The Cold Hard Truth of the "Next Gen"

I haven't been very active on this forum lately, due to illness, difficulties in staying awake and other things. Although, even when I'm not posting, I'm scrolling and observing from the outside when I have the strength. I've always felt like an outsider in terms of how I stand on particular issues; gathering evidence and making my own judgement based on my sense of justice. I go by the golden rule that if something disagrees with your own moral code or common sense; it's probably safe to say that there is something objectionable about the issue, whether it be something like a serious issue such as politics or something considerably more laughable like the Bayonetta 2 fallout. While I was out of the loop, dealing with the drudgery of living; I completely missed the Xbox One announcement and didn't even know about it for a number of days until one of my brothers informed me. He proclaimed it to be one of the worst, if not the worst conference he had ever seen. Having gave me a brief summery of what plans that Microsoft had in store for their new console and finally getting some time to watch; I wasn't surprised by it whatsoever.

There had been enough scuttlebutt around the Xbox One to know that they would have such policies in place. If you take some time to check out the official website of the Xbox One; you'll notice a very well-designed website that is grammatically incorrect in a number of areas. I personally find it baffling that nobody took the time to iron out the use of conjunctions in their opening statement, while not by itself incorrect, used 'And' or 'Where' continuously in a sentence structure which makes the writing rather choppy and irritating to read. Moving onwards after ingesting the marketing spiel of Microsoft, I decided to see what the PS4 is doing in terms of DRM. After looking up on it and comparing my older notes on what the PS4 is promoting; I can only conclude that they will also have their own DRM system in place and it would be foolish to think that it wouldn't. It wouldn't make any sense for publishers to back a console that lacks any sort of DRM since Sony is leaving the option of DRM to the publishers, disavowing any responsibility for building an infrastructure to allow for it. Publishers have been reticent to give any sort of allusion to whether or not they will implement DRM in any future releases on the forthcoming consoles, which is rather peculiar because DRM isn't something that you stick onto a game at the tail end of a game's conception.

Clearly they are keeping their own counsel at this point to avoid any backlash and are waiting for a good day to break bad news. What is safe to say is that if a game is multi-platform; it will have some sort of software DRM for it and wouldn't make much sense that the publisher would enable it for one console and not the other. While Sony will probably have their first-party exclusives as DRM-free; let's just speculate what would happen if the PS4 got rid of DRM completely and refused to allow for software DRM. It could possibly mean the "developer-friendly" PS4 console would be without third-party support, due to the escalating costs of game development. Publishers will stop at nothing to keep their heads above water by all means necessary, whether it be stomping out used game sales by introducing restrictive DRM or closing down talented development studios. Why bother releasing a game on a console without DRM when there is no chance to make more money from the consumer? At the end of the day; greed is good. Right?

Of course there is a slim chance that Sony could swear off DRM completely but I sincerely doubt that Sony would be willing to renege on any of the assurances they have given to the publishers to develop games for the PS4. I just believe that it may be merely less invasive, compared to the Xbox One's ludicrous requirements but at the end of the day; DRM is DRM, no matter which way you cut it. After watching the Xbox One's E3 conference and learning the launch price of the console at the mighty price of £429 for people in the UK; I fear I will have to pass on such a console. Not just because of the price but because of the DRM requirements, as I believe them to be too restrictive to my liking. Even though there was one Xbox exclusive that I really want,(D4 by Swery65, creator of Deadly Premonition)I cannot and will not approve of the use of DRM on consoles. Personally, it's an insult to me that both Sony and Microsoft are so willing to erode our consumer rights in order to bleed more money from their customers.

I understood the use for it on PC because piracy had became so prevalent on it but let's be realistic here. An industry that continually blames piracy for why they are performing so badly have not taken into account that perhaps, if they actually took the time to work to a budget that was reasonable, put gamers first, and deliver games that didn't treat their users like potential criminals; the industry would be in a much healthier state than it is at this current point. Interestingly enough; there is a parallel to this current situation. The music industry blamed tapes and the consumer for piracy in the 80s, blamed CDs and the consumer for piracy in the 90s, blamed the emergence of digital downloading and the consumer for piracy, killed off the music stores who were complicit at combating illegal downloading, neither allowing for a reduction in price for physical copies nor allowing a digital alternative to allow the stores to survive.

This willful negligence has made music what it is today; irrelevant, without purpose, and causes the creator(s) of music to work for peanuts to do what they love. This has also caused alternative modes of support such as crowd-funding or patronage but it is safe to say that the music industry is nowhere near as strong as it once was. The game industry is going to undergo the same changes, the retail stores will be buggered due to the clamping down on the sale of used games (except at participating retailers in the case of Xbox One. PS4 will allow for it, leaving the possibility for a used game fee to the publisher.) while the industry are clearly following the same business model which is completely unsustainable; especially if you take into account of the current state of the economy and the recent upheavals that happen in the world on a daily basis.

Gaming is not an inexpensive hobby but sometimes I wonder to myself how much cheaper it would be if consoles took out the various extraneous elements like apps, TV, avatars, social media, and just focused on delivering a console that would simply deliver games that would work without second-guessing the gamer. In terms of games; there is nothing new because this culture is soaked in nostalgia which isn't caused by younger people. When you're young, everything is new to you and you don't know any better. The fact is that the gaming industry, in their collective reasoning, believe that the dearth of creativity can be overtaken by the rise of technology. The last 10 years of this culture has looped around full circle now and we are seeing the end result of the crass negligence of the console makers and the publishers, rewarding their consumers with rehashes of older titles to drum up interest on their consoles. Nintendo have been accused of this by so many gamers who continually buy games of the same series like Fifa or COD or Uncharted or Killzone; never even acknowledging that you're all playing the same games that you've played years ago and you will continue to because you don't know any better.

People can hate on Nintendo all they like as they've been accused of not being "next-gen" for simply following Yokoi's philosophy of "Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology." or using old tech in a new way to allow for a new experience for the user. While the Wii U has been underwhelming to gamers who don't want to play first-party games; the publishers have openly shunned the Wii U for being "weak" "crap" etc. In my view though; I believe that the real reason why publishers are hesitant to support the Wii U is because of the lack of DRM and the increasing cost of game development on the other consoles. Nintendo haven't had strong 3rd party support since the SNES but it's very clear that publishers have become dismissive to about the Wii U. I find that rather saddening. If the Wii U can offer backwards compatibility, no blocking of used games, no DRM, at an affordable price but is criticized for not being for the hardcore gamer or for not being "next gen"; would that mean that restrictive DRM practices are, the lack of backwards compatibility and blocking used games (except at participating retailers in the case of Xbox One. PS4 will allow for it, leaving the possibility for a used game fee to the publisher.) are desired, even critical for the "next gen"?

I apologise profusely for the length of this. To all the readers who took the time out to read this; I thank you for your patience, which may be running thin as a result of this deluge of conjecture and disdain for the incoming next gen consoles. I just would like to make two final points before you rage out in the comments below. In terms of the mob mentality that lashed out at the Xbox One; I would like to believe that there would be the same level of rage and scorn towards Sony if they choose to participate with some sort of DRM practice, even if it is less invasive than Microsoft's plans. DRM is DRM and if you willingly accept it; they will take even more measures to restrict and control how you use your console, which has always been a simple and casual experience for any gamer. But alas, I fear the opposite will be true and gamers will willingly bend over to allow for the "next gen" experience that seemingly everybody screams about. You'll take it and you'll like it.

There are so many other facets that I haven't even explored like the EU court's ruling on the resale of digital content or the issues with Prism and Microsoft that was already covered in DK's excellent blog titled 'A Sucker Is Born Every Minute" but I believe I've taken up enough of your time.I will say this much. If Sony and a collective core of publishers say no to the DRM scheme, I will be pleased but as it stands from what I know now; I don't believe that Sony would've gotten so many publishers on board to support their console if they didn't make any assurances about having an infrastructure in place to allow it to be even possible. The worst case scenario is not palatable to me and I will not support any console that has any kind of DRM that restricts me from buying and playing the games the way I want to play them. I have a good idea why they are both so interested in focusing on DRM and it isn't because of Nintendo. There is one competitor that hasn't shown anything yet and they will be bringing thousands of games with them. If it's at a relatively affordable price; there will be a new player in town and they could take over.

All they need is that one exclusive that will make it sell. Ah, perish the thought! It's just probably my imagination running wild again.

Toodles.

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