps4 better.

That's actually dead wrong. Steam is quite possibly going to allow a way to share games in the near future thanks to this debaucle.

Also, the specs are pretty much tied for each other. Not sure how you'd "multitask" while playing a video game though.

If you have 500 bucks to blown on a console and God knows how much the games will cost, I'm assuming you are the kind of person who already has a Smart TV, as such 90% of what the Bone is selling itself on is useless to you.

Recent. New Microsoft drops DRM but still needs a Internet connection for first time set up

Because I want to OWN the games I buy!! I look at games (and movies) as I do toys. I want to look at them, put them on my shelf, touch them, line them up with the other games in the series/console, etc. The day I stop being able to do that is the day I stop paying for things.

BTW, Dead Rising 3 looks no different than the previous two games. Transistor alone on the PS4 looked better than everything MS showed.

As far as digital entertainment goes, that day will come along soon.

For me, I'm glad that most digital entertainment I acquire doesn't come on any sort of disc. It saves me money for toys in the end.

Also, you really don't "own" anything. Even if you have a hardcopy, there are ways that can prevent you from playing the game if the powers that be decide they don't want you to play it anymore.

At this point the specs are near identical. Which then makes this a choice based on policies and franchises. I love Halo to death, always have. But I'm not willing to pay $100 more to get the system it's exclusive to. I'll gladly take my Final Fantasy (which I know will be cross platform) and Metal Gear over here in PS4 land where I save $100 right off the bat.

Then we get to policies. Yes, Microsoft has back pedaled to where we are now making the two options even more similar. But let's be honest here. The technology that allows Microsoft to lock out used games will still be present in the final release of the XBOne. It's true that developers have the ability to lock their games as well but MS literally incorporated this into the system itself. This far into the process there's nothing they can do to remove it from the system. It'll just be dormant until they decide to sneak it into an update a year from now after they've taken people's money. Same thing can be said with the proposed way the Kinnect would monitor users while playing games.

Sure there is, it's just firmware. Any hardware can do it as long as it's coded to do so. That being said, there's nothing saying it can't be added later, either, to either console.

Again, I don't see this happening though. Microsoft thought they had a good idea to pander to the gaming studios, since clearly their efforts on Windows has amounted to nothing doing. In return, they realized that letting friends borrow or play a game isn't going to put anyone out of business and some money is better than no money at all, as this scenario shows.

I missed this earlier.

While I agree completely, being a PC gamer myself, there are people out there that don't want to deal with PCs and their issues just to play a game. Driver updates, uninstalls, background processes in Windows, etc. and just want to pop in a disc and play. I can see both sides of the argument though.

I like messing with my PC. I don't like having to find solutions to problems, but I'm more than knowledgeable and patient enough to work around what ever arises. Not everyone is like that however.

Uh no. If I paid for it, I own it!!

By law, you legally do not.

I'm just going by what the books say, nothing more.

I want to add that another example of a purely digital download is Microsoft's Office programs. You cannot not, any longer, receive a hardcopy of the software in any way, shape or form. You simply buy the license, not the program, and then download the program from the Cloud.

This was very true ten or so years ago, but the PS3 seemed to slowly erase the plug in and play aspect with each year and now with all these new limitations on the gaming your PC and its installs have more plug in and play...ness than consoles seem to now.

I was hoping you'd bring this up. :D

While true, I wanted to play Assassin's Creed 2 the other day. I had to roll back my Video Card Drivers, wipe them from the registry and locate suitable ones for my OEM. It wasn't exactly an easy task.

The "load and play" concept is still much more evident in consoles than it is in PCs. None of it sways me though, but I can see how it would with others.

I guess it's luck of the draw as well, I've yet to have any real problems with my PC games but I've only been PC gaming as an adult for a few years.

The pro's to console gaming is once you buy the console, you don't have to upgrade the damn thing for the next 5 to 8 years to play new games on it. Yeah yeah, I know people will say "BUT OMG IT CAN CRASH RROD?!" but your PC is more likely to die than your console is unless there's a legitimate hardware malfunction (which, on one of the models of the 360, there was).

If you know what you are doing, you can make a gaming PC last as long as a console can before you need to upgrade it. My shitty ass Laptop which is like three years old can play sanbox games from last year. Yeah not on like ULTRA MEGA SETTINGS but the games still function.

But the components in a PC and in a console are the same. Motherboard, processor, GPU, heatsink (which was the issue on the 360) so the chances are really the same.

In fact, if you pit a gaming PC against a console, I'd say the console has more chances of having hardware failure simply because the OEM uses cheaper parts. Though I'd say less now, since AMD is picking up both of the "power" consoles.

I also have no problem with upgrading a graphics card (or anything for that matter) since PCs are generally provided with better graphics, even in ports. Skyrim and AC 3 show this.

Though I get what you're saying. It's about ease of use, bottom line.

Which is the main reason I moved away from console gaming.

Ease of use isn't something that applies to games consoles any more. Remember the days when you had to install a game on the PC and basically go on holiday and come back and maybe it'll be done? But then there was this console sold for under two hundred pounds which had limited tech but allowed you to plug and play literally?

Yeah that was a decade ago now. Not only are consoles no longer the cheaper option, they aren't the easiest option either.

Great discussion fella's! I just want to look at both consoles as objectively as possible and get all the fact straight before the time comes.

Mind you I have no idea how steam works :D that's just what I hear.

Well, you were correct in your assumption until almost a week ago.

Mind you, Steam does something that Microsoft would probably not do (or perhaps not as often) and that's have massive sales. I've bought games before I've never played and plan to because they're dirt cheap.

Alan Wake franchise was 3 bucks the other day on Steam.