Rumor: Next Xbox to require internet connection to start games
Sources claim that as recently as two weeks ago, the next Xbox (codenamed "Durango") required an online connection to start games or apps, and suspends them after three minutes of being offline.
We've heard rumblings of the next generation of consoles requiring a constant Internet connection, and in the case of the PlayStation 4, that rumor has been dispelled. The next Xbox, code-named "Durango," on the other hand, is still a mystery. Sources now claim that the console will require an Internet connection to start games.
"Unless something has changed recently, Durango consumer units must have an active internet connection to be used," a source told Kotaku. "If there isn't a connection, no games or apps can be started. 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." One source claimed this was the case as of two weeks ago.
Microsoft itself has been quiet on the next Xbox, so we've only heard anything from leaks. Some developers have said they're unaware of any online requirement, though Microsoft may simply not be telling them of the system-level functionality. Most sources have been uncertain or vague, so this leak is the first we've heard with such specificity. Of course, anything can change between now and the launch of the console, especially since Microsoft hasn't even publicly acknowledged its existence yet.
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Shacknews
replySteve Watts posted a new article, Rumor: Next Xbox to require internet connection to start games.
Sources claim that as recently as two weeks ago, the next Xbox (codenamed "Durango") required an online connection to start games or apps, and suspends them after three minutes of being offline.-
This makes so little sense considering the PS4 has passed on this feature.
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Anything is capable of doing it, it's whether it's a core feature that's at issue.
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i just don't get this. how do they get around the fact that some people still don't have broadband and that even with broadband, internet goes out? just last night, internet was out for 5 hours. am i just supposed to stare at my $500 machine and $60 game for that time?
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yep, lots of money is selling early console hardware over and over to the same people.... wait
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I'm not sure how you think this is related or changes your utterly misguided original quip
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you appear to have no idea how business or economics work...
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what.
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it was a sarcastic remark. iirc, microsoft had a heafty loss on the original xbox and the 360 took a while to break even.
http://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-s-xbox-division-loses-229-million-226215.phtml
http://www.neowin.net/news/report-microsofts-xbox-division-has-lost-nearly-3-billion-in-10-years-
yes, that was my point. There was a per unit loss on the 360 as well, standard fare for console hardware. So having someone rebuy your console hardware is a net loss. They'd already bought into the ecosystem that actually makes you money.
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I'm not sure what you think this proves
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Just being snarky is all.
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Yeah this is why I don't support netflix or youtube. Not everyone has an internet connection all the time! Maybe sometimes in the future, 50 or 100 years from now.
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That's a lot of foul-mouthed 12-year-olds.
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To be fair, 46% of all 360 probably bricked.
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Uh, 44% that is.
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44% of the time it bricks every time.
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a "source" told kotaku...hmmm...must be authentic
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Couldnt care less.
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I thought that opinion was just as valid as someone who cares about needing internet at the start of games.
Is it not?
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At least you said the phrase right.
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can we at least shun him for forgetting the apostrophe? the shack monster must be fed.
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Yes, yes you may.
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Question: Why don't games save just by immediately dumping state if they get killed? Kind of like how iOS and Android apps get backgrounded, they just save where the app is. Obviously with games there is more data to save at any moment, but... Why couldn't an Xbox auto-quit after 3 minutes if all games are required to be able to save the game in x number of seconds once they get the call to shut off?
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Guess im not buying an Xbox then.
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Hang em high!
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Quite a few sources have reported it. The Kinect required will be another thing. There's a good chance it's true. Especially with the SDK saying the game can run without the disc in.
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all sources that came directly to kotaku
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But it's MS' turn to look like retards this generation.
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Pretty much.
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It really is MS's turn. I hate to cite another Bombcast discussion, but 40 minutes into the 9-11-2012 cast, they talked about how Microsoft's getting cocky, and how it's just like Sony in 2006, having the attitude of, "I dunno about you guys; WE just made the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2; I think we know what we're talkin' about when it comes to video games!". And then, $599 US Dollars, Giant Enemy Crabs, Cell processors taking over the world, etc., etc.
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That was my assumption. This is just a way to control the dev kits and not a feature of the system.
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I can understand the devkits requiring always-on; there's numerous enterprise software packages that require activation servers. Also, devkits are technically equipment licensed from Microsoft; when 38 Studios shut down, the auction company wanted to auction off the 360 devkits, but Microsoft basically ran in and said, "NOOOOO!! Those are ours!"
I have to wonder if Microsoft may attempt the same licensing strategy for the Durango console, that it's a licensed device, owned by Microsoft. The history of devices attempting to use that model (CueCat, iOpener) is not good for the platform holder. There's a difference between devkit licenses and consumer licenses.
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seriously
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IAWTP, this is so stupid.
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Apparently it's the new gold standard for shacknews. Add it to the stories about the Will U and Guild Wars 2 and move on.
My favorite is the "Guild Wars 2 hack impacts 11,000 accounts" story. Apparently the "game's security has been compromised" because people were using the same compromised username and passwords for different accounts. While an issue, I'd hardly call it a "Guild Wars 2 hack".
http://www.shacknews.com/article/75656/guild-wars-2-hack-impacts-11000-accounts
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Now it's just up to them to show that the experience will be worth the potential rage.
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hmmm. I don't see this working too well for consoles. they must have some amazing information that indicates the vast majority of 360s are online, and for the duration of the play session.
unless piracy or other illicit/illegal activity is a compelling reason to force the issue, to which I'd wonder if they have amazing information again.-
What surprise's me is that in all of these discussions few bother to recognize the push into digital goods on XBL. Not only just DLC, but media as well. With that in mind it seems reasonable to propose that one connected user on XBL can be more profitable than 2 or more offline users. More so given you can't 'trade in' DLC and digital goods.
Personally, I can see this being true and I can also see that perhaps this will make the system more appealing to developers and thus support for the system will surpass that of its competitor to which all the 'offline' users have flocked to. In this light, the rumor that Durango will not have used games makes even more sense as it further promotes profit per user. If consumers kneejerk to the PS4 for used games then the PS4 would then have a fairly large portion of offline and used games users as part the install base. Which system do you think would be more profitable for publishers?
Again, I'm surprised this is, well, almost entirely unmentioned in most of these discussions on any forum I have occasion to visit.
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In a way, it makes sense for the system that's so connected that you're paying a little money every month to access MP/chat features.
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If this is true, for Microsoft's sake, hopefully the authentication infrastructure will be set up on something with more reliability than Azure.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Microsoft-Windows-Azure-Downtime-Blamed-on-Leap-Year-Bug-707169/
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/02/23/1415231/certificate-expiry-leads-to-total-outage-for-microsoft-azure-secured-storage
...otherwise Microsoft's going to have a public embarrassment on the level of SimCity's launch, or the PSN outage.-
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Yeah, but at least then only part of the platform population was affected (which was pretty financially painful for consumers buying a >$300 consumer good, and then having to fight through warranty red tape). But if a service is down, it's down, and if these devices have to be able to phone in every 3 minutes, that's 3 minutes of margin for the service to be available.
Sony was upfront on their position on launch: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-21-playstation-4-does-not-require-an-internet-connection
"Oh yes, yes, you can go offline totally. Social is big for us, but we understand there are some people who are anti-social! So if you don't want to connect to anyone else, you can do that."
Microsoft's position may be completely opposite that; a position of, "We're selling a service." But Microsoft's leadership have to take the good with the bad, and understand what happens when an online service isn't available. Just ask Sony Computer Entertainment from April 2011, when they had to shut down PSN for weeks.-
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Even 10% of 50 million people is still 5 million people.
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I think it would be extremely dumb of them to do something like this, especially after Sony came out and said they won't. What I COULD MAYBE see is that you might need to be online the first time you play a game if they are going to do that copy protection (no used games) thing. But needing to be always-on all the time would be suicide for them. Huge amounts of people in the US still don't have always-on Internet and even larger amounts don't have reliable internet connections.
If this is true... this would be just another reason for me to move over to Sony. The past several years I always assumed I'd be sticking with MS as my main console... but Sony is making good choices and MS seems to be making poor ones. I really can't wait for them to announce whatever it is they are going to do. It better be good though!-
As far as I'm concerned even the first time requirement would be a disaster.
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I hope this is true.
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I don't like Microsoft because it must be required to stay online constantly. I would go for the Playstation 4 to let me play games on the offline. :/
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Yea that's shooting yourself on the foot.
But rather than pass judgement, I'll wait for the final verdict. -
Isn't this more likely to be something for the dev kits, rather than the consumer model?
Given how secretive MS have been, and the paranoia about leaks and other things, I can see exactly why MS would want to know what's going on with the dev kits. But consumer? It's nothing but pain points.
Believe it when I see it, but here's to hoping it's not true - if so, it pretty much rules out both next gen consoles for me, with PS4 not having BC. -
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So is the rumor still a load of bullshit like some have hoped? Either way, that guy is a grade A douchebag.
http://i.imgur.com/keFHbXC.png
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While I doubt this is true, and I will wait until it's official, I will say if it is true, I will not be buying it. My WiiU can't connect to my WiFi worth a damn, though my PS3 and my 360, I do not want to buy the system just to find out if the wifi is any good, and if the stability of the connection is any good. (In all honesty I have no clue why the Wiiu is so damn problematic with my WiFi connection)
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If you bought a Wii U, I bet you do buy this eventually.
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Saw this on neogaf if it has any weight.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=534951-
lol this .gif about sums it up
http://wiki.urbandead.com/images/4/4e/Seinfeld3.gif
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I really hope they don't pull requiring a Xbox Live subscription on top of requiring an internet connection. I think they should leave this an optional feature that publishers can decide on a game by game basis. It doesn't make sense to have this on every type of game and especially on ones that have been out for several years. They will probably use this to prevent games from being played before the release date or other regional BS.
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Microsoft's silence about the Next Xbox is really beginning to irritate me now, because the longer they remain silent, the more weight that they give to the speculation, fear-mongering, and rumors about the console, not to mention giving rise to stupid elitist comments like those of Microsoft's Creative Director, Adam Orth, who "doesn't get the drama around an "always on" console and suggested that people who don't have access to the internet should "get with the times".
This feeling of offense and disgust I'm experiencing is very familar. When was the last time I felt it? I think it was when Ken Kutaragi joked I'd need to have a second job to be able to afford a PS3. Look where that got Sony. Last place in this console generation. And before that? When Sega thought we'd want to buy a 32X AND a Sega Saturn within less than two years of eachother. Where did that thinking get them? On a downhill butt-slide that even the Dreamcast couldn't slow, right out of the console business.
Honestly, while I personally feel that the Xbox 360 is one of the best consoles ever made, my interest in buying its imminent successor could not be lower than it is at this point, because the rumors are making Durango out to be the worst nightmare of consoles....always on, won't play used games, requires a Kinect to function...none of this sounds like good news, and Microsoft refuses to get out in front of these rumors and deny them, which leads me to suspect that they are all mostly true in some way. It's depressing. When are we going to get some GOOD NEWS about this Next Xbox?!?
Given the nature of my work, it's unlikely that I'll be able to boycott this next console, but right now I'm still waiting for a good reason to plunk down a deposit on Durango when pre-orders first open up, but if I were to go with my heart right now, I'd rather be putting that money down on a PS4. -
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They didn't officially abandon it, but at the PS4 reveal they didn't make any mention of it either, so its very unlikely that there will be such a feature. It's likely that the console has the ability to do so, meaning that both Sony and third-party developers would have the ability to enable the feature, but it would be pretty stupid for them to do so right at the outset of the next generation. I wouldn't rule it out for the future though, as the landscape may change significantly in the next 5-6 years.
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I just don't get it. To release a console that requires to be "always on" in this coming generation of machines where internet access is still limited or unreliable to a significant portion of your user base would be akin to releasing a console that only worked with HDTVs in the previous generation. It would be suicide. And this is coming from someone who whenever possible always has every device in his house connected to the internet (or in the case of my cellphone, to a cellular data network) at all times. It's one thing to have a game like SimCity or Destiny go down for a few hours (or even a day) because of server problems or an ISP outage, but to have an entire console and its library of games become useless because it loses connection to the internet for 3 minutes? Who in their right mind would pay for such a device?
The funny thing about internet access is that it "ALWAYS" seems to go down right at the time you need it most. Now that's not true, really, but think about it. When you aren't using the internet (e.g. you're out and about, you're commuting, you're at a party with friends or watching a movie at the theatre, etc.), you don't really care about an internet service outage, do you, because you're not using it. But when you're gaming on a current-gen console, most of us are "ALWAYS" using the internet, even if all we're doing involves it are being signed-in to our account and getting updates about what our friends are up to. And when the internet goes down, that device that you love suddenly becomes the biggest POS you've ever owned, because suddenly, you're being denied many of the features and functionality you paid for (and in the case of Xbox Live, are still paying for). Case in point: If Xbox Live goes down for a few hours without warning or explanation, within mere minutes you can expect Xbox Live Gold subscribers take to Twitter, Xbox Support and Major Nelson's blog to rage about it. Imagine how much worse that will become if the console itself won't even function without the internet. We'll be looking at the highest refund rate on a console in the history of the industry.
Sony is clearly taking some risks with the PS4 when it comes to their Gaikai-powered streaming ambitions, as it is likely that many of their first customers will not have the bandwith or internet speeds required to take full advantage of them, but at least they are showing flexibility and not burning their bridges when it comes to things like used games and offline play.
I know I'm rehashing much of what I said in my last comment, but I don't know how else to express the feelings of confusion and yes, I'll say it, even betrayal that have been growing in my gut every day that Microsoft doesn't address these rumors about mandatory online, mandatory Kinect 2.0 hook-ups and blocking used games. It's likely that these rumors are just that, rumors, and Microsoft doesn't owe me anything, so they will do what they will do. But I'm saddened that right now, for the first time in a LONG time, I can't get excited about the next generation of the Xbox, because so far there simply aren't any reasons to do so, yet conversely there seems to be every reason to dread it. -
I hope this turns out not to be true. It would certainly make me think a little longer about staying with Xbox into the next generation. There are times that I take my 360 to family events where there is no internet connection, and hopefully won't ever. It's nice to be disconnected but still be able to play games together and alone, disc and arcade alike. Of course all of my friends across the country have xboxes and that xbox live connection is a stronger pull than the active connection is a negative. Still hope it turns out to be false.
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Guess I know what I'm not getting, not that I had any intention of getting one anyways. It's a stupid idea because they do have outages to fix problems with certain lines just had one little over a week ago around 1 am for little over an hour. That and not everyone who plays is connected to the internet and the dickhead at MS that had all those tweets about people need to get with times probably has a good stack of cash unlike everyone else. Bottom line its bad business as it only hurts the consumer and I have yet to see an upside to it what exactly does this do except let them know your online, probably some anti-piracy stuff too.
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