The Girl Who Played with Fire is likely not happening

It's been rumored that a sequel for the American adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would be hitting for quite sometime now, but issues with Sony and director David Fincher stalled the project indefinitely. There's now more hints from actress Rooney Mara that any potential sequels are dead.

Mara told E! Online that she was sad that it doesn't seem to be in the cards, but it doesn't look likely at all. The film didn't hit as well at the box office as Sony would have wanted to begin with, but interest in an American version of the Millennium trilogy seemed to fizzle very quickly. David Fincher decided to move on and the studio was unwilling to pay Daniel Craig's post-Skyfall salary. At one point there were even rumors that The Girl Who Played with Fire would omit Craig's character entirely.
I personally loved Fincher's version and I really liked the books, but the source material wasn't that great. They managed to make great films out of the books in Sweden with Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. I just don't think Americans were quite prepared for a dark trilogy like this. It's a shame but it is what it is.

How exactly can, and will, Spider-Man fit into Marvel?

There is a lot of speculation right now regarding the announcement of Sony and Marvel teaming up for Spider-Man. The main question on everyone's mind is, how exactly will Spider-Man fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Not only that, how will he be introduced?

There are a few possibilities here...

First of all, we already have confirmation that Spidey will appear in one Marvel film prior to a new solo film in 2017 and that it will feature a new actor, not Andrew Garfield. My personal guess is the same as a lot of other guesses... Captain America: Civil War.
Civil War follows the rift between the heroes as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers form their own teams to fight against one another in light of the Superhuman Registration Act and Spider-Man is one of those heroes. There are already rumors floating around regarding X-Men characters making cameos as well as the new Fantastic Four, so it would make perfect sense for Spidey to be introduced in some way for Civil War. Not to mention that is the next major Marvel film following Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man and the only one that makes sense prior to 2017. I doubt we will get a Spidey cameo in either of those as they have both finished filming and we don't have a new Peter Parker yet.

Another possibility is to just continue The Amazing Spider-Man story that's already happened. This is possible to just continue the foundation that's been laid out already and it would further support Sinister Six and Venom which are both still in development at Sony. However, with Andrew Garfield not returning there would be no real reason to continue it. If they do decide to continue it with a new actor they could still go off the fact that Gwen Stacy is dead, Peter's father might be alive, and that Spider-man has super blood.

However, they very well could just have Spider-Man appear out of nowhere. The option here is to just introduce Spider-Man as if he already existed but just wasn't focused on. Easy as pie.

If all else fails, maybe we could just go for another origins story! This is by far the worst idea out of all of them because we've had two Spider-Man origins in just a little over a decade. Not to mention everyone knows it. Peter gets bitten by a genetically altered spider, Uncle Ben dies, and Oscorp is his evil foe. It's been done and we don't need it again.


At the end of the day, even with Marvel's help, Sony will have final creative approval over Spider-Man so who knows what will happen.

Spider-Man spinoffs still on without Marvel's help

With the news of the agreement between Sony and Marvel regarding Spider-Man, there were some questions regarding the upcoming spinoff films Sony already has given the green light to. We learned today that Sinister Six and Venom are indeed still moving forward and they will not require the assistance of Marvel and Kevin Feige.

There is no confirmation on whether Alex Kurtzman and Drew Goddard are still attached to their respective films, but the fact that Sony managed to hang out to these projects is pretty surprising. With that said, I would assume that Kurtzman and Goddard are going to stay in the picture. Without the involvement of Kevin Feige, who will co-produce the next solo Spidey film, Sony seems to want to try and prove once again that they can create a successful interconnected universe.
One thing to remember is now that Spider-Man can appear in Marvel films, that means Marvel characters can appear in the Sony films. This does open a possibility of introducing Marvel cameos into Venom and/or Sinister Six. Goddard does have some experience dealing with Marvel as he was originally attached to the Daredevil series set to premiere on Netflix, but he departed due to his commitments to Sinister Six. 

With the announced agreement between the studios last night it was also confirmed that previously announced Sony versions of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4 have been officially canceled. Sony had already delayed the projects by a year but with Marvel stepping in they have opted to restart with a new Spider-Man film in 2017. This all was kickstarted by the complete failure that was The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Many fans called for yet another reboot of the character with new villains and a new Peter Parker and it looks like they are getting their wish as Marvel is hoping to cast a younger actor to portray Spidey. Sorry, Andrew Garfield.

Sony and Marvel agree to terms on Spider-Man

Guys.. this is finally happening.

There is confirmation that Marvel and Sony Pictures have agreed to terms and Spider-Man will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The deal between the studios outlines a plan to have Spider-Man appear in an MCU film prior to the next solo Spidey film to be released by Sony in 2017. Another big tidbit is the next solo film will be co-produced by Marvel President, Kevin Feige. It is also possible that MCU characters might crossover into Sony's realm and vice versa. 
Rumors of this surfaced a few months back in the midst of the big Sony hack when leaked emails between Marvel and Sony were uncovered. Just about the only thing to come from the hacks was Sony co-chairman, Amy Pascal, stepping down. She will, however, still co-produce the Spider-Man film with Kevin Feige. There is no definite word yet on whether Andrew Garfield will continue as Peter Parker, but my guess is they will recast him at some point. He hasn't been a big hit so far.

My guess is the film Spidey will appear in will most definitely be Captain America: Civil War. That's really the only major Marvel release, aside from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, coming prior to a 2017 solo release. It would also make sense as Spider-Man appears in the Civil War comics.


This is good news!

Sony will not release The Interview at all

Just kidding on that whole VOD/DVD release. Sony Pictures responded to criticism about cancelling the theatrical release of The Interview by canceling its release altogether. The studio released a statement that they have no plans to release the James Franco comedy at all after US officials reportedly linked the Sony hack and theater threats to North Korea. As of yesterday the studio said they were looking into releasing the film on VOD and on home media, but those plans have apparently changed.

This decision could mean the rights to the film could go to another studio, but after all of this controversy I don't know what studio would want to pick this film up. On the other hand, if another studio did pick it up they could make a lot of money because there are a lot of people who have now said they'd watch the film just out of spite, even if they didn't want to see it to begin with. As it currently stands, this will result in a loss of millions of dollars to Sony Pictures as the film alone had a budget of $42 million. That isn't even counting the money spent on marketing and actor salaries. The Sony leaks told us that Seth Rogen received $8.4 million while Franco received $6.5 million.

Like I said in my previous posts about this, I didn't want to see The Interview to begin with and I wouldn't even watch it out of spite like many are saying they would. I thought the premise was stupid and I was surprised when I first heard about it that a studio actually funded the idea. I'm not saying I'm a supporter of North Korea or of Kim Jong-Un, but a little common sense would tell you it wasn't a very good idea in the first place. I'm sure at some point this film will see the light of day, but it isn't looking too promising right now.

Sony hackers threaten attacks on theaters screening The Interview

The Sony hackers have just upped the stakes on their recent releases against Sony Pictures Entertainment. In a new group of files today, the internet hackers issued threats against every theater screening the upcoming James Franco comedy, The Interview. Yeah, the movie where Franco and Seth Rogen are recruited by the CIA to kill the leader of North Korea. The group claims 9/11 style attacks will hit at different times and different places for all theaters screening the film under the belief that the film will cause a war with North Korea.

The message is as follows:

"Warning
We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places “The Interview” be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.
Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made.
The world will be full of fear.
Remember the 11th of September 2001.
We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.
(If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)
Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
All the world will denounce the SONY.
More to come…"

Personally, I am happy that I wasn't planning on seeing The Interview to begin with but at the same time this all seems to be overkill.  These hackers have released a great deal of things including the script for the upcoming James Bond film, private studio emails, and full unreleased movies so I think they might just be enjoying the spotlight and figured that terrorism was popular enough at the moment.
Another thought I had, which I don't know how this would help matters, was that Sony is doing this themselves to boost popularity of the studio. Sony releases haven't done so well lately so they definitely needed the hype. I don't know if this is a good way to go about it, but there haven't really been any top agencies going after these hackers. With threats like these coming out I am a bit confused why the FBI hasn't launched a probe on these hackers, but that might just be me.

So yeah, you might want to wait until The Interview comes out on DVD if any of this has credibility.

Is Sony negotiating with Marvel over Spider-Man?

Last week there were rumors flying around that Marvel Studios would be splitting The Avengers 3 into two films and that the heroes involved wouldn't be our current Avengers. Now there are more rumors that Sony is currently negotiating with Marvel to include Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This is potentially all bullshit as Sony has not budged at all on Spider-Man in the past and rumors of a Spidey cameo in the first Avengers movie was quickly proven false over rights issues. Seeing that Spider-Man is now the only Marvel property that Sony owns, I don't see why they would realistically be willing to share, especially with Venom and Sinister Six coming up. If they cross The Amazing Spider-Man film arc into the MCU, that would ensure that every single movie would have to tie together. Personally, I think it's too much. That would mean backtracking and changing existing arcs, etc. It's a big fat no.

Not to mention, the biggest issue here is rights. As you may recall, there were some people calling for an Avengers and X-Men crossover due to the utilization of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Age of Ultron. The resolution of that was the studios didn't want to pay for the full crossover due to character rights. Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman has made his opinion public on the issue stating the studios need to suck it up because the universes should be together. In a perfect world, Mr. Jackman.

Female Spider-Man spinoff planned for 2017

Sony has been pretty full of surprises lately regarding the Spider-Man franchise. We are learning more about the Sinister Six along with learning that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 has been delayed until 2018. We now have information regarding a female Spider-Man spinoff reportedly planned for 2017.

This comes after much criticism of the superhero genre in general regarding the lack of female heroes. With the massive success of Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, the fact that it is 44% female says a lot about the success of female based films. We also can cite films like Divergent, The Hunger Games, and Frozen.
Sony is still trying to do damage control after the ridiculous disappointing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to make money at the box office. It has since become the lowest grossing Spider-Man film of all time. The last hope to save Sony's singular superhero franchise revamp a little bit with new heroes and... a woman.
Many are speculating that this spinoff will be centered around Black Cat (aka, Felicia Hardy). Hardy had a brief cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, played by Felicity Jones, so she is the obvious choice to expand this franchise aside from the already planned Sinister Six and Venom movies. Other female possibilities could include Spider-Woman and Silver Sable.

I don't think this is by any means a stupid or bad move on Sony's part. If they have learned anything from what Marvel and Disney have done they should know by now that you can't carry a franchise based off of just one hero. If the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe was centered around Iron Man people would have abandoned it by now. They were smart and made separate movies for each character and found a way to tie them all together. If they put Peter Parker on the back burner for a while and focused on other characters for a bit I think it's possible for this franchise to have some revival and a renewed sense of interest.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 delayed until 2018

We have news about a couple release dates that were announced and delayed today.

Starting off with Disney, they have finally set a new release date for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. About a year ago the film was pulled from its original 2015 release but it was delayed indefinitely. Disney announced today that the fifth installment of the Pirates franchise will be released on July 7, 2017. Johnny Depp is slated to return as Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Moving onto Sony, they have made some significant moves in the Amazing Spider-Man franchise. The Sinister Six will be released on November 11, 2016 while The Amazing Spider-Man 3 has been delayed until May 4, 2018. It was recently rumored that Sony was going to push TASM3 from 2016 to 2017, but with them pushing it an additional year to 2018 is a bit surprising. Many are speculating the delay is to test the waters of Drew Goddard's take on the Sinister Six and see if the film can rescue Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man franchise because after very dismal and overwhelmingly negative reviews of TASM2 they obviously realized something had to be done to fix the momentum.
Keeping up with Sony, we also got news that a film adaptation of the Playstation video game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, will be released on June 10, 2016. The film has been in the works for years and recently director Seth Gordon signed onto the project and stated that he hoped filming would start by early 2015. No one has been cast as Nathan Drake just yet, but I am sure it will be a very competitive role. I personally loved the Uncharted games so I am oddly excited for a movie to come out. It has the potential to be great.



[EDIT] It seems that Sony was thinking the same thing as just about everyone else when Marvel snatched up the May 3, 2018 date as they have already removed The Amazing Spider-Man 3 from the May 4, 2018 date and are now saying it will be released in 2018. There is no specific day set anymore. Another thing Sony has rushed to announce is the delay does not mean they are rebooting Spider-Man once again. 

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 pushed to 2017?

After a rather disappointing opening for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it is a big possibility that we might have to wait an additional year to receive the third installment of the new franchise. Rumor has it that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 might be delayed until 2017.

Sony already has things locked down through The Amazing Spider-Man 4 as well as two spin-off films (aka, Sinister Six and Venom), but potentially delaying the third installment might indicate that the studio is rethinking their strategy. It currently holds a release date of June 10, 2016.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened this past May and was not only knocked out of the #1 spot after just one week, but it also recorded the lowest box office numbers of the entire franchise. Yes, that includes Sam Raimi's trilogy. The film is also expected to be surpassed by X-Men: Days of Future Past which would mark the first time in history that an X-Men film beat out Spider-Man.
The script for the third film is already completed, Marc Webb is set to return to the director's chair, and production was supposed to begin later this year. However, after the overwhelmingly negative reviews of TASM2 and underwhelming box office numbers we have not seen any signs pointing to a quick start for TASM3, thus making the rumored delay somewhat feasible.

Now... if this movie is delayed it will cause a ripple effect. With Sinister Six and Venom being pushed through rather quickly, it is possible that we might see the spin-offs before the third Spider-Man. It has already been said that Sony planned to cram Sinister Six in 2016 with TASM3 as a setup for TASM4 and Venom.
Seeing that the villains were one of the biggest complaints about TASM2 I won't be surprised if one or both of the spin-offs gets scrapped. Trying to revive a quickly dying franchise with an all villain installment might not be the best move at the current moment. Seriously, when people say the villains in Spider-Man 3 were better executed you know you have a major problem. With this it is also a possibility of TASM3 being limited to one villain instead of multiples.

Either way, I think we are bound to see some changes with this franchise. It's unfortunate seeing that The Amazing Spider-Man is only two years old.

David Fincher leaves Steve Jobs biopic over disputes with Sony

David Fincher was all set to reunite with The Social Network team for a Steve Jobs biopic, but he has reportedly left the project over disputes with Sony.

The story is that Fincher left over disagreements with the studio and wicked demands regarding salary and control over the project. Apparently Fincher was demanding over $10 million in initial fees along with control over marketing. Sony was reluctant due to the overall failed marketing campaign for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo including allowing his "feel bad movie of Christmas" tagline and the ridiculously expensive, razor blade shaped one sheets that were banned from usage in theaters.
Sources claim that Fincher could re-sign with Sony for the project but that the studio will re-negotiate his ridiculous salary requests along with re-negotiating the marketing control. The matter at hand is being rewarded with quality and popularity, not being awarded with millions of dollars up front. Not to mention Fincher stating he would not make the movie unless Christian Bale signed on to play Steve Jobs.
Sony is trying to be a bit more fiscally responsible after the 2013 blockbuster failures including After Earth and White House Down. Sony has a bit of a reputation for spending more money than other studios and it has cost them in recent years.

The Steve Jobs project would have teamed Fincher back up with Aaron Sorkin and Scott Rudin. That team produced The Social Network back in 2010 and made $225 million worldwide along with Oscar and Golden Globe wins. Fincher's next project, Gone Girl, re-teamed him with musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and is set for release on October 3rd.

Drew Goddard to direct The Sinister Six

It was spotted almost immediately after the trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hit, but we now have some official confirmation that The Sinister Six will indeed be moving forward and it will be directed by Drew Goddard.

Goddard got his start writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alias, as well as Lost and Angel, and made his directorial debut with The Cabin in the Woods back in 2012. Before that he wrote Cloverfield for Matt Reeves. He had already been hired to write Sinister Six, along with Marvel's Daredevil series to hit Netflix, so it is somewhat surprising to see him also picked to direct. But, at the same time it isn't that surprising.
The Sinister Six focuses on Spider-Man's villainous enemies. The comics focused on Electro, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Sandman, Vulture, and Kraven the Hunter. It does appear that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is acting as more of a precursor to The Sinister Six rather than being a direct sequel to the first Amazing Spider-Man. Set to appear in the TASM2 are Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino but there is no telling who else will be hinted at or show up. Also bear in mind that The Lizard was not killed in the first one, but was merely locked up.

There is no set timetable for The Sinister Six just yet, but Sony did announce plans to release a Spider-Man movie every year. Slots already taken are The Amazing Spider-Man 3 for 2016 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4 for 2018. It is possible we could see The Sinister Six for 2017 unless Venom takes that slot and they push Sinister Six for 2019 or double up 2018 with two releases.

Halle Berry cut from X-Men: Days of Future Past

Yet another victim of the cutting floor.

It was first announced that Anna Paquin (Rogue) had been cut entirely from X-Men: Days of Future Past and that we would most likely only see her on the DVD/Blu-Ray. We now learned that Halle Berry (Storm) has also been cut. Well, at least been cut down to just one scene.

This hasn't been officially announced as Paquin's cut was, but I would assume director Bryan Singer will cite the same problem; the movie is running too long. He cited irrelevance, confusion, and running too long as reason to cut Rogue out of the movie. This comes just shy of two month prior to the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past and after all the Empire covers showcasing the new and returning mutants.
Some are suggesting that Berry's pregnancy had to do with this move in the end due to the fact that she was unable to be as active as they would have liked and there was some visibility of a baby bump. Berry has already admitted to the pregnancy limiting her movement because shooting conflicted with the timing.

All I have to say is I hope the cutting is over with. If they cut any more returning mutants I don't understand why they brought them back in the first place. Not acceptable.

X-Men: Days of Future Past stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Omar Sy, Evan Peters, and Nicolas Hoult. The film brings back mutants such as Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Hugh Jackman, and more. It hits theaters on May 23rd.

Sony to release Spider-Man films every year; Marc Webb attached to TASM3

This is pretty hefty news.

In addition to the confirmation of director Marc Webb officially directing The Amazing Spider-Man 3, we have confirmation from Sony that they plan to have a Spider-Man release every year up until The Amazing Spider-Man 4 in 2018. This possibly includes, and is not limited to, a Venom spin-off and a Sinister Six movie.

All I have to say is these actors must have some seriously extended contracts to include this many movies. Either that or not every main character in the Amazing Spider-Man films will appear in these separate movies. It has already come out that Andrew Garfield might not extend his role as Peter Parker past his obligation of TASM4, so we will see what happens then. They might have to recast Peter at some point.
It is expected for this once a year schedule to begin in 2016 with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and my bet is we will see a Venom movie before a Sinister Six movie which means the main villain for TASM3 will most likely be Venom. Either that or he will be a minor to major part of it in order to introduce the character and give enough interest for a standalone film. Venom (aka, Eddie Brock) was previously butchered by Topher Grace in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3.

Some people are suggesting that this is a very dangerous move for Sony because it could overload viewers on Spider-Man. It's unlike the Marvel universe Disney has going on with the fact that they have multiple characters with different story arcs going on. With Spider-Man, it is generally one story arc with the same characters over and over again because it is the only character Sony has rights to. Unless the studios want to compromise and pay for it, that's how it will remain.


Either way, this will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I thought The Amazing Spider-Man was pretty bad and the sequel doesn't look much better so far. I'm not too excited for any of this. I think they will burn everyone out releasing a movie every year. 

Yet another trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Sony... stop it. Just stop it! I don't even have to see the movie now. Whoever is head of their marketing department should be fired.

Andrew Garfield might not be Spider-Man much longer

Sony has already announced their intentions to run their terrible Amazing Spider-Man movies into the ground with at least four movies total. However, we have some speculation regarding the casting of the most important character. Andrew Garfield, who has been contracted through a third Amazing Spider-Man, recently discussed the future of the franchise and made his uncertainty about playing Spider-Man for four movies.

Release years have already been announced for the third and fourth. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will hit in 2016 with The Amazing Spider-Man 4 hitting in 2018. During an interview with Yahoo! Movies, Garfield had this to say:

"I mean I’m under contract for another one after this… as far as a forth one? That’s not anything to do with me."

This could mean a couple things. First off, by the time 2018 rolls around Garfield will be 35. That's a bit old for a teenage hero if you ask me. Tobey Maguire wasn't even that old when Spider-Man 3 came out in 2007. Second off, I imagine Garfield doesn't want to just be known for playing Spider-Man. Granted he got pretty famous for The Social Network, but what has he done since? Well, other than play Spider-Man. The answer is nothing notable. This doesn't surprise me one bit. I wouldn't even stick around through the third one, but that's just me. I don't even think Garfield is a good Spider-Man.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - First Trailer

We finally have the first, CGI-filled trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I have watched it twice now and I still just can't wrap my head around it. And that is in a bad way.

I didn't like the first Amazing Spider-Man and I think this one looks even worse. The CGI alone is just gross. It doesn't even look like a movie. It looks like a video game. Not to mention the fact that I feel like this trailer basically just gave the entire movie away.
I don't understand why they are making the same mistake Spider-Man 3 did and including so many damn villains. From what it seems we have Electro, The Rhino, Harry Osbourne/Oscorp, and potentially the Green Goblin. It's too much, even if they are saving some of them for future films. I also want to include how it appears they are skipping all possible backstory on Harry because in this trailer he looks like a creeper out to get Peter from the get go. Way to go, Marc Webb. I will be passing on this one like I did the first one. Maybe I'll watch it when it's on DVD.





#TheAmazingSpiderman2 #AmazingSpiderMan

Xbox One to launch November 22nd

Microsoft announced the new Xbox One will launch on November 22, 2013 in thirteen areas. These areas include Australia, Ausria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

For the unchanged price of $500 the console will include a new Kinect sensor, headset, controller, HDMI cable, power supply, and guide. In addition to this, Microsoft will be releasing 23 games including Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Dead Rising 3, Watch Dogs, and more. That is nearly not as many as the PS4 which will have at least 100 games available within the first year of release. It also remains to be $100 more expensive than the PS4 and is to be released 7 days after.

Playstation 4 launching on November 15

The Playstation 4 console will be launching this year on November 15th in the US (November 29th for Europe) along with the following games:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Driveclub
FIFA 14
Just Dance 2014
Killzone: Shadow Fall
Knack
Lego Marvel Superheroes
Madden 25
NBA 2K14
NBA Live 14
Need for Speed: Rivals
Skylanders Swap Force
Watch Dogs

Unfortunately some of the good games being teased, like The Evil Within, won't be released until next year but that is a pretty solid lineup of games.
The PS4's main competition, the Xbox One (if you can even call it competition), is also set for a November release date but they have yet to announce the official launch or how many games will be launched along with the console.

Xbox One scraps the Kinect requirement

Slowly but surely, Microsoft is taking away just about every feature than made loyal Xbox users question their devotion to the new Xbox One system.

If you don't remember... at the E3 conference earlier this summer Microsoft revealed their new Xbox system, the Xbox One. Along with the reveal came several ridiculous features that made it one of the least user friendly consoles in video game history. It originally required an internet connection at least once a day or your system wouldn't play games that you own, you couldn't share games with friends or family, Microsoft points were required, boxing even more headsets, the $500 price tag, etc.. The list just kept going.
Since the backlash and the obvious ass whooping Sony gave Microsoft with the reveal of the Playstation 4, Microsoft has made a lot of changes to the Xbox One. They lifted the restrictive DRM policy that will continue to allow game sharing and selling, the required internet "check-in" was lifted, and Xbox Live will allow game downloads but they won't be mandatory over a disc. In addition to this, Microsoft announced the Kinect bar will no longer be required for the Xbox One.

The original idea for the Kinect in regards to this new system was to have a mandatory, always connected camera and microphone basically watching and listening to your every move. Even when you weren't using it for a game and that did not settle well with a lot of people, including myself. Now the Kinect will have the option to switch off and not be used. It's a simple settings option and if the Kinect is required the console will notify you that you need to go into your settings and update them.


At this point the price tag of $500 is just about the only thing Microsoft hasn't changed about this system. I personally think it's ridiculous. I would have scrapped the system entirely and just rebuilt it based on the feedback received. Users might as well just stick with their Xbox 360's because the Xbox One is essentially becoming the same system only more expensive. Sorry, but Sony is still winning this battle.