@pr1mus: I'll admit that a lot of my defense is built around the potential of a digital-centric home console. Microsoft certainly could've failed to deliver on that promise, but I suppose I was willing and able to take the leap. In spite of the fact that it may have been a total failure, they were making an attempt to thrust things forward, and I guess I admired that to some extent.
Unfortunately, "even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," and in the case of the Xbox One, the plans weren't all that well laid out. The failure of that original proposal and any of its potential benefits to come to fruition falls solely at the feet of Microsoft. I put no fault on the consumer for not buying into it.
At the very least though, we will be getting a far more substantial digital storefront than what we have now. Hopefully, the platform holders and publishers will make proper use of it and try to make an aggressive push to sell gamers on the potential benefits. Microsoft tried to skip over all of the trials, tribulations, and missteps that Steam made along the way. Maybe it would've worked, maybe it wouldn't. Now, Microsoft and the publishers are going to have to put in the effort to prove the potential.
@skooky: A lot of the defense is based on the potential of being more focused on digital and the potential of ideas like the shared library. You're totally spot on to call out Microsoft for not elaborating enough on those possible benefits. This sudden policy reversal represents a massive failure of their strategy team to create a solid plan and their PR team for failing to properly market any upside.
@crcruz3: I understand the realities of capitalism and survival of the fittest, but I stand by the fact that doing something to reduce the massive risk associated with making a game would be beneficial. The current market forces most publishers and developers to be largely risk-averse by sticking strictly with proven sellers. Anything that can relax the risk/reward margins a bit could allow for some more experimentation with the same potential reward but less potential for a studio closure from a single failure.
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