That's still better than ALL games not being able to be played offline, which is what Microsoft seems to be proposing. Let me put it this way I was one of the morons who got simcity , my excuse was that "it was just one game" , that one game put me through more hell and embarrassment that the idea of having to go through that for all games is just something I couldn't bare with at all. Next ,I trust Valve much more than I trust Microsoft (not that I trust companies to begin with, but I'm wary of some more so than others) so even if both do it technically I'd still give the edge out to Steam on this, be it always online or DRM.
It's fortunate that Steam isn't always online and lets me continue playing my game even after disconnects because our router likes to go down at least once a day and must be reset. I don't mind them wanting to make a "check" every time I start the game to make sure I own it, but always requiring the connection on single player games literally gives no benefits to the consumer. None. It's them saying, "I do not trust you even for a moment". They want to watch every second to make sure you aren't stealing, despite the fact that all the people they are watching are legitimate consumers. The people who do not want to pay won't, and never will. They will find other ways to play the game.
I don't even mind being connected to the service most of the time. Steam provides lots of benefits to being connected. It could be Microsoft will also provide similar benefits. But I don't like being made to feel like a thief before I've done anything wrong. You should attract people to your service through the benefits you can provide them, not by breathing down their neck and watching their every move.
Exactly.
There have been specific games on PC that require you to be 'always on' Sim City being the most recent, but the PC community has never been happy with the concept of always on DRM either. Of course the difference here is it's not just specific games that require this, the console itself requires it to function properly. It means that whether or not we're able to play our games is totally in the hands of our ISP and Microsoft. For those people who have a shitty internet connection, it's not really a good prospect at all. There are legitimate reasons why people would like the console to remain offline as well. Parents may not like the idea of their kids being always online while playing their games.
A developer on the Evil Avatar forum made this post:
http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2200505&postcount=46
It seems like a lot of media outlets are picking this story up as well:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...th-fans_n_3018705.html?utm_hp_ref=uk?ncid=GEP
Oh, and a disgruntled gamer takes to youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cW28VSmXnCo
If you don't like it then don't buy it.
Well, if the rumours turn out to be true, the good thing here is, we won't have to. Sony has stated that they won't be doing this. If the leaks are anything to go by, the PS4 is by far the better system anyway. Also Sony have the better 1st-party studios.