What I hope is that we see a backlash on the other side, and people start complaining that Microsoft ditched the precious features they were ever so desiring. That would really teach Microsoft not to engineer problems just so they can make solutions that nobody even asked for in the first place.

Exactly! And the thing is, I can "roam" with my games anyway, if I buy physical copies of them. It seems to me that they engineered a problem (trying to turn every single copy into a de facto digital copy, stripping us of our rights to do with it as we please), and then engineered a self-serving "solution" to it (the…

Their announcement sounds passive-aggressive, like "Fine! You want it this way? HERE YOU GO THEN!" But hey, that's a huge step in the right direction. Thank you, Microsoft, for listening.

But it's not as simple as "cutting out the retailer." It may be in Sony's (and the publishers') interests to sell the games to you directly online, but if they were to lose business, both in console sales and in game sales, by ending physical disc distribution, that wouldn't be a good thing for them. At this point,…

Yeah, I agree. But at the same time, I don't think it's an effect of them holding back or anything. The story is just that enormous. I don't feel like there's much in the way of filler. This becomes especially clear if you read the books. At leas with book 1 (which is my experience of the books so far), I was really…

I liked it quite a bit. If it hadn't been obvious before, it is now more than ever: these seasons we've seen so far are basically just a preface to the real meat of the story. This must make it one of the most slow-burning TV shows ever produced. And I honestly have no problem with that. I don't think the "10 episodes…

You're using a single case as a justification for an extremely broad system. If this were just about enabling the family sharing functionality, then 24-hour check-ins could be limited to those seeking to share games with family members.

This is a great post. I, too, am getting really sick of Microsoft's defenders, who seek to turn, through some kind of intellectual alchemy, these restrictive policies into positives. I can't for the life of me understand why consumers are so intent on bending to the wills of their corporate overlords. Like you, I…

They're going to have to do more than tell us. They're going to have to put it in writing, as part of the terms of service, or whatever contract they have us digitally "sign" when we set up the system for the first time. We have to be give a guarantee that this will happen. A statement from an executive means nothing…

I have a VPN. Speeds, as you could probably predict, suck. I'm not going to use a VPN for gaming. I'm going to buy a PS4.

So, why the regionalization pre-XBox One, then? And why doesn't Sony appear to care about regionalization at all? This is, by and large, nothing more than an arbitrary form of control that some companies insist on exerting over the properties they own. It doesn't functionally matter if they limit access based on…

And what I'm saying is that this is stupid. Microsoft is treating regionalization like it's some universal truth, when Sony has, for this entire current generation, been having everything—including tons of cross-platform titles—region-free. Microsoft is doubling down on bullshit that makes players angry, while Sony is…

Oh God. So is this the real reason for the 24-hour check-in? So Microsoft can use your current IP address to discriminate against you and effectively brick your games if you play them in an "unapproved" country? Yeah, sorry. I'm an expat, and this sort of shit is absolute hell for those of us who are into gaming on…

A lot of those look like crap compared to current PS3 titles. If what we're seeing of the PS4 right now is similar to these (i.e. not taking full advantage, yet, of the hardware's capabilities), we're going to be in for some very nice treats once developers get into the swing of things.

Could you provide a link or two? And comments longer than soundbites from him would be appreciated.

He really isn't a dick, though. I think he perhaps was a dick, back around the release of Braid (for example, he's talked about how he used to be obsessed with finding anything written about him online and directly responding/debating about it in the comments), but things have changed. He seems like a pretty…

I don't hate Phil Fish, but I wish he'd be a bit more cerebral about game design if he's going to spend so much time throwing shit in peoples' faces about it. For example, I don't care when Jonathan Blow says something controversial, because I know he's able to back it up with thoughts that are infused with…

Seconded. I totally get how, if you just listen to Jonathan Blow in discrete soundbites, he can come off as an elitist prick. But it's an entirely different story if you actually watch any of the lectures he's given on game design (there are some available on Youtube). When you take the time to watch him articulate an…

This sounds like a reason for a certain, hypothetical game (interesting that they're not naming any specific games that will do the things they mentioned in their statement), to have a cloud-based online component, not a reason for a 24-hour check-in. The idea that developers could use Microsoft's servers to offload…

If you actually listen to some of the longer talks he's given on game design, it's clear that he's done a lot of research, and a lot of his own thinking, on the issue. You may disagree with what he says at times, but I don't think there can be any question that he's an intelligent guy making a lot of valid arguments.…