I like to think I’m a very loyal person. This can be seen as a good quality in a person because it means you can be trusted. This can also be exploited in a person because the person or entity who has you by the balls can squeeze every ounce from you until there really is nothing left but a dried up husk. Why am I bringing this up? Mainly because I noticed that the last few games I wrote about were mainly played on the Personal Computer and I felt I needed to explain why. Let’s go back in time, shall we?!
The start of my gaming life began with the Atari 2600 when I was three. Actually, it was the Sears Video System but it was practically the same. Anyways, when we got our Nintendo Entertainment System that’s where my first loyalty began. I was hooked with this system and we would either buy or rent games throughout its lifespan. Fast forward a few years and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System came out and I realized I was becoming a Nintendo fanboy. I had seen what Sega was doing in the background and dismissed it as being inferior because it wasn’t Nintendo. This doesn’t mean I wasn’t blind to them because I did get a Sega Game Gear for Christmas because it looked superior to the Nintendo GameBoy. Again, fast forward a few years and I got a Nintendo 64 because, not only was it 64 bit compared to the 32 bit systems, but it was Nintendo!
As time went on it started to become apparent that my choice was folly. What we got on this system seemed to be inferior to what the other systems got. Sure we got Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye 007, and others but they seemed to pale in comparison to the Sony PlayStation games like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, and such. Later on in the life cycle I did get a PSone so I could finally play these games as well as a Sega Dreamcast. But I made the mistake, again, a few years later and decided to get a Nintendo GameCube because it was Nintendo and surely they wouldn’t make the same mistake again…
It started out OK with the games being pretty good with Super Smash Bros.: Melee, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, etc. but it fell by the wayside super fucking quickly when the other systems were getting Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Halo, and other heavy hitters. Not to mention those systems were embracing the future of online gaming while Nintendo was just dabbling with GBA connectivity. I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to just put the GameCube up and get into the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox ecosystem. When the generation was coming to an end I had made a decision which would last two decades.
With the Microsoft Xbox 360 it just seemed like it was the system that had everything. Its online ecosystem was booming. The games were there and looked amazing. The controller was the bomb. The system was customizable. It was just super hip and cool. My friends and I played Halo 3, Gears of War, Forza, and the like and couldn’t be happier. Even when the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii came out it felt like the days during the NES when those systems just couldn’t compare. Even with the Red Ring of Death that plagued the generation, even two of my systems, it didn’t phase my devotion to the system and I became an Xbox fanboy. I made my mind to keep on the bandwagon for the next system set to be released in 2013.
I felt the Microsoft Xbox One was a cool system too. I loved the design of it. How the controller looked. The Kinect being included was whatever. I was even on board with the TV implementation of it. I was kind of sketchy about the always online connectivity but I didn’t think it was a big deal because I really was always connected and would love to share my games with my family. I got one that December along with some games and kept the train going. I was even going to buy a Sony PlayStation 4 the same day because I could but they were sold out. I started buying my games digitally and built myself a super huge library.
Throughout the generation the writing was on the wall that the Xbox One was inferior compared to the PS4 in terms of hardware and software. The games just weren’t coming to the Xbox so Microsoft tried to fix that with the release of the Microsoft Xbox One X being a powerhouse but I think the system was too little too late so they pivoted to their next system that I had to have, the Microsoft Xbox Series X. Sony was on board and released their Sony PlayStation 5 at the same time in 2020.
I was happy with this system. I loved everything about it and felt the PS5 was just a hideous beast and didn’t really care for what it had to offer. Heck, the Xbox even had Game Pass which I had subscribed to up until 2026 to play all the new games and be happy. Things just couldn’t go wrong for the system, right?
Here is why I am talking about loyalty. 2025 was the year Microsoft decided the Xbox consoles and the brand was basically pointless. At the start of the year they decided that they should put some of the Xbox games on the PS5. It was only going to be 4 games so we shouldn’t worry, the Xbox was the main focus! Then they announced even MORE games were coming to the PS5, like Gear of War, and would run EVEN BETTER on that system! Then they cancelled a bunch of games we’ve been looking forward to for the last few years, like Perfect Dark, and told us to kick rocks. Granted, these games were troubled, but still! They then announced that Halo, the main reason why people stuck with Xbox, was going to PS5 as well. So what’s the point? Lastly, Game Pass, what seemed to be the only reason why to stick with an Xbox going forward with its low price point and access to a large library of games was being broken up into even more tiers and the price was DOUBLING. So, not only were you getting less games but you were now meant to pay MORE for those games. Fuck this! The day after it was announced in October 2025 the price would increase, I went and bought all the components and built myself a PC to last me quite a while.
Microsoft effectively nuked any goodwill they had amassed over 20 fucking years of brand loyalty by sure corporate greed. What was a system I had loved was, essentially, thrown to the curb and told it wasn’t good enough. I still love the system because of how well it was made and how it functions but I can no longer follow Microsoft to the ends of the earth. They’ve made their bed and decided to squeeze all the money they can out of their dying brand and the loyalists to which, in the end, they will probably tell them to fuck off once all is said and done.
They’ve made mentions of how the next system is going to be and how it will be a premium experience. But who fucking cares? Microsoft has shown they don’t know which direction they want to go and why should anyone follow them. Of course we’re held by the balls because of our large digital library they have behind their walled garden but I no longer trust them to even carry that forward without some dumb caveats.
Microsoft of loyalty can fuck right off.