Reminder: Console devs can and will rip you off

Firstly, slow clap for Microsoft separating Xbox One from Kinect, finally. Not a sarcastic clap, I'm talking honest, building-up slow clap from movies after somebody makes a big, heroic speech.

Now, in no universe is this not a good thing. For Microsoft or gamers. The Kinect was not the future. I don't think we're going to like motion control until it's done in conjunction with a holo-deck. Microsoft is admitting that; God knows we all should. And something weird happened to me after that: Xbox One started looking kind of appealing. I didn't wanna touch it with a ten-foot pole earlier, even after it dropped DRM, but I can now actually picture myself owning one, assuming it gets some good exclusives to back it up. I've never really been big on Xbox's typical exclusives so we'll see if that happens. It took a game as big as Mass Effect to make me get a 360, and I think Lost Odyssey and Tales of Vesperia might be the only exclusives I really like that actually stayed exclusive. (Quantum Break and Sunset Overdrive look promising though.)

And hey! Netflix isn't gonna be behind a paywall anymore, either. So thank you for listening, Microsoft. IT ONLY TOOK YOU YEARS.

Like people were saying after the DRM-reversal: you can forgive, but do not forget. Yeah, okay, the Xbox One was designed to be used with the Kinect, it's believable that they couldn't change THAT right away (like they did with their precious cloud and 24-hour check-ins) But there was absolutely nothing preventing Netflix from being accessible to free users except Microsoft's own greed. And they did it for as long as they thought they could get away with it, even well after PlayStation was offering it for free.

And before you call "fanboy," yes, Sony and Nintendo do this too. Sony didn't ship the PS4 able to play mp3s (it still isn't to my knowledge, but I've heard they're going to change it) in order to push their "Music Unlimited" and make you buy all your music again. They've also dragged their heels until their legs were just stubs when it came to backwards compatibility on Vita. (And the proprietary memory cards certainly aren't helping, anymore than it did with 360's HDDs.) And Nintendo only offers Game Boy and NES titles on the 3DS virtual console, even though it could easily handle SNES and GBA games, because they need you want a Wii U.

BUT... I have seen so much more of this from Microsoft. Let me tell you about when I tried to buy Windows 7 for my new PC last year.

This should have been a couple-minute download from the Microsoft store. Instead, it was a wild goose chase, that should have ended in piracy.

It's not on their online store (even though it would cost nothing to keep it there and probably make them money)
It ain't on Amazon.
It ain't in any of the retailer chains.
I asked someone at such a chain if they carry it still. They explained to me that according to their contract with Microsoft, they are not allowed to sell Win7 anymore.

Why is this? Well (caps for importance) THIS IS SPECULATION BUT...

There are some executives whose job it is to come up with new ideas to sell to people, be it an OS or a console controller.
People don't really need that idea and they know it.
It doesn't sell.
Those executives' jobs are riding on this, so instead of improving the idea, or moving on to something else, they eliminate the alternatives their customers have and make sure their idea is sold.
It's not "our future" or "the future of entertainment" they're thinking about at this point: it's their financial future.
This is why you couldn't get an Xbox One without Kinect. This is why I had to buy goddarn OEM (a version intended for manufacturers) of Windows 7 from a shady corner of Amazon. It's why I will have to seriously consider piracy if I ever have to change my C drive. The only reason you'll be able to get a Kinect-less One is because those people have dragged the Xbox down so far, they can't let it carry on.

That said, they didn't have to "release" Netflix, but they did. Perhaps it was a "token offering" on the side to restore some consumer trust, but it's an offering nonetheless.

But as long as those kinds of executives, those kinds of people, are steering your platform, you don't owe them loyalty. You don't have to convince yourself that everything they do is a good idea. They don't care about you, you shouldn't care about their success. Realize when you're getting ripped off. It's okay to buy their products when they're good, but you don't have to fly under their banner. Understand your options. Don't let them have power over you. Don't let them have power over the industry.

Thanks for reading.

And stop trying to make the lower resolution on your console sound better, for God's sake! That's not even denial, that's some kind of self-inflicted brainwashing! It's unhealthy! I worry about you, sometimes.