Welcome to Monday morning, aka that time when very little happens. Among the very little that's happening this morning, we have Schell Games founder and academic Jesse Schell sticking up for Microsoft's original digital policies on Xbox One. According to Schell, the manufacturer never should have heeded the core backlash against such initiatives as 24-hour sign-ins, because those complaining are guilty of double standards. "Your customers want you to stay the same, even if it drives you into the ground," he told GamesIndustry.biz at the Gamelab event in Barcelona. "Somehow, Microsoft didn't seem to think that would be a reality, or even a problem.

"The reality is that they can't do what the customers want. Basically, Microsoft said, 'We're going to be Steam. You like Steam, don't you?' And we all said, 'No, we hate that. We hate you. You're an idiot to do that.'"



Just in case you slept through the past three months - lucky you - here's a rundown of the now-defunct Xbox One digital policy document Microsoft unveiled in June, which would have imposed mandatory internet sign-ins every 24 hours, and would have allowed (but not obliged) publishers to charge for or block play of second-hand games.

The firm also planned to let players share their entire libraries with up to 10 other people (technically, "family members", but Microsoft was prepared to let the requirement slide). This feature has been put on hold for the time being, but could return.

Most pundits agree that the original, Steam-style vision for Xbox One reflects where our increasingly digital-centric industry is heading, and Schell feels Microsoft may have handed the advantage to one of its rivals (presumably, Google or Apple) by capitulating to internet outrage.

"They came out and said, 'We're gonna do this new thing,'" he went on. "And the customers said, 'No, we don't want that, we hate that' - even though it's what they really want and what they will ultimately buy. So now Microsoft has had to say they won't do all that stuff, but someone will.

"That's how it always goes. This is the lesson of the innovator's dilemma. Why is it that big companies fail when the technology changes? It happens in every industry, so what's the pattern? What are they all doing wrong?

"Everyone says, 'Oh, it's because they're stupid. Big companies are stupid.' They can't be stupid. How did they get that big and stay that big if they're stupid? Microsoft isn't stupid.

"There's one mistake that they all make, and that mistake is listening to their customers."



Ultimately, Schell feels companies like Microsoft will always struggle to keep their most loyal fans happy. "The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'

"When you want to do something really different - the solution to the innovator's dilemma - you can't take your big brand and say it's going to be completely different. You need to set up something up on the side, and big companies are hesitant to do that. It's how Valve could do it [with Steam], because they had nothing before.

"I suspect that we're going to end up in that world. Are we going to end up there on these consoles? I don't know. It could be that some dark horse shows up. It could be that Apple shows up. It could be that somebody finds a better way."

Source: Rheena.com