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[kaching]

I've nothing against a cloud-connected future, but I would vigorously dispute the logic that enabling an offline mode for our technological devices is somehow an "antiquated" feature now. It's not, it makes the device more versatile and therefore more useful. If all our future tech is going to rely on a constant, dedicated, stable connection to the cloud to function in any worthwhile capacity, that's not a strength, that's a weakness. A strength would be the ability to work under diverse conditions, not extremely narrowly defined criteria.

I've never considered it a "strength" of a cable box that it really only does anything worth a damn when it's connected to a cable network. But that's been the basic nature of broadcast media since it's inception. And of course there's been work to compensate for that underlying dependency with cached, offline content that's durable enough to withstand lengthy disconnects from the broadcast/network. So it'd be a shame to see gaming hardware go in the opposite direction, reducing capabilities rather than increasing them.

 

[Withnail]

You guys can all piss and moan now but most of you will be camping outside Gamestop to get a 720 after 6 months of MS extreme advertising spend convincing you that always online is the best thing ever.

This thread is going to be really fun to revisit later this year.

 

[RedNumberFive]

Still, if Microsoft were to implement this shit successfully (as in, with little to no hiccups and no consumer uproar), it would set a terrible precedent for the whole industry. I think that if that were to happen, Sony would gladly jump on the bandwagon with their next console.

Microsoft began this generation by setting terrible precedents. Prepare your bodies for round two.

 

[Harlock]

The future of console gaming is in the hands of Call of Duty players. If they go to Xbox 720 no matter what shit thing Microsoft is doing, the wrong side wins.

 

[Dunlop]

You can't comment on the features of a console that hasn't even been announced yet.

ding ding ding!

Nobody will hear from MS until their unveiling. Just like you would not have heard from Sony before theirs

 

[UrbanRats]

Still, if Microsoft were to implement this shit successfully (as in, with little to no hiccups and no consumer uproar), it would set a terrible precedent for the whole industry. I think that if that were to happen, Sony would gladly jump on the bandwagon with their next console.

Or a shoddy firmware update.

 

[enzo_gt]

To some of the people saying that this is all just bullshit & rumors, by now, there has to be some validity to these things. Numerous times and numerous sources have mentioned the exact same thing. Even some of the supposed features of the system itself would make sense with the always on connection.

I myself am pretty happy that I will only have to buy a PS4 this gen.

If you read the article, even it gives some pretty good reasons why this may be BS when the majority of sources say they have no idea one way or another. If there was some tiered info release to developers (which doesn't make much sense, for example if MS gave Bungie and EA dev kits first) Kotaku would've mentioned it. This isn't conclusive, it's just weird. I wish we got clarification from someone at Kotaku.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Numerous times and numerous sources have mentioned the exact same thing.

Until something is confirmed this is false logic, we have no idea where these sources are getting their information.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-popularity.html

 

[see5harp]

So you don't play single player at all?

Well we are not talking about the PC for a start.

There's no difference to me between playing a game on my PC, which I can easily connect to my receiver with a single HDMI cable, and my consoles, which are permanently connected. Playing offline should be an option for those people without wi-fi, but I personally don't have any reason to play offline. If there's activation codes for used and rental copies, then my gaming habits would be affected, which would irritate me. Having an always online mode isn't a make or break thing.

 

[freenudemacusers]

Microsoft wants to be like Apple. They aren't going to respond to the peons. Things like PAX, GDC, the PS4 reveal, Kotaku news posts, etc won't even make them blink. They have bigger fish to fry and they are going to use the Xbox as the cast iron skillet. (I just made that up.)

I can use all of my Apple content offline, though.

 

[razgriz417]

We should totally hang out now

EDIT: I flipped it to make it more unique.

lol totally (good tastes in avatars tho)

 

[RoboPlato]

Holy fuck at the three minute time limit if true.

 

[Starbuck2907]

By the way, I mentioned this in another thread a few days ago, but no one seemed to notice. In the Gamestop CEO's recent earnings call, he said that he expects "At least one new console to launch before Christmas" or something to that effect (I'm paraphrasing). So, there appears to be doubt that the next Xbox will even launch this year... I found it surprising that the CEO had some doubt about both of the new consoles making it out this year.


When I saw that statement, my first thought was that maybe the PS4 announcement really sent MS back to the drawing board to some degree. And, as an Xbox fan, I hate to say that.

 

[beast786]

Personally this makes no different to me. Especially if the reason is something amazing that is not revealed yet. With what Microsoft revolutionize initially with xbox live, I am willing to give a benefit of the doubt till the reveal.

 

[Laranja]

Or a shoddy firmware update.

PS4 preorder cancelled!

 

[shinobi602]

You guys can all piss and moan now but most of you will be camping outside Gamestop to get a 720 after 6 months of MS extreme advertising spend convincing you that always online is the best thing ever.

This thread is going to be really fun to revisit later this year.

What makes you say that? These are serious negatives to the next Xbox. I'm a huge 360 fan and everything I have heard so far is telling me not to buy this shit.

 

[BillyBats]

Don't we ALL have a connection to the internet? I've maybe lost that connection twice in 5 years. Don't see a problem. I need an internet connection to play all of my xbla titles since most of them are tied to an older xbox. Never had a problem. I guess if people can't play their games for a few hours because of an internet problem it's all out war huh? Simcity works now right? It's funny, I watch many reviews on Rev3 games and their review for Simcity was just so mature and adult it was refreshing. The woman came out and basically said "Yeah, the launch sucked, but we just waited a week and now it works so I'm going to review the game." What? No hysteria, no sky falling? I feel the same about this situation. Always online? Big deal. I have faith that the company that has brought me over 7 years of entertainment with the xbox and 360 will have the capability to do the same in the future. So many are easy to jump off the bandwagon as soon as it runs over a pebble.

 

[BRocknRolla]

Just because something is said over and over doesn't make it true, that would be a logical fallacy.

Yes, hearing the same rumors parroted over and over does not necessarily make them more true. But this is still most certainly not "sensationalist." There is more than enough precedent for always-online at this point, whether its just specific games or Blizzard's Battle.net platform for all their new games. MS would just be taking the logical next step and be making their platform always online. I can think of more than enough reasons that it would make perfect business sense and plenty of developers and publishers would love for it to happen.

Not that it makes any of this right or an objectively good idea, only that there isn't anything sensationalist about it.

 

[Askherserenity]

Still, if Microsoft were to implement this shit successfully (as in, with little to no hiccups and no consumer uproar), it would set a terrible precedent for the whole industry. I think that if that were to happen, Sony would gladly jump on the bandwagon with their next console.

Agree with you there. It's a scary thought. All the industry needs is for one person(company) to bull rush the market with this sort of thing and then it'll just take off. Look at season passes and microtransactions in 60 dollar games. Just as scary of a thought is the used game thing. I really hope it doesn't become the norm in a couple of years.

 

[jmoe316]

At least I hope this is one of those things that isn't true.

 

[RedNumberFive]

Don't we ALL have a connection to the internet? I've maybe lost that connection twice in 5 years. Don't see a problem. I need an internet connection to play all of my xbla titles since most of them are tied to an older xbox. Never had a problem. I guess if people can't play their games for a few hours because of an internet problem it's all out war huh? Simcity works now right? It's funny, I watch many reviews on Rev3 games and their review for Simcity was just so mature and adult it was refreshing. The woman came out and basically said "Yeah, the launch sucked, but we just waited a week and now it works so I'm going to review the game." What? No hysteria, no sky falling? I feel the same about this situation. Always online? Big deal. I have faith that the company that has brought me over 7 years of entertainment with the xbox and 360 will have the capability to do the same in the future. So many are easy to jump off the bandwagon as soon as it runs over a pebble.

jobs.microsoft.com

 

[Oppo]

wow, thread is moving at mach 4...

I'm surprised at how many people have such a hard time believing that this might be true.

Yes a big percentage (a large minority I believe, 30-40%) of current Xbox 360 players are not connecting on a regular basis.

That means those customers:

- cannot be advertised to
- do not buy digital games with any regularity (or at all)
- do not buy any DLC with any regularity (or at all)
- do not pay for Live Gold
- do not use any "value-add" services like renting movies or streaming music
- and yes, potentially could have "hacked" their xbox to play pirated games

So now how does that math look?

I have no trouble at all believing that MS has basically said, fuck those customers, they are not worth it. They buy the box for whatever premium (a pittance at first anyways) and then MS never sees them again as far as digital retail goes. They buy disc games and generate licensing down the line, and that's it.

Now contrast with the plethora of other devices that MS would consider "competing" with the Xbox console, at least for customer spare time, and how many of them basically require internet access: Apple TV? iPads/iPhones? Android tablets and phones? Rokus and Slingboxen and so forth?

It's a total no-brainer. Not only is it possible, frankly it's likely. Lose 30% of your previous barely-paying customers and convert the entire user base to 100% potential customers, with perfect stat tracking, and ad-serving, and connectivity.

Totally believable. And totally within Microsoft's corporate character to try it. That would be their idea of a bold move.

They can turn it off later if it really does hurt them (and I think it might, but not nearly to the extent that some are saying... crash the market, lol). I think they probably have already reeled in the used game component of this. But they will try to launch requiring an internet connection, you just watch.

It's just so ... them.

To clarify: I'm not defending this at all, and I'll be super pleased to be proven wrong, if so. It's a dick move, it's seriously anti-consumer. But unbelievable? Infeasible? No.

 

[RetroStu]

Optical discs are the stone age to me. So yes. The only movies/TV shows I've purchased in the past 5 years reside in the cloud and can be accessed from any Internet connected device.

Netflix requires online connection to watch movies yet their streaming service is much more popular than their disc by mail service.

Also iPod and iTunes are outdated, everyone is moving to streaming music services like Spotify/XboxMusic/Rdio.

So yeah you have an outdated view on technology, you are not up to date or aware of how devices are trending.

You're so cool.

 

[Ding-Ding]

If this is actually true, why was the Gamestop CEO talking it up so much the other day? Seems like that's not going to be doing them any favors.

I don't mind though. Let the PS4 clean house and dominate the market this go-around.

Chances are he was approached and asked directly about next gen.

What happened last time a gamestop exec said something even slightly negative regarding durango, didn't their shares take a nose dive.

Gamestop are between a rock & a hardplace if this rumours true. The majority of their trade comes from N.America where the xbox is dominating. Say something negative about a follow on product and you watch their investors panic

 

[Uno Venova]

You guys can all piss and moan now but most of you will be camping outside Gamestop to get a 720 after 6 months of MS extreme advertising spend convincing you that always online is the best thing ever.

This thread is going to be really fun to revisit later this year.

Why would I be convinced to camp out to buy it?

 

[awm8604]

Will not purchase.

The more I think about this, the less I personally worry about it. My consoles are almost always connected to the internet when I use them. The only issues would be:

1. If your internet is down for any reason, you're screwed.
2. If you are in a place with no internet, you're screwed.
3. If Microsoft's servers can't handle the load, you and Microsoft are screwed.

These situations are quite rare these days, except for issues server-side. Buying the console, I'm sure that over the course of the lifecycle, you'll have 95-99% uptime. If MS wants to go through this route, the internet will most likely groan and populace at large will completely ignore it or not be aware that's the case.

I'm not saying it's a good idea, but I'm sure that you won't experience much in the way of downtime when playing if your Durango has to authenticate.

Posts like this baffle my mind. There's ZERO justification.

Are we, as gamers, willing to bend over to anything these companies force upon us so we have the privilege of spending a ton of money just to play their games?

 

[MThanded]

While I wouldn't put if past them, I still can't believe this.

If true, wow.

 

[crazygambit]

What is "aggressive hardcore" when it comes to advertising? ...or anything for that matter.

Nothing. They are making a push for hardcore users, aggressively.

Even though my connection is rock solid I don't trust their servers, so I'd pass if this is true.

 

[BlackGoku03]

Why is this a big deal anyway? Who doesn't have an internet connection that can afford an Xbox 360 and an HDTV?

Picture this:

You take your new Xbox on vacation with you to play with your friends but there's no internet connection!

 

[Mung]

You guys can all piss and moan now but most of you will be camping outside Gamestop to get a 720 after 6 months of MS extreme advertising spend convincing you that always online is the best thing ever.

This thread is going to be really fun to revisit later this year.

Like Stockholm Syndrome?

 

[Kusagari]

You know I really wonder how companies like EA could think this would be a good thing. For MS it obviously is.

However, if Durango sells less and cuts off so many people because of this then doesn't it become even harder for EA to sell 5 million of Dead Space 4?

 

[FordGTGuy]

I'm surprised at how many people have such a hard time believing that this might be true.

Yes a big percentage (a large minority I believe, 30-40%) of current Xbox 360 players are not connecting on a regular basis.

You answered your own question, who honestly thinks Microsoft is going to just drop 40% of their marketshare like that?

 

[Laranja]

Agree with you there. It's a scary thought. All the industry needs is for one person(company) to bull rush the market with this sort of thing and then it'll just take off. Look at season passes and microtransactions in 60 dollar games. Just as scary of a thought is the used game thing. I really hope it doesn't become the norm in a couple of years.

Yep. I've been gaming on Sony systems since the PS1 days, and even as a fan, I'm sure there's a few executives on their board that are hoping Microsoft go through with this just so that they won't have to be the first ones implementing such a "feature."

Again (and this is about the third time I've said this in this thread), I seriously hope I'm wrong.

 

[jfoul]

If Microsoft goes through with this, I'm out. Also, from the same article.

"That said, a caution and a caveat: other sources familiar with the codenamed Durango console have told us that they are still unaware of any Microsoft plans regarding an online requirement. No one has been able to say it's not true and some have speculated that this is required at the operating system level and therefore isn't something Microsoft has to tell all developers or retail partners. Microsoft also has the ability to change this type of requirement seemingly at a moment's notice through changes in firmware or networking infrastructure."

 

[pharmboy044]

Really looking forward to when Microsoft announces this.

 

[Askherserenity]

Don't we ALL have a connection to the internet? I've maybe lost that connection twice in 5 years. Don't see a problem. I need an internet connection to play all of my xbla titles since most of them are tied to an older xbox. Never had a problem. I guess if people can't play their games for a few hours because of an internet problem it's all out war huh? Simcity works now right? It's funny, I watch many reviews on Rev3 games and their review for Simcity was just so mature and adult it was refreshing. The woman came out and basically said "Yeah, the launch sucked, but we just waited a week and now it works so I'm going to review the game." What? No hysteria, no sky falling? I feel the same about this situation. Always online? Big deal. I have faith that the company that has brought me over 7 years of entertainment with the xbox and 360 will have the capability to do the same in the future. So many are easy to jump off the bandwagon as soon as it runs over a pebble.

Not sure if you're real or not. Holy shit. I don't even

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I have a feeling it's Miiverse on crack, as well as better XBL integration across games. And I'm okay with that, cause Miiverse is one of the few things Ninty did right with Wii U. With Sony having its own integrated network, I've no doubt MS has been on this for a while.

I visualize that with Durango's ability to switch between multiple active running games and apps, as well as dedicated RAM for the OS we're going to see crazy stuff like jumping straight into friends games. Potentially we can even choose what games are queued up too.

But, of course, the negatives far outweigh the positives for me if it fucks with my consoles basic ability to function when it's dependent on *another* infrastructure.

Yeah I could definitely see that. Good thinking.

Damnit that confirms it. This has to be real

 

[InfiniDragon]

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Waiting for MS to say this themselves but if true, it's out.

My PC, Wii U and soon to be PS4 will do just fine.

 

[abstract alien]

Of all the worries I had for this thing, this has to be the absolute lowest on the totem pole. I'm always online, so it affects me zero. In the off chance I'm not online, it will be a rare occurrence anyway.

Wonder how they will handle live bannings though.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I really doubt this happens, but I'd be interested in seeing how MS will justify it.

Looking forward to the reveal. I wonder how they're going to announce to people that it requires an online connection to start and/or play games? It would have to be worded in such a way as to make it sound like it's doing something "more" than just authenticating it. Gonna even more interesting that it's most likely going to require a paid subscription, ala Xbox Live, just to play MP like the 360.

Not only do people not have the Internet connection sometimes required but also just remembered that some people still have Internet that has a bandwidth cap. That means the console is going to unnecessarily eat bandwidth, even just a tiny amount, it can affect those who only maybe have the cap. This just looks worse and worse. I hope all this mention of online is not true, but sadly, I'm skeptical of it being otherwise.

 

[kaching]

Still, if Microsoft were to implement this shit successfully (as in, with little to no hiccups and no consumer uproar), it would set a terrible precedent for the whole industry. I think that if that were to happen, Sony would gladly jump on the bandwagon with their next console.

I think Sony would have to perform worse than they have this gen for that to be the message they take away. If they at least get half the marketshare again, they're still getting a message that there's a lot of people out there who specifically seem to like how they do things differently from the competing alternatives.

 

[tatotiburon]

who takes a videogame console to vacations? beach, beer, girls, food who play games?

but yeah this always online crap is lame

 

[krypt0nian]

Like Stockholm Syndrome?

Preferring different consoles brands is natural sometimes. But what scare me is "take a shit in my mouth and I'll call it cocoa" fanaticism.

 

[Omegasquash]

Picture this:

You take your new Xbox on vacation with you to play with your friends but there's no internet connection!

That actually happened to me three summers back...and I couldn't play my arcade games because of a lack of connection. We did other things, but it was still sort of annoying.

 

[pswii60]

You answered your own question, who honestly thinks Microsoft is going to just drop 40% of their marketshare like that?

I think this plan is more to force those 40% to finally enter their Wifi WEP key.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

This gen definitely preferred the 360 over the PS3. My PS3 basically plays blu-rays, PS1/2 games, and the occasional exclusive. If this is true I might just have to ignore the next xbox.

 

[AOC83]

Of all the worries I had for this thing, this has to be the absolute lowest on the totem pole. I'm always online, so it affects me zero. In the off chance I'm not online, it will be a rare occurrence anyway.

Wonder how they will handle live bannings though.

Some people....

 

[Ysiadmihi]

You answered your own question, who honestly thinks Microsoft is going to just drop 40% of their marketshare like that?

Maybe they just don't give a shit about people who aren't paying for Live or seeing ads.

 

[Lion Heart]

Makes you wonder though if this rumor is true, then why do it if you weren't also blocking used game sales. Which then makes you wonder what did they tell Gamestop to get them to stop worrying about that?

Piracy.

 

[FordGTGuy]

"...No one has been able to say it's not true ....."

Logical Fallacies.... Logical Fallacies everywhere...