Xbox One will force gamers to stay online after all

[David Tom]

For a console that has yet to be released, the Xbox One is garnering a lot of negative press from the media and its once loyal fans. To make matters worse, Microsoft described a few new features slated for the upcoming console – and they don’t look very good. As a matter of fact, they give off an eerie Big Brother vibe that is most unwelcome.

Through an online post made available on Thursday, Microsoft made it clear that they are striving for an interconnected gaming experience. In other words, offline play is over, whether you like it or not. Much like how parents place restrictions on their children’s internet usage by setting maximum time limits, Microsoft is requiring Xbox One owners to connect to the web at least once every 24 hours, or else your gaming privileges are cut-off.

Microsoft went on to say that Xbox One account holders would be able to access their personalized media through other people’s consoles; but in this particular case, the user must confirm their identity each and every hour.

“Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection,” the software giant said in the statement. Luckily, these conditions will not extend to watching live TV or using the console’s built-in Blu-ray player to view movies.

The next big Xbox One announcement was targeted at second-hand game owners. Based on Microsoft’s new licensing model, publishers will be given the freedom to prevent the resale of used games, which means that reactivation fees will probably be the end result.

A related question was how the new Xbox would deal with direct disc transfers between friends. According to Microsoft, although there will be no fees associated with the transfer, there are still some limitations. The game can only be sent to individuals that have been formally listed as an Xbox friend for a minimum of 30 days, and each game can only be transferred once.

If there was any positive news regarding the Microsoft statement, it has to do with the Kinect feature. A lot of people held privacy concerns over the "always on" sensor, but Microsoft clarified that it will only be listening in on a single voice command – “Xbox On”. For those not completely convinced, Microsoft said that the feature can be easily disabled.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/52824-xbox-one-will-force-gamers-to-stay-online-after-all.html

 

[Darth Shiv]

Awesome. Hey Microsoft why don't you tell us what budget we should have for buying your crap? Oh and how much to spend on Internet. And is there a min spend on DLC per month? Can I take a game to a mates place?

Oh wait. I don't have to put up with your crap...

 

[3DCGMODELER]

That just sucks a big red tamato....... Well I guess I will buy the PS4 then...

 

[paynetrain007]

Blah Blah Blah, None of this is really more then a minor inconvenience. The used game thing has always been available to publishers like EA's model. I actually applaud Microsoft taking the initiative to provide publishers abilities to protect their merchandise. The majority of people out their will not have an issue with having to check in every so often. I think it would be nice if they made it phone up less often, because their are small situations every now in then where due to the inadequacies of American internet companies one could be without internet for 24 hours or more. But if these practices do for the console market what it did for the PC market and lower the average price of games and the quickness with which the game prices fall, then I may return to the console market for more then just exclusives like Halo and Forza, and to party games on the Kinect.

 

[Benny26]

It's Sony's game to lose now you feel...

 

[blackbellysheep]

So we've started a #DontBuyXB1 hashtag on twitter to promote the "not buying" of this console unless M$ actually treats us as loyal gamers and stop effing us up.

 

[Guest]

Cry me a river guys. I mean seriously, who here has had their Internet actually be 'out' out for a 24 hour period? The Most my Internet has been out is maybe 6 hours, if that. People complaining about this is stupid, because it just makes you sound like a whiny spoiled little brat. Grow up.

 

[NTAPRO]

Wasn't there an article previously about a ceo or someone with position denying this claim? If so, they lied to the consumers lol

 

[Will86c]

Cry me a river guys. I mean seriously, who here has had their Internet actually be 'out' out for a 24 hour period? The Most my Internet has been out is maybe 6 hours, if that. People complaining about this is stupid, because it just makes you sound like a whiny spoiled little brat. Grow up.

My internet went out for days at a time while I was overseas in Iraq/Kuwait. My Xbox was one of the few forms of reliable entertainment. We used to have Halo tournaments when we had a couple free hours, sadly this seems to no longer be possible.

 

[wastedkill]

Cry me a river guys. I mean seriously, who here has had their Internet actually be 'out' out for a 24 hour period? The Most my Internet has been out is maybe 6 hours, if that. People complaining about this is stupid, because it just makes you sound like a whiny spoiled little brat. Grow up.

There are a lot of ISP's that are that bad that connections CAN and WILL drop out for more than 24hrs AKA virgin media in the UK so please shut up and have more common sense not every ISP is 100% perfect.

 

[Puiu]

Cry me a river guys. I mean seriously, who here has had their Internet actually be 'out' out for a 24 hour period? The Most my Internet has been out is maybe 6 hours, if that. People complaining about this is stupid, because it just makes you sound like a whiny spoiled little brat. Grow up.

I did. and it's normal in some places to have problems.

consider this: you want to play, but you haven't used the console for more than 24h. you switch it on... surprise! the internet is down for 2-3 hours. bye bye games, going to sleep now.

 

[m4a4]

"...and each game can only be transferred once." I'm pretty sure that it's "given", not transferred. Suggesting that you still keep a copy.

But anyways, unless they have it so that it doesn't require checking in while it has the disc (like how every other console before it) and digital downloads do not become affected, then this console is going to bomb in the gaming market.....

 

[GhostRyder]

Im gonna say this much, a lot of people are making this "Always Online" thing to be a bigger deal than it is.

In this day and age (Especially with wireless tech) the internet is in most homes and people have some form of wireless. Forcing people to connect will allow them to keep the console up to date easier and your games will update if an issue arises and needs to be fixed. Right now my Xbox, PS3, and Wii's are connected to the internet (When they are on). So whats the big deal with this, a lot of yall are making this sound like they are going to be shut off permanently from gaming. If you cant get an internet connection for the machine somehow, then I guess the Xbox One is not for you. But even with going to LAN parties with it, its going to have been connected once recently and be able to play offline if necessary at the party. I personally think a lot of people are riding a wave of Hype on this and trying to find a reason to dislike it, its not an end all problem and in face its going to probably make things a lot smoother in the long run.

Progress is being made in this industry just like everywhere else, we cant just cling to the past and rely on things to always be the same as they are now. The internet is so widly available, of course they are wanting to take the next step in making the console try and stay connected to make sure its running fine and so they can improve the experience. That's just the definition of progress, moving forward.

 

[SirDigby]

"...and each game can only be transferred once." I'm pretty sure that it's "given", not transferred. Suggesting that you still keep a copy.

But anyways, unless they have it so that it doesn't require checking in while it has the disc (like how every other console before it) and digital downloads do not become affected, then this console is going to bomb in the gaming market.....

No, it's given, as in gifted to someone, but they can't gift it back to you.

 

[j05hh]

So if a friend has a game you want to try "Hey let me try that game to see if it like it before I waste $60 on it" Oh wait I can't... Microsoft fail again. LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMERS!!!!!

 

[spencer]

They don't care about money;the globalists have teamed up on this one to spy on all Americans;this decision was probably made at BILDERBERG this week anyway.

 

[Puiu]

Im gonna say this much, a lot of people are making this "Always Online" thing to be a bigger deal than it is.

In this day and age (Especially with wireless tech) the internet is in most homes and people have some form of wireless. Forcing people to connect will allow them to keep the console up to date easier and your games will update if an issue arises and needs to be fixed. Right now my Xbox, PS3, and Wii's are connected to the internet (When they are on). So whats the big deal with this, a lot of yall are making this sound like they are going to be shut off permanently from gaming. If you cant get an internet connection for the machine somehow, then I guess the Xbox One is not for you. But even with going to LAN parties with it, its going to have been connected once recently and be able to play offline if necessary at the party. I personally think a lot of people are riding a wave of Hype on this and trying to find a reason to dislike it, its not an end all problem and in face its going to probably make things a lot smoother in the long run.

Progress is being made in this industry just like everywhere else, we cant just cling to the past and rely on things to always be the same as they are now. The internet is so widly available, of course they are wanting to take the next step in making the console try and stay connected to make sure its running fine and so they can improve the experience. That's just the definition of progress, moving forward.

It's just MS failing hard. There will be a lot of people who will get it for Halo and the TV stuff, but it's clear who won this generation. Sony has to something incredibly stupid to give MS even a 10% chance to sell half as much as the 360.
Progress does not mean more restrictions, it's the exact opposite.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Cry me a river guys. I mean seriously, who here has had their Internet actually be 'out' out for a 24 hour period? The Most my Internet has been out is maybe 6 hours, if that. People complaining about this is stupid, because it just makes you sound like a whiny spoiled little brat. Grow up.

Sandy!! Neighbor with 3 young boys ran a generator just to have access to games for the young and refrigeration for food...you can tell his priorities from that.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Blah Blah Blah, None of this is really more then a minor inconvenience.

Sufficient 'minor inconvenience' to sideline this user.

 

[Burty117]

Progress does not mean more restrictions, it's the exact opposite.

Couldn't have said it better myself...

 

[J_Gert]

Sales will tell all! If the consumers talk with their wallet, then things will change. If people buy into Xbox One, then Microsoft will look at it as a success. Just get a PS4 and not an Xbox, and Microsoft will get the "oh ****" I screwed up.

 

[TomSEA]

Put me in the crowd that doesn't think the "always on" connection is that big of a deal. It's just the nature of electronics and technology these days. I'd be willing to bet that those complaining about it are the same people who have their smart phone turned on 24/7 just in case they don't miss an important text or tweet from a friend telling them they're having Chinese food right now.

There's plenty of reasons to dislike about the new XBox and what MS is trying to make it into. An always on connection isn't one of them.

 

[psycros]

Put me in the crowd that doesn't think the "always on" connection is that big of a deal. It's just the nature of electronics and technology these days. I'd be willing to bet that those complaining about it are the same people who have their smart phone turned on 24/7 just in case they don't miss an important text or tweet from a friend telling them they're having Chinese food right now.

There's plenty of reasons to dislike about the new XBox and what MS is trying to make it into. An always on connection isn't one of them.

Really? Please give us a single justification for this absurd requirement. Go ahead, provide some example of how being forced to check in with Microsoft daily so we can play OFFLINE games makes any sense.

 

[TomSEA]

Put me in the crowd that doesn't think the "always on" connection is that big of a deal. It's just the nature of electronics and technology these days. I'd be willing to bet that those complaining about it are the same people who have their smart phone turned on 24/7 just in case they don't miss an important text or tweet from a friend telling them they're having Chinese food right now.

There's plenty of reasons to dislike about the new XBox and what MS is trying to make it into. An always on connection isn't one of them.

Really? Please give us a single justification for this absurd requirement. Go ahead, provide some example of how being forced to check in with Microsoft daily so we can play OFFLINE games makes any sense.

Because it's their system, they have their reasons (multimedia integration, piracy prevention, game sharing limitation) and that's how they want it. You don't like it? Don't buy it. Pretty simple.

 

[Guest]

What bothers me about this is the idea that the Xbox team sat down to design the One and instead of saying "What do we want to do to make the next great gaming console?" they said "What can we do to make more money from all the renters and aftermarket buyers out there?"

I'd rather than relied on making a truly awesome product than trying to stop any and all ways to get a cheaper game played.