Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom...

                                         

Microsoft's showing at E3 was a disaster of monumental proportions, and the subsequent arrogance it demonstrated in the face of a tsunami of criticism served only to fuel the fires of dissent. I woke up this morning to news that Microsoft has made a huge u-turn on its Xbox One DRM policies. Most notably, the 24 hour 'check in' system that required the console to have access to an internet connection at least once a day to verify your ownership of the games you were playing has been dropped. The console's equally maligned lending and used game policies have also been relaxed, and are now functionally identical to what we have at the moment with the Xbox 360. 

It's not all sunshine and rainbows however; you'll still have the omnipresent all seeing eye of the new Kinect to contend with, and Microsoft's obtrusive attitude towards independent publishing that will likely push the industry's smaller players into the loving embrace of Sony, Steam or both also remains. Furthermore, the news does not undo the bad taste that attempting to pass off beastly Windows 7 gaming PCs as Xbox One demo hardware at E3 leaves in the mouth, nor the fact that the PS4 will be up to $100 cheaper at launch depending on region. 

I wouldn't take this as any real victory for the consumer; Microsoft really didn't really have a choice but to back down. The backlash against them was huge, and early preorder figures suggested that the passionate rhetoric on the internet was going to have real world consequences, as people appeared to be voting with their wallets against the Xbox One in their droves.  A lot of people I know that were previously on the fence are now ready to commit to Xbox One ownership, and Microsoft are receiving a lot of free positive publicity as Facebook and Twitter are ablaze with post and tweets about, as well as links to, confirmation of the news. Microsoft's official line on the matter speaks of them 'listening to [consumer] feedback' and taking appropriate action, but the real reason for the company's change of heart is betrayed by the fact that their share prices allegedly jumped 6% after the news dropped.