Kotaku: Next Xbox will require online connection to start games

[saltysaltybk]

My ISP used to be fairly unreliable with outages for days. I can't see I'd be a happy bunny if my Xbox told me to go away due to my ISP screwing up.

[spacer]

For what reason would you turn your router off? It's not that big of a deal - people just like to make it a big deal because it sounds like a large inconvenience when it really isn't. People don't turn their connections off and I'd be willing to bet Microsoft has 7.5 years worth of data to prove just that, from every single person that has a 360.

I would still like to point out that I don't think the rumor is true - I don't see any huge benefit to them by implementing it.

I'm not saying I WOULD turn it off. I only said it to make a point. By adding an "always online" requirement to play any game, they are introducing multiple points of failure that simply should not exist. That's not including people who literally can't get high-speed connections or reliable ones to boot.

I agree with you that, for me, it wouldn't be a problem most of the time. But it's still a possibility that my very limited game-time could and probably will be negatively affected by this requirement. So, I am not happy about it.

[strotee]

(it's a joke)

[HawkMan]

no i had an xbox360, but gave it away as birthday gift to my 10 years old nephew 2 weeks ago.

but still, you started with this pirating ****, not me. sadly it just shows how the brainwashing of anti-piracy agencies seems to work fully with people like you.

not everyone wanna playing copied games is a criminal. actually, just the knowledge that in case your original bought game gets stolen, broken or lost, you still have the copied save-game there and can play it, makes everyone feel better. and if microsoft just blocks that possibility, lots of users will be gone. ofc. there are still hardcore ms fanboys who will do and follow anything the ballmer-guru tells them. i never was a fan of following someone blindly and undisputedly. but thats a matter of personality and character at the end of the day.

if your game is broken, you can request a newvalid copy from the publisher, if it gets stolen, then either you have insurance or you're up **** creek.

[TheLegendOfMart]

if your game is broken, you can request a newvalid copy from the publisher, if it gets stolen, then either you have insurance or you're up **** creek.

You can request one but they will charge you for it, stolen is hardly your own fault. Do you have to be such a **** all the time, seriously get laid or something.

[HawkMan]

What noone wants is the always online crap.

As for downloading games... that sounds nice in theory, until you remember the fact that microsofts servers are usually slow as hell at downloads. And I don't know about you but i sure don't want to download blu-ray sized games if their servers stay as poor at serving up content as they are now(and have been since i got a 360 in 2011).

Why would you need to download blu-ray sized game of their server when the whole point is that the game comes pre-downloaded on the disk if you buy the disk version. and if not. doesn't take that long to download 10-25GB on modern broadband, if you buy it online or just start the download at another console while doing something else. and the XBL service poor? it's the fastest download service around, and unlike competitors, they have very little variation in the speed, they're fast when few peopel download and they're fast when there's a big release, unlike another service that slows to a crawl whenever there's a big release.

[simonlang]

if your game is broken, you can request a newvalid copy from the publisher, if it gets stolen, then either you have insurance or you're up **** creek.

i take my games in my backpack with me for 1-2 hours of train travelling to a friend of mine. in the train they get stolen. no insurance will ever replace the games nor the publisher will.

[HawkMan]

You can request one but they will charge you for it, stolen is hardly your own fault. Do you have to be such a **** all the time, seriously get laid or something.

they will charge you for shipping. no the stolen part isn't your fault, not having insurance is your own fault. it was my own fault, when my car got burglarized, and I had inadequate insurance to cover more than half of the expensive camera stuff that was stolen. my own damn stupid fault.

i take my games in my backpack with me for 1-2 hours of train travelling to a friend of mine. in the train they get stolen. no insurance will ever replace the games nor the publisher will.

If you have travel insurance, as part of your well any insurance package or credit card. the travel insurance covers ANYTHING you lose when you're not at home. even walking outside the door and losing something can be claimed on your travel insurance. and pretty much any adult today has a travel insurance either as part of your insurance package or because it's part of a credit card or something.

[simonlang]

If you have travel insurance, as part of your well any insurance package or credit card. the travel insurance covers ANYTHING you lose when you're not at home. even walking outside the door and losing something can be claimed on your travel insurance. and pretty much any adult today has a travel insurance either as part of your insurance package or because it's part of a credit card or something.

i don't buy an insurance for a 1-2 hour train traveling. also if i get ripped off my backpack on an open street, no insurance covers this...

also this insurance thing creates more problem than it solves. people get looked like they are trying to cheat to their insurance if they claim something stolen/lost and others will do just this because they know the insurance will pay for it. its a bureaucratic monster which takes away individual responsibilty and freedom from the individual. like the copy protection does. think about it: if everything only goes online and needs a mandatory internet connection - clouds, emails, xbox gaming, soon also all ordering and even food ordering - then soon the flatrates will be gone thats a given. internet providers (maybe only one due to some monopole) will take all your money. and you havnet even started the game yet. can i have an insurance against such things? probably not.

[Crisp]

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

Like most of the people on this forum?

Can't wait for SimCity 6!!

[saltysaltybk]

they will charge you for shipping

That's not strictly true. The last time I looked the charge was ~?20 for a replacement disc.

[Skiver Veteran]

What noone wants is the always online crap.

As for downloading games... that sounds nice in theory, until you remember the fact that microsofts servers are usually slow as hell at downloads. And I don't know about you but i sure don't want to download blu-ray sized games if their servers stay as poor at serving up content as they are now(and have been since i got a 360 in 2011).

My experience - I have always wondered how I manage to download patches/demo's so quickly on Xbox, even to the point I think they may lie about sizes just to make it appear to download so quickly!

Again, something that has always been a problem on PS3 - very slow for me.

[MikeChipshop Member]

I'm just going to repeat what i've said since the beginning.

I'm fully behind the fact that it's going to be always on in the sense that it's more like a set-top-box that silently does it's stuff in the background not in the Sim City debacle sense.

Of course, if this turns out to be wrong, a lot of people will be pretty damn annoyed.

[HawkMan]

i don't buy an insurance for a 1-2 hour train traveling. also if i get ripped off my backpack on an open street, no insurance covers this...

Except Travel insurance. It covers everything that's stolen if you're not at home.

also this insurance thing creates more problem than it solves. people get looked like they are trying to cheat to their insurance if they claim something stolen/lost and others will do just this because they know the insurance will pay for it. its a bureaucratic monster which takes away individual responsibilty and freedom from the individual. like the copy protection does. think about it: if everything only goes online and needs a mandatory internet connection - clouds, emails, xbox gaming, soon also all ordering and even food ordering - then soon the flatrates will be gone thats a given. internet providers (maybe only one due to some monopole) will take all your money. and you havnet even started the game yet. can i have an insurance against such things? probably not.

Insurance makes me lose my freedom ?

Option 1, insurance:

Something gets stole, I talk to my insurance, they cover replacement, I'm happy.

Option 2, free man, no insurance, free from "the man":

Something gets stolen. I need to pay for replacement, putting e out of pocket. oh expensive SLR. I can't repalce it fro mnths, and needs to work extra. I'm not a happy man.

[BajiRav]

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..

Uh no. "Always On, Always Connected" is a marketing term related to connected standby. Sony is also touting same features for PS4.

No, they have an IT department that handles all that.

QA testing yes, not the people coding the games, can you imagine trying to code a game and trying to test what you've just implemented and the office network goes down?

During QA testing yes, not when you are trying to code the guts of the game.

Do you even have any idea how software developers + development work? If I have problem with my work connection, I go to my IT as a last resort. It is very rare that a work network melts down on its own (if IT knows its ****). You don't test only during QA. That's so ****ed up knowledge of software development.

If the rumor is true I just wont buy the system.

If the rumor is false, will you?

PS3: "Get a second job."

Durango: "Get a second home."

Audioboxer on sony rumor: I will wait for official word

Audioboxer on MS rumor: OMGWTFBBQ

What noone wants is the always online crap.

As for downloading games... that sounds nice in theory, until you remember the fact that microsofts servers are usually slow as hell at downloads. And I don't know about you but i sure don't want to download blu-ray sized games if their servers stay as poor at serving up content as they are now(and have been since i got a 360 in 2011).

WTF? You are the first person I have seen complaining about XBL download speeds. That is one thing Microsoft always did right, XBL downloads are rarely slow (and have never been slow for me personally).

[shakey]

I think there has been a bit of an over-reaction with people comparing it to sim city. Xbox Live very rarely has downtime and has never been down for a long duration. It only poses a problem if you don't have internet access or your internet access goes down. But I will happily trade this always online if we can play games without having the disc, I've wasted hundreds of pounds over the years having to buy a new copy of a game because I've lost or damaged the disc.

This is almost a non issue with Bluray. I've left my PS3 games out, had my dogs running over them, vaccuum run over them, and other bad things, and all of them are still perfectly fine.

That is where MS really ****ed up this current Gen. They went with DVD's that are just so easily damaged. Blurays you don't have to worry about really.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Here is what Francis thinks of this nonsense...

[Argi]

Ahahaha <3 Francis.

Seriously though, can we stop this? I'm sure the dev kits have some form of always-on requirement but that doesn't mean the consumer product will. Wait for an official announcement.

[ahhell]

This is almost a non issue with Bluray. I've left my PS3 games out, had my dogs running over them, vaccuum run over them, and other bad things, and all of them are still perfectly fine.

That is where MS really ****ed up this current Gen. They went with DVD's that are just so easily damaged. Blurays you don't have to worry about really.

WAH???????

I think you have that backwards there, sport. Blu-ray disks are FAR more susceptible to scratches than DVDs.

[strotee]

Blu-ray disks are FAR more susceptible to scratches than DVDs.

[citation needed]

[shakey]

WAH???????

I think you have that backwards there, sport. Blu-ray disks are FAR more susceptible to scratches than DVDs.

We would all benifit more if you would keep your opinions to yourself, and not hurt those who wish to actually learn something.

There is a special coating applied to blurays that make them more durable than DVD's. It makes it so that if they do somehow even get scratched, it doesn't mess up the data as well.

[jerzdawg]

WAH???????

I think you have that backwards there, sport. Blu-ray disks are FAR more susceptible to scratches than DVDs.

this statement is about as valid as this always on rumor

[HawkMan]

We would all benifit more if you would keep your opinions to yourself, and not hurt those who wish to actually learn something.

There is a special coating applied to blurays that make them more durable than DVD's. It makes it so that if they do somehow even get scratched, it doesn't mess up the data as well.

Tha social coating is plain ceramic. And when you scratch a DVD you don't damage the data either. On a DVD the data foil is sandwiched between to thick layers of plastic. They had to put the ceramic layer on BDs because the data foil was unprotected and very easily damaged.

Both are pretty equally resilient. While the ceramic is tougher,it's also a lot thinner and once you damage it, the disk is pretty much dead. DVD while they scratch easier, it generally doesn't matter, and you have to go REALLY hard at it to damage the data foil.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Blu Rays are more durable than DVDs, its not up for debate, and it has NOTHING to do with PS3 vs 360.......

Also this story on always online has caught on like wildfire, all over the internet and you can easily see what consumers think about the idea. No spinning that.

[shakey]

If you think DVD's are on the same level as Blurays in terms of scratch resistance, you are very misinformed.