Microsoft Officially Denies "Always On" For Xbox One

[smithy_2045]

I like always online, I don't buy used games, and I can play any current gen games on my current gen consoles. The only slight concern I have is regarding borrowing games from friends. This seems like the CoD:MW2 hysteria where people decried the move away from dedicated servers and vowed not to buy the game, and then less than a week after release bought it anyway.

 

[Genocidicles]

I like always online

...Wait what?

What's there to like about it? I can understand being indifferent to it if you have super internet that never ever goes down ever, but actually liking it? Why? What benefits does it offer over not being always online?

 

[The White Hunter]

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing tonnes of games from Sony and Nintendo at E3...

Nintendo is not participating in this years E3

The "always online" requirement is a point of major contention, as gamers in well-serviced areas tend to applaud the idea while those stuck with narrower pipes see it as a portent of the end-times.

I have a 300mbit conenction that is 100% stable (internet goes out like 2 times per year and even then for 5 seconds or so, probably them restarting servers). being abel to be always online is no problem - i already am. this however is a completely awful idea and it alone would be enough for me to stop using your product. always online is not bad because people dont have internet, its bad because its a control scheme.

Nintendo is not putting on a huge conference at E3 like it usually does because it has no major new hardware or anything to show off, so it isn't worth spending the budget on that kind of show.

They may however have smaller kiosks and such set up dedicated to showing off games, and have their own plans including nintendo direct broadcasts and having upcoming games (thus far unseen) playable in various american retailers during the E3 time of the year.

So they'll have a smaller, less wasteful presence and be focusing on games rather than scrambling for something to put on stage. After all, nobody wants another Wii Music fiasco... except me, it was hilarious.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

To be honest, I am glad that the consoles are going to crash. Nothing about what the have released thus far fills me with any kind of joy towards the new generation of consoles.

I am sure that Japan, South Korea and a few select countries in Europe are glad they have the worlds best internet services so they will be able to use this "Always On (not really, but we want them to)" console.

 

[Terria]

To be honest, I am glad that the consoles are going to crash. Nothing about what the have released thus far fills me with any kind of joy towards the new generation of consoles.

I am sure that Japan, South Korea and a few select countries in Europe are glad they have the worlds best internet services so they will be able to use this "Always On (not really, but we want them to)" console.

I'm in Europe with way better than average internet (100mb down) and I think any form of mandatory online componenet is a boneheaded decision.

 

[Doclector]

I cannot imagine what compelled microsoft to drive their boat into an iceberg with such pure conviction and bull-headed passion. It's like they have a death wish.

Ever since Gates retired his company has been tilting increasingly into a nose dive. Just a bunch of parasitic suits that moved in to Bills old shell, simply being there because they wanna make money, not for any love of technology or software engineering like Bill Gates had.

Yeah but I've always said, "Saying microsoft is evil is a matter of opinion, but at least you could never call them stupid".

I can't say that anymore. This is Umbrella corporation evil. This is evil that isn't just evil, it's full on stupid. This will harm them, this could full on doom them, microsoft's too big to go down as a company, but if this is all still true by launch day, this could be the last microsoft console we see.

 

[Aggieknight]

So Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten says that it isn't going to happen, Microsoft vice president Phil Harrison says a 24 hour timer is going to happen...
...
Either way you hedge your bets (highest level speaker, worst case scenario) the Xbone's offline mode is running a 24 hour timer.

I wouldn't hedge my bets that way. VPs don't always understand the nuances of a situation, and Harrison has a history of shark jumping.

What this confusion says to me is that they are giving the developers the capability to put whatever restrictions they want into the games but are struggling to describe it. They certainly don't want to "not mention" the possibility that used or swapped games could have fees or always on internet connection requirements. If they didn't, they would be squarly in the crosshairs of the media crapstorm resulting form EA's first release (IMHO inevitable anyway).

It's an interesting move on their part. Giving the publishers what they want while trying to avoid getting the consumers pissed at them. "We aren't demanding an always on connection, the publisher is". With a more tightly executed messaging strategy, it might have been successful. Say...coming right out and talking about what publishers can do with always on tools, then saying that it isn't a requirement. Their execution here is very poor.

Semi-related, I think that what you see here from Harrison and other's comments is that there is a concerted effort going on to attempt to understand what gamers will bear from these type of restrictions. IMHO, Harrison's "once a day" was a calculated move.

Semi-unrelated, I totally expect the PS4 to have the same "capabilities".

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I'm in Europe with way better than average internet (100mb down) and I think any form of mandatory online componenet is a boneheaded decision.

Most of the people here in Australia still measure their speeds in Kb/s. And that's upload.

I wonder why they (Microsoft) seem to be catering this console to the 1% of the (world's) population who actually have a fast enough connection to fully utilize it's functions.

 

[Ukomba]

How does this work with the Pre-Owned Fee? It would need an internet connection to know it's been installed before, wouldn't it?

 

[Midniqht]

I'll agree on the flame wars for now, but to counter your point, didn't something like this happen with "Achievements" when they came out?

I don't quite remember the details too clearly since it's been years since i saw this but from what i remember, MS said that they were completely optional for the Dev's to implement into their games at first, few years later they become mandatory in every game, and it's true, when was the last time you saw a game on the Xbox 360 that didn't have achievements after that transpired?

I know Achievements aren't exactly very concerning, like core features of a system and if it contains substance is completely subjective to an individuals personal interest but remember, they were once a feature that was just added in to give more incentive for players and now they're necessary for a game to even be considered for publishing.

Like i said I don't quite remember how it went very vividly but this is how i remember it, of course if you don't believe me that's fine with me.

but tell me this. When has a company ever been completely honest of it's business practices or relations?

You have a good point, but in all fairness, comparing "Always On" to Achievements is like comparing apples to oranges. The same logic can't be applied because they're two completely different things. There's also the difference between incentive for customers/players and incentive for developers. The market will treat "always on" functionality completely differently, and I'd expect some developers to shy away from it while others embrace it, depending on the game.

To answer your last question, rarely. But that doesn't mean we should assume everything is a lie. You'd only be setting yourself up for disappointment. It's still too early for the Xbox One to make any calls just yet.

 

[Jessta]

It feels like the world is treating not having good internet like its the users fault but when the same internet speed with a 200 gig cap that goes for 15 dollars a month in Seattle is 150 dollars a month in Alaska with a 50 gig cap and only provider is available its not really so much of an option, this shit is being developed from the perspective that the rest of America has progressed just like the big cities the developers live in but it really hasn't all the much, hell I just stopped having dialup three years ago.

 

[CyberMachinist]

I'll agree on the flame wars for now, but to counter your point, didn't something like this happen with "Achievements" when they came out?

I don't quite remember the details too clearly since it's been years since i saw this but from what i remember, MS said that they were completely optional for the Dev's to implement into their games at first, few years later they become mandatory in every game, and it's true, when was the last time you saw a game on the Xbox 360 that didn't have achievements after that transpired?

I know Achievements aren't exactly very concerning, like core features of a system and if it contains substance is completely subjective to an individuals personal interest but remember, they were once a feature that was just added in to give more incentive for players and now they're necessary for a game to even be considered for publishing.

Like i said I don't quite remember how it went very vividly but this is how i remember it, of course if you don't believe me that's fine with me.

but tell me this. When has a company ever been completely honest of it's business practices or relations?

You have a good point, but in all fairness, comparing "Always On" to Achievements is like comparing apples to oranges. The same logic can't be applied because they're two completely different things. There's also the difference between incentive for customers/players and incentive for developers. The market will treat "always on" functionality completely differently, and I'd expect some developers to shy away from it while others embrace it, depending on the game.

To answer your last question, rarely. But that doesn't mean we should assume everything is a lie. You'd only be setting yourself up for disappointment. It's still too early for the Xbox One to make any calls just yet.

Well I only used achievements as an example and i did say that "if it contains substance is completely subjective to an individuals personal interest" so i knew that achievements wouldn't hold much ground compared to "Always-online", but i like it as a nice little allegory to how businesses treat practices, call me cynical but that's what i think about it anyway, the real world and internet has done many things to my mentality.

True I'll admit that it is too early to make calls but I'm not completely apathetic about this, I'm more neutral about the system as of right now, although MS's spokesmen aren't helping my opinion with their inputs, I'll wait and see how it unfolds, the future is always unpredictable after all.

of course if the Xbone does fail like everyone says I'm just gonna...... open a nice song on youtube and then think about stuff on my bed.