Microsoft may have changed its policies for the upcoming Xbox One console, but the former always online requirements and used game policy looks like it left a sour taste in most gamers' mouths, particularly at this year's EVO.
Despite that Double Helix's Killer Instinct will be an exclusive on the new Microsoft system, it's not enough to get the crowd on the Xbox side. The developer's own Rich "Filthierich" Banetugi and MadCatz's Mark "MarkMan" Julio headed up to the EVO stage to talk about a special KI version of their joysticks. At the mere mention of the console, a crowd broke into resounding boos. Guess they don't like free-to-play games that release with only one playable character.
Even if you've swore an allegiance to Microsoft's console punishable by death itself, you can still see the crowd's point. Sony has its own exclusive fighter, Tekken Revolution, which hit over a million downloads in just a few weeks, and is set to get a brand new character. Creator Katsuhiro Harada tried to sell Microsoft on the game, but it seems they weren't having it.
Nintendo has its own fighter coming up, which should definitely help pick the Wii U out of the dirt, a new addition to the Super Smash Bros. franchise, coming to the Wii U as well as the 3DS. The only exclusive Microsoft has to offer will be the Killer Instinct reboot, but that won't hit until sometime after the consoles' November launch. Killer Instinct is a franchise that the fans have sorely missed, and if Microsoft can drum up excitement over that, it means problems are brewing.
Whether it's the company's intention or not, fighters are getting the message that Microsoft doesn't care too much for fighter fans. The Xbox One's hefty price tag certainly isn't helping things either, at $100 more than the PS4. You can see the EVO crowd turn below at the :55 mark.