When Will Gamers Say Enough Is Enough?

I’ve seen some very similar responses to today’s Xbox One news, whether it be the mandatory 24-hour “check-in” or the restrictions on game lending. It’s a defensive sort of reply, brought up by somebody who doesn’t see the news as downright terrible.

https://lastchance.cc/the-xbox-one-just-had-a-very-bad-day-511766497%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

“But they’re still letting us trade games!”

Sure, we’ve always had some form of restriction with our games systems. Region locks have been with us since almost the dawn of time. But the rate at which things have escalated in the “online” era put things like plastic tabs on an N64 in the shade.

And yes, there are benefits to gaming’s modern infrastructure. Instant downloads, fire sales, convenience, connectivity. But those benefits have also come with some hefty conditions.

It would have been absurd if your SNES cartridges only worked in your SNES. Or if Street Fighter II couldn’t be played at an arcade if Capcom’s phone lines weren’t working. Or if Metroid’s “true” ending had only been available as part of a $5 expansion.

“I just want to buy a video game and play it, whenever and however I want.”

Yet those are the kinds of situations we find ourselves in today. Beginning with CD keys, the launch of Steam and the first DLC for video games, and going on through online delivery services and online passes, we’ve gradually found ourselves gamers in a market that treats every sale as a rental, every purchase a privilege.

When did the consumer lose so much power? When did the market, the force that should be dictating how these companies behave by refusing to put up with anti-consumer measures and shaping policies with our wallets, roll over and say “have your way with me”?

The answer is we did it ten years ago. And five. And yesterday. And today. We love video games so much, this wonderful pastime, hobby and artform, that whenever a company that makes money off them places a load on our backs, we endure it, because we’re willing to put up with it to get to the games we want to play.

As they drop each load, one by one, we barely protest, because each small weight on its own seems worth it. It’s only when you look back, and see how much you’re now carrying just to purchase and play a video game in 2013, that you realise, wow, that’s kind of messed up.

I’ve often wondered whether we would ever actually break from the strain, and people would begin to say – en masse and with true intent – that enough was enough. I honestly never thought I would, I thought our tolerance would just continue to strengthen in order to carry the load, but the backlash surrounding the things like SimCity’s launch and now Xbox One’s policies has surprised me.

https://lastchance.cc/simcitys-problems-have-caused-this-family-nothing-but-494613427%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

Maybe we are reaching a tipping point. The space where people draw the line and say, OK, I’ve put up with a lot of crap, but this is too much. I just want to buy a video game and play it, whenever and however I want, without you telling me how I can and can’t use the expensive stuff I paid good money for. These roadblocks you keep putting in front of me aren’t worth it, and no matter how good your games look, I’m not willing to put up with all these restrictions just to play them.

Yet video game publishers and platform holders aren’t politicians. They don’t respond to public perception, or complaints on forums, or angry messages on Twitter. They respond, as I’ve said before, to sales.

https://lastchance.cc/stop-preordering-video-games-5909105%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

As such, it’ll be interesting to see whether the rising anger over Microsoft’s stance with the Xbox One – and against EA’s SimCity disaster – really does start to impact companies at the register. If so, it’d be a first, albeit a very important one for the market.