Kotaku: Next Xbox will require online connection to start games


Recommended Posts

I hope this is not one of those moments where consumers would be angry at this but when the console launches they'll cave in and buy it anyway

Of course they will, people are stupid like that. We used to have game expansions, now we have DLC.

  • Like 2

Yes, it might be annoying if it required an always-on connection or an activation per play in some circumstances but it's rarely going to affect most people. I just think it's a shame game companies don't offer extra content that's beyond multiplayer and patches. More DLC's and micro transaction and expect advertising to be more prevalent.

I just hope there is still room for the niceties like content creation, etc. There will be certainly new kinnect intigrated services like video link in-game which should be interesting.

The very SAME article also states:

So like I said on the front page, Kotaku doesn't know anything for certain.

How about Microsoft Creative Director defending "always-on" on twitter and being a dick to everyone? He in-adherently confirms its. Why else would he choose to defend it to such an extent.

No he doesn't, and because he thinks the whole argument is stupid. The rumor is that you need Internet to star the game even, not always on which he talks about.

What? The entire exchange started on the basis of the always-on for the next gen xbox. This was his position on it. And you are incorrect. The always-on and online to start games are both present in the rumour.

"If there isn't a connection, no games or apps can be started," the source continued. "If the connection is interrupted then after a period of time--currently three minutes, if I remember correctly--the game/app is suspended and the network troubleshooter started."

It's gunna be the whole Sim City PR trouble again... I can feel it now!

yeah, i can already envision Microsoft preparing the spammers, and briefing Microsoft Patrol Squad with praise materials, and strategy to bash anyone who opposes it.

What? The entire exchange started on the basis of the always-on for the next gen xbox. This was his position on it. And you are incorrect. The always-on and online to start games are both present in the rumour.

It's part of the rumor but "always on" isn't the same as "always connected". They're two different things said together but aren't the same. My tablet is always on, even when I turn the screen off. My smartphone, my tv when it's in standby mode and so on. He's right in saying lot's of things are "always on". He never touched on the "always connected" part, instead he was talking about power state.

It's part of the rumor but "always on" isn't the same as "always connected". They're two different things said together but aren't the same. My tablet is always on, even when I turn the screen off. My smartphone, my tv when it's in standby mode and so on. He's right in saying lot's of things are "always on". He never touched on the "always connected" part, instead he was talking about power state.

So going with this flawed thinking, does that mean that once you plug the xbox in you can NEVER turn it off? If by any chance power fails, does that mean you have a useless piece of plastic FOREVER? Nobody can be this thick, surely..

It's part of the rumor but "always on" isn't the same as "always connected". They're two different things said together but aren't the same. My tablet is always on, even when I turn the screen off. My smartphone, my tv when it's in standby mode and so on. He's right in saying lot's of things are "always on". He never touched on the "always connected" part, instead he was talking about power state.

If there's going to be THIS much confusion over the stupid terminology, you'd think the creative director wouldn't be a total dick about it. Regardless of what he means and whatever the outcome may be for "always on" or "always connected", there's no doubt in my mind that he's only digging himself and Microsoft a hole. This is exactly why I was saying someone at Microsoft needs to address this formally, before the confusion becomes popular belief and people start turning their backs on them as customers.

Considering Microsoft has had issues in the past with "Vista Capable" and "Vista Ready" or whatever, you think they would avoid mixing this crap up...

What? The entire exchange started on the basis of the always-on for the next gen xbox. This was his position on it. And you are incorrect. The always-on and online to start games are both present in the rumour.

Read the article in the OP again. the rumor is that online is required to start the game, but after that you can disconnect internet and play just fine. this is how the durango dev kits reportedly works. and is most likely a dev kit security measure.

To all the morons here that see it as "no biggie", especially the retards with the Xbox Live avatards and signaturds, pop your heads out of your ass for a second and think a little bigger than your simpleton "I have a stable connection and I'm rich so no worries" approach and think what happens in 20 years when you want to replay your favorite game but MS has shut down the servers because there are already 3 generations of console ahead. Are you seriously that thick in the head? :rolleyes:

Oh wait, why would you want to do that anyway? I see the error of my logic. Who would want to replay the "classics" such Gears of War clone 128731289379 or Halo or Call a Doody 1239871203896712089376120938671293867? :rolleyes:

**** you. **** you and **** your entire "gaming" generation. You are a shame for humanity.

These were the comments by the Microsoft Creative Director:

http://imgur.com/fulDo2f

http://i.imgur.com/keFHbXC.png

Seriously - unbelievable.

Personally I think this is a terrible decision and I can't believe Microsoft were stupid enough to go down this route. Actually... no.... I can.

  • Like 3

To all the morons here that see it as "no biggie", especially the retards with the Xbox Live avatards and signaturds, pop your heads out of your ass for a second and think a little bigger than your simpleton "I have a stable connection and I'm rich so no worries" approach and think what happens in 20 years when you want to replay your favorite game but MS has shut down the servers because there are already 3 generations of console ahead. Are you seriously that thick in the head? :rolleyes:

Oh wait, why would you want to do that anyway? I see the error of my logic. Who would want to replay the "classics" such Gears of War clone 128731289379 or Halo or Call a Doody 1239871203896712089376120938671293867? :rolleyes:

**** you. **** you and **** your entire "gaming" generation. You are a shame for humanity.

and are you unable to give argument like a grown up.

Firstly this is a rumor that's spawned from security measures on the pre release durango DEV KITS. secondly if this is true it's because MS will treat these games as steam games, and if this is the way they go, it will run off the Live service and servers which will remain the same in future generations. and after the console lifecycle they could push a update to the console that disables online check to play the games,

These were the comments by the Microsoft Creative Director:

http://imgur.com/fulDo2f

http://i.imgur.com/keFHbXC.png

Seriously - unbelievable.

Personally I think this is a terrible decision and I can't believe Microsoft were stupid enough to go down this route. Actually... no.... I can.

is that the twitter exchange that has NOTHING to do with this durango dev kit based rumor about needing to be online to start games on the durango prototype dev kit. :facepalm:

Read the article in the OP again. the rumor is that online is required to start the game, but after that you can disconnect internet and play just fine. this is how the durango dev kits reportedly works. and is most likely a dev kit security measure.

No the rumour is that you need to be online to start the game AND continue to play it, if you lose connection after 3 minutes the game will be suspended and a network troubleshooter will start, that doesn't sound like devkit functionality to me, why would a devkit pause a game and start network troubleshooter.

If this is true its going to be hilarious on nextbox launch day, people not able to play their ?300+ console with Sim City style outages.

and are you unable to give argument like a grown up.

Firstly this is a rumor that's spawned from security measures on the pre release durango DEV KITS. secondly if this is true it's because MS will treat these games as steam games, and if this is the way they go, it will run off the Live service and servers which will remain the same in future generations. and after the console lifecycle they could push a update to the console that disables online check to play the games,

Now you're just pulling **** out of your ass. There is no possible way you can know this. You are now merely resorting to making excuses for Microsoft.

So far 3 developers have confirmed it, another is a bit ambiguous for obvious reasons and the Microsoft director is being a dick about the whole issue. The signs are there.

ANYWAY; The problem is not only "If my Internet connection is down" or "If the ISP is down" but rather like with the case of EA; what if the servers are getting hammered or down. Will I have to wait 30 minutes in line to play?

We now have 3 things that can go wrong. My connection, the ISP and Microsoft's servers. If ANY one of these goes down I can not play my single player game.

  • Like 2

because dev kits have far higher security than anything else, especially pre-launch, and by requiring it to always be online, MS can always make sure the right people have them and they're not being modified.

Sounds exactly like dev kit functionality to me. but then again, I've also numerous times explained why and how this could also be a fucntion on the final and why this could actually be an advantage..

How about Microsoft Creative Director defending "always-on" on twitter and being a dick to everyone? He in-adherently confirms its. Why else would he choose to defend it to such an extent.

Who cares about what he defends? He may have his own ideals, doesn't mean the Xbox will be based on what he likes.

As for being a dick maybe he's just tired of the constant rumors. What he says petty and pathetic, I agree, but let's face it tech news nowadays seems to be all about getting as many rumors as possible and making articles for hits. Hell the Kotaku article title makes it seem as if its certain even though they say well we have an un-named source that says it does require it, but we also have an un-named source that says it doesn't.

Look at the iPhone. A couple of months before the next iPhone is released there's like 6 billion rumors that suddenly spawn out of nowhere and every single one of them gets posted on every single tech site. And then the next iPhone is announced and 99.99% of those rumors were bull****.

No the rumour is that you need to be online to start the game AND continue to play it, if you lose connection after 3 minutes the game will be suspended and a network troubleshooter will start, that doesn't sound like devkit functionality to me, why would a devkit pause a game and start network troubleshooter.

And that very same article that came up with that goes onto to say well we have sources that say you don't. Still the Kotaku title says "OH GOD IT WILL HAVE ALWAYS ON."

Now you're just pulling **** out of your ass. There is no possible way you can know this. You are now merely resorting to making excuses for Microsoft.

So far 3 developers have confirmed it, another is a bit ambiguous for obvious reasons and the Microsoft director is being a dick about the whole issue. The signs are there.

Actually, if you combine all the rumors about this supposed online required, and every games needs to be installed and no disc required. What you get is that every game is essentially a Digital Download. and the disc is merely a pre-packaged download, possibly with an embedded license key.

So how did superDaE have one then, he was posting screenshots of the software on the machine, everything I've read and heard about nextbox points to this kind of functionality. A developer doesn't need to have an always on connection and they certainly don't need something as consumer friendly as a network troubleshooter.

If all the rumours are true the nextbox is just a trainwreck waiting to happen, its an anti-consumer machine purely made to pander to content creators.

ANYWAY; The problem is not only "If my Internet connection is down" or "If the ISP is down" but rather like with the case of EA; what if the servers are getting hammered or down. Will I have to wait 30 minutes in line to play?

We now have 3 things that can go wrong. My connection, the ISP and Microsoft's servers. If ANY one of these goes down I can not play my single player game.

There's a problem with that assumption. MS already has a lot pof experience with this on their live server, and while they have had issues with many users in the past on big game launches, those two incidents(mostly one of them) caused them to have massive hardware upgrades to keep the servers far ahead of what's needed. and more importantly. EA had servers for one single game. with unexpected load. MS will w\know how many Xbox Next are sold, and how many xboxes they need to be able to handle, and since if this rumor is true, every game needs to do a check, they will need to be able to handle all of them anyway, so this won't be a problem

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Amazon Prime Day 2026: Best Dolby soundbar deals from Sony, Samsung, JBL, Polk, and more by Sayan Sen Yesterday we covered the JBL BAR 800 which is a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos/Vision soundbar. The unit is on sale for its lowest ever price of just $800 making it a solid offer. However, there are many more options to choose from and in this article, we have made a compilation of the best deals including from Sony, Polk, Yamaha, Denon, Samsung and more. Sony's BAR models are currently at their lowest prices which makes them solid offerings. The company's BRAVIA Theatre Bar lineup is designed to suit different home cinema needs. The Bar 5 is an entry-level 3.1-channel soundbar with a wireless subwoofer, supporting Dolby Atmos®, DTS:X, S-Force PRO Front Surround, and Vertical Surround Engine for immersive audio with clear dialogue. The Bar 6 upgrades to a 3.1.2-channel configuration by adding dedicated up-firing speakers for more convincing overhead Atmos effects while retaining the wireless subwoofer. At the premium end, the Bar 7, Bar 8, and flagship Bar 9 are single-soundbar solutions featuring Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology, which creates phantom speakers for a wider surround field. Bar 7 includes nine speaker units, Bar 8 increases this to eleven, and Bar 9 offers thirteen speaker driver units promising the most expansive soundstage and acoustic performance. All models should integrate seamlessly with compatible BRAVIA TVs and support the BRAVIA Connect app for setup and control. Get them at the links below: Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 Soundbar (HT-A9000): $998.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $1498) Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 Soundbar (HT-A9000): $798.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $998) Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 7 Soundbar (HT-A7100): $618.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $768) Sony BRAVIA Theater System 6: $548.00 | Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 6: $448.00 Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 5 (HT-B500): $278.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $348) Sony HT-S400 2.1 soundbar: $198.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $248) Aside from those, we also have more discounts including from Samsung, Polk Audio, and more: Samsung Q-Series Soundbar HW-QS90H 7.1.2: $797.99 (Amazon US) (Was: $998) Polk Audio Signa S4: $336.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $449) Hisense AX3120Q: $229.00 (Amazon US) (Was: $259) Check out more soundbar deals that you may like at this link. Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Stellarium 26.2 by Razvan Serea Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go. Stellarium key features: Realistic simulation of the sky, sunrise and sunset Default catalogue of over 600,000 stars Downloadable additional catalogues for up to 210 million stars Catalog data for all New General Catalogue (NGC) objects Images of almost all Messier objects and the Milky Way Artistic illustrations for all 88 modern constellations More than a dozen different cultures with their constellations Solar and lunar eclipse simulation Photorealistic landscapes (more are available on the website) Scripting support with ECMAScript (a few demo scripts are included) Extendable with plug-ins: 8 plug-ins installed by default, including: artificial satellites plug-in (updated from an on-line TLE database) ocular simulation plug-in (shows how objects look like in a given ocular) Solar System editor plug-in (imports comet and asteroid data from the MPC) telescope control plug-in (Meade LX200 and Celestron NexStar compatible) The major changes of this version: Added new sky culture Added new plugin: Planes Many improvements in plugins Many improvements in Core and GUI Many updates in sky cultures. [full release notes] Download: Stellarium 26.2 (64-bit) | 456.0 MB (Open Source) View: Stellarium Home Page | Other Operating Systems | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • NASA: This asteroid may not kill us but it probably won't be far off either by Sayan Sen Image by Zelch Csaba via Pexels New observations by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have eliminated the last remaining impact threat posed by asteroid 2024 YR4, ruling out the possibility that the near-Earth object could strike the Moon in December 2032. NASA said observations collected by Webb on February 18 and 26, 2026, enabled scientists to refine the asteroid's orbit enough to "rule out a chance of lunar impact on Dec. 22, 2032." Instead, asteroid 2024 YR4 is now expected to pass the Moon at a distance of about 13,200 miles (21,200 km). The agency stressed that the update "reflects improved precision in our understanding of where the asteroid is expected to be in 2032 rather than a shift in its orbital path." The announcement closes a remarkable chapter in planetary defence that began in late 2024, when the approximately 60-metre-wide asteroid briefly became the most closely watched near-Earth object in the world. Discovered on December 27, 2024, by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, 2024 YR4 initially appeared to have a small chance of colliding with Earth on December 22, 2032. As astronomers gathered more observations, the impact probability briefly climbed to around 3%—the highest ever recorded for an asteroid of its size—before steadily falling as its orbit became better understood. By early 2025, international observations had ruled out any significant risk to Earth. However, astronomers were left with another possibility: a roughly 4% chance that the asteroid could instead strike the Moon. "The probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 will strike the Moon on 22 December 2032 is now approximately 4%," the European Space Agency (ESA) had said last year, noting that "there is a 96% chance that the asteroid will not impact the Moon." ESA said such an impact, while unlikely, would have presented an extraordinary scientific opportunity. "It is a very rare event for an asteroid this large to impact the Moon – and it is rarer still that we know about it in advance. The impact would likely be visible from Earth, and so scientists will be very excited by the prospect of observing and analysing it," said Richard Moissl, Head of ESA's Planetary Defence Office. "It would certainly leave a new crater on the surface. However, we wouldn't be able to accurately predict in advance how much material would be thrown into space, or whether any would reach Earth," he added. The asteroid also exposed an important blind spot in planetary defence. Because 2024 YR4 approached Earth from the direction of the Sun, it remained hidden from ground-based telescopes until after its closest approach. "We looked into how Neomir would have performed in this situation, and the simulations surprised even us," Moissl said. "Neomir would have detected asteroid 2024 YR4 about a month earlier than ground-based telescopes did. This would have given astronomers more time to study the asteroid's trajectory and allowed them to much sooner rule out any chance of Earth impact in 2032." He added, "As an infrared telescope, like Webb, Neomir would have also immediately given us a much better estimate for the asteroid's size, which is very important for assessing the significance of the hazard." The latest NASA observations underscore the value of space-based infrared telescopes in tracking faint asteroids. According to NASA, Webb made "among the faintest ever observations of an asteroid," extending the object's observational record by nearly eight months at a time when it had become too faint for other telescopes. That additional data allowed scientists to eliminate the remaining uncertainty surrounding its 2032 flyby. Although asteroid 2024 YR4 is now confirmed to pose no threat to either Earth or the Moon, scientists say its discovery remains one of the most significant real-world tests of the international planetary defence system, demonstrating how continued observations can rapidly transform an object once considered hazardous into one whose future path is known with high confidence. Source: NASA, ESA This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
    • Apprentice
      daryld went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Contributor
      Carltonbar went up a rank
      Contributor
    • One Month Later
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      418
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      170
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      130
    4. 4
      Xenon
      69
    5. 5
      neufuse
      69
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!