Tweak
RCTalk Addict
I have finally, completely made up my mind. I will never again contribute another cent to the corporate conglomerate known as Microsoft- And actually, I would even go so far as to urge all of my close friends and other acquaintances to do the exact same thing.
I agree that Bill Gates and his company are trying to do what they do best. Bring in a profit while providing a easy to use interface used in dealing with one of todays biggest parts of our everyday lives- computers. Hundreds of operating systems, Software packages and even hardware, computers and other things as well. They have their hands in everything to do with computers, technology and everything that comes with it. I applaud that kind of genius. They (the entire company) are composed of very intelligent men and women, all working hard to provide us, the consumers good products.
Bill Gates has a good thing and he knows it. That is the problem. They have taken it too far. Even at the top of the gaming industry (which is the root of this little rant of mine, more to come on that) Microsoft made a name for itself with a completely heretofore untouched demographic- Gamers. Millions of them. The X-Box was a gargantuan hit with millions and millions of gamers world wide. They instantly threw their hat (very successfully) into the ring with already established Giants like Nintendo and Sony and did quite well when it went to the cards. Then came the release of the Play station 3, to a very displeased crowd of gamers that had never seen a console top 400 bucks in it's first days- propelling Microsoft to another stunning and complete victory in the gaming industry. Over the past few years Microsoft has been doing extremely well.
All the while I sat back and watched, trying to take in the whole picture. I am a HUGE gamer. I own a PS3, X-box and X-box 360, along with some very old consoles like an Atari and an Intelivison 3000 and almost every other console to hit North America in the past 20 years. I watched and tried to figure out where it was all eventually going. Was Microsoft going to dominate and maybe even push Sony (my favorite by far) out of the picture? Was Nintendo going to pick up the pace and establish themselves as the top console this year? These questions are slowly becoming easier to answer, and I don't like the outcome. Nintendo can (and almost certainly will) dominate the PS3 in every aspect with it's family oriented play and great gimmicks, and I enjoy that knowledge. Knowing that gaming is falling back to it's roots- wherein a 46 year old business man can even pick up the remote and enjoy himself- while also providing a more stable background for an established gamer to enjoy several hours with one of the license' great names like Zelda.
But then Microsoft stuck it's big, ugly head into the picture.. and really sent me on a rampage. I love my 360. I hug it every morning before work. And even more.. I LOVE my HALO 2. A few weeks back I was reading a magazine, just glancing through- not really paying attention to detail and I saw that Microsoft was going to release HALO 2, a port for computers- with added content, and the ability to trump the 360 graphically with a good machine it was hands down an easy yes from my department. Even if it WAS a port, and a bit outdated (only by a couple years... pffft.) Then came the day. It was out. I woke up to a day off of work and 60 bucks reserved to purchase the game. Went to Game Stop immediately to get it. But.. I go in a pick up the box and a couple things strike me as a bit odd. Infuriated me in fact. This game (They are now referred to as "Games for Windows", which also encompasses just about every game Microsoft has ever made) Was made specifically for Windows VISTA. You got XP? tough luck gamer buddy. You want to play a 2 year old port from Microsoft and you will have to shell out the cash to purchase the OS to go with it. I cannot even begin to describe how angry that made me. Not only do they want everyone in the US who owns a computer to use their OS, they also want you to have the NEWEST POSSIBLE VERSION to even play their games. That is, in my opinion, bordering on a monopoly. Not only is there NOT a reliable operating system (aside from what mac provides) for PC currently available- you will pretty much have to buy a Mac or even go free source and be a code master to get anything better. Not only that, but Linux and a couple other popular free source engines have pretty much been sued out of existence by Microsoft.
They want their money. and they want it NOW.
Now, on to the second thing that got me rilled up. I enjoyed the fact that aside from a very few select tittles on PS2 and other consoles I could pretty much play online, for free with Microsoft. NO MORE. Any game that supports multi player online capabilities that is made by Microsoft has now been phased into X-Box live arcade or whatever it is they call that crap. I mean... Do you really want to PAY to play the same 12 maps in Shadowrun over and over again? not only that- but if you are going to pay to play a game that entitles the gamers a SAFE place to play. Free of harassment and "glitchers" while the ESRB requires them (the game makers) th place a simple "Experience may change online" sticker on the cases, it does not make them enforce any penalties for the actions that it is supposed to represent. When you pay to play a game the EULA entitles you to a better, more productive experience, which Microsoft has failed to provide in it's games.
So now. Me a gamer, No VISTA, No Microsoft games. I guess I have to bite the bullet on this one and say enough is enough. I knew when I bought my PS3 that it would be free of the defects Microsoft had from Day one. They pushed an inferior system to get a jump on what they refer to as the console war- and in my opinion LOST that war. Not only did Microsoft loose, SONY did as well. The Nintendo will be the forefront of next-gen console gaming for the next couple years. they are jumping ahead by leaps and bounds- already surpassing SONY's PS3 sales by several million dollars. A cheaper, more fun venue of entertainment is always better, in my book and Nintendo has stayed true to it's roots.
In short- I am done with Microsoft. They can have their Games for Windows and their VISTA- because I will NEVER purchase either. I will make it a personal vow to either purchase a MAC or even peruse one of the now very rare free-source or open-code operating systems.
I agree that Microsoft has won the console war. they are slowly bludgeoning the other companies into nothingness- but n doing so they have lost at least one supporting customer.
Besides... who wants to update their drivers every morning? I hear VISTA is complete crap.
I agree that Bill Gates and his company are trying to do what they do best. Bring in a profit while providing a easy to use interface used in dealing with one of todays biggest parts of our everyday lives- computers. Hundreds of operating systems, Software packages and even hardware, computers and other things as well. They have their hands in everything to do with computers, technology and everything that comes with it. I applaud that kind of genius. They (the entire company) are composed of very intelligent men and women, all working hard to provide us, the consumers good products.
Bill Gates has a good thing and he knows it. That is the problem. They have taken it too far. Even at the top of the gaming industry (which is the root of this little rant of mine, more to come on that) Microsoft made a name for itself with a completely heretofore untouched demographic- Gamers. Millions of them. The X-Box was a gargantuan hit with millions and millions of gamers world wide. They instantly threw their hat (very successfully) into the ring with already established Giants like Nintendo and Sony and did quite well when it went to the cards. Then came the release of the Play station 3, to a very displeased crowd of gamers that had never seen a console top 400 bucks in it's first days- propelling Microsoft to another stunning and complete victory in the gaming industry. Over the past few years Microsoft has been doing extremely well.
All the while I sat back and watched, trying to take in the whole picture. I am a HUGE gamer. I own a PS3, X-box and X-box 360, along with some very old consoles like an Atari and an Intelivison 3000 and almost every other console to hit North America in the past 20 years. I watched and tried to figure out where it was all eventually going. Was Microsoft going to dominate and maybe even push Sony (my favorite by far) out of the picture? Was Nintendo going to pick up the pace and establish themselves as the top console this year? These questions are slowly becoming easier to answer, and I don't like the outcome. Nintendo can (and almost certainly will) dominate the PS3 in every aspect with it's family oriented play and great gimmicks, and I enjoy that knowledge. Knowing that gaming is falling back to it's roots- wherein a 46 year old business man can even pick up the remote and enjoy himself- while also providing a more stable background for an established gamer to enjoy several hours with one of the license' great names like Zelda.
But then Microsoft stuck it's big, ugly head into the picture.. and really sent me on a rampage. I love my 360. I hug it every morning before work. And even more.. I LOVE my HALO 2. A few weeks back I was reading a magazine, just glancing through- not really paying attention to detail and I saw that Microsoft was going to release HALO 2, a port for computers- with added content, and the ability to trump the 360 graphically with a good machine it was hands down an easy yes from my department. Even if it WAS a port, and a bit outdated (only by a couple years... pffft.) Then came the day. It was out. I woke up to a day off of work and 60 bucks reserved to purchase the game. Went to Game Stop immediately to get it. But.. I go in a pick up the box and a couple things strike me as a bit odd. Infuriated me in fact. This game (They are now referred to as "Games for Windows", which also encompasses just about every game Microsoft has ever made) Was made specifically for Windows VISTA. You got XP? tough luck gamer buddy. You want to play a 2 year old port from Microsoft and you will have to shell out the cash to purchase the OS to go with it. I cannot even begin to describe how angry that made me. Not only do they want everyone in the US who owns a computer to use their OS, they also want you to have the NEWEST POSSIBLE VERSION to even play their games. That is, in my opinion, bordering on a monopoly. Not only is there NOT a reliable operating system (aside from what mac provides) for PC currently available- you will pretty much have to buy a Mac or even go free source and be a code master to get anything better. Not only that, but Linux and a couple other popular free source engines have pretty much been sued out of existence by Microsoft.
They want their money. and they want it NOW.
Now, on to the second thing that got me rilled up. I enjoyed the fact that aside from a very few select tittles on PS2 and other consoles I could pretty much play online, for free with Microsoft. NO MORE. Any game that supports multi player online capabilities that is made by Microsoft has now been phased into X-Box live arcade or whatever it is they call that crap. I mean... Do you really want to PAY to play the same 12 maps in Shadowrun over and over again? not only that- but if you are going to pay to play a game that entitles the gamers a SAFE place to play. Free of harassment and "glitchers" while the ESRB requires them (the game makers) th place a simple "Experience may change online" sticker on the cases, it does not make them enforce any penalties for the actions that it is supposed to represent. When you pay to play a game the EULA entitles you to a better, more productive experience, which Microsoft has failed to provide in it's games.
So now. Me a gamer, No VISTA, No Microsoft games. I guess I have to bite the bullet on this one and say enough is enough. I knew when I bought my PS3 that it would be free of the defects Microsoft had from Day one. They pushed an inferior system to get a jump on what they refer to as the console war- and in my opinion LOST that war. Not only did Microsoft loose, SONY did as well. The Nintendo will be the forefront of next-gen console gaming for the next couple years. they are jumping ahead by leaps and bounds- already surpassing SONY's PS3 sales by several million dollars. A cheaper, more fun venue of entertainment is always better, in my book and Nintendo has stayed true to it's roots.
In short- I am done with Microsoft. They can have their Games for Windows and their VISTA- because I will NEVER purchase either. I will make it a personal vow to either purchase a MAC or even peruse one of the now very rare free-source or open-code operating systems.
I agree that Microsoft has won the console war. they are slowly bludgeoning the other companies into nothingness- but n doing so they have lost at least one supporting customer.
Besides... who wants to update their drivers every morning? I hear VISTA is complete crap.
