No One Is Dumb Enough To Make A Console Dependent On An Internet Connection

Complex - The latest gripe in the video games community is that the Xbox 720 (code named Durango) won't allow anyone to play games without an internet connection. I for one, believe this to be pure poppycock. Not that I'm riding Microsoft's analog stick but to do something so ass-backwards is inconceivable and makes absolutely no business sense. And if there's one thing Microsoft is not going to do, it would be to create a product that will not make money. No Zune or Vista jokes guys.

[Thepharaoh]

Thank you.
some one gets it

[iGAM3R-VIII]

#dealwithit MicroSoft's rumours are 'Always On' and until E3 come we will know if they are official, but when you have an employee say something like that on twitter defending MS, it must be true

[Thepharaoh]

there's so much confusion wit this whole story that simply accepting it is a little silly. Microsoft hasn't even announced the console and people are already waltzing around as if they have the exact info as to how games will be played. Another thing is the fact that Microsoft isn't stupid. Do you really believe That the company which became the top Os software development group got there by exhibiting such ignorance. Do you think they tripped their earning in the gaming business by making such awful choices, Do you think they were able to pass off the gimmick of Kinect by being so dumb. I understand that this site may not have the biggest Microsoft fans but even they cannot deny that Microsoft is this dumb.

[Gildarts]

"It MUST be true"

Now you are being ignorant. Who said that he was talking directly about the 720? Maybe he was talking about the idea of always online consoles.

[asad197]

I find it funny that people actually believe that next xbox will require Internet. Microsoft is not that stupid. Wait for e3 for official information.

[iGAM3R-VIII]

I know MS are not that stupid but I am kinda getting chills about that recent employee thing. There must be some reason

[greenpowerz]

The employee was sick of people like you spending 24/7 trolling like your life depended on it. MSFT commented on Not supporting the employee's views and not "rumors and speculation"

Could you imagine MSFT letting trolls force them to respond to made up BS. MSFT would give the signal that S.D.F. could push them around.

The employee did not or could not comment on what MSFT is doing either way. He responded with a smart A$$ comment to the trolls and their talking points.

(1)What people are talking is prabably nothing more than DEV KIT security messures to control where 720 games are and who is using them.(Console won't work and play games unless said unit is connect at assigned location(if true at all)

People really believe that folks that supposedly have info about the 720 and are leaking info only leak things about "online" but nothing on current dev kit specs, games, XBL, features, Kinect etc LMAO

Like I said this all came out again after talk of the 720 having 2 GPUs came out in the open, after a troll posted the old rumor( 1 year old rumor) on a popular website on Aprils fools to descredit the rumor/leak out of damage control. These articles have been coming out since then.

(2)No doubt the 720 does have auto update features and possible never signs you out of XBL if you have internet hense the auto updating feature LOL.

I think these two things I'm talking about above caused real confusion and is when S.D.F. and pro Sony media started talking advantage of the confusion.

MSFT is doing such a great job keeping things secret it's driving the opposition crazy...

Move on and stop trying to get MSFT to show their hand or trying to force them to. Your minds are made up why do you care so much?

A company that makes most of its cash on internet

[thechosenone]

So you guys don't even trust the people that actually worked on the hardware?

"Developer on Xbox 720 always-online: "All I can say is be sure to pay your ISP bills"

http://n4g.com/news/1225967...

[rainslacker]

@Thepharoh

They didn't get there by ignorance, they got there by arrogance. They controlled the OS and productivity markets for so long that for the most part there really was no choice. On numerous occasions they have participated in anti-consumer and anti-competitive practices to maintain that dominance of the markets they controlled.

I see a lot of this "Companies are only in it for themselves", "It's all about profits", "Companies don't care about you, or what we say" when discussing topics on here. But no company exemplifies that more than MS in their long history. Take a look outside gaming once in a while and you would see this too.

If any company were to have the gall to actually implement something like this it would be MS. If any company could implement it and make it successful it would be MS. That is how powerful they are.

[delboy]

The publishers will implement the always online DRM, like they did with online passes.
There are rumors already for ACIV and Watchdogs being always online.
And xbox720 and ps4 will support it or the game will not be published.
deal with it

[gaffyh]

I would agree to an extent that no company is this stupid, but then if you look at Microsoft's recent portfolio; Zune (although it was good), Vista, Kin, Windows 8, they always try and force something on their customers, which is why there may be some truth to this rumor.

If you also combine it with the other leaks such as:
- No used games
- Install-only
- Cable-box mentality
- Gaming taking a back seat in the next Xbox in favour of other entertainment.
- Always on Kinect

^ Then it kinda makes sense that they would require your console to be always online when trying to play games or apps.

I have no doubt that this "Always-On" strategy is/was Microsoft's strategy for the next Xbox, but I am hoping that they have either changed it already, or have changed it because of this backlash, so I've got high hopes. Don't let me down MS!

[xXxSeTTriPxXx]

Just like no ones dumb enough to force drm on single player portion of games, but guess what they did and guess what it sold 10mil copies.

for a lot of people gaming isnt just a hobby its an addiction and M$ understands this.

Give the people a must have product and they'll break their own code of ethics to get it.

For the longest time gamer swore they would never support always online drm but daiblo made liers of them all.

And I thumb you up because I do agree but its not ignorence thats motivating them its a bottomline, and as long as they can produce content gamers will put up with it.

[Thepharaoh]

@xXxSeTTriPxXx
@rainslacker
Both of those points are valid but they still don't explain just how badly Microsoft would mess up with this.They own a very widely used browser an have their name stamped on a good chunk of computers. Knowing this I think it's safe to assume that They must get Internet Connection problem calls 24/7It's not so much going on the silliness of others as it is the disrespect Now. Remember their a Computer Company the amount of feedback they must get would probably be enough to kill one man, Remember that N4g is a tiny chunk of the internet search up Always on for xbox and you'll probably spend all night looking through all the threads on this Garbage. Now is ee you comparing them to other companies those companies are not Microsoft. To the Drm Were not talking about singular games were talking about a console requirement that would encompass all games. Again they are not so dumb

[FamilyGuy]

What about OnLive? Someone was "dumb enough" that time...

[GamersRulz]

Microsoft is!!

[aviator189]

...if the rumors are true. :/

And I fully believe that they aren't. But feel free to disagree.

[GamersRulz]

No I won't disagree with you, because I based my previous comment on a rumor, strong rumor though!

[OC_MurphysLaw]

well... to be fair OnLive did. Granted it is slightly different in that it is streaming games 100% but it most certainly is dependent on Internet.

[superterabyte]

Onlive was not successful. For reasons x,y and z. But that's besides the point. When you buy a console that uses a physical medium such as the disk (which we can presume although not with certainty will be present on Mic***oft's next machine) and has single player games and unlike Onlive will launch internationally you should expect in fact demand that there is no always on DRM.

What happens if your internet went down and the console required an internet connection at all times to play games? Effectively you would own a brick.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I didn't say onlive was successful, just that someone has made a always on console.

[superterabyte]

@Dlacy13g you can't make a streaming service without being always online. Did you even read what I wrote? originally onlive was based only in northen america later going to parts of europe and you could join the service without owning the console.

Yes someone made an always on console but it failed end of.

[Max-Zorin]

If it turn out to be true, N4G will eat it up and never move on.

[CC-Tron]

Nah. It won't be true and N4G will eat crow instead.

[Rusty515]

..."poppycock"?

[cyclindk]

Maybe not consoles... but games, there are more than I can count these days.

Multiplayer-only games
Multiplayer-focused games
Always-on protected titles too
Browser-based games
All the necessary patches it takes too to get games running smoothly.

It's a messy internet connected world that's for sure.

[PS4isKing_82]

Well considering Microsoft is already charging ppl to play online and access other services such as Netflix and Hulu, in addition to paying said service fees and a monthly Internet fee, who's to say they won't do this as well? That seems to be the Microsoft way, scam and brainwash ppl into thinking its worth it, when on every other platform, using the Internet browser, accessing your Netflix, Hulu apps, and playing online are all free.

It's time America wakes up and realize this. I don't mind the Xbox as a console, it's Microsoft I have a problem with, and their greed and arrogance will cost them a lot of customers. Look what happened to Sony at the beginning of this gen, they got cocky and arrogant and it cost them a lot of market share. And now we have Microsoft going down that same road it seems with their next system. Except this appears to be way worse if these rumors become true. Should be an enlightening E3 this year.

[MysticStrummer]

"Well considering Microsoft is already charging ppl to play online and access other services such as Netflix and Hulu, in addition to paying said service fees and a monthly Internet fee, who's to say they won't do this as well?"

Yeah before MS started charging to play online I would have said no one was dumb enough to do that either. Why people want to buy games and then rent the online part from MS is beyond me.

[Hicken]

I'd like to say they'd lose a lot of customers, but look at how many people defend them regularly already. It's not difficult to point out a few that would buy the next Xbox if all it did was light up when you turned it on.

And as long as people like that are supporting them with their money, Microsoft will do whatever they can get away with.

[Zeusprototype]

you was all happy to support sony, when it had a farce of an online service aswell as regular cockups. i Pay for my xb gold i pay for my netflix but i dont pay to use both together. Its sony fans who get caught up on this link. Why would i even have the internet on my console if i did not have xbox live?

You make xbox users sound like blind monkeys, when we probs spend 0.5% of a monthly wage on it, i spend more on alcohol on one night out.

N4G it use a platform for sony fanboys to hate on the xbox discussing rumours amongst themselves like they are facts....and they say we are gullible lol

[Jakens]

$60 = 1 blind date.

[sherimae2413]

just DEAL WITH IT ^_^

[MysticStrummer]

Deal with what? The rumors, or that they might be true?

Personally I think it's funny that MS fans want these articles to stop, after their gleeful support of all the "PS3 is Doomed" articles.

I doubt MS will do it, but could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time MS did something dumb, or the first time I turned out to be wrong.

[rainslacker]

Do they want them to stop? After all MS is getting all the press now, so that's good for them right? PS4 news is nothing but crickets now, so that's good for MS.

Also not sure if you were replying to Sheri, but she is definitely not an Xbox fanboy, or girl. More a Vita enthusiast.

I hope MS don't do it. I also hope if they had it planned they take notice at what people are saying now. I'm sure the outcry is more valuable than some focus groups.

[Zeusprototype]

All game companies do something dumb, its misguided for people to act like Microsoft are the only one to make mistakes.

[M-M]

They make people pay for services that they're already paying for, and you still think they won't do it?

[Zeusprototype]

explain how they are? i pay for xboxlive gold to use online services i pay for netflix to use it. how am i paying for both? are you stupid? can you watch netflix on your phone without paying someone else to access the internet to do so?

or your tablet
or your pc
and dont give me the we pay are isp crap because for the first two your probably using your payed date allowances.

[M-M]

You know what I meant, paying for Live just to use services you're already paying for. I assumed people like you would have already known what I meant, but whatever man.

[clintos59]

I hope it's all bs but seeing how microsoft is the only one out of the big 3 that makes u pay to play online the rumours may very well be true.

[Man-E-Faces]

Don't underestimate Microsoft's greed! Silver members are like dead weight too them, they could easily be replaced if the nextbox is in some way a cablebox attracting more paid subscribers to go along with their already slow minded gold subscribers, does any one of these idiots who currently pays for gold ever realize how much of a scam gold is when they open up their new or used game and see that an online pass is required to play multiplayer? I would think your already paying Microsoft to access the multiplayer part of a game. What's going on there?
Think people Microsoft's goal since entering the console market was not to contribute to gaming as Sony/Nintendo do but to enter in as many homes as possible, but you can't do that with a gaming console alone so what's the 1 entertainment piece missing? A cable box(always on).

[clintos59]

This is what im trying to figure out is how will it work with mmo's for the 720 if they already pay for xbl. Some mmo's u have to pay another fee for monthly or 3 months or 6 months or year even a life time membership. That would really suck for 720 users to pay extra.

[deafdani]

About 10 or 11 years ago, the notion of trying to impose a pay-to-play model for online gaming (outside of MMOs and the like, that is) was absolutely unconceivable.

Someone got away with exactly that, and now they're raking in billions of dollars in profit each year with said service: yup, Microsoft.

So, I don't know whether all these "always on" rumors are true or not, but I do know that, if Microsoft wants, they probably will get away with it, and end making massive profits off it in the end.

And that's exactly why all these rumors make me so scared. Because if they are true, and Microsoft succeeds (pretty likely, if LIVE is any indication), Sony and Nintendo could follow suit with that awful practice in their next console iterations (PS4 - Wii U and Dem Too).

Awful prospect, if you ask me.

[Pillsbury1]

I beg to differ.

[TheTwelve]

I can't stand Microsoft in the gaming business and I actually want them to be so dumb as to try to pull this off...

...but there are some things that are too good to be true.

No way is Microsoft this dumb. They have always striven to win the media war and to lose it all by doing this wouldn't make sense.

12

[NeXXXuS]

It's microsoft we're talking about here. They're the type of company that would probably do this. There're too many rumors and speculation going on right now about the new XBOX for any of this to sound fake or true for that matter. At this point, anything involving the next XBOX according to rumor is a 50/50 chance.

[cyhm3112]

seriously i hope microsoft as a whole fails not only xbox

[Kal853]

You seriously think no one can be that dumb? "Only two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Effing Einstein.

[Agent_hitman]

Always online. kiss my arse!

[MasterCornholio]

I agree that no one is stupid enough to make a game console dependent on an internet connection, but what if the 720 is isn´t a game console than what?

Microsoft lately changed the image of the XBOX brand so i wouldn´t be surprised if the next XBOX is more of a cable top box than a console so maybe they will adopt the always online DRM in order to protect the content on the 720.

But honestly its way to early to determine any of this because we dont even know what the 720 will be like except for a bunch of rumored specs.

@clintos59

Microsoft will continue to charge for those services because theres over 40 million Xbox owners who are willing to pay for them. The only ones to blame are the consumers because if they didnt subscribe to xboxlive for a yearly online pass and the right to access services like netflix then Microsoft would have changed their strategy a long time ago.

[artdafoo]

Yea , and no one is dumb enough to release a "smart phone " 5 years after everybody else has.

[TheKayle1]

to play games will not require always on....

to log into xbl like it is already u will need it

and with x720/durango etc etc and ps4 this will increase more and more

what u do with the share button on the ps4 controller if u havent a conenction? etc etc

every console apps and stuff need interent to get the full functionality of th emachine 100%

u get 25% (just games) without internet

[FrigidDARKNESS]

Its designed to frustrate those who want to hack the console.

[ceed911]

What do the Sony fanboys whine about next once Microsoft announces and it isn't a feature?

17 million more sales in North America is sort of a big deal, if you think people will jump ship when Microsoft and Sony will incentivize you to migrate your account, you are very ignorant.

Minor graphical improvements, almost identical features, and nothing mind blowing, will not make an average consumer buy a different console.

Unfortunately this is N4G so as this receives disagrees, realize that the people who agree and will bash/hate are a vocal minority.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

Uhm they whine about what?? Don't start a war here because I don't see anyone here that your pointing your post at. Some people are just trolls. Some people are just ignorant. Some people are just hardcore fans and blindly follows their console of choice even if they know their reason is invalid. Just like a gamer here at N4G saying that a specific console (Im not saying what it is) is the worse!! Why?? Because it has patches and loading times suck... Pretty shalow isnt it knowing that all consoles have Pro's and Con's and "Games" are all that matters.

[josephayal]

I love DRM

[Vickistheman]

I used to think MS wouldn't be crazy enough to implement always online for consoles.

Then I saw this video of Steve Ballmer (CEO of MS):

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

I still want to believe they won't though.