When the internet first learned about the Xbox One and their DRM restrictions, it was met with immediate hate by a vast major of the outspoken. Some of the hate was to reasonable concerns and some were to the fact that Microsoft said nothing to correct the incorrect information and most took it as fact.

If you’ve heard The GeeksFTW Podcast you know that lately I have been getting quite upset at the internet and their blatant disregard for the facts and the video game media is ignoring. I know right, people lying on the internet. But usually you’ll get a minority that will correct these lies. With the Xbox One I’m seeing none. I was one of those people who somewhat liked what the Xbox One was trying to do, and didn’t like complete reversal they pulled. One big problem I saw with Microsoft was that either they didn’t correct errors in the media or their PR response was written by Adam Orth. To which they have recently acknowledged, the not correcting errors part not the Adam Orth part. I feel I’ve seen the true pros and cons on the Xbox One and not the internet/media’s blind-eyed version. Everything I’m about to say could be completely wrong but this is what I see as an outsider looking at information that Microsoft has said.

Let’s start with the used games market. Before the XBO (Way better than Xbone) DRM reversal, people were saying that it couldn’t play used or rented games. Wrong. Because of the required install and no longer having to use the disc anymore they had to come up with a way that would be easy for the consumer to do without making it easier for pirates. They just hadn’t come up with that idea yet and the internet took “we’re working on it” to mean “oh it can’t do it.” Heck even Jimmy Fallon said that the PS4 was the only console to play used games, on his show during E3. And of course Mark Cerny wasn’t going to correct him. Everyone also took that as you can’t loan a game to a friend, and Sony developers even made that dumb video on how to lend a PS4 game to a friend. Yeah that works if you live near your friend. With the Xbox One loaning games could have been easier for those friends who don’t live near you. And in this day and age we are becoming friends with more and more people around the world. The Friends and Family sharing system was a great idea not just for loaning physical games cross country but digital ones too.

Now let’s move on to the required installation of games. This is what people wanted when they first introduced game installations, not being dependent on having the disc. Well how else are you going to check to make sure you and 30 friends at school aren’t just passing around one copy of the game? You need online checks, just like Steam. Now here’s where I disagree with Microsoft. Once a day, is too small a window to be reasonable, maybe once a week. But that still requires an internet connection. Maybe if the installation wasn’t required but if you wanted to install you had to have an internet connection. Don Mattrick tried to site that the original Xbox was the first to require an Ethernet. He right but we were almost to the point in the internet history where broadband was common place. He then said that’s what they were trying to do with the required internet, future poof the console. The problem is that we aren’t that point in this country to have internet everywhere. There are still too many areas with no internet capabilities. Requiring an internet connection does not future proof a console.

Finally onto the issue with the Kinect. People are afraid that it’ll be constantly watching them. Well numb-nuts turn the thing around to face the wall. That’s what I do with the current Kinect. Some people use tape a piece of paper over the sensor; waste of paper if you ask me. Some websites have said that the Kinect will require seeing you. I don’t think that’s true if you can turn the Kinect off. But if you have to turn the Kinect off every time you turn on your console is just dumb and a waste of the consumers time.

I know I only hit three points about the Xbox One but I see that those points are the ones that the internet masses are wrong about. I’m just sad that the internet forced Microsoft’s hand and now we are getting a Xbox 360 2. I know there are also things like ‘not backward compatible’ but if you think about it how munch do you use your backwards compatibility option now. You don’t if you have a current PS3 and not many Xbox games work on your Xbox 360. If you disagree with me I’d love to hear an actual argument that isn’t just insulting me or my sexual orientation, or filled with untruths. Call me a fanboy all you like, I just like facts told by the source not from some second-hand information told by someone’s brother, who heard from a friend, who heard if from a friend, who read a speculation article a year ago.

Written by: Stuart Pitchford Writer