The next Xbox: Always online, no second-hand games, 50GB Blu-ray discs and new Kinect

[Terminate421]

I doubt this is true. Microsoft themselves need to announce it, not edge or ign or even game
Informer

 

[Epona]

...games locked to one console

Did I miss where it said this?

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, I have to ask, how is this any different than Steam? Activation codes that tie a physical game to your account and always online will probably work like Steam (ie, there will be an offline mode and it might work better than Steams).

Don't get me wrong, I don't support this nonsense but isn't it silly to say "Steam is the solution".

Steam doesn't restrict me to a machine.

And I don't have to pay for Steam.

Steam doesn't need to be online.

That's three differences right there.

 

[Tanakh]

-snip-

Bad example, but you could have said "I am pretty sure DotA2, a Valve developed game that is currently being sold on Steam, requires always online, even to play with bots." That would have worked better, especially since the quoted poster has the silly idea Diablo III is the only game that needs internet to be played when i can list at least 10 off the top of my head.

Toodles kitten.

 

[Naeras]

The fact that the article states that "sources that blah blah" said this, rather than "Microsoft has confirmed", does kind of question how credible this article actually is.

Of course, if Microsoft does actually confirm this, that's another thing entirely, but I remain sort of skeptical towards how much truth there is in this.

 

[Epona]

Well, I have to ask, how is this any different than Steam? Activation codes that tie a physical game to your account and always online will probably work like Steam (ie, there will be an offline mode and it might work better than Steams).

Don't get me wrong, I don't support this nonsense but isn't it silly to say "Steam is the solution".

Steam doesn't restrict me to a machine.

And I don't have to pay for Steam.

Steam doesn't need to be online.

That's three differences right there.

1) Neither does the 360. As far as I know you can play your games from any 360 (and I assume that won't change) as long as you are online. Christ, I can't believe I am being forced to defend Live but when the facts are wrong they are wrong.

2) Well, you don't have to pay for Live marketplace either.

3) Steam does need to be online, you can't use Steam if you don't have internet. It has an offline mode but no one seems to know how it works and what it's limitations are. No matter what though, eventually you will need to "check in" with Steam. The point is, you need an internet connection for Steam.

 

[gigastar]

Well, I have to ask, how is this any different than Steam? Activation codes that tie a physical game to your account and always online will probably work like Steam (ie, there will be an offline mode and it might work better than Steams).

Don't get me wrong, I don't support this nonsense but isn't it silly to say "Steam is the solution".

There is not a single game at Steam that requires CONSTANT internet connection to be played.
The only game currently having such a requirement is DIABLO 3,and it isn't sold on Steam.

Actually, a number of Steam games that come with the utter shit known to us as Games for Windows Live, require an always-online connection to allow you to save your game. Such games being Dead Rising 2, and its spinoff Off the Record.

And then theres Command and Conquer 4, which has this on its Steam store page [http://store.steampowered.com/app/47700/?snr=1_7_suggest__13]

PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION, EA ACCOUNT, REGISTRATION WITH ENCLOSED SERIAL CODE AND ACCEPTANCE OF END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT REQUIRED TO PLAY.

 

[Cry Wolf]

3) Well, I think that goes with 2. With an always on connection your friends can just log in with your account, just like Steam. That's how it currently is on the 360 isn't it? You can log in and play your games from any 360 as long as it is connected.

The question was "Is it bound to the console?" e.g., the physical machine rather than the account. So no, it wouldn't be the same.

OT: Fuck no. There are so many things wrong with Microsofts bussiness model, the quality of their hardware (hey; fun fact - everyone I know who owns a Xbox 360, with the exception of myself, has had to *purchase* at least one additional console because of hardware failures and I only haven't because I wouldn't give them another cent) and the range of exclusives for that the 360 had were rubbish. Further more, always online and no used market makes me furious.

 

[Epona]

3) Well, I think that goes with 2. With an always on connection your friends can just log in with your account, just like Steam. That's how it currently is on the 360 isn't it? You can log in and play your games from any 360 as long as it is connected.

The question was "Is it bound to the console?" e.g., the physical machine rather than the account. So no, it wouldn't be the same.

OT: Fuck no. There are so many things wrong with Microsofts bussiness model, the quality of their hardware (hey; fun fact - everyone I know who owns a Xbox 360, with the exception of myself, has had to *purchase* at least one additional console because of hardware failures and I only haven't because I wouldn't give them another cent) and the range of exclusives for that the 360 had were rubbish. Further more, always online and no used market makes me furious.

It will be bound to both, just like the 360.

I agree that Microsoft's business model is fucked up. With the ads, charging for online play, locking apps behind a paywall and now this (if it's true). Still, your 360 downloaded games are tied to your account AND your console which means that you can go to another 360, log in and download your shit but on the guest console you need to be online all the time. That's how I understand it and no one has claimed otherwise.

 

[shrekfan246]

Another day, another rumor.

A constant internet connection would rule out second-hand copies, how?

Why would Microsoft use Blu-Ray discs when they're licensed to their primary competitor?

Games shipping with activation codes is on the publishers, not Microsoft. Unless Microsoft requires them in order to publish to the platform, which is ridiculous. Though that one would likely be able to rule out a second-hand market, Microsoft would gain little from it outside of games they publish themselves.

And an eight-core CPU and 8 GB of RAM, as well as having Kinect included? That thing would cost a small fortune, there's no way Microsoft would hemorrhage money like that.

 

[Epona]

Another day, another rumor.

A constant internet connection would rule out second-hand copies, how?

Why would Microsoft use Blu-Ray discs when they're licensed to their primary competitor?

Games shipping with activation codes is on the publishers, not Microsoft. Unless Microsoft requires them in order to publish to the platform, which is ridiculous. Though that one would likely be able to rule out a second-hand market.

And an eight-core CPU and 8 GB of RAM, as well as having Kinect included? That thing would cost a small fortune, there's no way Microsoft would hemorrhage money like that.

1) The activation codes would rule out second hand copies. Like buying a physical copy of a Steam game.

2) Nintendo is using Blu-Ray discs but the WiiU can't play Blu-Ray video.

3) They will sell it to you for a smaller fee with a payment plan like they are with the 360. They are also using a subscription plan for the new version of Office. $10 a month for up to 5 PC's. The reason I am telling you this is to point out that Microsoft is going the rent to own/subscription model with other products.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

IF it's true (and I REALLY hope it isn't) then you've finally pushed me as far as I'm willing to go, microsoft.
And I'm a pretty hardcore Xbox fanboy.

 

[shrekfan246]

Another day, another rumor.

A constant internet connection would rule out second-hand copies, how?

Why would Microsoft use Blu-Ray discs when they're licensed to their primary competitor?

Games shipping with activation codes is on the publishers, not Microsoft. Unless Microsoft requires them in order to publish to the platform, which is ridiculous. Though that one would likely be able to rule out a second-hand market.

And an eight-core CPU and 8 GB of RAM, as well as having Kinect included? That thing would cost a small fortune, there's no way Microsoft would hemorrhage money like that.

1) The activation codes would rule out second hand copies. Like buying a physical copy of a Steam game.

Read my edit. Microsoft won't gain anything by requiring activation codes for the system, so why would they do it? Unless they somehow manage to get royalties from publishers off of it. Steam is DRM. That's why it has activation codes. The Xbox is a console. Xbox LIVE is DRM.

I don't deny the possibility of them including DRM in the console, but considering Microsoft is one of the few companies who haven't been constantly bitching about second-hand sales this generation, I just can't see why they would do it.

2) Nintendo is using Blu-Ray discs but the WiiU can't play Blu-Ray video.

Citation needed, because Nintendo has been using proprietary discs since the Gamecube. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_optical_disc]

3) They will sell it to you for a smaller fee with a payment plan like they are with the 360. They are also using a subscription plan for the new version of Office. $10 a month for up to 5 PC's. The reason I am telling you this is to point out that Microsoft is going the rent to own/subscription model with other products.

Again, citation needed. Though that certainly would be an unprecedented move, it would also piss off quite a few people I imagine, considering a good chunk of the target demographic probably doesn't have the credit cards or debit cards required for payment plans.

 

[Epona]

Well, I have to ask, how is this any different than Steam? Activation codes that tie a physical game to your account and always online will probably work like Steam (ie, there will be an offline mode and it might work better than Steams).

Don't get me wrong, I don't support this nonsense but isn't it silly to say "Steam is the solution".

Steam doesn't restrict me to a machine.

And I don't have to pay for Steam.

Steam doesn't need to be online.

That's three differences right there.

1) Neither does the 360. As far as I know you can play your games from any 360 (and I assume that won't change) as long as you are online. Christ, I can't believe I am being forced to defend Live but when the facts are wrong they are wrong.

2) Well, you don't have to pay for Live marketplace either.

3) Steam does need to be online, you can't use Steam if you don't have internet. It has an offline mode but no one seems to know how it works and what it's limitations are. No matter what though, eventually you will need to "check in" with Steam. The point is, you need an internet connection for Steam.

1) It restricts you to your hard drive. Steam has optional cloud storage.

2) You have to pay to join chat with multiple people, or to play online.

3) Steam doesn't need to be online, you can use steam if you don't have internet. It has an offline mode which works fine. I use it all the time. Don't make up things please.

1) No, it doesn't. You can go to your friends house, log in and download your shit onto their hard drive. The catch is that in order to play it you have to be signed into your account and online. This prevents it from being played in two places at once. Cloud storage has nothing to do with the DRM on Steam and on the 360/720.

2) Well yes, you have to pay for Live Gold to play online at all but that isn't what this topic is about. Again, we are talking about DRM. You don't need to be a Gold member to buy from marketplace, this is no different than Steam which is an online game store with built in DRM.

3) Ok, are you telling me that you can play your Steam games forever without Steam checking in?

 

[Cry Wolf]

I agree that Microsoft's business model is fucked up. With the ads, charging for online play, locking apps behind a paywall and now this (if it's true). Still, your 360 downloaded games are tied to your account AND your console which means that you can go to another 360, log in and download your shit but on the guest console you need to be online all the time. That's how I understand it and no one has claimed otherwise.

That's not exactly the system I was expecting and I don't think it really falls under the term "bount to console", but okay (actually, this would mean it's not bound to consoles, which is a positive). Fair enough. That said, as I implied in my last post, there is no way I'd buy the new Microsoft console due to my experiences with the Xbox 360. Any company that produces something as defective as that console, and then has the gaul to try and charge me subscription for basic online content in my games is not one worthy of my money or, perhaps more importantly, ones that will ever produce a system of any quality.

 

[hermes]

3) Steam doesn't need to be online, you can use steam if you don't have internet. It has an offline mode which works fine. I use it all the time. Don't make up things please.

As far as I know, you need to access the client to set offline mode, and you can't access it without a login. So, no Internet, no Steam account, no games library...

Unless there is a functionality that allows me to bypass that control, which I don't know of, in which case I pretty much would like to, since not having Internet (and therefore being locked out of my games) is not such a weird occurrence.

 

[dfphetteplace]

I have not played my 360 in over a year, so I doubt I will buy one.

 

[dfphetteplace]

3) Steam doesn't need to be online, you can use steam if you don't have internet. It has an offline mode which works fine. I use it all the time. Don't make up things please.

As far as I know, you need to access the client to set offline mode, and you can't access it without a login. So, no Internet, no Steam account, no games library...

Unless there is a functionality that allows me to bypass that control, which I don't know of, in which case I pretty much would like to, since not having Internet (and therefore being locked out of my games) is not such a weird occurrence.

You have to play the game once while online, then you can play it offline all you want.

 

[FoolKiller]

I agree that Microsoft's business model is fucked up. With the ads, charging for online play, locking apps behind a paywall and now this (if it's true). Still, your 360 downloaded games are tied to your account AND your console which means that you can go to another 360, log in and download your shit but on the guest console you need to be online all the time. That's how I understand it and no one has claimed otherwise.

That's not exactly the system I was expecting and I don't think it really falls under the term "bount to console", but okay (actually, this would mean it's not bound to consoles, which is a positive). Fair enough. That said, as I implied in my last post, there is no way I'd buy the new Microsoft console due to my experiences with the Xbox 360. Any company that produces something as defective as that console, and then has the gaul to try and charge me subscription for basic online content in my games is not one worthy of my money or, perhaps more importantly, ones that will ever produce a system of any quality.

He's right. It's bound to console for offline and your account online.

So if A owns the game on console alpha and B, C, and D live with A then they can play games on alpha without A logging in.

If A visits friend 1 and wants to play a game that he bought on console alpha, he can download it on 1's console, beta, and both A and 1 can play as long as A is logged into Live. Hope you're following this mess because it does cause issues, especially with BioWare content.