Microsoft. What Happened?

Let me start this article off by saying. This is IN NO WAY Flamebait, or any type of bias fanboy bullshit. This is all going to be hard facts and if I have to I will post links to the proof only to further validate what a lot of Gamers are blinded by with Microsoft. In this article I will be covering Microsoft’s way of brain washing its true gamers into feeling like they are Gods and do no wrong. I will not state any opinions of my own. I am a 360 gamer and I have been since launch, I am just not blinded by any of the Bullshit that they try and pull.

Microsoft enters the Console market.

I say enter the “console” market and not “gaming” market because long before Microsoft made any videogame consoles they had a couple good pc titles under their belt. In fact the whole idea of the “Xbox” came from the term “DirectXbox”. Some engineers from the DirectX department (and if you ever were or even are a PC gamer you know what DirectX is) Decided that it would be a good idea to try and compete in the Console market. DirectX is a powerful tool and was being used to make games for so long they felt confident that it could work. One of the main reasons was Microsoft worked closely with Sega to make the Dreamcast. Microsoft’s aggressive approach got them press whether or not it was positive or negative, speculating that it was “four times as powerful as the Playstation 2”. Originally a project exclusive to the Apple Macintosh, Halo was announced as the Xbox mascot and would wow the audience with its ability to show FPS on console and actually look and play well. Microsoft was notorious for having the ability to persuade companies to come over to their side and be part of their team. This partnership insured that Microsoft had successfully entered a market full of rivals and competitiveness. After a while Microsoft started talking about Xbox Live and its capabilities that its rivals couldn’t compete with. They had a strategy and it worked well. Some may have argued the price for using the service, but it wasn’t completely unheard of back then. Even Sega Dreamcast made you pay to play online. With the features they were providing a lot of people gained interest in what would really spark the industry for online gaming. Microsoft started off very friendly with third party companies. You didn’t need to use Microsoft peripherals for the system if you liked Madcatz or Nyko even memory cards they were all easily accessible with no problem. This ensured Microsoft a safe partner to work with in terms of variety.

But that all changed…

After its successful first console run and showing the world what they were capable of (in 2002 being the second most successful console sold in North America) Microsoft decided to push the envelope and work on the Xbox360. Microsoft had the momentum to push into the market; with Sega gone from the hardware division they had secured a place in the industry so well that just the announcement of the 360 sparked phenomenal interests. Having more features than its predecessor and fixing all the issues with Xbox Live while offering more variety, better ways to communicated, literally pushing the envelope yet again to online gaming and communities. This time Microsoft thirst for blood paid off, they knew if they wanted to come in first place they would need to do something neither Nintendo nor Sony would expect. They launched their console a year ahead of their direct competition. This ensured them to lead the helm of “next-gen” hardware with amazing exclusives. They were pushing the fact that it would be an HD console showing off its graphics that rivaled anything even seen on a computer at the time. Microsoft held a Developers Conference to show off its pride and joy and spark the interest to make developers want this system. This all paid off because Microsoft had been put in the spot light and would shine bright against its direct rival (Sony). With their popularity still growing they started showing off games like Gears of War, Call of Duty 2 (which for its time looked phenomenal), and King Kong. Microsoft threw out the bait and waited for everyone to get hooked. But wait what about the original Xbox surely Microsoft would still consider its hardcore fan base before just throwing them off the market, right? Wrong, in fact Microsoft couldn’t wait to go from old to new and not look back. They offered limited backwards compatibility with the 360 and promised “more” support as time went on, only to avoid it and let it fade out completely. They also offered limited customer support for the original Xbox hoping that there customer base would just buy an Xbox 360 instead. This is where the cracks started to appear. Microsoft was showing its darker side, the one where they were more concerned about dollars and cents and not about the people who keep them going, gamers. This caused a lot of controversy because of the momentum the original Xbox had a lot of people weren’t so ready to give up on their Xbox. Only using software emulation to play Xbox games the 360 gave you a usually buggy, often most times uglier version of its predecessor’s game. Only a few short months after the release of the 360 Microsoft abandoned the Xbox all together and focused purely on its current contender. Some may argue that nothing is wrong with doing that, but what does that mean for us now? What will happen when the next Xbox comes out, will our entire 360 library remain useless without having 2 separate Xbox consoles hooked up as well, if history does repeat itself than we have a problem.

3rd party hardware limited by Microsoft.

With the need for more space and more controllers, games having up to four players and everyone having an individual profile. Gamers didn’t always have the “best” version of the Xbox 360 which would include a HDD to save data and content. Microsoft had also added the ability to continue to use memory cards on the 360. This was a good feature for saving games going to friends houses and using your profile to get achievements etc. Microsoft’s memory cards were not cheap (256mb unit costing over 25 US dollars). Microsoft hated the idea of 3rd party hardware at this point; they released a system update that would not allow “unauthorized” 3rd party memory cards and peripherals (only some). Datel was among the few that were really hurt by this, they released a memory card that was capable of using SD cards in a “Memory Unit” it was a cheap solution to a common price issue with Microsoft’s expensive taste in 1st party hardware. The update rendered all of their memory card products useless. This was not the only issue; it was actually one of many. Microsoft wasn’t honoring their service warranty to those who used any cooling fans on their system saying it could’ve been why it stopped working. As for controllers and wireless freedom, Microsoft also banned the use of their “wireless frequency”. In other words 3rd party could not make native wireless controllers for the 360. Microsoft’s big picture was everything had to proprietary to the system in order to ensure maximum performance (or in their eyes sales). This in fact was a lie to make you think you needed to use officially licensed products for the console. You are all familiar with the 360’s proprietary hard drives. The cost are outlandish, Microsoft just announced a 320 GB HDD variant for $ 129.99 US dollars. A brand new hard drive at a local computer store could be found for under $40.00 and even cheaper online. This is also a sign of Microsoft’s true colors; what about the gamers who support your system by already spending over $55.00 a year for a service that the games already come with. What about the people who find 3rd party controllers and memory cards more comfortable than 1st party? In order for a company to release any type of 3rd party peripheral they have to buy a license from Microsoft for each individual item they sell, (memory cards, wired controllers, etc). Is this considered greed or is it smart? Microsoft’s plan was to convince it’s users that there peripherals were special in some way when in fact they were not. Take apart a 360 HDD and you’ll see your standard laptop HDD in the case. Their plan was to eliminate any type of “accessory battle” with companies that have been making 3rd party video game products for years.

The good, bad, and questionable...

This topic sparks some controversy because some of the facts are jagged. Microsoft started off at the launch of their console with many exclusives partly to do with having a year head start over its competitor. Games like Gears of War, Halo, Forza, Blue Dragon, Crackdown, Fable, Mass Effect etc. But as time went on they started thinning out certain exclusives. The only problem was what was considered blockbuster games and that’s when things got worse. Currently the only heavy hitters that Xbox 360 has are Forza, Halo and Gears of War. These titles are guaranteed to push sales and gain heavy momentum. Microsoft has been for better or worse focusing on their successfully launched Kinect, to add longevity to this current generation they released a new system (also because of the failure rate on the originally designed Xbox 360’s) alongside a motion control system. The system was promised to completely eliminate any issues with having the RRoD (Red Ring of Death) this was a major issue for Microsoft because it was showing a sign of a great platform being rushed to get it out first, Also adding Wi-Fi without the adapter that cost over $100.00(US dollars), adding more USB ports and eliminating the Memory Unit slot all together. To compensate they allowed you to use USB thumb drives as memory units (one of the best things they’ve done in a long time). Microsoft vaguely hint’s that they knew the issue with the RRoD was in fact a poorly designed console. With that out of the way they could push forward and dominate even more but is that enough to keep them on top? Microsoft has been completely focused on its motion control system, at E3 2011’ it was considered the most disappointing E3 yet for Microsoft, what happened to the hardcore gamers? The focus has shifted to the entire family and younger kids. Showing games that involved Disney and Sesame Street, E3 was more of a Kinect show than a Gamers expo. One of the statistically most disappointing showings was the Fable game that would be exclusive for Kinect. Microsoft has drastically shifted their focus to try and pull in more than just gamers, they want everyone at this point, but what does that mean for us? With exclusives dwindling down to a small handful and momentum dying down what will happen next-gen? What will the gamers have to look forward to? This is where things start to look shaky, Microsoft had recently stated that they aren’t just driving for the Hardcore Gamers; they want everyone who uses any type of media. This spells possible disaster on the idea that a lot of hardcore gamers could turn the other cheeks to a company they once thought was out there to deliver the best hardcore gamer experience yet.

Where will you be in a few years?

As I wrote this article I started to realize that Microsoft has sold out, they have sold out on all of us, who have collections of games in the triple digits. Who use to brag about the amazing games and quality we use to get out of games. The type of person who chose Xbox over any other because they had faith that Microsoft would be there to push us even further. Even through the RRoD catastrophic failure rate. We still held our heads up high, even after the fact that our library of Xbox games were limited to a small margin of half assed emulated ports of games we once loved; even after you robbed us of the ability to use any other type of accessories for our consoles because it was cheaper or even just more comfortable for us. To put salt on the wound offer us a free Xbox live service that is only good for purchasing games and DLC, giving us nothing to play online games with for free even if you took away some functionality. We still pay for it, we still do it because we support your decisions, and we support the idea of you being one of the best if not the best companies to drive the hardcore gamer force. Only to find out that you have confessed to selling out on the people who push your sales numbers through the roof, who buy the system to get the games you publish. In the end Microsoft you are the greediest bunch of them all. You have sold out completely, I have a Kinect I have used it, and for some things its fun; but what about our games what about the ones that use a controller? I won’t conclude this on an opinion I did my best to add 100 percent factual information, by the end of the article I decided not to add the links, if you want to know the truth look it up on Google it Is fairly easy.

Thanks for reading.

EDIT: 11/6/11, Please don't turn this into an Xbox vs PS3 thread. This blog was strictly talking about Microsoft not about Nintendo and/or Sony. While some of the facts are true, it won't help in the eyes of fanboys. So it's a waste of time to try and convince them otherwise.

*wrote this Edit cause i ran out of bubbles :( and i noticed a lot of PS3 and 360 back and fourth.