I'm sure there are some advantages to being online. I have no doubt that cloud computing is a great thing. However, Microsoft hasn't hit upon that. Thus far, their PR regarding their policies has been terrible; at one point a former employee told customers they "should just deal with it" when concerns were raised about always-on. IMO, they've painted themselves in a way which portrays them as wanting to make a system which benefits them; not the customer. The only thing they've repeated advertised is that I can watch tv... which I can already do without an XBox. The games they showed looked awesome, but they haven't given me a compelling reason why I should play those games on their system.
I have no illusions about the fact that both Sony and Microsoft are huge corporations; as such, I also have no illusions about the fact that their plan is to make money. That being said, it's nice to know that some decisions are made (or at least seemingly made) with the customer base in mind. Imagine if the designers of D&D Next had gotten negative feedback from the playtest, and then Mike Mearls responded by saying "well, you guys are just going to have to deal with what we want to do because that's what we feel is best for you."
I mentioned earlier that a lot of independent publishers are leaving Microsoft as well. It's because their new policies in regards to developers have become increasingly restrictive as well. Some of (imo) the best indie developers have moved en mass to Sony. From a customer standpoint, some of the most innovative and fun games I've played have been indie games. Don't get me wrong; I love big blockbuster games with fantastic graphics and out of this world production values, but I'm also someone who highly enjoys trying something different from the status quo formula; I'm likewise someone who can enjoy a great game even if it doesn't have top of the line graphics. Microsoft -in the lead up to the XBox One- has been antagonistic toward both their customer base and some of the same small developers who had a hand in making XBox Live Arcade such a great experience.
To be fair, the 'used' part of the used game issue isn't necessarily what irks me. It's the fact that they're making it increasingly difficult for me to lend a game to a friend or borrow one. A lot of the games I own are games that I purchased after borrowing from a friend. In particular, Mass Effect was one of those games for me. It never interested me until the third game had already been released. A friend lent the second game to me, and I enjoyed the experience enough that I felt compelled to get the game for myself. As far as the used game market goes... I have no love at all for Gamestop. I've had enough problems with their company that I actively try to avoid buying anything from them.
The main issue for me is the Kinects always being aware. Microsoft needs to show me how that benefits me beyond allowing me to talk to the XBox to turn it on. Up to this point, they have not -imo- done a good job of expressing to me what the benefit is, and they -again, imo- need to do that; especially in a world where privacy is a concern.
There also isn't a solid answer concerning what happens if I miss one of the 24 hour validations. As it stands, all I know is that I'm required to sign my XBox 1 online once every 24 hours. Later this year, I'll be building a new house. During that process, there will be times when I do not have my internet connection set up. So, let's say I have an XBox One and need to disconnect it for a few days until I get everything moved into the new building and set up the wiring. Do I turn on my XB1 to discover that it no longer works? Is there some method I need to go through to make up for the fact that I missed a check in? If so, what is that method, and how complicated is it? Currently, there are no answers to that question; all that I'm being told is that -in order for the system to function- I need to check in once every 24 hours.
On that same topic, what happens if the XBox Live network gets hacked like the Playstation Network did, and it's down for a week? Does everyone who owns a XB1 now own an expensive paperweight? What exactly are the consequences for not being online?
How about members of the armed forces? During at least one of my tours, I took an XBox with me. When I had down time, I used it to play movies and games. Is this no longer possible with the XB1?
Microsoft has eased up some on the used game deal, but when it comes to requiring connectivity, the official response is only that "The Xbox One mandates users connect to the Internet once every 24 hours to authenticate games." What does that mean? The official stance is that "we need to wait and see once all of the details are available." Maybe it's just me, but E3 seems like a really good time to give out some details; especially when some of the fanbase is feeling negative about your product.
