I think the late nights, and the occasional early morning, are starting to get to me, because I'm actually starting to feel a little bit bad for Microsoft. Note, when I say a little bad, I only actually mean, a tiny bit bad, and nothing more. Allow me to explain.
As we all know, when the Xbox One was first announced, there was a list of things people didn't like about it, from DRM, to always on Kinect. When I went to E3 last year, I was so furious at the company, that I didn't even enter their booth. But, the more I think of it, they really shot themselves in the foot then, and any attempts to recover, have been met with mixed reception.
What I mean is, Microsoft really wedged themselves between a rock, and a hard place. I can't think of any other reason than greed, to motivate them to make all the initial decisions that they did, but once those decisions were made, they were doomed to receive critical backlash, no matter what they did.
Had Microsoft stuck to their guns, and for a time they did, they would have been the bad guys, who were anti-consumer. Well, ok, to be fair, there's some debate as to whether or not they're still anti-consumer. But, now that they've retracted almost everything that bothered people about their system, they lack integrity.
Sure, I can only feel somewhat sympathetic to them. I mean, if someone jumped into piranha infested waters, they would be attacked, regardless of which direction they swam in, and it would have been their fault for jumping in, in the first place. In this case, however, we as gamers are playing the part of the piranhas. We've been the ones attacking Microsoft at every turn, no matter what decisions they have made.
Of course, Microsoft should have had a backup plan, in case their selfish agenda wasn't met with universal praise, because it wasn't, and now they must live with the consequences. I'm not going to argue that their motivations weren't selfish, and sure, they made their bed, so it's not unreasonably to assert that they should lie in it, but I also think we as gamers could afford to back off a tiny bit, and give the company even a sliver of a chance to redeem itself, as unlikely as it might be.
Today, Square Enix revealed several details of "Evercold", the next expansion coming for its popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV.
Interesting. I will try the base game free trial when it comes out. I heard you can try the it as long as you want with Lvl 70 cap.
The Weight of Knowledge quest chain in Crimson Desert is a part of the Hernand Commissions faction quests at the Scholastone Institute in Hernand.
The Indie Live Expo Spring 2026 Showcase happened, and the Indie Spotlight segment of the event included plenty of reveals and world premieres.
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Every single thing MS did wrong....was their own fault. Every situation they are in now, because of those bad choices, are, again....MS's own fault.
I love Xbox, but i dislike MS. There's no way i could feel sympathetic for a company that *knowingly* tried to force those horrible, anti-consumer, greedy, control-hungry policies onto a hobby that we have joined with (relative) freedom for decades, only to then tell us "we don't understand" and if we don't like it "get a 360".
Granted, they are digging themselves out of a hole right now (and have done a great job so far), and that's a great thing for gamers, but it's a whole *they* created. They aren't out friends, they don't want our sympathies, they want our money.
They will gain my respect back when i see great exclusive support throughout the *entirety* of this gen, not just the first half. I want the MS of old back (OG Xbox days). They were awesome then.
This struggle has been the best thing to happen to MS in years in my opinion..Why?because look at the improvements being made to the whole Xbox gaming division in terms of being more software focused plus the quality Xbox One updates being released.
There are too many people who will hold this grudge over MS for the idea of them even considering the things they did prior to reversing them before/after launch.
It's understandable to be mad at MS for those dumb ideas but to shun the platform as some sort of protest is just petty. I have never held a grudge against a system regardless of the stupidity of the platform holder. Great games deserve to be played no matter what.
I have been gaming for over 30 years and i have seen the good and the bad when it comes to these companies and their ideas. but at the end of the day its the games that i play, not the companies behind them.
I'll feel bad for them when they are on the verge of leaving the gaming industry... They market an overrated FPS as if it was an exclusive(COD), their idea of a "megaton" at E3s are bought multiplatforms and exclusive DLC. They have done better with introducing new IPs though, so hopefully they improve when it comes to that...