: First, you can't say that until we know the details of what this
: once-per-24hour connection does.
: Second, Apple is moving this way too with seamless background app updates.
: Third, who says updates'll necessarily interrupt anything important?

: For all we know there may still be an option to disable auto-updates. Choice
: is nice to have. But I can see how enforcing updates can be beneficial.
: Perhaps this is MS's past experience coming through in regards to IE6,
: which they now tell people not to use, and rightly so, but can't force
: people to upgrade for their own good. *shrug*
: Point being, there's no basis to presume this is all exclusively about unfair
: EULA rules, or inherently and necessarily bad user experience. All we know
: is what they've told us, so if you presume anything malicious from that,
: you're not doing anyone any favours.

: Confirmed details are more respectable than presuming and ranting over
: impressions and reputation.

: Is every user good and 100% trustworthy? It's a matter of perspective.
: Every decision would be unfavorable to someone. I guarantee you EA does
: not universally distrust every user, nor presume every user is bad and
: untrustable.

: The drawbacks to whatever they implement are certainly clear. And it hurts
: them because of the negative feedback. But to presume they want to screw
: their customers over is just wrong. Like any company, they want to both
: make money, and keep their customers happy. Finding the middle ground
: without making blanket presumptions about their entire client base is not
: an easy process. That's why it's a risky business trying something new.

: Steam is a software service running on hardware. XBO is
: "Steam"&Hardware. If Steam were the PC's OS, then there may be
: more concern. We use PCs for much more though, so its use goes far beyond
: Steam. But XBO is Steam; it's Steam in console form, if you will. With
: the added benefit of using disc-based media.

: Maybe Steam should release a gaming console, then we'd have a better
: competitive comparison :P

Intent and perception are two different things. Obviously, not every user is an upstanding citizen - but modern DRM and similar services automatically treat every user as if they're threatening to steal or misuse. The other thing is that their definition of "misuse" is bullshit. You can get banned from ME3 multiplayer for modding the singleplayer. What the hell is that? The multiplayer is cooperative, for goodness' sake - it's not like there's a competitive ranking system to cheat.

You're right, Steam is not the hardware platform. They considered making one and decided not to. There's all this talk about consoles advancing, becoming more widely functional than their older iterations, and to a certain extent, that's true. However, a lot of the changes are focused on taking control from the user. Restricting access to content for which the user has paid; constantly checking in to make sure the user hasn't cheated; preventing modding, even of singleplayer games. This is not good. Not every game needs mods, but . . . imagine the games industry without them. How many developers got started with GoldSource or making Doom WADs?

"Advancement" which does not improve the experience of the gamers is not advancement. Include multimedia functionality, fine, but don't forget: the console exists to play games. It is not a smartphone, it is not a cable box, it is not a DVD player. If there are aspects of the console which intentionally inhibit the user's ability to play, those aspects should be done away with.