Xbox v.Next and Always On

Outrage real and imagined in the wake of an Xbox v.Next revelation

[thechosenone]

Another person in the know steps forth and confirms the dreaded news.

"Always-on connectivity is indeed part of the next Xbox, and it was interesting to see this guy confirm that unofficially."

[Godmars290]

And still its ridiculous to think that MS would actively and wholly exclude potential customers in such a manner.

[GamersRulz]

I still don't understand fanboys who defend such disgraceful act from MS.

it's like you own nothing no more, games you buy for $60 are still tied to MS servers. you can't play even single player games without MS approving and checking your system, what a joke!

all it takes is a simple server/service/Internet outage and those fanboys realize that they spend $500 on an expensive brick that they don't even own!!

[Gamer-40]

End of story, always online true for new Xbox. Sad.

[Rusty515]

They'll probably release an unlocked version for a higher price after seeing the negative feedback from everyone...
@cayleee: it's an assumption. I honestly don't even believe this whole online-only Xbox thing is true. I know Microsoft isn't exactly the kind of company that puts the consumer first, but you would think they would have a little more sense than to release something like this. When it's officially comfirmed, I'll believe it. Until then, all these articles are just pointless rumors....

[cayleee]

What makes you say that, people thought paying to go online was ridiculous. Yet MS got away with it.

No other platform charges to go online PC, PS3. Yet MS got away.

They probably will again, Sony might even fall to publisher pressure and go a similar route.

The biggest problem today really with consoles is they are closed platforms. There hardly is any consumer rights on them. If MS and Sony make a decision, there is literally nothing the consumer can do about it.

This is the reason why publishers, devs love consoles in comparison to a open platform like the PC. Consumers just cant fight back or do anything about what the ways large corporations want to take gaming, since consoles are locked down platforms and are completely under the control of their makers.

[caseh]

Uh he didn't actually confirm it and Microsoft's apology is simply damage limitation.

If a random Sony employee had a rant about pre-owned games then told people to 'deal with it' they would undoubtedly make a statement to stop sites like this from 'unofficially confirming' news that still has no real foundation on fact.

[fr0sty]

“We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers. We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter.”

Translates to "This guy said things in a way that we wouldn't have put it. Sorry if the "deal with it" line got to you, he isn't a spokesman." followed by the most typical line in all of PR, "we don't comment on rumors or speculation". The latter line has been uttered by every single company regarding pretty much every single rumor, so it doesn't confirm nor deny the always on aspect of the rumors.

I will say this though... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't say that I've ever seen a rumor get reported by this many different sources that turned out to be false. When you factor in that many of these sources also nailed PS4 down to every last detail, it's kinda hard to dismiss these rumors. MS lack of a real response doesn't help things.

To be fair to them, they won't comment on a rumor about a system that, as far as they want us to know as of now, doesn't exist. That said, if the rumor turned out to be false, I think we'll see more crow eaten in the gaming journalism industry than ever before.

[caseh]

I get what you're saying, where there is smoke theres usually fire.

'Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't say that I've ever seen a rumor get reported by this many different sources that turned out to be false.'

This is the internet we're talking about here, the moment Sony aquired a patent with the words 'pre-owned' in the title the internet went NUTS, every site were all over it like a fat kid in a pie shop. It turned out to be false, none of these sites were slapped down for it either. Its the old 'praise us when we say told you so, forget we said anything when it truns out to be false'.

To me this incident with MS is no different, some random guy speaks up via Twitter. Everyone clocks onto the fact he works at MS and he mentions, just MENTIONS always on and its immediately offical news.

[fr0sty]

Well, there is a big difference between acquiring a patent for a system that prevents used game sales vs. having a system actually implemented on a piece of hardware. Sony owns patents for all kinds of tech that never sees the light of day. Also, I didn't see a bunch of rumors leaking that PS4 would have DRM like that, all that hoopla was based on the patent filing. There wasn't really any rumor to go along with it, just a patent filed by a company that has a history of filing patents that never see the light of day (a similar anti-used game patent was made by Sony just before PS3 launched, for instance).

With NeXtBOX, we're hearing leaks from people who have devkits, people who have proven their credentials with photos or just by being right about other things (PS4 namely), and that's where the talk of this always on thing is based. We're not just hearing about a patent that describes a hypothetical system for DRM, we're hearing that it's actually being used in a product that is set to release this year.

There's a pretty big difference. All rumors in the end, and we'll have to see how it all unfolds, but I have to say that after hearing these things from so many different sources, I'd be surprised not to see it come true. Especially with Microsoft making an official statement with no denial, and then the official Xbox magazine posting that article about one of the durango "leakers" going on about how always on isn't a big deal, etc... Sounds more like damage control than denying a false rumor to me.

But again, we'll see.

[RTheRebel]

2 more months until we find out =)

[InMyOpinion]

N4G seems to already know everything about it.

[fr0sty]

The entire gaming community seems to know everything about it. Just like they knew everything about PS4 before it was revealed. And the info from both came from the same sources, and was verified by different sources. This isn't just a bunch of 12 year olds on a news aggregate site making predictions.

[clintos59]

Always Online is as real as paying for xbl & not getting any new quality exclusive games for the passed 3 years. Like Adam Orth says, "Deal With It"

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

always-on huh? you know whats never-on? Me, in relation to this next xbox.
im sorry but there are millions of people out there like myself who face interent outages from time to time. It's not so much that i cant handle pausing my game as it is the principle of the matter. taking away the rights people have, no matter how big or small those rights may be is WRONG.
let me tell ya something guys, ive had my ps3 and 360 on auto sign-in since ive gotten internet. i cant tell you the last time i (intentionally) gamed while not online. to me, always-on would have little to no effect on the way i game, aside from my irregular outages. at some point you have to ask yourself though: how would this effect others, and why is the company doing this?
let me tell you exactly how and why. Millions upon millions of people game on current gen consoles that DO NOT game online, be it from lack of interest or lack of internet access. what MS is doing is essentially dicking people out of the option to buy their console. Why? to close off any holes that might make them lose money. Use any justification youd like for the always-on at this moment, but in your heart you KNOW that eventually this feature has the potential to balloon itself into a full fledged "youd better check with us first" system. use your imagination as to what you think that might mean.

Im not an idealist by any means. I spend way too much time on the interent even though it gets me no where. i eat fast food that i know is terrible for me. I do these types of things because in my mind i weigh the risks and reasons for what im doing and i make a decion based on whether or not i feel its worth my time.
weighing out the risks and reasons for the purchase of an always-on console from microsoft has lead me to the decision to elect not to buy one.

[clintos59]

I agree but I still think Adam Orth's quote, "Deal With It" is exactly the way microsoft feels for its fanbase. Those giving out disagrees are the ones who Adam Orth is saying that quote too because microsoft knows that no matter what they do these "Clueless" loyal fans of theirs will support them even if they decided to just have the same few exclusives & the rest was all kinect 2.0 games they can count on these fans to support them. I mean talk about pimpin. Microsoft definitely knows how to pimp its loyal fans. They deserve an achievement called, "We Say U Pay & U Will Deal Wit It".

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

yeah, you definitely have a point. all this fire breathing hardcore gamers do only brings a warm breeze to the casual gamer. what im trying to say is that lots of gamers have heard about the always-on and dont like it, however only a very small percentage of those gamers actually care enough to stay away from the product. millions of people are out there are saying things like "did you hear about how the new xbox has to be always connected? that sucks!" its funny though, how in all its suckiness, its still going to sell millions upon millions.
the problem is much bigger than gaming. its human nature to have a strong opinion of a topic, whilst doing nothing about it.

[Kurt Russell]

I'll deal with it... by investing elsewhere.

[urwifeminder]

Cant wait to get the new box woo hoo bad luck for third world gamers.

[DivineAssault]

It might be an always online console but as long as u dont need online to play your games, i wouldnt care.. That isnt confirmed yet.. I know rumors suggest that u need to install all of the games like PCs do but needing an internet connection to do so just seems STUPID.. If they do that, they would literally kill themselves.. Preventing piracy is one thing but killing used games is another.. We will see what happens but i really dont see the console surviving if that happens..

I dont know why but i have no interest in what MS has to offer anymore.. Once bioware games were no longer exclusive & fable went to sh*t, i didnt care to even turn on my xbox.. They really dont have anything new that im interested in either so i dont care if its the most powerful system the world has ever seen, if it doesnt have any unique games i want, im not going to get it.. Multiplats arent enough for me

[hellvaguy]

If your reading N4G, you already have internet access and are going to be always online anyways, so it's an irrelevant point to think your speaking up for someone guy out on a farm in Noweheresville, USA or some 3rd world country.

My biggest concern for the 720 is that the hardware can match sonys and I don't want a focus on Kinect. So we'll just have to wait and see the confirmed news stories.