Microsoft internal memo. New Xbox to work offline.

[Nowhere Man]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/05/microsoft-next-xbox-will-work-even-when-your-internet-doesnt/

Well it looks like Microsoft either caved in to the perceived blow back of angry gamers (myself included) or they had this planned all along. But this was on an internal email MS sent to it's employees:

"There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should 'just work' regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game."

That's cool I guess. But I doubt I'll be buying it anyway.





Edit: Mods can you please move this into the gaming discussions? I kinda screwed that up.

 

[I Stomp on Kittens]

Yeah!
It would be completely silly for it to not work offline. I'm still not sure which console I'll be going for though.

I applaud you Microsoft...[sub]for now.[/sub]

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

It's no less than I figured. Considering how much of the US alone is still not wired for high speed internet, it would be absolute suicide to release a true online only console with today's internet infrastructure. That doesn't mean I believe this rumor really came from Microsoft, just that I always had the "always online" rumors pegged as BS. If they turn out to be true, well, this will be the last Xbox.

 

[Camaranth]

Why am I still skeptical?

Well at least some-one appeared to be listening to the people with common sense.

Guess we'll know more on the 21st.

 

[thesilentman]

*Slow clap.*

Congratulations Microsoft. Now that you've proven that you do listen to people, how about cutting down on the other bullshit? Like the fact that you really like making your software expensive? Like the fact that Windows is a bloated mess that isn't quite fixed yet?

Oh sorry, wrong thread to spew bile at MS for. -.-

At least they have shown that they do care about their customers. All they need to do is to justify why I should get an Xbox over the comfort of my own PC. I'm waiting.

 

[Dead Seerius]

Relieved to hear this.

Initially I thought the always online rumors were a load of BS, but I'll admit I was getting worried there for a bit as more and more kept floating to the surface. Not to mention the Orth #dealwithit incident.

But it would have been suicide on MS's part to begin with. Take two consoles with essentially the same gaming capabilities (PS4/Nextbox), one with an always online requirement, the other without. Which do you think would be more successful?

Now that that's out of the way, will MS continue to charge for Live...

 

[Gunner_Guardian]

Hold on guys we're aren't out of the woods yet. They didn't say anything about installing new games or not blocking used games. This could still be an annoying console to work with.

 

[xPrometheusx]

hahaha, love the logic behind it.

"Gratz Microsoft, you're NOT doing that one stupid thing. Way to rise above expectations."

 

[Terminate421]

I told you all so, I stood by there side since the very beginning.

Though this does not remove all the rumors until the 21st.

Here is a dancing owl for this wonderful news:

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Why was this e-mail sent internally to their employees, and not the legion of ravenously angry potential gamers? If I were Microsoft I would have stomped the fire out long ago. The fact that they hadn't (and this still isn't an "official announcement") troubles the hell out of me. This doesn't touch on mandatory installs, used game blocking, or any of that other potential shit either.

 

[Nowhere Man]

This is an interesting comment I found on that site posted by WaltC

"flooey wrote:
Of course, the existence of such a mass e-mail implies that this is a recent change in policy. My work never sends an e-mail to everyone to say, "Just FYI, the policy we've had this whole time is still the policy. Keep doing what you've been doing."


"Nah... Many people working on the xBox would conceivably be working in areas that would have no direct knowledge of an "always online" component, whether it was yea or nay--and they would have heard the same rumors as everyone else. Such an email is designed to put rumors to rest, imo. It was not sent and publicly "leaked" by accident. (A convenient way to publicize the information without violating the "We do not comment on unreleased products" policy.) "


I have to say, his logic is sound.

 

[Nowhere Man]

This doesn't touch on mandatory installs, used game blocking, or any of that other potential shit either.

No it doesn't. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[gphjr14]

I wouldn't be surprised if they left it in as an option for game developers to use at their own suicidal discretion.

 

[lacktheknack]

Either the amount of hypocrisy/paranoia in this thread is astounding, or this thread is being treated to an entirely different set of readers than the last twenty.

I WILL say, however, that every time I posted a picture of a sock puppet in the other threads, I WAS RIGHT.

(And no, the sock puppet is not in effect on this thread. An internal corporate email is not "an anonymous source".)

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

This doesn't touch on mandatory installs, used game blocking, or any of that other potential shit either.

No it doesn't. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The thing is, that doesn't seem the like the kind of stuff a company would discuss during a swanky press conference. "Here's the machine!" "Here's the amazing new games you must play!" "Here's some tech demos and CGI that our system can't run!" "This is how paying $10/mo for live will be totally worth it!" "btw...you don't need internets and it plays used games". Seems kind of out of place. You're right though, we'll see.

 

[xPrometheusx]

This doesn't touch on mandatory installs, used game blocking, or any of that other potential shit either.

No it doesn't. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The thing is, that doesn't seem the like the kind of stuff a company would discuss during a swanky press conference. "Here's the machine!" "Here's the amazing new games you must play!" "Here's some tech demos and CGI that our system can't run!" "This is how paying $10/mo for live will be totally worth it!" "btw...you don't need internets and it plays used games". Seems kind of out of place. You're right though, we'll see.

At the same time, if it doesn't, you'd want to keep that crap under wraps for as long as possible, I think. If it DOES have always-online, I'm DEFINITELY not expecting it to be brought up at the release. Similarly, if backwards compatibility isn't brought up, it WILL be noticed.

Backwards compatibility would be a huge plus and talking point I think, even if only mentioned in passing. I don't think it would be that hard to slip in, like "we know how important backwards compatibility is to our base, so the xbox will feature it."

 

[Nowhere Man]

Either the amount of hypocrisy/paranoia in this thread is astounding, or this thread is being treated to an entirely different set of readers than the last twenty.

I WILL say, however, that every time I posted a picture of a sock puppet in the other threads, I WAS RIGHT.

(And no, the sock puppet is not in effect on this thread. An internal corporate email is not "an anonymous source".)

Well, that's like, your opinion man. Of course something like this would be frustrating for the gaming community. And I think it's ok for people to have differing opinions on what to expect as well as venting blatant disapproval whether the rumors are true or not. This way, IF companies are reading and paying attention. They at least get the message on how we feel and how to proceed.

P.S. I've never seen the sock puppet. I feel deprived now.

 

[lacktheknack]

Either the amount of hypocrisy/paranoia in this thread is astounding, or this thread is being treated to an entirely different set of readers than the last twenty.

I WILL say, however, that every time I posted a picture of a sock puppet in the other threads, I WAS RIGHT.

(And no, the sock puppet is not in effect on this thread. An internal corporate email is not "an anonymous source".)

Well, that's like, your opinion man. Of course something like this would be frustrating for the gaming community. And I think it's ok for people to have differing opinions on what to expect as well as venting blatant disapproval whether the rumors are true or not. This way, IF companies are reading and paying attention. They at least get the message on how we feel and how to proceed.

P.S. I've never seen the sock puppet. I feel deprived now.

The sock puppet is just a reference to a <link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9818-The-Anonymous-Source>Critical Miss strip. I post it in threads where everyone gets uptight about a rumor from "an anonymous source".