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.

(Not so) Free to play games...

Does anyone remember arcades?  You know, those locker room smelling, dusty, grimy, sawdust floored dens of iniquity that our parents hated and loved at the same time?

Why the mixed feelings?  Well, because they knew they were going to shill out some cash when we saw one, but at the same time, for a few quarters they could leave their kids unattended (yeah they did that in the 80's and 90's) and get some errands run, or some shopping done, or whatever.

The reason I bring up arcades is simple.  Developers have figured out how to get back to the money making scheme that arcades represented.  Bear with me.

You see, for 25¢ at a time, I could play a game, right up until it got hard enough that I couldn't, but alas, I could continue for another 25¢.  And I did so readily, pumping in quarter after quarter.

Want to take a guess as to how much I spent on games like Donkey Kong, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat and Tekken?  I would put the estimation in the thousands.  That's not exaggeration on my part.  I'm being literal.  Now, want to know how much I payed for Street Fighter X Tekken?  $19.99

This is the problem facing developers today.  They can charge you one price for the original and like so many gamers, I'm only interested in a select few DLC offerings.  I certainly don't buy all of them, and I'm certain that I'm not the only one, so that $19.99 (that went into Gamestop's pocket not Capcom's since the game was purchased used) is all I will ever spend on that game.  Let's say I go all out, and pay full price and even preorder (Tomb Raider was awesome, by the way), even then I won't necessarily buy the DLC, so that $59.99 is all they will ever get from me.  EVER.

The money men (check any of the developers' CFO's out and see if they are actually gamers) know that this business model is limited, because you will usually only get a single purchase per customer.  This is unacceptable to them.  They want you paying again, and again, and again, for the same content.

It's just like being in the arcade again.  Yeah, it only costs a quarter, but multiply those quarters by several years, and you start talking in terms of thousands of dollars.  Multiply that by millions of customers...

Yes.  THAT much money.

And make no mistake, companies like Zynga aren't charging you quarters.  They're charging dollars upon dollars.  EA got bit in the ass with their approach to Dead Space 3, and layoffs ensued because the customer s spoke out, and didn't even hesitate to let EA know that they thought this was a bullshit way to deal with loyal patrons.  OF course all anyone wants to talk about is how outrageous it is that EA was voted worst company 2 years running.  Maybe instead of making excuses, they should take a step back and realize that people aren't nearly as stupid as they thought, and that we DO know when we are getting screwed.

I know.  That argument is WAY too logical.  It has no place in the Game Business world.

The fact is, the gaming companies that are using this business model are no longer nickel and diming you, or even quartering you - no they're now 5 and ten dollaring you.

Let me know how that tastes, because I want none of it.