Always-on Xbox is a bad idea, say UK retail bosses

A few UK retailers have added their two cents into the “always on” debate, a function rumored to be integrated into the next-Xbox partially in order to block pre-owned games from playing.

Speaking with MCV, Dixons Retail’s Christopher Rogers said while the chain doesn’t sell pre-owned games, the possibility of an always on console is bad idea in the UK as the broadband infrastructure isn’t up to par in all areas of the country. “Surely last month’s teething troubles with SimCity are a warning for this,” he stated.

Don McCabe of CHIPS added that while a

[iGAM3R-VIII]

Of course it is a bad idea, I just hope MS do not do the 'always online' thing and those other rumours about blocking used games as well. Why E3 is in June really pisses me off -_-

[Zuperman]

No Sh*t it's a bad idea!

[iGAM3R-VIII]

Agreed, but my reaction of when the MS employee defended it

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/st...

[Thirty3Three]

LOL.

iGAM3ER-VIII, Zuperman, I COMPLETELY agree.

I typed 'lol' because I find it HILARIOUS how you got disagrees for that.

What? Some people enjoy being looked at by many in a company, while they're naked in front of their system? xP

They sound like they're just blindly defending their soon-to-be terrible system c;

[Reverent]

I actually had a thought of how Microsoft can make "Always-Online" bearable. Or at least to the extent someone who doesn't care about privacy can make it. (Not that I'm one of them. I still hate the idea of it)

Assuming MS continues to have a subscription fee next gen, maybe the Nextbox can come with a built-in 3/4G hotspot card (Or something similar) and be capable of actually running off of that internet connection, THEN a part of the subscription fee could be part of a network plan that Microsoft themselves would take care of to make sure everyone will always have internet access even if they don't actually have any sort of internet provider.

Now, I realize there are still many flaws with this, especially since I know Microsoft aren't even close to being generous enough to make this happen... But hey, just tossing out ideas.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

I doubt it'll block used games as Gamestop praised it not too long ago. I doubt they would have anything nice to say if it did in fact block used games.

Based off the Edge rumors from several weeks back it was saying that it would maintain internet connection even while it is off. I guess that were the always-on/connected comes in. It didn't state anything about making the internet mandatory in order for the console to function although recent rumors are saying a whole bunch of other things. We'll just have to wait 2 months though I can't say these rumors are doing MS any good, but then again rumors shouldn't be taken seriously at all to begin with.

[lastofgen]

I think I've seen about a million of these articles now..

[Knight_Crawler]

Just deal with it - they will keep on coming until E3...sad that this is taken away the limelight from the Wii U and PS4, consoles that we actually have facts on :(

All someone has to do is put the words 720, rumor and leaked together and bam the gaming world goes nutz about the 720.

[greenpowerz]

Agreed

This 720 attention isn't fair to the Wii U and PS4. I feel Wii U will end up like Gamecube due to hardware choices and 720 hype killing any sort of early attention it needs after launch.

$5 if any of this is true, it's just a security feature built into dev kits to control when the 720 games are being accessed by devs and where, not allowing them to function in unassigned places without the console assigned. |

Each tool set/game/dev kit are probably linked. MSFT used the Zebra patterns for picture leaks and and what the media is talking about is just the other side of this effort of control.

Surely something much better could be leaked. People know about this supposed online feature but nothing else about the console. Hmmm?

We wouldn't even be hearing about this again if it wasn't for somebody trying to use April's Fools as a way to try and debunk the growing in popularity rumor about the 720 having two GPU's. The stories started again after that.

[iGAM3R-VIII]

Agreed, I mean like just #dealwithit

[BlueTemplar]

I'm not sure I'd class all this negative attention as hype, more like anti-hype if there is such a thing.

Spin it however you want, but the thing about all press being good press is not true in cases like this - gamers feeling nothing but ire and apathy towards a console ahead of it's launch is most definitely not a good thing.

[BlueTemplar]

Also, why on Earth would they care what was being played on devkits?

a) There arent any games that to actually pirate/play on them at the moment

b) It would be an awful lot of effort for them to go through to combat the non-problem mentioned in point a.

Makes no sense whatsoever. I was curious to know how you were going to try and rationalise this but I think you need to try a little harder than that.

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

Your avatar is awesome. whos in the picture?

[GamerzElite]

I already said earlier like After angry and negative reaction on this leak MS must thinking about removing this feature. Means delay in launch due to changes in their Next XBox system. So Next XBox come in store around end 2014 or 2015

[JoySticksFTW]

Nah, it wouldn't be delayed that late. But if it were, imagine the specs update.

I do agree that the new information and the good press coming out of the early ps4 reveal possibly coupled with this Adam Orth fiasco and other negative rumors have caught MS off guard and maybe has them rethinking their marketing strategy.

Stopping always-on could be as easy as a firmware update to remove. But if MS has major deals in place depending on this always-on, always connected strategy or it is a cornerstone of their plans, it could be more complicated to change gears.

[sak500]

One of the most idiotic comments of the day. Delay the console till 2015 over removing one feature. they can just disable it in like a day or a week or a month but no it will take 2 years.

[GamerzElite]

Lol if they do so then why not MS try to improve Next Xbox hardware to compete with PS4. As rumored Next XBox have only 8Gb DDR3 RAM and MS will ship new console with Windows 8, so u can imagine huge amount of RAM consumed by OS. And game developer also need to see this new console.

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

GO UK RETAILER BOSSES.

[hellvaguy]

Not to play devil's advocate, but aren't most people's console already always connected to the internet at all times?

And for another thing, all this doom and gloom, where did MS ever say the 720 will require the always online? Last I heard they haven't announced anything confirmed specs.

[clintos59]

Then why would a microsoft employee be defending always online? I hope its not true but knowing how money hungry microsoft is, I wouldn't be surprised to see the rumours become a reality.

[hellvaguy]

MS has a pretty strict policy against commenting on rumors.

So Im going with it prolly didn't happen or you read it on some trolling journalism site.

[Pope_Kaz_Hirai_II]

@greenpowers Facepalm and an epic one at that -_-

[Pillsbury1]

Did we forget sim city already?

[stuna1]

I don't know why I feel like Microsoft is just trolling the lot of us!

I'm pretty sure that Microsoft knows that always online would be a bad move on their part! Their drumming up all this free publicity and really haven't said anything to the contrary. They're waiting until E3, where all eyes will be on them!

Most people will be watching just to see how true the predictions were to the truth and, that is where Microsoft will garner instant appeal while shooting down all the rumors.

[clintos59]

It makes alot of sense though if u really look at it. If microsoft does decide to sell the 720 like a cable box then these rumours will definitely come to a reality but trust me if this becomes a success i fear that nintendo & sony will follow this path & maybe even apple or any other huge corporation who wants in & this will definitely kill the gaming industry because not everyone will buy into this and u will see the future of gaming drop drastically. The future doesnt look so bright for gaming.

[coolmast3r]

Oh GOD, thanks for the article, this was such an enlightment! /sarcasm/

[Zichu]

I can understand people being pretty p***ed about this alway-on function, it doesn't bother me, but that's me. My connection isn't amazing and it doesn't matter who I go with because it's just down to the area I live in.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me when I say this, but do people seriously think they would do this. MS aren't just living in a cave, not checking up on the internet to see what people are saying. Just look at the amount of articles that pop up on N4G about the next gen Xbox. It hasn't even been revealed yet and it's getting more publicity than the PS4 which has been revealed. I've not seen many PS4 articles for quite a bit and the console reveal was pretty amazing.

MS will most likely show up to E3, everyone p***ed off at them and they suddenly turn it all around and say that the console won't be always-online required. Suddenly, even more articles are popping up on N4G and everyone is even more happier than they originally were.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

People with Sound Mind: Of course its a bad Idea, Duh??
People with unsound mind: Of course its a good idea, I have lightning fast internet and I don't live in rural areas coz why would you live there right? The Internet is awesome you should get it!! :D