The (false pretenses) petition...

Microsoft would have you believe a lot of things.

The would have you believe that they only ever wanted what's best for gaming, and not to encompass too many kinds of entertainment at once.  They would have you believe that they care about 'core gamers' and that their recent change of course on the xbox one is how they show this, by listening to what gamers want.  They would also have you believe that THIS PIECE OF SHIT is real.

Take a good look at that petition.  Do you see anything wrong there?  Because I do.  I mean, I've heard of people trying to pull this before, but frankly no one has ever been so blatantly obvious about it.

Let's look at a couple of excerpts:

1. The opening

 
1. Petition by
   David Fontenot
   GA

This was to be the future of entertainment. A new wave of gaming where you could buy games digitally, then trade, share or sell those digital licenses. Essentially, it was Steam for Xbox. But consumers were uninformed, and railed against it, and it was taken away because Sony took advantage of consumers uncertainty.

We want this back. It can't be all or nothing, there must be a compromise.

So, when was the last time you heard a gamer talk/write something like this?  Think about that.  Your average Gears of War/Modern Warfare player doesn't even THINK along these lines.  I know this because I know a lot of THEM.  You know what they were complaining about?  DRM (Unnecessary), Always on connections (Unrealistic), and used games (unpopular).  The text in parenthesis is the actual reaction to the policies that Microsoft was trying to implement.  And the fact is, it wasn't steam for xbox, it was more like big brother/EA origin for xbox, and frankly, no one wants that.  At all.

Okay, another excerpt:

2. Supposed petition signers

Javier Marcano HARLOW, UNITED KINGDOM

I don't want to pay 400 - 500 for a console that essentially looks prettier but does the same exact things current gen does.(SHOT AT SONY) MS was just trying to pave the way towards the unavoidable digital future all consoles will follow, if not this gen, then next generation, being innovative just as they were last generation with Xbox Live. (PRAISE FOR MICROSOFT)  Granted, I didn't agree with all the policies brought forward but at least I understood the end goal and it wasn't as such a big deal for me. They said their stuff straight forward and took the heat while Sony innovated nothing, changed nothing and helped feed peoples fear that change is bad and that it's good to pay again for what you already have and can do. Sony said what people wanted to hear and only later revealed the truth of their policies in small interviews after E3.(PRAISE FOR MICROSFT AND A SHOT AT SONY) Who is the better company? The one that says things upfront in front of the world or the one that lurks in the shadows about the reality of what it's bringing forward?(PRAISE FOR MICROSOFT)  It's sad so many gamers are so short sighted.(YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS FOR NOT BUYING MICROSFT'S OBVIOUS BULLSHIT)

So, after reading this tripe, does anyone NOT believe these guys are getting regular paychecks signed by Microsoft?

Really - they were just being innovative, not greedy?  They were just trying to drag us ignorant neanderthals into the inevitable next iteration of gaming?  How condescending and utterly obvious can you be at the same time?

Yes, Microsoft, we totally believe that petition is real, and I've got ocean-front property right here in Arizona to sell you too.

...continued - because it needs to be.

I would like to continue with the rant I was on in the last update.  Companies that claim to listen to their customers, when they do no such thing in reality.

Next up on the list: CAPCOM

I've been a member of the capcommunity forums for several years now.  Now, to be fair, my time there is centered mostly around the Resident Evil forums, as that is (or at least WAS) the game series that I am most interested in from Capcom.

Many of us, like minded and quite vocal, have begged and pleaded with Capcom for literally years to stop turning Resident Evil into a third person shoot-em up, and get back to being survival horror.  And every time they've countered what we've said, or just out and out lied to us.

Resident Evil 4 was scrapped at the last minute, and according to the powers that be, had to be completely overhauled, because sales would have been lackluster, and the series would likely have died.  That's an opinion.  I happen to have a different one, but that's not even the point of this post.  The point is, a LARGE portion of your fanbase, and some obviously dedicated gamers (Most of the people I'm talking about have all of the RE games, because they do love the series, for the most part) have begged Capcom to stop treating these games like their a clone of Modern Warfare/Gears of War, and stick with the genre that they created in the first place.

It all falls on deaf ears.  RE5, 6, Operation: Raccoon City, and even Revelations are all still stuck on being and action/horror hybrid.

Now - flash forward to now.  Specifically to Dead Rising 3.

Several months ago, perhaps even as much as a year, someone on the Unity forums started a thread asking the question, "What would you like in a new Resident Evil game.  I responded, stating that I wanted an open world Raccoon city (ala Skyrim, in an urban setting) with many of the same type of encounters that you get in an open world RPG, but set within the Resident Evil Universe, complete with the city, and the mansion (which would have been optional to visit) and ultimately the goal would be to get out of the city before the nukes fall.

You know, pretty much what they created in Dead Rising 3, minus the setting that I wanted.  Here's the real problem; now that they've created this world in DR3 - you can bet your ass they will NEVER create in for Resident Evil.  After all, they've already done it, and with zombies to boot.  They don't need to recreate that.  I  mean, why can't you just pretend that DR3 is set in Raccoon City...?

It all falls back to not giving one hot damn about your customers.  I'm just one person.  I don't expect a major corporation to listen to just one man or woman about their upcoming products.  But when you get enough people, that have been loyal to your brand for so long, and they constantly and consistently tell you what they want, and you just and constantly and consistently ignore them - that's when you no longer care about the people that have made you what you are.  That's just disrespectful.

Shame on you Capcom.

Oh, and it seems I'm not the only one that feels that the xbox 1 is likely going to lose this console war.

A memo to Microsoft: Backhanded compliments don't count...

Every day, I read about how game companies (console makers as well as game developers) are all making a concerted effort to listen to their fans.  And every bit of it is a lie.

I'm sorry, but Microsoft isn't 'Listening to the Fans' because they've made changes.  That's what it looks like on the surface, and boy would they love you to buy their attempt to spin it that way.  But let's face facts, what really happened was this:

1. They announced a new set of protocols, and expectations that were not only patently ridiculous is what they wanted FROM their customers, but was not even realistic in terms of logistics (internet connections are simply not consistent enough for what they wanted).

2. They got more backlash than they ever have before, and people basically said, "okay, so I guess I'll buy a Sony this time around, because Microsoft has lost their damn minds.

3. They responded to this backlash like the spoiled businessmen they are.  #dealwithit might have gotten one man fired, but let's face it, that's exactly what the rest of them were thinking.  He just had the balls to tweet it to the world.  Initially, Microsoft wanted to hear none of what the people that would be their customers had to say.  There was this rigid, unyielding stance that they were loathe to stop taking.

4. Finally they relented, and realized that not only were their sales going to be abysmal if they stayed on this path, but that by trying to stay to it at all, they might have damaged their profit margin irreparably.  ONLY upon this realization, did they finally 'Listen to the Fans'.

As some of my navy superiors used to say, "Don't blow smoke up my ass and call it sunshine."

If/when I eventually get a 'Next Gen' machine - it''l likely be a PS4.