To use an allegory, Microsoft's move here is like your idiotic nextdoor neighbour (we all have one at one point in time :-)), even though you know he's a complete moron you're still surprised the day he crashes his car in his living room.

I guess the only reasonable approach here is to stock on popcorn and enjoy the show :-)

Which is of course true, but as it's a matter for the civil courts, you still need to assert your rights in front of a court, which means you're exposing yourself to the risk of losing thousands of dollars. The public prosecutor won't do it for you.

How many people are willing to take that risk?

(Of course, I hope with the catastrophic state the gaming market is in right now that they might start making blatant breaches of consumer protection law like this a matter for the criminal courts, but this isn't the case right now)

Apparently this is a real thing:

http://www.dewanddoritos.com/

So, it still has an optical drive? Did they at least finally upgrade from the craptastic DVD player to bluray?

Yes, it has a Blu-Ray drive:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_24010_30315850_pe_button/?ASIN=B00CMQTVK0

Well, someone finally at least had a rational thought. I wonder if the hard drive is a standard 2.5 or 3.5" or it's still one of those over-priced proprietary firmware ones. But it still has the negative I want nothing to do with: Always-Online.

God damn it, im going to have to get an xbox one now due to the Halo teaser Trailer 2014. not bad a little close to destiny and I can spot the produce replicates to sell item already but nice setting of the mood.

Release in Asia is delayed until late 2014. Microsoft is so effing stupid. Their marketshare in Asia is already small, so why do they give Sony a one year headstart? oO I don't get it...

Funny: There's no release date for Japan. Is this because of the spanking Sony gave them? ;)

So, I played Halo and Halo 2. I found Halo 2 to be so fucking awful that the future ones hold no interest to me. Are they massively better than 2, or did you actually like 2?

Because buying this machine, with all its faults and higher price, means you must really love Halo.

Couple trailers more, and even if Xbone is going to post your naked photos on tumblr, it's gonna be a hit.

What do you mean "rest of the world" ? EAstern Europe is scheduled to 2014 as well.

meh. rest of the important world :)

seriously tough.

xbox is next year in Eastern Europe? the fuck? any news about ps4 release date?

As far as I know, Microsoft scheduled only 21 countries (markets?) for 2013.

PS4 will not only be 100 dollars / euros cheaper than Xbone, it will premiere before Christmas 2013 on all markets. There won't be any restrictions with buying used games or borrowing them on platform's side as well. No region lock and no always-on too.

halo 2 was more a story filler for me, but once it was announced that it was console only i (after some time i might add!) purchased my 360 for halo 3. and there my xbox love was born (had a ps2 but used my pc for major gaming).
Halo 3 was (and still is) awesome, and even though Halo Reach deviated a little if you ask the hard core fans i still love the game, sad sad day when Bungie jumped ship believe me!
Believe it or not Halo Reach was when i got into online mp gaming! (seriously!) and my first co-op play through was Halo CE Anniversary. i had dabbled with online mp but never bothered, must have had what 3 hours in my gaming life on online MP (first ever was Red Alert 2 - 2 matches (PC)) (im more a solo person). i gave halo 3 MP a go but still wasnt into it as was trying to figure out my xbox and the live thing-y.

so ramble over - yep im a halo nut, im the show up for midnight launches person. so at some point (hopefully well after that xbox1 had had a second generation produced - to remove some faults) halo 5 will be released and ill be in a better financial situation i will end up getting it for halo 5, but with a very heavy heart. you have no idea how angry i feel about what they have done to a *cough* gaming console.

so if you ever get a chance to play through halo 3 and Reach (i booked a weeks official holiday for halo reach) please give them a go, borrow your mates xbox when hes away or when you go over somewhere! - even a mythic playthrough of halo 3 (legendary and ALL skulls activated - those are real skulls btw not the make the game easier skulls!) is massively fun in co-op. though i suggest a normal playthough to see how you feel first!