Or... if the things that you listed really bother you (which they obviously do), then don't pre-order the system. If, however, the system is intriguing, and you are a gotta have it day one type, then feel free.

Minor correction... Kinect launched at $150. Other than that, completely agree with your post.

Interesting... I was figuring that the XB1 would be at least $599 and Live Gold would get a price hike as well (especially since you can share amongst the family). So, a $499 price and no hike for Gold was pretty surprising.

1. PS3 debuted at $499 and $599 US (no tax)

That's a valid argument, but do you really think that the soccer moms out there are going to care? Their kids will want the "new Xbox" and they will get them. I am pretty sure that the informed gamer is a VERY small subset of the 77 Million 360s that have been sold to date.

Very fair points, all.

Can't argue with that at all.

Point taken, and I agree that it fits with some of MS's current licensing. However, I have the new Office subscription, and that allows concurrent access on up to 5 PCs at once. So, again, we simply don't yet know.

No argument there. I have to admit, I have 2 360s, and they are "always online" already, so this is not an issue for me. Further, I can't think of a time, in the last 5 years, where I have had power but no internet. Even further, I have only been effected by Xbox Live downtime maybe twice in the last 5 years.

Ok, another post that won't be seen... Was just reading the bit over at the Xbox Wire, and found this interesting bit:

Actually, I have tried to run a 360 in my car, using a (pretty beefy) power converter. It never had the juice.

Do you mean this part: "Any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time"? I agree, it's awkwardly worded, but does not say, specifically, that it's only one at a time per game.

ProTip: If you can't connect to the internet once every 24 hours, buy a PS4. Or a WiiU. But wait, we don't yet know if the PS4 will have any connection requirements. In fact, we haven't even seen a PS4. So, just buy a WiiU.

You play Xbox/PS games in your car? How did you manage that?

That is a very good point, but perhaps that is why they toted the "300,000 servers" setup for Live. I seriously doubt that Maxis/EA had a tenth of that for the SimCity launch.

Do you use Windows? Apple's OS? Guess what... that's EXACTLY what you are doing. Remember the TOS you had to scroll through and accept? That's precisely what we are talking about here.

How often do you make calls on your cell when you have no service?

Logical fallacy. The primary use of your cell phone is to make calls. Secondarily, you may wish to play games, use Facebook or Twitter, etc. The Calculator or Music Player are ancillary apps. MS has already said " but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies." So, they are saying that you CAN use…

Ah, ok. Thanks for the response.

Where, exactly, does MS say that though? They are saying EXACTLY the same thing that Sony did... that it will be up to the publisher. Do you really think that one console would be that divergent from another?