If the Xbox One bombs at launch...

[Rixarius]

Do you think they would change the policies? I know the internet only counts for a portion of the consumer base, but it's been pretty apparent that Microsoft is losing this console war pretty bad. Being a long time Xbox 360 player, and a fan of Xbox Exclusives, I'd hope so. Also the Xbox controller is just better. But I'm not putting up with all the DRM stuff.

[logintime]

I honestly doubt it. Microsoft under Ballmer has gotten rather terrible as a company, especially where responsiveness to consumers is concerned.

Look at what happened to Windows 8. Throughout beta, people were telling them non-stop that the new format was confusing and not terribly useful for desktops, and that they needed to at least add back the start menu for navigation's sake. But Microsoft thought it's vision was the correct one (It's tablet and PC, all in one! Runs multiple platforms! It's the future of operating systems! People will warm up to it once they see it! Don't be afraid of change! Do all of these arguments sound familiar?). So they made almost no alterations and released it to the public where it got a worse reaction than Vista. So finally in their recent patch they announced they would be bringing back the Start button due to popular demand... only to create a start button that redirects you to the icon screen rather than a start menu, which is what everyone wanted. Because, you know, vision.

Basically, Microsoft is jawdroppingly arrogant in most regards, and that seems to have finally seeped into the Xbox division. I wouldn't expect any changes. This is a company that thinks it knows better than the consumer.

[Zeta333]

If there was only a xbox thread allready.

[Rixarius]

If there was only a xbox thread allready.

On the video games forums? Nooooo...

and *already.

[Waaldo]

If it bombed, probably. But sadly it won't bomb for the same reason Apple is a billion dollar company.

[Pony Soldier]

Pfft hell no. They have that "false" pride thinking their system is the shit when it's really just a money grabbing scheme called a "video game console". Microsoft is becoming an even worse company than EA. They're corrupting the game industry so much with their stupid add-ons and shit they keep adding on to Live that nobody even uses and is basically the main reason for the worst thing that could've happened to games which is what we call DLC. I hope they bomb. I hope it gets to the point where they're so embarrassed by how bad their P.O.S. console sold that they discontinue it and they leave the game industry for good. And they can take their butt buddies EA with them too and rid the game industry of these parasites. Then Nintendo can rescue Banjo-Kazooie and the Rare team from Microsoft and start making REAL Rare games like Banjo-Kazooie again. But unfortunately, as much as I want that to happen it never will.

[Collegeguy]

"This isn't a sprint"

Pretty much means they expect it to bomb. They just want to create a niche market of dude bros like Nintendo did with the Wii.

[MatadorMedia]

It won't bomb. There are too many fanboys jerking off to Xbox One still.

I think they might adjust their policies before they even launch, but they are in a tight spot with having committed already.

[mvaliz]

Do you think they would change the policies? -snip-

One would think so... but I'm honestly not so sure they would.

People have HUGE gripes about the most recent Windows they released, and so far they haven't done squat to fix any of those problems. Most people have just de-installed it and put the previous windows OS back in. Hell man, I know one guy who made a profession simply "de-installing" every trace of the most recent windows OS, and re-installing the previous one - and earns $150 a session.

Honestly, Microsoft has gone completely koo-koo insane IMO. I think they believe their stuff doesn't stink and have drank their own Kool-aid so much that it's going to take a multi-BILLION dollar loss to get Bill Gates to make a Steve Jobs-esque comeback to MS, fire a bunch of people, and set things right.

The moment Bill Gates' tries to buy a machine to help pull tape-worms out of African Children and his proverbial credit card gets denied - he'll be back. :P

[Catblob]

It won't bomb because, contrary to what the internet community thinks, a good portion of the consumer base does not care about the 24 Hour Online Authentication or the Used-Game DRM and is drawn in by the Kinect-related functions of the X-Box One.

Stop letting the extremely vocal minority skew your perception of the relatively indifferent majority.

[Herecius]

"This isn't a sprint"

Pretty much means they expect it to bomb. They just want to create a niche market of dude bros like Nintendo did with the Wii.

Of course, that assumes that the Wii's market was niche, when it sold more consoles than either of the other two... the Wii caught the wide-open casual market, Microsoft meanwhile seems to be going for a super exclusive market where everybody owns Surface tablets, has an entire room dedicated to gaming, (Kinect needs 10 feet of space and your coffee table will screw it up!) and a constant Internet connection all kept afloat by boatloads of money.

---------- Post added 2013-06-15 at 07:50 AM ----------

It won't bomb because, contrary to what the internet community thinks, a good portion of the consumer base does not care about the 24 Hour Online Authentication or the Used-Game DRM and is drawn in by the Kinect-related functions of the X-Box One.

Stop letting the extremely vocal minority skew your perception of the relatively indifferent majority.

A large portion of the market will care quite a bit about 24 hour online authentication because more than half of the 360 market has never even taken its console online. Consumer markets care a lot about convenience and cost. Used games is, of course, debatable, as there is no real used game market for the PC for example, and things work out just fine there.

EDIT: Moreover, I feel the need to point out that many people who use their consoles primarily as an entertainment center already have a 360 or PS3 that serves this function. Why in the world would they be compelled to get a new, 500 dollar console to serve as their entertainment center?

[mvaliz]

If it bombed, probably. But sadly it won't bomb for the same reason Apple is a billion dollar company.

...I can't see a single way that you could compare Apple to the Xbox One. Apple doesn't have heavy DRM restrictions, Indie developer restrictions requiring expensive publishers and ever-watching eyes slapped on their products.

---------- Post added 2013-06-15 at 02:53 PM ----------

It won't bomb because, contrary to what the internet community thinks, a good portion of the consumer base does not care about the 24 Hour Online Authentication or the Used-Game DRM and is drawn in by the Kinect-related functions of the X-Box One.

Stop letting the extremely vocal minority skew your perception of the relatively indifferent majority.

I would LOVE to find out how the hell you know that?

Because, you know what? I think Gamestop's used games sales speak far louder than your unbacked opinion you pulled out of your arse. :P

[SinR]

It won't bomb because, contrary to what the internet community thinks, a good portion of the consumer base does not care about the 24 Hour Online Authentication or the Used-Game DRM and is drawn in by the Kinect-related functions of the X-Box One.

Stop letting the extremely vocal minority skew your perception of the relatively indifferent majority.

Did you hear Microsoft's reply to "What if you have no internet?"

"stick with 360"

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkEe_l7S3g

[Evil Inside]

It won't bomb. There are too many fanboys jerking off to Xbox One still.

I think they might adjust their policies before they even launch, but they are in a tight spot with having committed already.

Nah, I assume you're talking about the online crap. They have already made it clear that they're not changing those as per the video below.

[Zonas]

It won't "bomb" per se. Microsoft knows that they've been blown out of the water, but that won't stop them from trying to say their shitty console isn't good. By the time it comes out, there will be enough fanboys who buy the console to keep them afloat long enough.

The best I can hope for is that developers will just give Microsoft the finger and only work to bring their games to the PS3 and PC. That, and this creates such a backlash, that no other company in the future will ever dare try and screw over their consumers like this again. Examples have to be made to set a precident, this time it's Microsoft.

[Evil Inside]

Used games is, of course, debatable, as there is no real used game market for the PC for example, and things work out just fine there.

The problem here is that PC games have almost never had a used game market to begin with, because of the pirated-nature of PC games.

[Herecius]

Nah, I assume you're talking about the online crap. They have already made it clear that they're not changing those as per the video below.

If the XBone does badly enough, we'll all see Microsoft go through a dramatic PR transformation and total 180, just like Sony did back at PS3's launch when they decided to replace their PR team with a troupe of screaming monkeys. Everybody remembers that, right? Sony botched the PS3's launch with a horrendous PR campaign, mixed messages, a colossally over-inflated price tag, and a piss-poor launch game lineup. They turned things around because they had to.

---------- Post added 2013-06-15 at 07:59 AM ----------

The problem here is that PC games have almost never had a used game market to begin with, because of the pirated-nature of PC games.

Those two things are unrelated. PC gaming doesn't have a used game market because selling used PC games has never really worked very effectively, and it's impossible to do anyways through digital-distribution services such as Steam. Don't make this topic about something it's not.

[Evil Inside]

Those two things are unrelated. PC gaming doesn't have a used game market because selling used PC games has never really worked very effectively, and it's impossible to do through digital-distribution services such as Steam. Don't make this topic about something it's not.

I'm not, just saying you cant compare the almost non-existent PC used game market to one of a console, it's not the same thing.

[mvaliz]

It won't "bomb" per se. Microsoft knows that they've been blown out of the water, but that won't stop them from trying to say their shitty console isn't good. By the time it comes out, there will be enough fanboys who buy the console to keep them afloat long enough.

The best I can hope for is that developers will just give Microsoft the finger and only work to bring their games to the PS3 and PC. That, and this creates such a backlash, that no other company in the future will ever dare try and screw over their consumers like this again. Examples have to be made to set a precident, this time it's Microsoft.

If the NES, SNES, PS1 and PS2 eras have taught us anything - that lesson is "everybody will gladly develop for one system if it's the clear dominant system and can make enough of a profit".

The sole reason most 3rd parties did both systems was because neither PS3 nor Xbone became the dominant market holder in America. This time, it's REALLY looking like the PS4 is going to definitely grasp the majority hold once again.

[Herecius]

I'm not, just saying you cant compare the almost non-existent PC used game market to one of a console, it's not the same thing.

I was more pointing out the fact that a video gaming market can obviously thrive without a used games portion of it, and it's evidence that a console market can survive just fine without a used games portion as well.

---------- Post added 2013-06-15 at 08:04 AM ----------

It won't "bomb" per se. Microsoft knows that they've been blown out of the water, but that won't stop them from trying to say their shitty console isn't good. By the time it comes out, there will be enough fanboys who buy the console to keep them afloat long enough.

The best I can hope for is that developers will just give Microsoft the finger and only work to bring their games to the PS3 and PC. That, and this creates such a backlash, that no other company in the future will ever dare try and screw over their consumers like this again. Examples have to be made to set a precident, this time it's Microsoft.

CDP (Witcher 3) has already somewhat displayed how disgruntled they are with Microsoft, so it's possible we'll see others. The irony is that CDP was given a great big huge platform by Microsoft at E3, and then after the show come around and say that they'd prefer people buy the PC version, which would be the primary development platform and be without DRM, as they really don't like MS's DRM choices. Saying that they'd prefer people purchase it for PC is an awfully ballsy slap in the face towards MS, I wouldn't be overly surprised if there's some fallout over it.