Microsoft Doesn't Care About Games

That's right, you read it here first, folks.  Microsoft no longer cares about videogames.

Oh, what's that, you say?  They had just officially announced their next console, so they can't possibly have given up on games?

To which I say, oh really?  Did you see any games?  Well… yes, you do, but you also see a whole lot more.  Like football.  TV.  Skype.  Halo TV show.  Oh, did I mention football?  Yes, there were a bunch of sports games.  Yes, they did show footage of the new Call of Duty and yes, it's still too early to show off their other games (namely the 15 exclusives they mentioned but did not name except one) but let's face it, most of the announcement were not gaming related and sports games are nothing to get excited about.

The thing to remember here is that this is Microsoft's 'big reveal'.  This show is supposed to tell the world what the Xbox One is all about.  And it did.  It's just not about games.  If it was about games, they would hype the systems gaming features.  Things like a list of developers on board, or at least, a list of titles slated for the machine.  They can save the game footage for E3, that's fine.  But at least show use a plan which actually involves games.  Show off what your new machine can do to help us experience games in a whole new way, and no, having Kinect built in does not count.  We want to see something new.  New games, new features, new titles, new exclusives, that kind of thing.

Instead, we were treated to a… well, a PC, really, with Skype, multitasking, TV watching, web surfing… pretty much the kitchen sink included but very little of that was gaming related.  At least Sony has a plan for bringing social connectivity to our regular gaming.  But the Xbox One?  Nothing.

So here's where I tell you Microsoft's real plan.  They plan to dominate your living room with the Xbox One; essentially an all-in-one machine (hence the name) to let you do everything you can dream of in the living room.  TV, web, games, etc, etc.  If you follow Microsoft's moves, this isn't news.  What is new is this:  Microsoft's new machine involves a lot of things, but if you consider yourself a gamer, then the one thing it doesn't involve, is you.  That's right, this is Microsoft's outright rejection of 'the gamer' and their embracing of everyone else.  Who is this elusive 'everyone else'?  People who don't consider themselves gamers.  People who play nothing but Call of Duty, for instance.  People who dabble in videogames only until Monday Night Football shows (which they can now watch on Xbox One).  People who would rather watch Halo on TV than play Halo.

The proof is in the reveal.  Just who was Microsoft targeting with their launch?  There were just too much 'mass market' in that show to be a conincidence.  Most of the tech and nerd speak of that show were glossed over by mass market offerings.  Sports, is a very safe, massively popular past time, and Call of Duty is about as mass market as you can get and still be called a video game.  And Skype?  Web browsing?  Those fall under a lable everyone does at one time or another called 'communication'.  Finally, watching TV is something everybody understands.  So, if you are a television watching sports lover who enjoys voice chatting while surfing the web and likes to dabble in a shooter or two (and only shooters), then the Xbox One is probably the best thing since sliced bread. 

The clues are all there.  Microsoft is aiming the Xbox One to everybody, but what gets shuffled up and lost are all the gamers in between.