Update: please take in consideration that this editorial was written before Microsoft recent change in policy. That being said, I feel that it provides good insight into the heart of controversy that sparked that change. I will add my thoughts on this new policy in future entries

Interesting times we live in. The edge of a new generation of consoles is always an exciting time to be a gamer, not only play around with the new hardware but also for the wave of gaming innovations and new gaming franchises accompanying the new machines. The next generation however stand out from the rest ,not for the usual disparity in hardware specs between the consoles this time but in the overall approach to console gaming. Sony has pretty much stuck to the long running current system while Microsoft opted for a new approach. It has been fascinating to observe the immense negative reception and outrage over Microsoft's newest console, you are probably feeling the same But why exactly?; why are gamers ubiquitously condemning Microsoft and their product? I plan to find out.

First we will examine the games ,which are arguably the main reason we are all here. One of the biggest differentiating factor between consoles are their platform exclusives and such they have a great influence on the overall appeal of the machine. These games play a major part in our decision to support a certain system over the others. Some of the more interesting exclusives on Microsoft's end include Sunset overdrive, a delightfully colorful survival game, Project spark, an ambitious game creation tool, Crimson Dragon, the latest sequel in the Panzer Dragoon series and D4, the brain child of Deadly premonition's Swery65. xbox one also boasts crowd pleasers like Forza Motorsport 5 ,a new Halo and Zumba Party Fitness (sorry, had to throw it in). The playstation side has Second son, the much anticipated third entry in the Infamous franchise,The Order: 1886, a gorgeous historical cyberpunk shooter, Deep down, a sequel to the surprisingly excellent dragon's dogma and Drive club, a socially focused racing simulator standing in for Gran Turismo. While this is not an exhaustive list of all the exclusive titles, just the ones I am personally interested in, you can certainly see that the the xbox one has a bigger and arguably better exclusive line up, at least for launch. Microsoft has at least kept it's promise of delivering games on it's platform. Gamers should likes more and better games, right? our search continuous.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, technical specifications of the xbox One and the PS4 are relatively equivalent, aside from the ps4's DDR5 ram and the use of 1gb of ram by the ps4's OS compared to the 3gb used by the xbox's OS. These difference will be more noticeable as the boxes age, but for now it's not a big deal. The biggest controversy concerning hardware revolves around making the Kinect mandatory. Microsoft has mandated that kinect must be plugged in order to play your games. My stance on the kinect is that of many core gamers, a gimmick that doesn't in any way,shape or form add to the gaming experience; as a matter of fact it does the contrary most of the time. Clearly Kinect wasn't mandated as a part of the core gaming experience ,so why is it mandatory?. Is motion detection and voice recognition an absolute essential to navigate the xbox UI? I think not. Several privacy concern has been raised over the kinect as well, with many people calling it a spying machine. While there is a possibility that could be used to spy on you ,it's highly unlikely and to be frank the government can monitor you better with other devices it if so desires. Personally I am more concerned over kinect's potential use in digital rights management enforcement, i.e.,using the kinect to personalize advertisement or to detect the people using the xbox and possibly stopping them from watching a movie or playing a game if they are not one of registered primary users of the machine; I think most gamers can agree that this isn't a very palatable proposition. This idea leads nicely into our next discussion.

Now we will move on to the meatiest topic of them all ,how the xbox one manage digital rights. It is no secret that game publishers have wanted to implement tighter DRM on the consoles to eliminate used games or at lest give the publisher a piece of the pie. Companies like EA experimented with the online passes until it eventually canceled the program recently due to ,what I like to believe, public outcry. Well, we never believed publishers would stop trying and now we know Microsoft caved in or it also wanted a piece of the cake. In essence, Microsoft has decided to implement a new digital management system on their platform while Sony opted for keeping their current system, even omitting online passes from their first party releases. Implementing DRM on any platform is usually unfavorable, it generally restricts access to purchased games and over complicates the gaming process; I am sure PC gamers can cite a couple of examples like the U-play system implemented by Ubisoft ,which requires the player to be online at all times. PC gamers have also witnessed one of the most successful implementation of DRM in the gaming space, namely valve's steam distribution network. Today many PC gamers can vouch that steam have played a key part in reinvigorating the PC gaming scene by providing an affordable and convenient distribution model and fostering a centralized PC gaming community. As you can already see implementing a DRM system isn't inherently bad, it all depends on the mechanisms involved and the added value to the consumer. So the big question is: where does the xbox one's DRM stand?

Rumors have been chasing the xbox one long before it's day view, among the first rumors to surface was it's always online requirement. Later revealed as a daily authentication mechanism , it still proved to be a tough pill to swallow for the community. Personally I have access to broadband internet and I believe many others are in the same situation, so I imagine that this issue won't effect the majority of gamers out there.

The most publicized of the xbox DRM is the blockage of used games; later Microsoft clarified that Used games will still be available but only at “participating retailers”, those who are equipped to be able to wipe the previous license off the disc. Basically adding a new cog in the system through which Microsoft can gain more control over the used game market. They could charge a flat fee to retailers for providing the machines required to wipe the licenses or charge a per disc fee; both possibilities will raise the price of used games which has the effect of reducing used games competitiveness against their new counterparts. Recently however, Microsoft has announced that publishers will ultimately have the choice of implementing this system, the limits on the developer's choice or whether other DRM protocols can be turned off by the developers are currently unknown. I am guessing the developer wouldn't end up wielding that much power otherwise Microsoft would've went into more detail by now. As for me, I don't really buy used games, mostly because I obsess about keeping my games in pristine condition. I prefer to wait until the game price drops to a more digestible price tag.

An interesting side effect of Microsoft's used game policy involves physical game trading between friends, or more accurately the lack there of. The xbox one will instead allow game gifting ,however even that is further restricted by additional conditions. Aside from attempting to get an extra buck from gamers and their friends, I believe that this policy will damage the social aspect of console gaming. consoles have always been traditionally social by the simple virtue of having split screen multilayer. In-part this social nature of consoles made game sharing an essential part of the console experience serving to introduce players to new franchises and help foster (or break) relationships among gamers. Still, it could be argued that this policy doesn't necessarily hurt the base gaming experience, that being a TV, a controller and you (and preferably a couch).

One feature that stands out as a positive proposition by the new DRM system is the family sharing feature. This feature allows you to share your gaming library with your “Family Members”; I put “Family members” in quotations because most people will just use it with their close friends. This is a great feature that could possibly compensate for the inability to sharing physical disc, but it also comes with it's share of apparently random restrictions; I mean can anybody tell me why it is limited to ten people not eleven or nine? or why can two people play simultaneously but not three?. My point being that Microsoft has artificially bottle-necked this feature, keeping it from achieving it's full potential, a real shame.

As we cover the highlights of the xbox DRM system, a peculiar side effect rears it's head. It was lately discovered that the xbox one will only operate in twenty one countries, at least at launch. This is indisputably caused by the great infrastructure that Microsoft has to invest in to implement it's new DRM system world wide. While this can be excused due to the sheer load the servers will have to endure to run their system everywhere, we have to remember that it's a problem that was created by Microsoft itself and the system they chose to implement. Personally I reside in North America so this will not affect me in the slightest, unless I want to take my gaming system with me on a trip back-home. In that situation even if the electricity is back on ,even if the internet is miraculously stable, the xbox one will just be dead weight. It appears that Microsoft has strategically supported the countries where the majority of their customers reside, that being North America and Western Europe, at the determent of many countries with smaller gamer demographic.

So that ladies and gentlemen is the xbox one, a machine with contrived and often unnecessary constraints and hurdles to jump over. Going back to our original question, are these policies ,taken at face value, the ultimate cause of the commotion , including my own personal negative feelings towards the console ? Hardly so. Undoubtedly there are many people out there who, like me, won't be affected by these policies at all, but chances are you will be. You might enjoy sharing game discs within your gaming circle, like the choice of purchasing used games or simply live in an area with an unstable internet connection. Despite their wide area of effect, to the majority of gamers in the western hemisphere many of these policies are inconveniences more than anything. The Xbox DRM is defiantly a nuisance, but one that ,I personally believe, can be overlooked with the help of great exclusives.

With no plausible explanation in sight, the original question presents it's self again. why are gamers so fussed over the new Xbox? And why do I hate that damn thing so much? .I think I have found a possible answer.

Microsoft's new policies taken individually at face value present are no more than an another annoyance gamers have to live with. Taking a look at the all of the DRM policies and Microsoft’s statements however, It becomes evident that the overall picture is greater than the sum of these policies. Part of this picture is of a company severely disconnected from their audience (Oh the irony),even going as far as shoving aside any consumer concerns and labeling them as the so called “vocal minority”. This disconnection was showcased in their gaming console reveal, where little to no games were shown. As it stands now, Microsoft is fundamentally failing at listening to the demands of their consumers, my business class professor would be baffled. While some of these polices may not extend to everybody, you would be hard pressed to find somebody who desired these policy in the first place. The mandatory nature of the Kinect falls under this category. I imagine that not many people are bothered by the kinect as an optional peripheral, granted a useless one for the most part. But the new requirement forces it down our throats without any significant consumer demand or any apparent benefits to the average gamer, the only thing we get from this is the higher price of the xbox one console.

A Prime example of this gap between Microsoft and their audience is the advertised notion that the xbox one is the absolute future of gaming, and anybody who won't support the box will not be there to witness the amazing future. I don't know if Microsoft genuinely believes in this or they think gamers are idiots but I know one thing, The future of gaming is ultimately decided by gamers. In the past, trends like full motion video have also claimed to be the future of gaming, hell Sega even made several gaming peripherals just to enable FMV games, not to mention the significant game support it provided. Why didn't FMV games become the future, several game companies really wanted it to be and promptly pumped enormous amounts of cash into it, but ultimately gamers refused to embrace this new concept and it promptly died not long after. Microsoft's claims as the sole holders of the future are meaningless as gamers are, and will always be, the ultimately judge of that. The gaming community is a bright and a well informed crowd , so it's not surprising that they are insulted by Microsoft's attempts to force feed us their version of the future and the lack of acknowledgment for our role in determining the future of the hobby and the overall direction of the industry.

We shouldn't forget the region locking, which is there for no good reason aside from enforcing their DRM. I am sure more countries will be added to the country list as the xbox one goes along, but what they probably wouldn't do is make it available everywhere. As a gamer who has mostly lived outside the western hemisphere ,I have first hand experiences being outside the focus of the industry, mainly with issues such as inflated pricing and lack of technical support. These issues pale in comparison however, to the out right console bricking just because you live in a specific part of the world. Aside from being plain unfair, it fragments the gaming community and hinders the growth of the gaming community. Wherever you look, you unfortunately find disregard for gamers and the hobby.

From belittling gamers' intelligence, disinterest in fostering an inclusive gaming community and general disrespect for gamers that have supported it for years, the whole anger surrounding the xbox one becomes understandable. Over the past weeks, I have read many comments supporting the xbox one because it's policies doesn't bother them personally; but as we have seen previously, this goes beyond simple inconveniences. Those who support this platform are actually supporting a more confined and gamer decentric future ,not only hurting themselves in the long run but also their fellow gamers. In the end, These policies will only prosper if the gaming community allows it to exist and gamers actually support it with their wallets. As we reach the end of our analysis, we can derive a simple but profound message: as gamers, we have great responsibility for our fellow gamers and the hobby as a whole. Whether this manifests in supporting great games or voicing our concerns over bad practices ,we all share this responsibility to ensure gaming's prosperity into the far-fledged future.

As we reach the end, I hope that you enjoyed this reading .I am definitely a crappy writer so I would appreciate any constructive criticism. I would also like you know what you think, do you think i missed a critical piece of information in the discussion, that my argument is invalid for a specific reason or do you agree with my point of view?, i would love to hear from you in the comment section.