Kotaku: Next Xbox will require online connection to start games

[HawkMan]

Online required for online services is hardly a downside, they already said in Playstation Meeting that you didn't need to be online to play single player.

No they didn't. Rather they said it, but they didn't say you would always be able to play single player without being online and that their network wouldn't have a built in function that allowed developers to incorporate online.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Wut?

They said it but didn't mean it???

[ichi]

I don't get the "supported but not required". It's either required or it isn't, other than that developers can already force the "always online" on their own in their current gen games so it's not like anything would actually change.

[HawkMan]

I don't get the "supported but not required". It's either required or it isn't, other than that developers can already force the "always online" on their own in their current gen games so it's not like anything would actually change.

Most likely PSN 2.0 for the Ps4 will include the built in ability for online required in games, on Sony's terms, and their contracts with partners will unlike the PS3(where, Epic, EA and Valve all frankesteined themselves into PSN) forbid third party online systems hooking into their system.

thus sony will provide all the tools for always online and online required in games, but they won't be mandatory to use. as such Sony can go out in all their press conferences and say "the PS4 does not require you to be online to play". true enough, but they provide the tools for it, and they know all the big publishers will use it.

The good thing here is then Sony and MS create the systems like this, and prevents the publishers form making them, they can keep the best interests of the gamers in mind as much as possible.

and hence, it's supported but not required. and yes, it's either required or it isn't, and I said it isn't required.