I feel like it's a good time to weigh in with my thoughts since I've had time to process everything since the initial reveal and E3. I'll say up front that I dislike all the hate on Microsoft, most of it seems to be baseless bullshit hate because it's popular to do so. Microsoft has handled consumer response poorly, no doubt, but when I look past all of that, I see some good ideas with their new console.
The obvious popular thing to hate on is the DRM that requires a check every 24 hours. I know this is the focus but for me, it's really a necessary means to an end, that end being having your gaming collection "in the cloud" and playable from anywhere, with no need for a disc, ever. Microsoft simply can't do this without the DRM check, otherwise it would be extremely easy to pirate games. The main idea here is not needing the disc, as that is typically your "key" to play the game. Microsoft is essentially wanting to get rid of the disc, which is the way ALL media is going. I'm sure some will compare this to the music industry, which has been in the process of shunning discs for years now and is mostly DRM-free at this point. I feel the price differences in the media doesn't make this a fair comparison, though.
I like a future with no discs and my games installed on the hard drive. Microsoft essentially has to implement DRM to give this kind of functionality because of the financial risks is too high. Games cost a lost of money to make and I understand the need to mitigate risk of financial loss. I know that sounds like some kind of justification but it really is necessary. You either require the disc like 360/PS3/PS4 or require some other form of saying "hey, I own this game", hence the DRM check.
Sure, this requires broadband online access, which will not be a problem for a lot of people. For those without that access, I don't see a need for you to get mad, it's just that this product is not intended for you. Whether or not this hurts Microsoft will remain to be seen but you aren't entitled to use this console. Luckily, there are alternative options but this is no reason to hate on the X1, IMO.
As for the Kinect, I understand their want to include it in every package. In a way, this is a good thing, as anybody who has a X1 will also have a Kinect. I like to think this will foster innovation, similar to how the DS did with two screens. Imagine if Nintendo released a handheld and then sold a second-screen add-on. The adoption rate would be much smaller, games making innovating use of it would be few and far between.
Including a Kinect with every X1 console makes me think of the 360 launch when Microsoft had a base model that didn't include a hard drive. It couldn't be taken full advantage of because developers had to consider that some users just didn't have it. Same with Kinect. They know it's there now and can make full use of it. Kinect is definitely a love it or hate it thing, so I don't blame anybody for not wanting anything to do with it. I just hope we'll see some innovative uses now that it's standard equipment.
It's easy to see it added $100 to the console though, otherwise I think the X1 would've came in at $399 as well. Microsoft is taking a big gamble and I'm not about to guess whether it will pay off or not. I don't, however, feel that their $499 price is as big of a deal as the PS3's $499/$599 from 7 years ago.
The other thing with the Kinect is people's privacy fears. This just doesn't worry me at all. If Microsoft was going to be recording sounds and/or video, it would have to be in the TOS somewhere. We would have to allow it. I just don't feel like this is something that Microsoft could keep secret. This whole NSA thing was horrible timing for Microsoft.
At this point, I've been typing off and on this post all morning at work, I think I'll just leave it be for now. I still have other thoughts, but I'm sure I'll get reamed for what's here already.