Kotaku: Next Xbox will require online connection to start games

KageMaru said:
Maybe fail was a bit hyperbolic, but they would still be limiting their potential market. Unless something has changed, roughly half of the 360s are online IIRC. So picture this requirement on the 360 and right there you would have to cut the install base in half.

On top of this, why would online be required outside of DRM or anti-used games, which both are horrible ideas for a game console. No good would come from this if it's true.



Yup, pretty much. I've been bothered by their current licensed DRM during the few times I've been without internet. Applying this to the whole console would be suicide IMO.
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I don't see MS doing this at all.

Its like you said, it maybe only a third of the 360 install base has XBL Gold.

MS isn't going to throw away two thirds of its profits from their devices devision especially when the xbox is really their only profitable device.
 
If that is true, then the worst thing that could happen after that is making XBL Gold the only option.

Xbox Guy: "Xbox On"

Xbox: "Hello Xbox Guy"

Xbox Guy: "Play Halo 5"

Xbox: "Halo 5 Starting... "

Xbox:" Please connect to the Internet, you have 3 minutes. "

Xbox:" internet connection configured. "

Xbox:" Sorry, Xbox Live Gold is required to access this game.

Opening Marketplace."
 
KV3uIqR.jpg
 
Based on the assumption that the online-only "feature" is true, I can't believe MS has not learned a lesson from all the DRM fiascos so far. Plus I don't think all the 360s in the world are connected to the internet all the time.
 
Y2Kev said:
Once again, it's not about my internet. It's about theirs.
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For me it's actually both. Living in a country where a company has a monopoly on TC related services means I pay stupid prices for a measly 10mb fiber on top of the unreliability they can get away with.

Now I have to tiptoe around fucking single player games requiring me to rely on both their stability and mine. Fuck that.
 
Hoo-doo said:
The people saying "everyone will buy it anyway lol", do you realize that this is the exact same hubris that cost Sony their colossal marketshare at the start of this generation?
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It's hubris but not the exact same hubris.

Tons of people won't care about always online. Here on GAF we have a select group of people who have strong attitudes about it and are very vocal. I doubt that generalizes to the broader market.

The PS3's $600 price tag, on the other hand, was a hurdle for everyone. Even people with plenty of money could see that it was more expensive than any mainstream console had been in the past.
 
ilnadmy said:
The difference is selling anything at $600 is a tough sell, no matter how good it is. A hidden feature like an always-online requirement is only something that you realize after you've bought the system and put some time into it.
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Wont be so hidden to the 30 million xbox gamers that dont have a Live account

Now they will have to create one and that will be imposed to start games

Gaming dictatorship, the new MS brand
 
btkadams said:
this is me completely. i've always had my ps3 connected (in that it had an ethernet cable), but router and ISP issues have still plagued me for years. i remember one night in particular where my internet was down at the house, as well as my phone internet. it was a really bizarre night. my friend and i played ps3 during the time. to think that we wouldn't even be able to play anything is insane.
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What about after the console is done and they shut down whatever servers MS uses to verify you're connected? It's ridiculous and I can't in good conscience believe MS will do it. It'd be even worse than 599.
 
Some people defend this?

Not every country have luxury to have broadband route for playing game, jebus.

And its pain in the ass to set-up too, fuck off MS if this true.
 
Radec said:
If that is true, then the worst thing that could happen after that is making XBL Gold the only option.

Xbox Guy: "Xbox On"

Xbox: "Hello Xbox Guy"

Xbox Guy: "Play Halo 5"

Xbox: "Halo 5 Starting... "

Xbox:" Please connect to the Internet, you have 3 minutes. "

Xbox:" internet connection configured. "

Xbox:" Sorry, Xbox Live Gold is required to access this game.

Opening Marketplace."
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If you can shell out for a console then you surely can fork a fraction of that price for value added service courtesy of GOLD.
 
Wizman23 said:
My 360 has been connected to the Internet since 2005. This is a non issue. It's 2013 everything should be connected
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Blizzard thinks the same like you and Diablo III was a huge success.
There will be enough people that accept it because they want to play their games (Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo) online anyway.
 
This will not happen.

I do remember hearing that they're launching an Xbox Light version that's for arcade and kinect only, similar in a lot of ways to an Apple TV. Maybe that one is online only. No way would they kill their base with a full online only Xbox.
 
shungokusatsu said:
They got away with charging for XBL, making consumers pay for a service on top of their ISP service. They also got away with raising the price of XBL. Everyone was up in arms, but they still pay.
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Yeah millions still pay, but we will never know how much of an effect it had on overall 360 sales or users.
Obviously Microsoft didn't think it was enough to stop them charging for live.

But at some point these lost sales are going to be noticed
 
What if all of these rumours are to build hate for the console, only for them to reveal it without it and have you guys bend over backwards praising it :O
 
ThisWreckage said:
You can blame the morons that bought three, four, or even five 360s because of the red ring. Or the people that still paid for Live even though they raised the price. Or the people that shelled out ridiculous amounts of money for things like WiFi adapters and hard drives. Or the people that love a paywall. This is the fault of stupid, uneducated consumers that have no problem shelling out cash for anti-consumer business practices. This has made Microsoft arrogant as hell.
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Hey thanks for calling me, and others, a stupid, uneducated, moron consumer.

How the fuck are posts like this allowed to be made?
 
So Microsoft refuses to improve Xbox Live in Europe which hamstrings its penetration in that region, and now will implement SimCity DRM to the entire console, which hurts the platform in North America, its strongest region.

I can't wait.

I can't wait for the PR bullshit: "Once you go online with Xbox 720, you'll never want to play offline again!"
I can't wait for the consumer backlash.
I can't wait for it to fail on the account of Microsoft's arrogance and hubris.
 
Freshmaker said:
I'm sure he can eventually figure out a way to make this seem like the most incredible thing to happen to gaming ever. Something only dumbasses would question.
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"Xbox 720 needs to be online to handle next-gen calculations not possible on an inferior offline console. Technology is now a connected experience. Get used to it folks." - Gies after Xbox E3 reveal
 
Radec said:
If that is true, then the worst thing that could happen after that is making XBL Gold the only option.

Xbox Guy: "Xbox On"

Xbox: "Hello Xbox Guy"

Xbox Guy: "Play Halo 5"

Xbox: "Halo 5 Starting... "

Xbox:" Please connect to the Internet, you have 3 minutes. "

Xbox:" internet connection configured. "

Xbox:" Sorry, Xbox Live Gold is required to access this game.

Opening Marketplace."
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Prophetic
 
This issue continuously flip flops. First it's alleged, then denied, then alleged again.

At this point I'll just wait for the Microsoft reveal before I get caught up in this.
 
hey_it's_that_dog said:
It's hubris but not the exact same hubris.

Tons of people won't care about always online; here on GAF we have a select group of people who have strong attitudes about it and are very vocal. I doubt that generalizes to the broader market.

The PS3's $600 price tag, on the other hand, was a hurdle for everyone. Even people with plenty of money could see that it was more expensive than any mainstream console had been in the past.
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People will care in markets where the internet is not always a 24/7 thing.

I know that while living in a dorm during my college years I'd want absolutely nothing to do with this system because my connection was so spotty at times and there was nothing I could do about my internet.

There is seriously no way its true because its absolutely insane.
 
WalkMan said:
Quite the overreaction, it's just like with netflix, you require internet service to consume. It's obvious that Microsoft will sell their service in a way where you simply won't want to play offline. I already feel bad for people buying PS4 over Durango knowing that Microsoft is playing this wildcard, it just justifies the service that much more if they are implementing such a policy. Can't wait
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WalkMan said:
You're right, and with Microsoft experimenting with the subsidized model this gen, we can actually expect Durango to be released at $149 with 2 year XBL contract. PS4 is DOA in the US.
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spit.gif
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ASIS said:
What? If you are talking about launch (and I mean 2 weeks tops). Then maybe. The backlash would be too great in the long run if MS really designed this machine on the ignorance of its customers.
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Of course there would be backlash, but the install base will be too invested by that point. The pessimist in me points to RROD. Sure, Microsoft made good on replacements for the most part and appears to have eradicated the issue, but the whole fiasco didn't seem slow sales of the 360 at all. People just rolled over and accepted it.
 
hey_it's_that_dog said:
It's hubris but not the exact same hubris.

Tons of people won't care about always online; here on GAF we have a select group of people who have strong attitudes about it and are very vocal. I doubt that generalizes to the broader market.

The PS3's $600 price tag, on the other hand, was a hurdle for everyone. Even people with plenty of money could see that it was more expensive than any mainstream console had been in the past.
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Tons of people will care when they find out their system is worthless the second their Internet goes out. Stable Internet is nowhere near broad enough in the US for this to not become a major issue. Most consumers are used to their iPads, iPods, laptops, etc still working when the Internets out. And I doubt they'll so readily accept the 720 not being the same.
 
I don't even have internet at my house, but I bought a lot of Xbox games this generation. I guess I'll be saving a lot of money this next gen...
 
This is bad.
But I think MS will surprise you guys.....they are waiting two months (after Sony) to announce their new console. I think they made adjusments after the Sony press conf.
 
xbox live required to access online
online required to play games

lol in seriousness this would be such a bad move by MS, there's a huge percentage of 360 owners who not only don't have gold but don't even connect their boxes to the internet.
 
sh4mike said:
People love to complain.

This is so transparent to the end-user that I just don't care. I'd wager than 95% of the Xbox population logs into Live at the start of their session. This will force the other 5% to connect.

As far as concerns regarding a 3-minute timer, again -- end-users will never notice. The SimCity fiasco was due to EA servers crapping out. XBox Live has gone down for more than a few minutes only a few times in the last 10+ years. If MS ended up having bandwidth issues, dropping folks regularly and ruining their experience, then they would change the timers. Pretty straightforward here -- ensure a transparent protection that does not hurt the user experience for 99% of your customers.

This won't impact my play experience at all.
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It's not about the likelihood of it happening, it's about the principle. It's an unneccessary roadblock that doesn't serve the end-user experience, and it honestly verges on an assault of the very concept of ownership (along with blocking used games, etc).
 
Yeah and what if it has issues working with someone's Apple AirPort Extreme router or some other popular and unsupported one, they won't be as dedicated as I was to buy an additional AirPort Extreme router to hard-wire all my consoles to. This is going to be a clusterfuck for MS. Such a fucking clusterfuck.

XBL servers are down for maintenance, or got hacked? Sorry, you can't play your games. 10 years from now, MS takes the Durango servers down? Your whole library you've invested in over the generation is no longer playable.

Fuck that.
 
I'm already convinced that I want a Ps4 this Holiday, you aren't making things harder for me Microsoft. Always online helps out who exactly?
 
Cyborg said:
This is bad.
But I think MS will surprise you guys.....they are waiting two months (after Sony) to announce their new console. I think they made adjusments after the Sony press conf.
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Most of the time they have has been spent on figuring out how to wrap up a turd sandwich in a glossy package.
 
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