posted this stuff elsewhere, but i like sniffing my own butt enough to repost here:
Hardcore gamers don't amount to shit in the grand profit scheme - parents do, and the more convoluted you make things for parents, the less likely they're gonna buy into it. My fiance is still pissed about her Rock Band songs being tied to the hardware when her kids' Wii broke. Guess who's never getting a Wii U? I would absolutely bet good money on this push flaming out spectacularly and quickly. Game consoles aren't PCs, they aren't phones, and they aren't tablets. They're different animals altogether, and parents are always going to see them as toys. When your kids' toys make you jump through a bunch of hoops before they're "allowed" to loan them to their buddy down the street, alongside nickel-and-diming you to death, you tell your kids to find other hobbies.
Making it an extra hassle to trade in games, restrictions on loaning, constant online checks - combine that with a $400 console and they're basically all but outright telling parents to just go ahead and get their kids an iPad, where all the games are either free or eventually a dollar. Having to wait 30 days just to give something away, making sure it's connected for the daily check, filling out a bunch of form shit at the game store just to trade something in and then getting even less for more trouble, fielding constant "why isn't my game working" complaints - all that's just needless bother to a parent. Buying your kid a $20 iTunes card and saying "here, go nuts" is easy as pie.
I can't wait to see the ashen-faced public backpedaling and apologies a year from now. I love a good self-immolation.
And now I'm getting kinda tired of talking about it. I'm not buying any of this shit, so it's pointless. I'd rather just play some games.