What happens when you refuse to understand what you've done wrong?

Microsoft has a severe disconnect with not only their fan base, but also with reality.

They've changed a lot of the restrictions that were initially non-negotiable on their next gen console, the xbox one.  They've reversed course, not only on things like the ridiculous always on internet requirement for their DRM and their used game policy, but they've also reversed course internally, with all of the major changes in not only who manages which departments, but in how those departments are approaching the future.

It all sounds good.

There is still, however, a problem with their approach to this next-gen of gaming.  There is still a disconnect with the people that buy their products.  They still aren't thinking of the fans.

Bear in mind that all of these changes only came about after ENORMOUS initial resistance on the part of the company.  They were doing everything they could to force people to bend to this line of business, and by god, they weren't going to give up these profit margins, no matter what.

It's lead to more than a couple of bad decisions, not the least of which is the new Kinect camera.  Yes, you can turn it off now, but why is it still required?  Why are you still, as of this date, looking at a price tag that is a hundred dollars more than the competing console (Sony) for what is apparently the inclusion of a peripheral that no one is actually interested in?  I have a lot of gaming friends.  You know how many of them are excited about the new Kinect camera?  0.  None.  Nada.

Microsoft is STILL trying to hold to something that no one wants.  It's almost as if they're saying, "well, we'll get rid of all of this other stuff, but damn it, you're going to take that fucking camera."  I mean, when you look at it, WHY?  Why is this damned thing so important to them?

Maybe, it has to do with what the camera is capable of.  For anyone that doesn't want to read all of that article, it breaks down to this: "The creepiest part of the Kinect demo was when the system used a combination of the RGB and IR cameras to detect my pulse rate just by looking at my face. Not only that, but the system could tell when I was smiling and/or looking away from the screen and tell which of two controllers I was holding, even as I handed one off to the demonstrator (a process the PR rep said worked by "magic")"

Note, that the tech guy reviewing the hardware resorts to 'CREEPY' as the best description of the features.  That should tell you something.  Frankly, with the camera on and keeping track of your emotions, they would have a pretty large database pretty quickly about how people react to their games, and what they like more.

You know how internet cookies try to read your habits by which sites you visit?  Imagine a company trying to read YOU by how you react to any given situation while you are playing your games.

Sleep tight.