Microsoft's last E3 event was awful as well. But this time they're announcing a new console, how could they screw it up so much?

Well, this is a thread about a new console. I know MS can do no wrong in your eyes but at least you should be able to understand why previous Xbox owners will be upset. Or do you remember the transition to Steam being smooth? It took years until it caught on.
This is a pretty risky move by MS specially when its 2 main competitors aren't doing this.
Now those EA statements about dropping online passes make sense. Of course, why would they need online passes anymore if the new Xbox is doing offline passes mandatory?

True. A boycott won't happen. I might buy a Xbox One one day (fuck this shitty name), but unless something drastic happens the PS4 is my next gen console of choice.

This is all I found about it, but from what I know there was no official statement from Sony yet.

Don't forget about all the features that would be useless/locked out for Europe and Asia!

No, it's not great. It's TERRIBLE compared to what was offered in the previous gen. On the Xbox 360 you had the OPTION to install the game in your HD to avoid bigger loading times, but that was OPTIONAL and the disc was still needed to run the game. However, there were no such BS restrictions to tie one disc to one console. The PS3 had some games with mandatory HD install, but it didn't lock the game to your account either.

How is it great if the previous gen offered better options? How is it great if it made things worse instead of improving? This is not a feature, it's a way to finally block second-hand games.

EA has just announced that they would drop online-passes. Coincidence? Haha.

They certainly can. :) If you know me, then you know that I don't have a good opinion about their whole Entertainment division, and would not buy a Xbox console as long as it cannot be used a general purpose computing device. Same thing can be said about their relations with small-time non-US developers, but they have improved this greatly the last year. :)
I'm talking from a developers' point of view, this is great. That is all that is relevant to me.

I think the biggest issue I'm having with the reveal is the addition of options I'll never use, while forcing options I DON'T want to use on me.

I've been an Xbox owner since the first console, but I'll be watching E3 like a hawk to see if I bother purchasing a new console, or simply save my money and join the GLORIOUS PC GAMING MASTER RACE.

Have you ever wondered how the Phillips CD-i would be like if it was made today?

Now you know.

my feelings exactly, i was excited for the reveal, all it's done so far is disappoint me, and killing off the rental market is just going to push me elsewhere

Lol, knew there had to be something behind EA's dropping the Online pass thing. A lot of hot air over something that was basically still going to be there anyway, just not directly by them.

This is also true for the PSx versions of their games?

Never purchased an online pass, and never will, and Microsoft forcing it will make me even less likely to purchase their system.

I think what the big corps need to start understanding is that none of us appreciate them attempting to make our choices for us. It's all about options. Give us the option for your "features," never make it mandatory.

This makes me wonder if they bothered with focus groups on this at all.

Well, this is an interesting console.... I think....

The part that bothers me least is activating games to a single account. Anyone who regularly buys Steam games will have to spin pretty hard to say why that's OK and bad here. Before the sales excuse comes up, Microsoft has started having more frequent sales on Xbox live and has discounts on single games regularly, so they are heading in that direction already.

Mandatory Kinect and no backwards compatibility are the real deal breakers for me. I don't care about Kinect, so having to pay for it is a big negative. Also having none of my 360 games transfer over is another bad mark.

Considering how bad price drops were this gen, I don't anticipate this console getting into a price range I'm OK with for many years, so sticking with my PC it is.