Microsoft Creative Director Defends Always-Online, Insults Customers, Murders Logic...All In One Day!
from the the-dark-side-is-strong-in-this-one dept
Remember that whole SimCity thing, where the always online requirement of the game turned into launch failures, massive backlash, and caused EA/Maxis to lie like it was their job? Yeah, good times. It was almost as if the whole debacle was some kind of how-not-to-do-video-games piece of performance art. Well, the good news is that everyone in the video game industry has learned their lesson, realizing that they need to treat their customers with respect and understand that their demands fuel sales, which means not including requirements they don't want. Yup, they all get it now. We won.
Hint: If all of you aren't laughing like this by now, your sarcasm detector needs tuning
Image source: CC BY-SA 2.0
Just kidding! You see, amid heavy speculation that the next Xbox from Microsoft will require some form of always-online component, Microsoft's Creative Director Adam Orth decided now was the time to head to Twitter for what appears to be an "insulting customers and forgetting logic" incantation that I can only imagine is intended to Bloody Mary his career. Let me first stress two things: the rumors about the Xbox are not confirmed, and Orth does not make mention of the Xbox specifically. Instead, Orth tweeted:
"Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an "always on" console. Every device is "always on". That's the world we live in. #dealwithit"Except that isn't true, of course. My iPad isn't always online. Neither is my phone. Or, hell, my damned computer. In fact, come to think of it, this side of a couple of poorly thought-out pieces of gaming software, I don't know that I own a single device that is required to always be online. And what about potential customers that might not have access to reliable internet connections? Or might not have connections at all? Well, according to Orth:
"Those people should definitely get with the times and get the internet. It's awesome."It's hard to imagine a more out of touch dismissal of a reasonable question. There are people who, for a variety of reasons, don't have reliable connections. Broadband penetration in the United States is pretty wide, but in terms of speed and reliability we're well behind the rest of the industrialized world, 15th out of 30 in penetration and 26th globally in terms of speed. And that doesn't even take into account less common circumstances, such as those serving abroad that might not have access to the internet for a host of reasons. You're simply telling them to "get with the times?"
But if you thought that was bad, Orth then goes completely off the logic rails in what he thinks is a rebuttal to shoddy internet connections.
"Sometimes the electricity goes out. I will not purchase a vacuum cleaner. The mobile reception in the area I live in is spotty and unreliable. I will not buy a mobile phone."This is where I get really, really pissed off. If you want an always online system and if you want to dismiss part of a potential customer base in the process, go ahead. I don't think it's smart, but it's your business, do what you want. But when you start filling my eyes with bullshit like the above, you've gone too far. See, the thing is that a vacuum cleaner isn't a device that could run without electricity but was designed to not work unless it had it. Always electrified isn't a choice for vacuum cleaners. And with spotty mobile coverage, guess what, sir? If I couldn't use the damned phone due to crappy coverage, you're damned right I wouldn't spend the money on the phone. Who would? But even so, the very nature of the phone requires coverage. It isn't a manufacturer choice, it's the nature of the device. Game consoles, most software, and a host of other technology products, on the other hand, opt in to always-online. Pretending those analogies are the same is a further insult to your consumers, who you must think are too stupid to know better.
So, to recap simply, we don't know if the new Xbox will have an always-online requirement, but we do know that Microsoft has a real problem at the head of one of its departments. Perhaps someone should explain to Adam Orth that insulting customers isn't the best way to do business. Personally, I'd like to see that explanation written on the back of his termination papers.
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Filed Under: adam orth, always on, game consoles, xbox
Companies: microsoft
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To play online games with PS3, you subscribe to PlayStation Network which is free.
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LOL WUT
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I had a PS3.
I bought an Xbox for Halo 3.
Guess what? After my free month of live I stopped playing Xbox, now my mate has it. I have bought a shit load of PS3 games since then and 0 Xbox games. Great business decision from Microsoft.
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You add options, you don't replace them if it means you remove other valid options.
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Oh wait, I didn't have any. Damn! Now I'll have to make plans to buy an Xbox so I can boycott them.
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The death of consoles
You can't say the same thing without modding your consoles, and if I'm going to go through all that effort, why buy one then? The PC already out performs them every time. The ONLY reason I can to buying a console is a few proprietary games.
But if the price of my freedom, and my dollar's vote is a damn game, then I've really sold out like a cheap whore.
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1- Every aspect of the hardware is bad. The chipset is outdated, the case was designed before anything else and has a ton of problems (like a huge airflow deadzone right under the much-lauded Tegra 3), the controller feels cheap and has serious issues with both the faceplates and the analog sticks.
2- The "fun set of games" it's launching with is almost entirely speculation at this point. Uhrman kept throwing around that 481 developers were working on OUYA games based off of absolutely absurd assumptions. There are not that many people working on OUYA games.
3- The store interface is an absolute piece of crap right now, to the point that if you accidentally set a deprecated flag in your code the price of your app shows up in the store as red text against a red background...and the bug then persists on every store title you view after that, including correctly coded ones, until you reset the system. And there's a lot of rumors that there's no forced notification to the user when your credit card is charged, meaning it's possible to have a malicious app just drain accounts willy-nilly.
4- Oh, on the note of credit cards - a lot of OUYA developers were actually charged for purchases made during testing of their apps despite flagging them as test transactions. Team OUYA is STILL working on sorting out refunds for that. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
5- The OUYA firmware/launcher that they've built on top of Android is very buggy. This is the one thing on this list that it's okay to be optimistic about - if there's one problem with the project that could CONCEIVABLY be fixed before the June retail launch, it's the firmware.
6- The OUYA developers kit software is atrociously bad - it's essentially just the storefront, and everything else is stock Android. Last I checked, it didn't even include the official button icons for the UI, you had to download those from the website in a separate zip file.
Don't get me wrong here - it's a really cool idea, and it would have been really cool to see it succeed. In fact, I'm pretty impressed that they managed to make an actual product at all. But the problem is that Uhrman and co. have zero industry experience, and it really shows.
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I'm keeping an eye on it, and on the possible SteamBox.
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And the problems can be resolved with little more than a tweak here and there. Yes the first device is not going to sell well as they have already advised that the next release will be updated to the best hardware available at the time, also games development on the Android platform is exploding and more and more people are buying these cheap as chips games, anyone saying otherwise does not know what they are talking about..and might be a shill for other consoles. If this device really takes off it could eat very very hard into the marketshare(only if it is a reliable and functional system though)
When they iron out the problems and people get their hands on a real product and not a development product then i will listen to people commenting, but knowing that the development devices always have problems i think the above comments will be going into the bin where they belong.
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Re: The death of consoles
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You probably buy a new Iphone every two years too. Yeah, those "no-upgrade just buy a new one" items are a real swell value.
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They're not arrogant in the same ways, but they sure as hell are arrogant. From the length of time it took for them to accept that adults actually use their systems to their woeful ignorance of the demand for online play, their arrogance shines bright.
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Re: The death of consoles
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Re: The death of consoles
If you mod your X360, Microsoft will ban you for life, yet you can do whatever you want with your PC.
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If you buy ANYTHING from Microsoft
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Re: If you buy ANYTHING from Microsoft
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Re: If you buy ANYTHING from Microsoft
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Re: If you buy ANYTHING from Microsoft
Fixed that for you.
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I resold the thing at our garage sale and resolved to make sure I never purchase an XBox for any reason. If they're that moneygrubbing, then I have an active need to avoid them.
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Coupled with a network connection, and a NAS full of ripped DVDs, this is out how roll. Whole setup can be done for about $60 - assuming you find the xbox for $10, and already have the HD lying around. The modchip is the expensive part, and they're getting harder to find :/
Now, admittedly, the video quality (mine is connective via component video running at 720p) is a bit meh, and while it can play a DVD rip and most low-resolution divx with ease, it chokes on higher res videos and higher compression h264.
However, the bonus is you can rip all the xbox games directly to the built-in HD, and install a large number of emulators too - making it a pretty flexible "oldschool" game system.
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I got the xbox because we'd been using a Wii for this purpose with excellent results and I just assumed that it would be just as easy with a different supported console. I simply gave Microsoft too much credit.
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After getting bored with Halo, I caught myself not really playing games on the thing so I made it my old set-top media player was an old XBox I did this too years ago.
Downside of it though: 720p is about the BEST you can get out of an original XBox. Thing is pretty much a doorstop these days.
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He was trolling his friend.
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My computer doesn't require an internet connection.
My fridge doesn't require an internet connection.
My washing machine doesn't require an internet connection.
My lawn mower doesn't require an internet connection.
My boiler doesn't require an internet connection.
My toilet doesn't require an internet connection.
My hair drier doesn't require an internet connection.
My bathtub doesn't require an internet connection.
My car doesn't require an internet connection.
My keyboard doesn't require an internet connection.
My doorbell doesn't require an internet connection.
My TV doesn't require an internet connection.
My phone doesn't require an internet connection.
And neither should my console.
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Re: feda said...
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My toilet doesn't require an internet connection.
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My bathtub doesn't require an internet connection.
My car doesn't require an internet connection.
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My doorbell doesn't require an internet connection.
My TV doesn't require an internet connection.
My phone doesn't require an internet connection.
And neither should my console."
-- Not YET...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-plsubyhX2U
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I have never bought a game that required an internet connection, always-on or otherwise, and I never will. I have no intention of ever buying a console that requires one either. And I have absolutely zero interest in any excuses Microsoft, EA or anyone has for creating them.
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/tinfoilhat
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Your proposal is acceptable
You're right, I'd buy a generator if I wanted to vacuum while the power was out.
So you'll be giving me my own local 'game server' so I can play on those times when my connection is down right?
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Re: Your proposal is acceptable
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Vacuums and electricity
I know many people that live in areas with spotty cell phone coverage, and they have cell phones anyway. Why? because their cell phones work everywhere ELSE. For home, they use landlines.
So, MS's arguements fail .. because there ARE alternitives. For "always online DRM", this aren't any (legal) alternitives, making it an "apples and oranges" comparison.
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The next PlayStation supposedly can disable used games.
EA has shown that you can get people to pay twice if you put always on DRM into your PC games and break the servers on release day.
Anyone else hoping for another video game crash?
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Didn't Sony come out and say that wasn't true?
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They also said that they would never remove Linux from the PS3...
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Let's hope that if a crash comes, it only affects the morons in charge of the incumbent corporations, because the future elsewhere still looks bright.
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Welp
I have a 360. It'll be the last and inly Microsoft console I ever buy.
Oh, and my two kids who are too young to play consoles (they're 2) will grow up as PS fans, and be taught to avoid MS products wherever possible.
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Re: Welp
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Re: Welp
From where I'm standing, the next-gen is looking bleak.
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But lately, I think their bad reputation is well deserved. They started going downhill right around the time that Gates left. Now they're just another large, asshole corporation no longer "eating their own dog food" like they used to.
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Best example of this is Zune, which had the potential to be a viable competitor to the iDevices if it had been distributed worldwide instead of just a purely US-focused distribution model, and had a much more aggressive marketing campaign than what it had (it was going up against the trendy, well-entrenched iDevices).
Case in point, I misplaced my USB connection cord for my 16GB Touch Zune HD one time and couldn't find a replacement cable at the local electronics store, even in the bundle packages. What did they readily have available? Connection cables for the FUCKING iDevices in every fucking store I visited.
I swear, someone should find the guy who thought that having the Zune as a US-exclusive product for the first two years it was on the market was a good idea and kick him in the balls (among other things) for not understanding the concept of the international marketplace.[/rant]
Although Paul, think about what your saying for a moment. If you give any company a monopoly position (or near-monopoly position in the case of Apple), and the chances of them abusing that position is extremely high.
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So add always online internet + mandatory camera connected to the device at all times + microsofts patent to charge per user/viewer licensing fees for all content and you can say good bye to privacy in the only place left in the world where we even have a reasonable expectation of it, not to mention being nickle and dimed for every person sitting in a room during any media performance.
I could deal with an always online console if it didn't also come with the ever watching eye of Big Brother. Not that I would ever consider buy a Microsoft product again anyway.
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http://majornelson.com/2013/04/05/official-statement-on-what-was-said-yesterday/
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Argument about electricity
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This is the way I see most "always online" services.
I do hope that people will get fed up with it at some point and stop buying this crap, but I don't expect it to happen.
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A win-win solution for MS
That is, if we're all law abiding computer illiterate citizen...
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Re: A win-win solution for MS
"Remove WAT".
Nothing else needs to be said, does it?
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Re: A win-win solution for MS
"Remove WAT".
Nothing else needs to be said, does it?
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Only one?
Ummm... only one?
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When your selling a product you call the shots, but when your selling a service, the customer calls the shots.
Why? Because the product takes its profit in 1 hit, the original sale. A service relies on some form of subscription. If the customer leaves too early your profit is reduced or even vanishes.
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Always on connection
Unless you are providing me with a free fiber connection don't tell me I need always on.
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He should research before he speaks.
The most recent numbers I could find show that Microsoft has moved over 66 million Xbox 360 consoles and that there are over 40 million Xbox Live users. That means that over one third of their customers don't want or use the online features of the console.
Now I know that Microsoft has crazy amounts of cash, but I am guessing even they don't want to lose over one third of their customer base. And those numbers don't even count the people like myself that do have a Live subscription but are concerned about always online requirements to use something I have purchased.
Source of numbers are from 2012 so they are a little old: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/01/10/ces-microsoft-reveals-xbox-360-sales-to-date
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When will MS learn..
If they try to force potential buyers with an always on console, especially with the growing backlash against this form of policing, people will look elsewhere. It amazes me the course that they keep taking, from Apple envy to inaction in so many areas.
Job's was right, a technology company needs to be driven by a tech savvy CEO, not a bean counter who's focus is on numbers.
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When will MS learn..
If they try to force potential buyers with an always on console, especially with the growing backlash against this form of policing, people will look elsewhere. It amazes me the course that they keep taking, from Apple envy to inaction in so many areas.
Job's was right, a technology company needs to be driven by a tech savvy CEO, not a bean counter who's focus is on numbers.
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When will MS learn..
If they try to force potential buyers with an always on console, especially with the growing backlash against this form of policing, people will look elsewhere. It amazes me the course that they keep taking, from Apple envy to inaction in so many areas.
Job's was right, a technology company needs to be driven by a tech savvy CEO, not a bean counter who's focus is on numbers.
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Arrogance
these guys can go to h*ll if this is the way they do business.
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Consoles required to be always online? Implies that everyone's internet connection is perfect, when it might not be the case for a variety of reasons. And then they wonder why even PC games that have the "always online" requirement for no real reason get criticized.
PC software that you can only install a certain number of times before having to buy a new license? Implies that you never have to reinstall your OS due to a crash or a virus, never have a hard drive failure, never delete programs by accident or have your kids mess up with your computer.
They act like whichever stuff you use has perfect hardware, bug-less software and an ideal internet connection. Even with today's progress it still sounds like some kind of futuristic setting, IMO...
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@Timothy,
could you please provide a link to your source? I've been looking for information on this subject for some time now, but only came up with region-based statistics, not a chart where I could see average broadband speeds per country. This information would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance. Great article, by the way.
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http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/102585
IDC also performs actual studies, but the cost of the reports can get costly.
http://www.idc.com/
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I'm surprised to see Germany rank higher than the U.S. In my rather rural region, all I can get is something my ISP (T-Online) calls "DSL Light" and is basically ISDN speed x 2 = 128 kbit/s. And all for no more than 38 EUR (~49 USD) a month - marvellous... I could subscribe to our local cable company, which offers 100 MBit/s for 30 EUR (~39 USD), but their connections are about as "reliable" and ther customer service about as "excellent" as Time Warner Cable, so I guess I'll stick with what I got for the time being.
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How about: 'Upperclass Tweet of the Year'?
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The fact that he's even talking about it
That said, the rumors that Microsoft are looking at the next-gen Xbox/Durango as more multi-media center than actual gaming console bugs the hell out of me, since it means that it'd be easier for them to justify having an always-online requirement to the general public.
Of course, Microsoft never comments on speculation or rumors, so we still have no bloody idea what we're going to get, and will have to wait until the official release announcement.
So, as the Zen Master says, "We'll see."
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Oxymoron?
Its a good thing this genius wasnt around when we found out that the XBOX had a 50%+ failure rate.
He'd have said "Hey, batting .440 is still pretty good in my book!".
Its ok, he can always use his 'talents' to some other MS product. Windows Phone 8 anyone?
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