I hate to say it, but every time I turn around, Microsoft is doing something that just baffles me. No, not Windows 8. I like that, just fine. However, I've been reading up on Iron Brigade for PC, since I suspect it will get added to the Double Fine Humble Bundle, next week. Between that game's apparent issues with Games For Windows Live and the issues I've had with the service when I've had to use it, I kind of just wish it would go away, entirely. It has to be one of the most anti-consumer PC "games services" out there, at the moment. On top of that, you have the Metro-style 360 dashboard that has, in my opinion, just ruined my experience on that console. It's to the point where I don't even like booting the thing up, anymore. On the subject of Windows 8, I'll acknowledge that completely removing the start menu and forcing people to use Metro is just dumb. It doesn't bother ME because I am comfortable enough on a PC to go out and get Classic Start Menu installed.
So, yea, I hope Microsoft gets knocked down a peg or two, next gen. I have no idea why game companies keep repeating this cycle, but here we are, again. You'd have thought after Sega got defeated by it's own hubris, companies would try a little harder to keep their ego in check, but they all just ignore the size of their heads until it starts dragging them down. Sony did it with the PS3, Nintendo did it with the 3DS and I feel like Microsoft might be headed that way with their next console based on how they're handling the 360, right now. Also, to be fair, Nintendo's ego has been ever swelling since the N64 came out using carts despite the fact that everyone else knew disc-based was the future. Strangely enough, the more I hear about the PS4 and the moves Sony has been making, the more excited I get for that piece of hardware. That's saying a lot, since I waited 3 or 4 years to get a PS3 and still don't like it as much as I liked the 360 pre-metro.
I say I hope they eat dirt, but it's only because I want them to be humble, again. They had a lot to prove with the Xbox and then the 360 after it and it showed in the output. They put their full weight behind trying to get people on board with their consoles. Now that they have us on board, it feels like games have become this secondary thing that our 360 happens to do, as opposed to being the entire reason we own the damn thing.
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