"How Microsoft ruined fun for everybody"

[VanD]

Originally Posted by Jim Sterling
I love my Xbox 360 just as much as I love my PlayStation 3. It's got a great library of games that I've invested a considerable amount of time and money into over the past few years, and it's a system that will likely still be serving me for some time to come.

That said, in a significant parallel to the PS3, my love for the system seems to come at an inverse proportion to my love for the company behind it. I am of course talking about Microsoft, otherwise known as the poster boy for corporate greed and everything that is wrong with America. Not my words, the words of other people ... probably.

Despite bringing out a good console that many true gamers have flocked to, Microsoft has also helped to ruin fun for everybody. Perhaps you don't believe me, and are preparing to call me a "bias troll that's trying to get fired" already, but please read the article before making your accusations.

Nobody ever asked Microsoft to get into the console gaming market. In fact, the company's motivation for doing so wasn't even out of demand, or necessity, or consideration for the market, but simply to try and stick it to Sony. The Xbox exists to stop the PlayStation brand from succeeding, and MS essentially stuck its big nose into an industry that it didn't really have any business getting involved with. Now that it's here, we have to deal with it, but unfortunately Microsoft brought a lot of baggage, especially with the current generation.

The most important bit of baggage is one we all know about by now, the fact that the Xbox 360 is a technical piece of sh*t, as far as hardware goes. Not even mentioning the red ring of death, the Xbox 360 is home to all manner of technical errors and random crashes. Every major update seems to bring with it a fresh slew of reports from gamers who now have a glorified brick sitting underneath their televisions. Be it red rings, E74 errors, or any other number of things that could go wrong, Xbox 360 ownership has been ruled by one dominant emotion -- fear.

I remember when game consoles were associated with fun. Back before systems tried to do more than just allow us to play our damn videogames. One feeling a console should never, ever evoke, however, is fear. People should not be afraid to turn their Xbox 360s on, faced with a grim inevitability that one day it just won't work anymore. However, this is the prevailing emotion that Microsoft has given to gamers. A dread feeling every time they turn on a 360 and feel that it's taking longer to switch on than usual. That timid wait for the blessed arrival of lights that flicker green instead of red. That horrible moment when a game just crashes while trying to load, and the scramble to reset the Xbox in the hopes that it switches on again.

Thanks for that, Microsoft! You have really made this generation a care-free and merry one! That alone really annoys me about MS' arrogant bull-in-a-china-shop stampede into the industry, but there's more. So much more.

We all know that publishers and platform holders don't give two square craps about videogames, but nobody seems to make it more obvious than Microsoft. The Xbox 360 platform apparently revels in its own greed, rubbing it in the faces of consumers. Nothing makes that more clear than the fact that Xbox Live is apparently ad supported, even though gamers are charged a subscription fee for the privilege of playing games online.

Far be it from me to tell a business how to run itself. I'm a Libertarian, and thus recognize that Microsoft has a right to charge what it wants, and put adverts wherever it pleases. However, I also have a right to say when a company is being a d*ck, and to note that just because someone has a right, that doesn't make what they're doing right. As a consumer, I am incredibly curious as to what it is that we're paying for, since Microsoft is raking it in from advertisers and sponsors, not to mention game and system sales, and all manner of microtransactions.

Speaking of microtransactions, why the fu*k am I being expected to pay 240 Microsoft Points for a BioShock 2 theme on the Xbox 360, when the PlayStation Network is offering its own theme for absolutely bugger-all? The typical counter to such a complaint is, "If you don't like it, don't buy it," and trust me, I won't. However, it's a practical insult to the Xbox 360 install base to expect payment for that which is free on another system. I am gladly downloading the PS3 theme, but the 360 theme can go get fu*ked.

The whole "Premium Theme" garbage is disgusting anyway. The fact that Microsoft was charging for themes on the old dashboard, up to and including the time when they knew they'd be forcing us over to the New Xbox Experience, is absolutely despicable. People were ostensibly tricked into paying for something that was going to be obsolete within weeks, and Microsoft happily took the cash. Then when the NXE rolled around, the price for themes was changed from 160 Points to 250 Points. This isn't helped by the fact that NXE themes look like trash anyway.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if publishers had the freedom to make themes free, but they don't. When Jonathan Blow released a premium Braid theme, he revealed that Microsoft would not allow him to launch it without letting the 250 Point charge stand.

While we're talking about Braid, let's also mention Microsoft's decision to charge 1200 MS Points for the game, just because the publisher knew it could. In a manner similar to what Activision is doing with Modern Warfare 2 in the UK, Microsoft used the hype for Braid to test a new pricing precedent. A few games had been released for 1200 Points in the past on XBLA, but it was Braid that let Microsoft know they could get away with turning it into a regular price. Now nearly every top-tier XBLA game is expected to come out at 1200 Points, when once they were 800.

Part of the problem here, of course, rests on the shoulders of the consumer. Had we not basically told Microsoft that 1200 Points was acceptable, it wouldn't have happened, but unfortunately Microsoft now has carte blanche to invoke what I like to call a "hype tax" on its most high profile XBLA games. Even though consumers allowed it, there's still something offensive about a company rewarding gamers for their interest and loyalty by essentially holding a game they want to ransom.

Then there's just the general stupid sh*t Microsoft seems to enjoy doing. Like constantly trying to copy the Wii in a transparent and rather pathetic attempt to be as successful as Nintendo. Avatars that were shoved into Xbox Live, don't really do very much, yet still expect customers to pay for their stupid clothes. Nonsensical, barely-tested casual games like Lips that are given pride of place even though Microsoft's intended audience isn't paying attention. Don't even get me started on Project Natal, and the ludicrous amounts of bluster that MS is putting behind it. Microsoft has made it clear that it wants to be as mainstream as Nintendo, but has given no indication that it knows how to do it, instead trying to awkwardly reach out to a market Nintendo cornered, while alienating the market MS already has.

Please remember, this is not an indictment of the Xbox 360. I love the system. However, the Xbox 360 is kind of like a drunk driver getting into a horrible car crash, then pulling his passengers free of the wreckage and heroically saving their lives. Sure, they're incredibly grateful for the brave thing he did, but he shouldn't have been fu*king drunk driving in the first place.

For all the good that the Xbox 360 has done, the harebrained men behind it have made sure that this generation for Xbox fans is a generation overshadowed by fear, disappointment and getting royally fu*ked in the ass.

The sad thing is ... it's really working out well for them.

http://www.destructoid.com/how-microsoft-ruined-fun-for-everybody-141220.phtml

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Good article, I hate fuckin microsoft. And yes, obviously it has it perks, but believe me prices will continue to go and bill faggot ass gates will continue to suck the consumers dry.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

I still cannot believe the fail rate. I mean seriously, just about any other product of any market would be pulled for having such an insanely high fail rate. 10% is viewed as ridiculous! So when there are reports of 25%, 30%, 35%...it's unbelievable this is accepted. Any other company would be fucked. If the 360 was a car, Ralph Nader would have crucified them.

 

[ESFCE]

I only skimmed through the first few paragraphs and im not even gonna read the rest.

"No one asked them to get into the gaming biz?" Are companies supposed to be asked? Sony was never a gaming company before the Playstation either.....and Microsoft got into the biz to stick it to Sony, really? The goal for any company is to be successful and make money, and they are doing it with the 360. I dont give a fuck about anything else, the 360 is a good system and has yet to fail on me.

One move Im glad they made is to keep the 360's lifespan going with Natal so we dont have to buy another machine so soon, the games wont be obsolete for another few years. Maybe their next one will be more stable since so many people get the red rings.

This guy sounds like a pissed off geek with a stick up his ass and a hate for Microsoft. Fuckin fanboy just play your damn video games and don't buy another Microsoft console again if you hate them that much.

 

[BEAR]

Then there's just the general stupid sh*t Microsoft seems to enjoy doing. Like constantly trying to copy the Wii in a transparent and rather pathetic attempt to be as successful as Nintendo. Avatars that were shoved into Xbox Live, don't really do very much, yet still expect customers to pay for their stupid clothes. Nonsensical, barely-tested casual games like Lips that are given pride of place even though Microsoft's intended audience isn't paying attention. Don't even get me started on Project Natal, and the ludicrous amounts of bluster that MS is putting behind it. Microsoft has made it clear that it wants to be as mainstream as Nintendo, but has given no indication that it knows how to do it, instead trying to awkwardly reach out to a market Nintendo cornered, while alienating the market MS already has.

Still love my 360 though.

 

[hella_numb]

that article was stupid as shit, written by a ignorant biased upset gamer. they said MS got into the industry to stick it sony? how bout they got into the multi-billion dollar growing industry to make money. as in all business your main goal at the end of the day is to make a profit and gain market share, which is what they did. They said that MS stole the ideas of their avatars from the wii which the probably did, but ps3 has avatars in their home section and no one bitches bout them stealing. ps3 stole their trophies from the 360 as well as PSN services like movies, music, downloadable games and classics from ps1. now wii is tryin to offer movie downloads on their console, no one bitches for them stealing 360 first, ps3 2nd ideas. a good idea is good and should be applied to all products in that industry.

The paying for xbox live seems like its his main thing, which can be true in some senses. there are ads being paid $$ to ms and then we are payin money to MS as well. they are charging for avatars clothes for "premium clothes" which have brand names on them. some you can unlock in games. if you dont want those you dont gotta buy those.

the arcade games are priced right, 400 for old classics, 800 for good games, 1200 for their best games. and since they were pretty much the first system to do this they were the ones who had to set the standard in pricing so it might have made them look bad but now sony and nintendo copy their pricing structure.

 

[T-Rip]

That is the funny thing, everyone holds 360 so highly but the system itself is such a piece of shit and its funny how 360 lovers always wanna say the blueray player on the ps3 is garbage. Thats fine and dandy if you think the 360 is so much greater, i view it as Microsoft is raping there fans. I havent had 1 fucken problem with my PS3 so i guess you can say it was worth the price of $400.

 

[VanD]

They said that MS stole the ideas of their avatars from the wii which the probably did, but ps3 has avatars in their home section and no one bitches bout them stealing.

so you enjoy paying for clothes for your avatar?

 

[Warwulf]

Yall act like when PS1 befor was called PS1. Didn't have mad problems I must returned about 9 back to KB Toys. Only good thing about it was all new demo disc I whould get. And when the PS2 came out I remeber there was alot of them breaking down and overheating. Shit systems been killing other systems for years its nothin new. Sony killed Sega. Mircosoft can kill Sony. The world will move on...

 

[T-Rip]

funny my PS1 lasted forever and had my ps2 for 7 years. Got my PS2 before it was available in stores. Got my PS1 a couple months after it came out. The Ps3 is only gonna close the gap sales wise more and more. Really Nintendo killed both systems, what do you have to say bout that?

 

[VanD]

^^^ Sega killed themself, and Sony is not comparable to Sega.

 

[VanD]

Really Nintendo killed both systems

for system sales and profits, yes and by a large number


but game sales, no and its not close. wii isnt a real gamer system, its a toy for family fun time and kids. they marketed well and made a profitable product with a low build cost.

the nintendo ds also murders all system sales, of all time. the ds is a better system with better games than the wii.

nintendo hulked up

 

[Unk1ne]

i have both systems an my PS3 has fucked up more then once had to send it in twice for different reasons

 

[Incar]

I only skimmed through the first few paragraphs and im not even gonna read the rest.

"No one asked them to get into the gaming biz?" Are companies supposed to be asked? Sony was never a gaming company before the Playstation either.....and Microsoft got into the biz to stick it to Sony, really? The goal for any company is to be successful and make money, and they are doing it with the 360. I dont give a fuck about anything else, the 360 is a good system and has yet to fail on me.

One move Im glad they made is to keep the 360's lifespan going with Natal so we dont have to buy another machine so soon, the games wont be obsolete for another few years. Maybe their next one will be more stable since so many people get the red rings.

This guy sounds like a pissed off geek with a stick up his ass and a hate for Microsoft. Fuckin fanboy just play your damn video games and don't buy another Microsoft console again if you hate them that much.

Umm.... sony was asked to be in the gaming business.... they were asked by nintendo to make a cd expansion for the snes but then they pulled out on the deal.... so they just brought it out on their own....

From wikipedia

The second conceptions of the PlayStation date back to 1986 in Japan where it was created. Nintendo had been attempting to work with disc technology since the Famicom, but the medium had problems. Its rewritable magnetic nature could be easily erased (thus leading to a lack of durability), and the discs were a copyright infringement danger. Consequently, when details of CDROM/XA (an extension of the CD-ROM format that combines compressed audio, visual and computer data, allowing all to be accessed simultaneously) came out, Nintendo was interested. CD-ROM/XA was being simultaneously developed by Sony and Philips. Nintendo approached Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "SNES-CD". A contract was signed, and work began. Nintendo's choice of Sony was due to a prior dealing: Ken Kutaragi, the person who would later be dubbed "The Father of PlayStation", was the individual who had sold Nintendo on using the Sony SPC-700 processor for use as the eight-channel ADPCM sound synthesis set in the Super Famicom/SNES console through an impressive demonstration of the processor's capabilities.[12]
Sony also planned to develop a robot SNES/SFamicom compatible, Sony-branded console, but one which would be more of a home entertainment system playing both Super Nintendo cartridges and a new CD format which Sony would design. This was also to be the format used in SNES-CD discs, giving a large degree of control to Sony despite Nintendo's leading position in the video gaming market.


The DualShock controller.
The SNES-CD was to be announced at the June 1991 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). However, when Hiroshi Yamauchi read the original 1988 contract between Sony and Nintendo, he realized that the earlier agreement essentially handed Sony complete control over any and all titles written on the SNES CD-ROM format. Yamauchi decided that the contract was totally unacceptable and he secretly canceled all plans for the joint Nintendo-Sony SNES CD attachment. Instead of announcing a partnership between Sony and Nintendo, at 9 a.m. the day of the CES, Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that Nintendo was now allied with Philips, and Nintendo was planning on abandoning all the previous work Nintendo and Sony had accomplished. Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa had, unbeknownst to Sony, flown to Philips headquarters in Europe and formed an alliance of a decidedly different nature—one that would give Nintendo total control over its licenses on Philips machines.
After the collapse of the joint project, Sony considered halting their research, but ultimately the company decided to use what they had developed so far and make it into a complete, stand alone console. As a result, Nintendo filed a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and attempted, in U.S. federal court, to obtain an injunction against the release of the PlayStation, on the grounds that Nintendo owned the name. The federal judge presiding over the case denied the injunction and, in October 1991, the first incarnation of the new Sony Play Station was revealed. However, it is theorized that only 200 or so of these machines were ever produced.[citation needed]


PlayStation Memory Card.
By the end of 1992, Sony and Nintendo reached a deal whereby the "Sony Play Station" would still have a port for SNES games, but Nintendo would own the rights and receive the bulk of the profits from the games, and the SNES would continue to use the Sony-designed audio chip. However, Sony decided in early 1993 to begin reworking the "Play Station" concept to target a new generation of hardware and software. As part of this process the SNES cartridge port was dropped and the space between the names was removed, thereby ending Nintendo's involvement with the project

 

[hella_numb]

so you enjoy paying for clothes for your avatar?

no, but I have that choice to where i can if i choose to. They said they are still going to add new free clothes to the service but for shit like an ed hardy shirt or something like that you are going to have to pay for it.

 

[JesterMIR]

how bout they got into the multi-billion dollar growing industry to make money.

How much money has Microsoft made since being in the video game business?

 

[hella_numb]

How much money has Microsoft made since being in the video game business?

well you need market share first. entering in the industry with xbox compared to ps2 and gamecubes already in place they had no appeal and very little market share. now with the 360, they got a year head start, got a substanal market share and have turned a profit in the games division the last 2 years. let me ask the same question to you and the ps3? or anyone, when has sony turned a profit with their ps3 or their game division?

 

[R]

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING ARGUING IN THIS THREAD WHEN A MODERN WARFARE 2 MULTIPLAYER VIDEO HAS JUST BEEN POSTED?

GO AND WATCH IT NOW

 

[Incar]

well you need market share first. entering in the industry with xbox compared to ps2 and gamecubes already in place they had no appeal and very little market share. now with the 360, they got a year head start, got a substanal market share and have turned a profit in the games division the last 2 years. let me ask the same question to you and the ps3? or anyone, when has sony turned a profit with their ps3 or their game division?

made a profit the last 2 years....? what about the 1 billion they set aside to repair all the faulty xbox's?

 

[Gas One]

i dont know what the fuck you guys are talking about, my xbox plays games, games i like

and it hasnt broke

so pardon me but i dont give a shit about your 8 rrod'ed xboxs

thats not my life
of course if it ever happens ill probably take all this back..but it hasnt

so basically fuck the whining..im enjoying it
whining about having to pay 240 microsoft points for a bioshock 2 theme...lmao..the fuck do i care man...i buy games that i like and i play them then i buy a new game..i dont care about all that extra nerd bonus shit

i dont agree with having to buy new maps and yada yada but i dont agree with having to pay for weed, however i end up doing it