Kotaku: Next Xbox will require online connection to start games
- Thread starter Wario64
- Start date
Fuck, 10 years after release they can just turn off all Durangos forever (if this is true).
Nah. That's totally different. Online play on consoles was shiny and new and they had by far the best implementation of it. They could get away with that.
Nah. That's totally different. Online play on consoles was shiny and new and they had by far the best implementation of it. They could get away with that.
shakin_haitian
Banned
Well, I have Time Warner Cable, so it looks like if this is true, then I won't be able to play from 5 to 9 pm Monday through Friday due to my connection constantly dropping.
Some of the rumours about Durango are quite bizarre to say the least, pretty much every rumour with Durango is something that would go on a 'Do Not Want' list for next gen lol.
BlackGoku03
Member
See below. It's happened. I've heard about it happening to others. Granted, you're correct in that most vacation spots have guest wifi, but there are places that don't.
And no, mobile would be playing it in the car... wait! People do that too... so if this rumor is true, then people who have consoles in their cars (I know quite a few and they aren't rappers, they're families with kids), are fucked.
If this is true...
.
Oppo
Member
Fair enough. They can get away with this too. I think.
Also remember that, even though MS has lots of cash, the Entertainment division is kind of up against the wall to really turn a profit. This might be their last kick at that. So they need to do something bold.
AstroNut325
Member
Not sure I agree with you on the holding back progress part. Perhaps to an extent the single player experience can be enhanced with a online connection such as dynamic worlds, AI, social features ect... but that should really be dependent on the game and should ideally not be a required thing for every game. But overall... I don't mind the always online part. And optical media is a great thing. It's what allows me to get games with huge worlds, large high-res textures, and lossless PCM audio. Oh and high bitrate video. All of these things are important to me and lots of other people.
IHaveCandy
Banned
Eh, I wouldn't read much into that. It isn't a silly point either. All of those are examples of MS saying "You'll buy it from us even if it is a crappy deal". I'm not saying they're the only ones to pull stuff like that, but they sure do it more often. It all comes off as arrogant. I bought a 360 in 2006 and I got sick of the rip offs. After my second red ring, MS expected me to pay, so I just junked the system and kept my PS3 and PC. They haven't done much to change my view of them yet.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
Don't care. All my internet capable home devices are connected to the internet 100% of the time, including every HDTV in my house.
BadAss2961
Member
Well, they've gotten away with it so far.
It could come back to bite them in the ass if they think they can carry it over into another generation though.
Acquiescence
Member
Oh well, easier on my wallet I guess.
grosvenor_92
Member
If this is actually true Microsoft is gonna be so fucked
A lot of casuals own 360 and a lot of casuals only play single player, hell some 'hardcore gamers' prefer single player games.
Same here. On top of that I have it paired with a shitty router.
Though I didn't hate Halo 4, that series alone isn't enough to keep me wanting the next xbox if this is true. However I am bothered because I do have faith that they'll produce at least new IPs I may be interested in, which will suck missing out on.
No it is a silly post because it looks like you're looking for any and every excuse to slam them when some of those were just options while others (like 8 years of scratching games) are just untrue.
Because it disagrees with basic, fundamental business sense?
So say you have 10 customers with broadband and XBL, you'd get about 10 bucks a month out of there. You have 5 who don't have live or broadband but they'll buy a nextbox and games and controllers or what not to play with friends locally, you get about $6 from there a month.
From a max profitability standpoint, what sense does it make at all to leave that extra $30 on the table or possibly to Sony and limit yourself to that $50.
You or anybody else have failed to explain that....
Uno Venova
Banned
They could still be connected playing singleplayer games on 360. Like I do.
Why would it effect the launch, its probably a simple software update to change this if it was even true in the first place.
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
Mine does. It rarely happens but when it does it lasts for hours
Rumor or not MS silence is quite discouraging
maquiladora
Member
I'm just at that stage where almost nothing would surprise me anymore.... 
IHaveCandy
Banned
It only makes sense if they want to introduce a new business model that requires online connection and would out-profit those that are disconnected. Something like no used games?
Lol... Wow.
Alessandro
Member
Nah, can't be. Digital divide is too much of a variable to bet the success of your next console.
I hope.
I hope.
I can't wait for this rumor to either be confirmed or squashed, the amount of discussion and discourse for whenever this rumor pops up is some of the most tedious discussion I've seen.
Tons of people telling everyone they aren't getting a unannounced console, a few people that defend the always online requirement for some reason, a few people who use the thread to tell everyone that Microsoft is the gaming equivalent of Satan.
Tons of people telling everyone they aren't getting a unannounced console, a few people that defend the always online requirement for some reason, a few people who use the thread to tell everyone that Microsoft is the gaming equivalent of Satan.
Quoted for fucking truth. Some of the disconnected (pun intended) responses are really ridiculous.
Zoe
Member
It's not going to be DD only. The rumor was that all games require installation, but you can install from a disc.
Also in addition to "holding back progress": just allow developers to make games that require an online connection, or market a key game that requires this (help with Destiny?), if it's a game that really benefits like Demon's Souls on steroids then we can have those games get made and take off along with single player games with no use for servers, and at the same time open the door for games that just want to focus on multiplayer like some of the popular recent PC games like DayZ, Chivalry, and Natural Selection II. There's not much need to do this on a hardware level, and it's certainly not as big of a deal as cutting 56k out of the loop for the sake of universal guaranteed voice chat and lower latency online play.
How would that even profit Microsoft? They don't even make that many first party games. Would publishers just toss them piles of exclusives for trying to kill used games or something?
I played through Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite with my 360 not connected to the internet. I wouldn't have been able to do that on Durango if these rumors are true. That is fucked.
Netflix stock has soared since then. Sometimes people just don't care when companies are abusing them or making dumb decisions.
A lot of larger implications are getting overlooked here though. GameStop owns Game Informer. Gamefly owns Shack News. Microsoft would be asking for trouble by cutting these companies out of the loop. I find a situation in which you need XBL Gold to play games that don't have an activation code entered to be more logical. Microsoft makes money through subscriptions from people who frequently rent or buy used games, and it doesn't kick the hornets nest as far as those other companies go.
Then again, pissing partners off hasn't stopped the forward march of Surface or Windows RT.
Right? Yeah, I am going to buy a console that requires me to be connected all the time to play offline games. I learned how well that worked with SimCity.
Plus if my i7 / GTX 670 is as powerful then pffft, I'll just do PC next-gen. (This coming from someone who's main form of gaming this gen was a 360)
if by "many years" you mean the generation after this coming one, then yes, you are correct.
krypt0nian
Banned
Apple's profit over their lower marketshare explains it. Their really are better customers and focusing on them can be a smart move. Also see: the wii and their casual blue ocean "customers" and how they just stopped caring.
Its all hype though isn't it, its all discusion about the new consoles, its all generating talk and hype all over the web whether its good or bad.
There is no such thing as bad news as the saying goes and i wouldn't be suprised if Microsoft and Sony themselves leak this shite to get us all talking, they generate hype then come out looking good when it turns out that it was all bullshit.
You are incredibly optimistic if you think broadband in the US is going to improve so much in that period of time that publishers would be willing to forsake the brick and mortar crowd.
Penguins&PolarBears
Member
By the way I lived through Hurricane Sandy without power or heat for 15 days, so people crying to me about their router going out for an hour are hysterical to me. If you can't deal with being cut off from modern appliances for a couple of hours every now and then, then you have serious problems.
What a lame argument. Right and before Kindle there was an expectation that you could go to a retail store, browse the shelves and buy books then resell or share those books.
This line of thinking stands in the way of progress. Expectations change as technology progresses. Internet is becoming an expected utility of modern devices like electricity. Optical discs and physical media are disappearing from devices too. Just because things were one way once doesn't mean they will be constrained to those parameters forever. Technology changes expectations fast.
We are not still playing with the children's toys of the 80's. These are the center of our living room entertainment. When electricity/internet goes out these things are dead and we pick up our smartphones. Maybe the answer is to eventually put in a cellular radio like the Kindle, but for now I think we can deal with the occasional downtime of electricity/Internet. More people use their Xbox for watching Netflix, HBO, YouTube than playing games. These services already require an always on Internet connection and yet they are all extremely successful. Video games can survive the transition to always connected just as online videos do.
What a lame argument. Right and before Kindle there was an expectation that you could go to a retail store, browse the shelves and buy books then resell or share those books.
This line of thinking stands in the way of progress. Expectations change as technology progresses. Internet is becoming an expected utility of modern devices like electricity. Optical discs and physical media are disappearing from devices too. Just because things were one way once doesn't mean they will be constrained to those parameters forever. Technology changes expectations fast.
We are not still playing with the children's toys of the 80's. These are the center of our living room entertainment. When electricity/internet goes out these things are dead and we pick up our smartphones. Maybe the answer is to eventually put in a cellular radio like the Kindle, but for now I think we can deal with the occasional downtime of electricity/Internet. More people use their Xbox for watching Netflix, HBO, YouTube than playing games. These services already require an always on Internet connection and yet they are all extremely successful. Video games can survive the transition to always connected just as online videos do.
It isn't only a technical issue, it would also affect relationships with third parties, PR strategy, the (invented) ecosystem etc.
Dunno, perhaps it's really a non-issue, but if they made a heavy bet on this strategy, it would quite difficult to rearranged all the things involved, methinks.
So you you believe in 6 years, that blu-ray will go the way of the dodo when even in 2013 CDs/DVDs still have huge presence in the market place?
Zombie James
Banned
And if your network connection goes down? Or their network goes down?
AstroNut325
Member
Yup. PS5 and Xbox4 will definitely be digital distribution only. And I don't mind. Just let me have a separate blu-ray player!