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[The Albatross]

Nah man, nah, this has gotta be bull shit. Just... gotta be. I am all about the online future, but I just don't see the benefit of this for the user in any way... nor even for the publisher. Piracy on the 360 is pretty limited as it is, right?

Edit:

online connection is indeed required to start games for the first time

"for the first time." I can live with this, if it does bring benefits to the player in some way.

 

[jaypah]

Lmao if this is true. They must have a fucking stockpile of megatons to combat this. My choice is between buying a PS4 and a 720 with a few games between them or just a PS4 and a lot more games for it. MS, you're kind of forcing my hand here.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Because not everybody that wants an xbox wants/has HSI. Rural America for instance.

Yep. I'm stuck with god awful Windstream DSL which is borderline unusable during peak hours, so if this is true and I were to buy a Durango it would potentially be unusable from 2PM until 1AM.

 

[Baconsammy]

When was the last time you saw Bing or Youtube down? These services lose money if people can't connect

Hardly ever, but PSN has been down far too often. Yes MS is better than Sony in this regard, but they're not immune to outages. Blizzard gets away taking everyone down for hours once a week in WOW, so I would assume if MS is doing this, they're confident people won't mind. The Sim City fiasco proves they're wrong. Imagine that scenario repeated over and over.

 

[RetroStu]

They aren't covering their bases. They actually manipulated the discussion to say this is extremely likely.

If they were covering their bases they would've said we have additional sources that haven't heard of this requirement.

They needed to omit the part that says these sources couldn't disprove the veracity of the claim either. What further cements their emphasis on this being true is that they point out that their most reliable sources are saying this is real and are indirectly disparaging everyone else as being purposefully left in the dark.

Er thats exactly what that guy posted unless i read it wrong.

 

[Impeccable]

And again... you can't play for a few hours or a few days. Do some other activities. It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

What if you only get a certain few hours a day and this stuff happens repeatedly?

Who cares about that, right?

 

[kaching]

I must be the only person who has no problem with the always online requirement for games - I can't remember the last time I played my PS3/360/Steam when I wasn't signed in to the service online.

Yes, yes...by default many of us have our consoles connected and signed in at all times but I can't personally confirm that my network connection is always stable enough for MS to think I'm online during every 3 minute segment that they're checking. I don't personally have the interest to do what it would take or spend what would be required to ensure that on my end, esp. when I have no guarantees about the network components outside of my control. Does the XBL EULA even have a QoS guarantee yet?

 

[TheRagnCajun]

Special collectors Kinect Edition!

lol I'm imagining a kinect version of simcity right now.

 

[Liamario]

Perhaps it's a connection if you want to stay on live. The game will run offline. But you can't play a used game online, if that makes sense.

I think to have that online only idea would be madness to be honest.

 

[Neuromancer]

Really? Come on now. My wife's family lives in a remote town in India and they have stable/reliable DSL internet.

And again... you can't play for a few hours or a few days. Do some other activities. It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

I shouldn't be able to play a game I bought, on a system I bought, on (presumably) a service I'm paying for whenever I want? That's ridiculous.

 

[TheGreyHulk]

"who cares.. i'm always connected"
"i can't remember the last time i used a ps360/steam and saw i wasn't connected"

C'MON

let's think about OTHER people and not yourselves. some people only have their phone as their internet connection, some don't have a connection at all, some people live in rural areas, others are in a place where the internet connection is shit and not consistent.

it's very easy to see how an online requirement would affect a lot of users out there if we just thought reasonably about others instead of saying me = world

i still don't believe the rumor though. MS isn't that stupid

 

[Omegasquash]

Yeah, I'm curious about what happens when Live goes down. Right now you can't play online when it does. If Durango requires Live to play games, you might not be able to play at all.

I still don't think that will be the case. But I'm ready for an announcement now.

I think this is the most appropriate. It's their turn to say something, and saying nothing won't look really good.

 

[legacyzero]

Yep. I'm stuck with god awful Windstream DSL which is borderline unusable during peak hours, so if this is true and I were to buy a Durango it would potentially be unusable from 2PM until 1AM.

Or this.

Adequate HSI as well.

 

[Maximilian Kolbe]

From their own article..

"other sources familiar with the codenamed Durango console have told us that they are still unaware of any Microsoft plans regarding an online requirement" - Kotaku

So here's the question "sources" there is plural. Do we have "two sources" saying it does require online and then "five sources" saying it won't be?

I'd love clarification there. There's just no way to know who to believe....(head asplodes)



Seriously though Microsoft...it's time to say SOMETHING.


Edit** As a side note, I can't INSTALL any of my Steam games without an Internet connection....but I can play (most of) them offline.

If they want say something,they but if they don't...

http://gamethingdaily.com/2012/03/0...ree-feature-interchangeable-solid-state-card/

we do not comment on rumors or speculation.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/03/30/microsoft_responds_to_rumors_of_xbox_lite

Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/16/xbox-720-price-features-revealed-in-rumored-document

We do not comment on rumors or speculation.

http://www.examiner.com/article/xbox-720-rumors-and-speculation-addressed-by-microsoft

not comment on rumours or speculation

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatche...id/xbox-rumors-used-games-ban-gamestop-stocks

We do not comment on rumors or speculation

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404029,00.asp

Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation

http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/11/report-durango-final-specs-kinect-required/

We do not comment on rumors or speculation.

http://www.webpronews.com/microsoft...let-at-mondays-big-secret-media-event-2012-06

We do not comment on rumors or speculation.

They don't give a fuck about any rumors

 

[Laranja]

I think there's little chance an internet connection is required in order to play games. I mean, I'm sure Microsoft would love to implement such a system, but I simply don't think it's a good choice, and they have to know that.

If it were to happen, I'm sure people would disregard it at first, but when servers being to have problems and people stop being able to play the games they bought, shit would hit the fan so hard I don't think Microsoft would even know how to handle the uproar.

At least, this is what I hope happens. I hope neither Microsoft nor the consumers will let me down on this.

 

[darkside31337]

Lol this post is great.

rip umaga

 

[wildfire]

Er thats exactly what that guy posted unless i read it wrong.

Look what I said below the part you bolded. Consider the part you bolded as me agreeing with you being correct if they hadn't said all that additional stuff I cited.

 

[JJD]

This is one reason why Sony will be more successful in proliferating the PS4 (like the PS3) in emerging markets.

Pretty much this.

I pay more than 90 dollars for a measly, unreliable 10MB connection. I don't really have a choice as there is only one ISP where I live.

Every time I read something about Google Fiber it makes me want to cry.

 

[Kusagari]

Really? Come on now. My wife's family lives in a remote town in India and they have stable/reliable DSL internet.

And again... you can't play for a few hours or a few days. Do some other activities. It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

I can't believe people can say such anti-consumerist crap as this.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

"who cares.. i'm always connected"
"i can't remember the last time i used a ps360/steam and saw i wasn't connected"

C'MON

let's think about OTHER people and not yourselves. some people only have their phone as their internet connection, some don't have a connection at all, some people live in rural areas, others are in a place where the internet connection is shit and not consistent.

it's very easy to see how an online requirement would affect a lot of users out there if we just thought reasonably about others instead of saying me = world

Why should I think about others again? So I can feign outrage?

My connection is fine and my Xbox is connected 100% of the time.

 

[krypt0nian]

What if you only get a certain few hours a day and this stuff happens repeatedly?

Who cares about that, right?

He's either a new level of apologist, or lacks the empathy needed to put himself in other's shoes.

 

[Black Republican]

how does kotaku get all the big rumors?

 

[S0N0S]

I would absolutely love for this to be true... just to see the shitstorm.

 

[Baconsammy]

Yep. I'm stuck with god awful Windstream DSL which is borderline unusable during peak hours, so if this is true and I were to buy a Durango it would potentially be unusable from 2PM until 1AM.

I'd imagine the packet sizes to confirm you're online are smaller than Amazon book downloads, which Amazon does via Whispernet. Does MS have some version of Whispernet that they'll include in every Xbox? They'd need to if they wanted to ensure everyone was 100% online.

 

[Ding-Ding]

So thats yet another "needs internet connection" rumour.

This seems almost certain now, especially as we have not heard one single source say otherwise

If this is the case, MS can kiss my wallet goodbye.

 

[GeoramA]

I really doubt this happens, but I'd be interested in seeing how MS will justify it.

 

[RetroStu]

Tbh, why should he care what other people's views on this subject are? He's buying the console for him, not them.

True but he has a 'MY internet is fine and MY interenet never goes down so i can't see what YOUR problem is' attitude.

 

[Demon Ice]

And again... you can't play for a few hours or a few days. Do some other activities. It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

Fucking lol. Companies like MS depend on people like you chugging their Kool-Aid.

 

[Takuya]

how does kotaku get all the big rumors?

They aren't the only ones to have reported this online-required rumor.

 

[90TilInfinity]

To make me go over this bullshit they'd need some HUGE exclusive i'm interested in, and nothing on the 360 came close to that (a probably not even on ps3).

I'm sure they'll have at least one. Whether or not this news is true, MS will have a couple of bombs to drop and ultimately most people won't care about the DRM.

720 has to be odds on to beat PS4 in the US in particular regardless of anything tbh.

 

[Kagari]

how does kotaku get all the big rumors?

Like any news outlet: people send them tips.

 

[Y2Kev]

Really? Come on now. My wife's family lives in a remote town in India and they have stable/reliable DSL internet.

And again... you can't play for a few hours or a few days. Do some other activities. It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

is this a real post

 

[KageMaru]

When was the last time you saw Bing or Youtube down? These services lose money if people can't connect



How is this anti consumer? This is pro-ideal consumer. The ideal consumer that can contribute the most to Microsoft will in turn benefit the most from the service. Microsoft isn't really interested in offline consumers anymore, they have ad content that needs to be fed out in order to generate revenue. To do so, they will couple the content with worthwhile services. The best consumer in Microsoft eyes are the consumers that can consume their ad content, and to do so you have to be able to receive it.

Man you're trying waaaaaaay too hard.

Why would anyone even defend this decision? You can spin their intentions any way you can, but the fact is if this turns out true and your internet connection goes down, your console is useless. There's nothing good about that.

 

[troushers]

Yeah, this still makes no sense as a consumer product. Perhaps this will be one of the sku's, offered with a heavily subsidised mobile like contract. With the other a 'premium' machine, similar price to PS4?

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Yeah, I'm curious about what happens when Live goes down. Right now you can't play online when it does. If Durango requires Live to play games, you might not be able to play at all.

I still don't think that will be the case. But I'm ready for an announcement now.

At this point, Xbox 720 announcement event is going to be a very important gaming event. They may as well label it State of the Union tier. Eyes will be glued, nintendo is set back from competing with the next xbox and ps4, so they are not going to be able to help us if Microsoft does something stupid.

If it's just PS4 and PC for sane choices, with the option of Microsoft Box 3 for cross your fingers there's not a maintenance, things will suck for competition. No fast dropping prices, no awesome games born from Sony feeling the heat, though Microsoft would want to give people reasons to take a chance on always online. Just thinking about the negatives, I can't even see this rumor being a possibility.

 

[Alebrije]

how does kotaku get all the big rumors?

Because not all media talk about rumors means just Kotaku get them.

how only Kotaku talk about those rumors ? sounds better.

 

[Hoo-doo]

I have yet to read a single benefit to the consumer.

It's quite sad to see people embracing this kind of practice though.
Yeah, I bet you will just smile and go do something else when on that precious hour of free time in your busy workweek Live or your Wi-Fi shits the bed and you'll be left with a non-functional paperweight. I can already hear the internet outrage if this would ever happen.

The more I think about it, the more I think the idea is completely ridiculous. No way they are implementing this.

 

[LakeEarth]

Good thing Xbox Live is always up, and I never have any trouble connecting to it.

... fuck....

 

[Laranja]

It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

This has to be a joke. It just has to.

 

[Baconsammy]

Fucking lol. Companies like MS depend on people like you chugging their Kool-Aid.

Every company does. Did everyone abandon Sony after the PSN fiasco? Nope. They took their free game and a glass of Koolaid. Business.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

It's not necessary if they're asking for one to activate your game's license, this is seemingly a perfect middle ground. And it's what every PC game already asks for.

The real question is, how would this effect used games? Since Gamestop is already glowing about the machine, you have to assume they would allow us to play them, but will they limit functionality somehow? Interesting stuff.

Very good point. I'd forgotten about the PC requirement to activate games.

I'd hope it wouldn't. Perhaps we'll see something similar to Sony's activate/deactivate system whereby you can deactivate a game, the licence returns to the disc and so can be traded in.

The alternative is that activation fees are indeed the reality for next gen and will be required if you buy a second hand title.

 

[Neko Mimi Mode]

So thats yet another "needs internet connection" rumour.

It's not.

It's a "needs internet connection but that was from 2012 and they could always change it but I doubt it because journalism" rumor.

 

[Wiz]

This might be true as Windows 8 does the same if you try to login to your PC with a Microsoft Account.

The only difference is that it checks ONCE on login and if you lose connection afterwards it still stays logged on.

 

[shinobi602]

Interesting that Kotaku breaking news about the PS4 controller's touchpad and share button, breaking news about Doom 4's troubled development cycle, showing video and images from Star Wars: First Assault, breaking news about LucasFilm shuttering LucasArts and canceling their games, showing concept art from the Boba Fett version of Star Wars 1313, telling the story of what really happened to Aliens: Colonial Marines, and many, many more stories just weren't enough to get some NeoGAFfers to trust that maybe we know what we're doing.

But hey, we'll just keep on keeping on.

You guys are doing a good job, but there's no need to be smug about it. That'll backfire on you quickly here.

 

[Yawnier]

is this a real post

Reminds me of:

 

[PSGames]

Sounds more like Kotaku are covering all the bases so to speak, in fact i just can't see this happeining and i won't believe it until Microsoft says it themselves, it just doesn't make business sense to me.

It makes perfect business sense even thought it is very consumer unfriendly. Requiring online would mean MS gets money from every game sold. Not just new games. Plus it would basically get rid of piracy.

 

[harSon]

I doubt Gamestop would have called the Next Xbox "a very hot, compelling device" and be "eager to hear them start their announcements" if something like this were going to be implemented.

As it stands now there are only what, ~40 million Xbox Live memberships which is only a tad bit more than half of the 360's userbase. So that's ~35+ million people who either aren't capable of willing to be online. Microsoft isn't dumb enough to sacrifice that significant percentage of a userbase with this type of move.

 

[grumble]

You know, if they do set up an mandatory subscription model, they could get a lot of volume even with this shit. Think about it.

99 dollar Xbox Light (Kinect and casual games only, no disc drive)
199 dollar Xbox Standard (full gaming).

That price is a megaton in the market, regardless of the cost of subscription. It's even better if they get it as a DVR. That might be part of the cause of the always online; the subscription validation requires online to make sure people aren't buying the discount, cutting up the card for the sub and playing offline.

If Sony has half a brain, they'll offer a subscription based discount too, down to 299 at least.

 

[The Albatross]

Really? Come on now. My wife's family lives in a remote town in India and they have stable/reliable DSL internet.

And again... you can't play for a few hours or a few days. Do some other activities. It's not the end of the world if you can't play your Halo or Forza at the exact moment and location you want to ALL the time!

Are you serious? "You can't play for a few hours or a few days, do something else." You can't be serious.

 

[WalkMan]

Man you're trying waaaaaaay too hard.

Why would anyone even defend this decision? You can spin their intentions any way you can, but the fact is if this turns out true and your internet connection goes down, your console is useless. There's nothing good about that.

So are a lot of devices in my house, why should a game console be an exception. How useful is an internet browser without internet? It's a new paradigm shift with Durango, it's catching up to the always-connected nature of devices we have all around us.