: Maybe I'm just... irritated?... at the idea of expressing any kind of
: entitlement regarding consumer electronics. Perhaps I was projecting a
: little, or, taking the opportunity to work some idea out on my own.

I don't see it as entitlement. X Box owners have always enjoyed the freedom to play our games whether we have an Internet connection or not. We can fire up an X Box, pop in a game and play for hours on end without the console being connected to the Internet. We can take our consoles over to a friends house and create a local network game and blast away at each other without restrictions. Considering what our soldiers and sailors deal with on a daily basis, is it too much to ask from Microsoft to allow our gaming soldiers and sailors the freedom to play the games they enjoy without this Internet restriction?

I understand why you are irritated. There is a lot of complaining going on but I think there are legitimate reasons for the negative responses.

This has already been a massive PR disaster for Microsoft. I see Microsoft eating a massive shit-burger shortly after the new Xbox goes on sale. As it is, and I will paraphrase this, Microsoft is basically saying, "You're going to buy the X Box One, and you are going to love it no matter what". If anyone is acting like they are entitled, it's Microsoft.