Benjamin Franklin is credited with coining the phrase, “Those who give up their liberty for more security neither deserve liberty nor security.” But what about trading liberty for entertainment?
Microsoft unveiled its latest gaming console, the Xbox One, on May 21. During the reveal, I was hyped for the new console — I was blown away by the EA Sports portion — but things have gone downhill quickly since then.
Aside from the Wii U and Xbox One, the best console name has been continued since 1991: Playstation 4. Wii U sounds like an accessory to the Wii, not a new console. Xbox One would work if this was the first console— not the third.
Now, let’s finally delve into why the newest Xbox will require users to give up some liberty just to enjoy the system.
Xbox One will need an Internet connection in order to play games. The second half of that sentence has no modifiers, no “...requires an Internet connection except for single-player games,” or anything that would actually make sense. One plan was Xbox One to connect daily, but Microsoft backpedaled due to the justifiable outcry that developed and claims that needing to connect daily is a “potential scenario.” The liberty of being able to choose whether you want to be online evaporates with this.
So the new Xbox will need to always be online to play games. It could be worse. That’s not a big deal when compared to the fact that it will force users to use the Kinect, which has a camera installed to track your movements.
Especially egregious is the fact that Xbox One will always be on. Not “always online” again, just “always on.” How so? One of the ways to turn on the system is to utilize Kinect’s voice recognition software. Saying “Xbox on” is one of the ways that the console can be started. That means that technically, even when it’s off, the console is active, waiting for you. That either makes it gaming’s version of the overly attached girlfriend meme or Big Brother. Unplugging the system solves the problem, but that this is even a consideration is worrisome.
The Xbox One is setting dangerous precedents left and right, both because of the points I’ve listed and other plans that are in the works, such as a patent for Kinect to monitor the number of people watching a DVD and charging an additional fee if a limit is passed. E3 will reveal more information, but that may not be a good thing for Microsoft. That new information could further alienate gamers. Xbox One desperately wants to be an entertainment center instead of just a console, but in doing so, it risks losing the audience that has stood by it for so long.
All of this said, by the time Xbox One is released, this could be an overreaction based on worst-case scenario speculation. The Internet community is extremely good about holding game companies accountable. Final Fantasy XIV had to be remade with a new staff because the game was absolutely terrible. LucasArts as a game developer was shut down by Disney.
I would contend that this was mostly because LucasArts’ reputation was destroyed after attaching its name with “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2” and “Kinect Star Wars,” two games that completely and utterly disappointed Star Wars fans because of how awful they were.
Logan Ladnyk is a UF journalism junior. His columns appear Tuesdays.
