If this is a sign of what gaming is coming to, then I’m very concerned about the next generation of consoles to hit the market. For those who have been keeping up with news regarding the Xbox One, you would know that its initial used games policies and DRM limitations have been revoked about a month ago. As you could imagine, things seemed right as rain on the Microsoft front. Recently, though, I can’t help but feel like I’ve been met with a digital thunderstorm.
A petition on Change.org facilitated by David Fontenot was brought to the masses and, in essence, it demanded that all of the original policies were brought back to the Xbox One. Yes, not only did this call for the DRM limitations to come back but Fontenot claimed that it was, “a new wave of gaming where you could buy games digitally, then trade, share or sell those digital licenses.” I utterly bowled over that such a petition existed. However, the fact that over a thousand people actually signed it kept me floored.
Yes, most of these were ones from people saying how ridiculous the campaign was but since they signed – in theory, at least – they counted towards the goal of 5,000 signatures.
The only way that I can accurately describe this is to compare it to a more mundane scenario. Imagine going to class one day and you’re told that you have a pop quiz. Now let’s say that the teacher tells the class that they can use their notes while taking it; it sounds ideal, right? That’s when you hear from the back of the room a lone voice cry out, “we don’t want to use our notes!” After that, a few others join in, for some strange reason. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it?
Another aspect about the petition that had my attention was the seemingly lack of hesitance when it came to blaming Sony. According to the petition, “Sony took advantage of consumers uncertainty,” which I find to be an outright lie. Once it was made apparent that the Xbox One had the initial binds in place, it was clear that the PlayStation 4 had to be different, ironically, not differing much from the norm. Sony didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Microsoft simply decided that their wheels didn’t need air.
In the field of social media marketing, one would expect this kind of petition to be made to take away the restrictions, not bring them back. I can only imagine that Fontenot is either playing an elaborate joke on the gaming masses or has lost his ability to think within human reason. Ultimately, I can only hope that this is just a dumb prank because I can’t imagine the majority of people supporting the same restrictions they have rallied against beforehand. Shackles do not make gaming fun; that credit belongs to the freedom associated with gaming.
