: Do you actually know this to be true? Because I've read quite the opposite.
: GameStop stores have stopped taking pre-orders, claiming to have reached
: their allotment. Amazon lists it as a #1 Best Seller in the Video Games
: category, ahead of the PS4. Sure, no numbers are given, so all the various
: PS4 bundles may well total higher than the XBox One's single offering.
: Still, I'd say pre-orders are going well.

: Personally, I'd rather have the shared library and installed games with no
: disk check, actually. I'd like to see this be an optional thing: a
: "Connected" mode that allows the new features, or a
: "Disconnected" mode that works like current systems.

: And if I had to guess, I'd say a vocal minority of torch and pitchfork
: enthusiasts (amplified by link-baiting bloggers) are blowing things out of
: proportion.

Microsoft is a big corporation. Who says they weren't all in on it together?

I could see them telling retailers to say they were running out of preorders, etc. in order to get a "Oh, it must actually be pretty good if so many people are buying it. I should buy it too" reaction. The crappy features such as the 24-hour check-up, etc. were also thrown in to make it seem less appealing so that they could later revoke the "changes" and bring all those customers who were PO'ed back, and then some (which they will probably end up bringing back in a mandatory update to the console in the future anyways.)

It's all about marketing and knowing how to give your customers what they think they want.