Let's Celebrate The Backpedal (The Mistake Microsoft Avoided)

"So why is it such a big deal that the next generation of consoles not require a constant, or regular, internet connection? After all, who on this planet can’t connect their console to the internet at least once a day? Well, people living in rural areas, people on military bases, people living in many university dorms, people in less developed nations, and of course people who do have decent internet connections that tend to fail at least a few times a year." -GR

[ShugaCane]

"people who do have decent internet connections that tend to fail at least a few times a year."

Actually, more like a few times a day for me lol

"Connections don’t fail every day "

They do !!!!

And I'm not even living a rural area. That's the thing. I live on a remote (but civilized) island. The connection here is not as good as on the mainland, so internet can be a bit tricky (depending on where you are located).

That's the reason why I hate the "Always-On" concept. It's the devil for me. People who have a constant connexion might not understand it, but it can be a real nightmare.

[iamnsuperman]

I agree with hating the always on feature. I know people near me who have bad connections. In the UK internet connections can be really bad in some places and that isn't going to improve anytime soon.

However, I did like the DRM idea at a basic level. I am against used game sales and the DRM thing would have been a good idea if they did it properly and acted less like an arse about it. If Microsoft came out and said "because we are implementing DRM we will sell our games at $40 instead of $60" it would have been fantastic. But all we got was Microsoft trying to secure more profits without showing any benefit to us. The should have lowered the price of games as a reason for having DRM. I think we can all say one big reason for people buying used games is because it cost too much to have all the games you will like.

[ShugaCane]

"I am against used game sales"

But why ? I don't understand, and I would like to. You're not against used cars sales, or second-hand furnitures or stuff like that, I guess ? So what's so wrong with used game sales ?

[iamnsuperman]

@ KarmicDemon

For me its similar to movies and songs. The entertainment industry is ruthless. As such if the publishers do not get enough of a profit then we don't see those games again (I don't want to be aiding that in a hobby I love). They do not care about how many play it but who actually buys it and how much they make of it. Something like a rental or a used game sale doesn't go back to the publisher at all but to the retailer instead. Games do not cost that much to warrant, in my opinion, buying it used. If they cost a grand or you pay $60 for a 30 minute game. Sure but its $60 (£55)for a game that last a very long time. Also retailers go lower than that to be competitive so thats the most you will pay it could be as low as £45-£50. Gaming isn't a necessity either its a hobby (unlike cars which are almost a necessity to have).

Now I do agree that you have come up with two good comparisons but, for me, other factors, that are more, come into it.

Firstly cars. Cars are ludicrously expensive to expect people to buy new all the time but the main reason for me to buy second hand is more to do with waste than anything. It is just not economically or environmentally feasible to buy a new car every time. But also the manufacturer does get money back on used car sales when it comes to maintenance. I have a used car but recently I had the clutch lever and some cables (I think) broke. It cost a grand to fix. Now I went to the manufacture garage to get it done because I don't want to be screwed over. Even if I went to a normal garage parts have to be ordered in from the company anyway. Lets be honest most cars start breaking down after 5 years use and it's the risk you get going second hand. No warrant coverage or anything like that.

Next furniture. Now I don't buy second hand furniture. Its not a moral thing its just you can get quality furniture on the cheap now and also I like it to last a while with a warranty.

[fossilfern]

Yeah the UK is fragmented in terms of internet. I have 70meg from BT but my mate about 5 miles down can barley get 2meg

[_LarZen_]

You do know that a verification takes a few seconds? It's not like you had to have it connected for hours a day.

People with horrible ISP could even use their mobile phone for that verification. That said I understand it's more a hassle then something good if you live in a area with bad ISP's...

[fossilfern]

It's the future though when MS shut the servers and you want to dig out the old Xbox One Where is the box Gonna call to when there's No servers? The thing will be a brick

[_LarZen_]

@fossilefern

Same can be said about Steam or any other digital store for the PC. PC users mainly use Steam and have been under DRM rules for years.

I agree that it's not a good thing that we cant take out a console 20 years from now and have some nostalgia fun.

[fossilfern]

@_LarZen_

I know I'm not saying Steam is perfect unlike some people here. But atleast with steam you can backup your game on an external drve and any game that has some kind of DRM gets cracked. But with Xbox 1 unless there is some workaround that someone comes up with then the thing will turn into brick if they go back to their original policies.

[Aceman18]

i understand where your coming from karmic i live in NYC and have pretty good connection, but i never know when my provider (FIOS) might decide to that too many people are using up too much bandwidth and slow down the usage.

when i had cablevision they did this all the time.

[SnakeCQC]

but they took away features too

[DigitalRaptor]

Family sharing? That was never going to be the deal many still believe it to be.

The pervasive digital library? Still possible. Buy games digitally, and Microsoft should still allow you to play you're games on any XB1.

The digital selling/trading? Tell me more, cause I know nothing about that particular feature set.

What else was lost?