What all of this adds up to is speculation as to what the future holds for the Xbox and, really, gaming as a whole. What's gone from a fairly ramshackle cottage industry where games came out on tapes and anybody could conceivably code a hit title has become a billion-dollar prospect on the level of Hollywood, with the people in charge less the speccy Jeff Minters of the world and more the greedy corporate overlords who wish to maximise profits and minimise anything that isn't profits. That's what brought us (briefly) to not allowing borrowing or second-hand games, that's why the enforcement and then abandonment of the Kinect, that's why all the non-gaming stuff, that's why you pay for Xbox Live. All of which builds a pretty clear picture of where stuff's headed. Things are going to get more homogenised and profit-driven, true. But where the comparison to Hollywood can be a little dispiriting, as certain forms of creativity are squeezed out and prices skyrocket, there's a lot of good stuff that could come of this, too. The increased exposure and popularity of games is helping to make it seem like more of a legitimate art form, which could ironically lead to weirder titles being made; it's also going to keep attracting A-list talent in the form of actors and directors taking this kid's stuff seriously. The increased budgets do, eventually, end up being paid back to the players, too. In a way. Games like Destiny couldn't have existed a few years ago, and not just because the technology wasn't there. There simply wasn't the money to pour into such a project and do it right, with the understanding that they'd actually make it back. You have to put up with a lot of crazy stuff to enjoy the Xbox One, but accepting it means playing it without reservations now, and that the future might be brighter than we initially hoped. Although we're still sceptical about the Halo series, if we're honest.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
