Xbox One: Gowi's Pre-E3 Verdict

I’m going to be honest here and I’m still trying to figure out where I stand since May 21^st, when Microsoft decided to reveal their all-in-one gaming system and successor to the Xbox 360, the Xbox One. Now, I won’t be bumbling about “oh that’s a stupid name, it’s a flop machine, etcetera” but I do think Microsoft did some ultimately risky things with their current market push and if more clarification does not come up at E3 favorably I regrettably will be ridding myself of console focus towards Microsoft. What really made me so certain about where I stand does not owe to Microsoft’s stance on backwards compatibility, used games policy, or DRM; and while I’d like different choices to all of those three they are not game changer’s for me—they might be for others, sure, but what concerns me is the mandatory internet and the always aware Kinect that would be in my living room. I’ll start with what bugs me about mandatory internet and that is how it disregards a user base around the world with bandwidth issues and not to mention those rural communities that cannot even have internet needed. How can a company isolate non-internet gamers? Is this their plan to stop piracy? To be hyper aware of what is going on their system? This seems both a good offense but the thing is that it is attacking pirates and regular law-abiding consumers if that theory bears any relevance and I don’t care for that. I don’t know but I hope Microsoft tells us more throughout E3 about this mandatory connection, maybe I understand it wrong.

Moving on to the second problem and the core issue I have with an Xbox One, the Kinect. The Kinect is “always aware” and I feel that has applications that are problematic to security and personal liberty. While this throws me in the “tin-foil hat” camp by some, does that mean nations like Germany and Australia being concerned about the same thing are wearing such hats as well? Orwell, Huxley, and Bradbury warned us of these kinds of scenarios and I do fear it with a legitimate worry. How can you trust a corporation to not do what is in their best interests over your own? I simply can’t trust Microsoft to do the right thing and not decide to use information they receive in alerting anti-privacy ways and while I do understand they promise that privacy is one of their major concerns with the Kinect I still can’t stomach it as it sits on top of my television. This will alienate me from exclusives and Microsoft’s one billion dollar investment in gaming of which I’m sad for that, but I can’t support an always aware camera in my residence no matter the confidence Microsoft thinks they have. If they dropped the Kinect being always aware I would reconsider abandoning Microsoft and I understand it is throwing a lot of money down the drain.

That is all I have to say at this point in time about the Xbox One.