And, yet, watch this thing still sell like gangbusters because gamers are just too addicted to their hobby to have any care how they get treated. As long as we get the next shiny.
Well, that's probably being too much a Negative Nancy, but it's hard to deny that the reason game companies have been escalating to these nefarious practices is because not enough of us are voting with our dollars. In my opinion, the video game community has been far too tolerant for too long of bad business and bad games, and I think it's time we become more discerning and assertive of our preferences and demand to be treated respectfully as customers, rather than cash-producing crops to be harvested. I think any other industry that treated its customers the way the triple-A segment has (and I emphasize that the bulk of the shit in the video game industry seems fairly isolated to just the triple-A segment) would find itself either bankrupt or relegated to a very niche market in short order. But often, it feels like the plurality of the video game community has become electronic-crack junkies who'll put up with anything as long as they get their next high-fidelity graphics fix, and, given the behavior of the game companies, it would seem the game companies are counting on this to be exactly true. Oh, wouldn't it be so great to shock the absolute living hell out of them all by voting with our dollars (and our feet) to turn away from their upcoming offerings in a ubiquitous display of complete and utter disgust at the direction they are taking this industry? I think if the entire gaming community really did that, we would find these companies, almost overnight, absolutely killing themselves to back-peddle on everything they have been pushing toward in an effort to win back our dollars. If they don't, then they'll likely find themselves quickly out-of-business, with nothing to blame other than their own failure to address the concerns of and provide proper service to their market.
I know I refuse to buy the Xbox-One in it's current state, and I am certain many here on the Escapist feel similar. The question is whether the gaming community at large is willing to make the same firm stance (and really mean it this time).