Microsoft Addresses Xbox One Concerns

[elilupe]

Honestly, why are people saying that they can live with this? You shouldn't have to to "live with" or "deal with" something you don't approve of in a LUXURY item. If the free-market system truly works what you should do is NOT give money to the company that demands YOU serve THEM and instead give your money to the company that understands that they have no business asking for your money unless they are going to provide you with the product you want.

This is one of the best ways I've seen it put so far. Everyone saying these problems won't affect them because they have a good connection and don't buy used games or whatever, you have to look at the bigger picture.

 

[Drake666]

Are there statistics on this? Is "everyone" on broadband now? I live in the UK, and there are still places where you can't get a mobile phone signal, let alone ADSL. I'm assuming that the continental US has enormous areas where broadband is not an option.

Yeah, I don't follow neither.... I'm living in Canada... Even if I'm lucky enough to live in one of the 20 city with "ok" internet conntections (different isp, "stable" conntection, broadband, etc.), a good and stable broadband connection is not the norm :|

 

[Samantha Burt]

If I had friends I would be staging some sort of awareness campaign outside various stores in my area. Oh well.

I can't help but feel this is the corporate mentality at work. No-one actually thinks it's a good idea to screw over this many people but no-one wants to be the "weak member of the pack", so nothing gets said. Hopefully it will fix itself.

 

[wolf_isthebest]

I'm european. Guess what console I'm not buying. The "one" with all the american services and the "one" that makes you pay for online and the "one" that makes you check-in every 24 hours. Xbox go home!

 

[Adam Locking]

Hmmm... so last night when I couldn't sign into Xbox live, this experience is going to be a million times WORSE with your next console? No thanks

 

[Fenra]

huh, once every 24 hours or one hour if not on your console... how... bizzare, and more confirmation for me personally that I'm not going for one, I mean in the 4 years I've owned my 360 I've hooked it up to the internet twice, once for rockband DLC and once to try a demo, don't have a gold subscription so there was nothing in it for me

Honestly they might have well have just stuck with always online as that would actually be simpler! and lets be honest is essentially what they are asking. I mean unless you play your xbox in really random times then you'd need to hook it up to the internet every time you get home from work to play it if you do once a day, so is, in a roundabout way, always online

 

[Genocidicles]

I have to wonder if a majority of people are freaking out over something that won't really affect them. I'd bet that a majority of people crying about "always online" (once/24hrs) on the XBox One play games while connected to the internet daily. I don't really see the "always on" bit affecting most people that are freaking out about it except for in fringe cases where something goes out. People freak out if they don't have internet in general, let alone on a console. Sure, it'll happen, but they've made it clear that if you don't have internet, you're not their target market, and you probably shouldn't be buying an Xbox One anyway if you can't even get internet.

The required internet connection will affect everyone, regardless of how good their internet is. Servers go down for maintenance, and they get brought down by hackers so that's times you'll be unable to connect regardless of your amazing internet.

Aside from that, what do you think will happen in 10 years or so when they turn the servers off (and they will. They turned off the original xbox's servers back in 2010) to focus on the xbox two?

The console will be little more than a paperweight and all your games will be worthless because they don't care about backwards compatibility anymore. I can still whip out any of my old consoles and play the classics (some of which are almost 20 years old). That wont be the same with the xbone.

I still fail to see how the Kinect is such a big flip-out topic for people. It's handy tech, if nothing else. Even if you don't use it for gaming, it's super helpful in navigation with voice commands. I use voice commands for my current xbox daily, just because it's easier. I'm not always just sitting there with controller in-hand. I'm glad I have a Kinect if only for the navigation bonuses it provides.

I dunno, maybe having a corporate surveillance camera always watching you isn't everyone's cup of tea?

 

[awdrifter]

Hackers will figure out a way to reset the 24 hour counter, so in the end, only the legitimate users are inconvenienced.

 

[Ukomba]

Remember those attacks on the Playstation Network and how annoying it was when it went down? Ya, it'll be great when an attack like that bricks your XBone for days.

 

[F'Angus]

So when someone cut out internet line, making it unusable for a week offline gaming on the Xbox kept us sane.

But won't be able to do that now.

 

[kypsilon]

Still not buying an Xbone. Just because they say that I can tell it not to share whatever the kinect sensor is picking up or doing whatever doesn't mean that someone can't hack into the damned thing and steal it right off the deck.

 

[triggrhappy94]

This is way worse than I thought.
For me, when he decided to start calling "buying" "licensing" was the final straw.
It's nice to know any library I build up isn't technically mine.

You know what's a good console? The 360.
I hear it's set for a pretty big price drop coming this winter.

 

[Midniqht]

I have to wonder if a majority of people are freaking out over something that won't really affect them. I'd bet that a majority of people crying about "always online" (once/24hrs) on the XBox One play games while connected to the internet daily. I don't really see the "always on" bit affecting most people that are freaking out about it except for in fringe cases where something goes out. People freak out if they don't have internet in general, let alone on a console. Sure, it'll happen, but they've made it clear that if you don't have internet, you're not their target market, and you probably shouldn't be buying an Xbox One anyway if you can't even get internet.

The required internet connection will affect everyone, regardless of how good their internet is. Servers go down for maintenance, and they get brought down by hackers so that's times you'll be unable to connect regardless of your amazing internet.

Aside from that, what do you think will happen in 10 years or so when they turn the servers off (and they will. They turned off the original xbox's servers back in 2010) to focus on the xbox two?

The console will be little more than a paperweight and all your games will be worthless because they don't care about backwards compatibility anymore. I can still whip out any of my old consoles and play the classics (some of which are almost 20 years old). That wont be the same with the xbone.

I still fail to see how the Kinect is such a big flip-out topic for people. It's handy tech, if nothing else. Even if you don't use it for gaming, it's super helpful in navigation with voice commands. I use voice commands for my current xbox daily, just because it's easier. I'm not always just sitting there with controller in-hand. I'm glad I have a Kinect if only for the navigation bonuses it provides.

I dunno, maybe having a corporate surveillance camera always watching you isn't everyone's cup of tea?

I'll address your last point first... that's already been debunked. It's not a "corporate surveillance camera" any more than the original Kinect. If you truly think the Kinect is playing HAL and watching you/recording you, you might be little paranoid. http://winsupersite.com/xbox/xbox-one-privacy-concerns-debunked

As for your first point, fair enough. True, what if I want to play my games 20 years from now? Probably not likely but it's definitely a plausible scenario. They seem to be going more the route of digital distribution. I'll spin the question around... what if Steam isn't available in 20 years? You lose access to your games? I see the same problem happening outside of just the Xbox One. This problem isn't specific to Microsoft - it's digital distribution in general.

Finally, if servers go down for maintenance or even in the case of hacking, that's a definite fringe case. Even if you lost connection temporarily, the chance of it being down for more than 24 hours and you waiting up for it to come back on is staggeringly low. Sure, I've lost my connection every now and then... never said I had "amazing internet." But I can probably count the number of times I've been out of internet for more than 24 hours at once on 1 hand... with 3 fingers... in my experience since first having broadband (one of the 3 being due to a major storm that knocked out power as well, so that doesn't even count).

 

[AgentTwentyOne]

Even with broadband internet, connection can still be a problem. I spent two days trying to get my 360 to connect to my router. Damn router just refused to connect to the 360. I started to take it personally because it would connect to literally every other device in the house, but not the 360. I even took apart my router to see if something was fried with it. After sweet talking and convincing the 360 to apologize for whatever it said, the router finally connected. (aka I have no idea why it started working again) If that had happened while having the Xbox One, I would have been unable to play any of my games for that time.

 

[meatshield]

well since i dont always have online. there is months when i want to make a major purchuse i cancel things i dont need. and well internet is one of them. i have a smart phone so its not like i need internet at home for anything besides my xbox as it is.
I am also a heavy used games buyer so I guess mircosoft is showing me the door ahead of time at least. Well gonna miss halo

Cause just because i dont have internet for over 24 hours it will make all the game i bought and own usless, really come on now. Mircosoft is acting like the own everything I bought no matter who made it. no thanks

 

[Doug]

Obviously "Address" does not mean "Assure"

This is like addressing a broken leg with a hammer.

Man, I am so glad I bought a PC, but I just really feel bad for console people at the moment. I can only laugh so much at the whole deal before it just gets depressing how badly those who can't afford good computers or just prefer otherwise are getting screwed here.

Hopefully the PS4 turns out better.

Hopefully... but I dunno - the Sony people aren't rushing out to say "Hahahaha, XBox One, everyone come to our place, we haven't got this nonsense on ours". It could just be a lack of RP, but I doubt it.

I have been an increasingly PC only gamer for awhile now, and this nonsense makes me glad for it.

 

[Genocidicles]

I'll address your last point first... that's already been debunked. It's not a "corporate surveillance camera" any more than the original Kinect. If you truly think the Kinect is playing HAL and watching you/recording you, you might be little paranoid. http://winsupersite.com/xbox/xbox-one-privacy-concerns-debunked

You might want to see this:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.409948-NSA-Harvests-Facebook-Google-Apple-User-Data-Secret-Files-Claim

Microsoft is no stranger to handing out user information. The Kinect is just another avenue for them to collect such data.

Also I don't want to get caught drinking a pepsi and then suddenly get drowned in pepsi ads, which is mainly what the Kinect will be used for.

As for your first point, fair enough. True, what if I want to play my games 20 years from now? Probably not likely but it's definitely a plausible scenario. They seem to be going more the route of digital distribution. I'll spin the question around... what if Steam isn't available in 20 years? You lose access to your games? I see the same problem happening outside of just the Xbox One. This problem isn't specific to Microsoft - it's digital distribution in general.

Well I was talking about it in comparison to other consoles that don't require an internet connection, but seeing as you brought up Steam I'll explain why it's not the case for Steam/

First of all, Valve has said that in the event of Steam going down, they'll make it possible for everyone to get their games working without Steam. Not a 100% guarantee, but it's more than Microsoft has said and will likely do.

Secondly, Steam is the most successful digital distribution platform. The chance of it going down are incredibly slim.

Thirdly, Steam won't be taken down by Valve so they can make a Steam 2.

Finally, In the event of Steam going down and Valve deciding to be assholes and not letting people keep their games, there are plenty of... *ahem* other, less legal methods of getting your games back for free.

 

[A-D.]

I actually dont understand why Consoles are still a thing. And im not trying to be "Hur dur PC gaming master race" here, just..think about this logically. More and more have consoles moved away from being easy to use gaming platforms. It started basicly after the PS2, suddenly you had "online multiplayer", more and more features, hulu, netflix, internet browsers. Over time, Consoles became basicly like a PC already is, except pretty shitty given that they tend to be outdated 6 months to a 1 year after their initial release.

So my question is really, why would you buy a console, especially a xbone, if it basicly works like a PC, has all the drawbacks of a PC, but has no upside for you. You dont get better hardware, you dont get relatively-drm-free games, you dont get..anything that makes a console viable. The Xbone is just a really shitty PC, its basicly what MS would turn the PC platform into if they could (they tried, didnt work), so why anyone would consider buying one is beyond me, though i also dont really get why people in general would buy a console if they basicly could get a PC for the same price since the features are basicly the same by now.

 

[lovest harding]

As for your first point, fair enough. True, what if I want to play my games 20 years from now? Probably not likely but it's definitely a plausible scenario. They seem to be going more the route of digital distribution. I'll spin the question around... what if Steam isn't available in 20 years? You lose access to your games? I see the same problem happening outside of just the Xbox One. This problem isn't specific to Microsoft - it's digital distribution in general.

Well I was talking about it in comparison to other consoles that don't require an internet connection, but seeing as you brought up Steam I'll explain why it's not the case for Steam/

First of all, Valve has said that in the event of Steam going down, they'll make it possible for everyone to get their games working without Steam. Not a 100% guarantee, but it's more than Microsoft has said and will likely do.

Secondly, Steam is the most successful digital distribution platform. The chance of it going down are incredibly slim.

Thirdly, Steam won't be taken down by Valve so they can make a Steam 2.

Finally, In the event of Steam going down and Valve deciding to be assholes and not letting people keep their games, there are plenty of... *ahem* other, less legal methods of getting your games back for free.

I also want to include (to Genocidicles fine points) that Xbox One games AREN'T all distributed digitally. That means the physical copies will be as useless 20 years as the digital games. So that disc you bought that has all the data for the game on it becomes useless even if you still have a working Xbox One.
That's where 'licensing games' comes in to play. And I don't know about you, but that kind of thinking smells like bullshit to me. If there were DVDs that only work on a specific DVD player made by a specific company and only as long as that DVD player was connected to the internet (an internet connection that also had a minimum speed requirement), there'd be even less DVD sales and far less people trying to justify bad business practices that don't take into account the actual consumers.

 

[Midniqht]

I'll address your last point first... that's already been debunked. It's not a "corporate surveillance camera" any more than the original Kinect. If you truly think the Kinect is playing HAL and watching you/recording you, you might be little paranoid. http://winsupersite.com/xbox/xbox-one-privacy-concerns-debunked

You might want to see this:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.409948-NSA-Harvests-Facebook-Google-Apple-User-Data-Secret-Files-Claim

Microsoft is no stranger to handing out user information. The Kinect is just another avenue for them to collect such data.

Also I don't want to get caught drinking a pepsi and then suddenly get drowned in pepsi ads, which is mainly what the Kinect will be used for.

According to that article, Microsoft didn't just dole out information without actual warranted cause. MS is hardly at the focus of that article anyway, and reading too much into by saying "See? The NSA is going to force MS to have the Kinect record us!" is a huge mental leap in logic.

The statement comes across as super paranoid. If MS does somehow end up "watching you" while you're minding your own business and drinking a Pepsi, I'll buy you a beer, because that's when the robots have taken over. People are so afraid of "big brother" that the jumps in logic are crazy.