Microsoft Addresses Xbox One Concerns

[vid87]

No, I imagine all that data would never be released by Microsoft...there are others who can take care of it themselves:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124721-NSA-Harvests-Facebook-Google-Apple-User-Data-Secret-Files-Claim

 

[DudeistBelieve]

So let me get this straight,

they demand an internet connection.

I don't buy games anymore, I buy licenses?

I can only barrow games from my friends once?

Fuck that noise. Last time a hurricane hit, I was with out internet for like a week! I got by playing Xbox on a generator, now I wouldn't even be able to do that?

hopefully SONY offers something better. If they follow suit, I'm suppose I'm done with video games. Might make a gaming PC, but even that has issues.

It's a real shame too, because I honestly really love the Xbox 360. It's been a lovely little gaming unit, and I would of went on to buy the next one but I'm not doing this bullshit.

 

[Soviet Steve]

I look forward to hearing more about the PS4

 

[ReaperzXIII]

What does it mean I have to connect once every 24 hours? Because my Xbox isn't constantly plugged into anything, I bring it out to play and put it back in the cupboard when I'm done. I'm not bringing it out once a day to just install updates or whatever then put it back

 

[DudeistBelieve]

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 Over time, Consoles became basicly like a PC already is, except pretty shitty given that they tend to be outdated 6 months to a 1 year after their initial release.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.

Look I think PCs really put a lot of fear in people. I say this as a person who only now started tinkering with my tower after I fried my hard drive. I did something I never did before: I replaced it myself with a spare one. It was scary, but it worked.... Then I got crazy, I looked up what the ram chip looked like and installed another one as well... then I was like, ya know what? This DVD drive is always faulty, let me replace that too....

Basically I discovered this PC building nonsense is actually pretty easy for a lay person like myself to do and I want to get into it more as a hobby. But I think Joe and Blow public is intimidated by computers and just wants something they can plug and play and trust they won't have to fiddle with it for 5 years.

 

[faefrost]

Am I alone in picturing SONY's new marketing campaign as

'SONY! We're the ones that don't actually work for the NSA!"

 

[faefrost]

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.

Why does it have to be connected for the console to function then?

It isn't... It's required so much as it comes with the system. You can't buy it without. Quoting another article here:
"Kinect is not required. While the Kinect sensor is a key, integrated component of Xbox One, you?re free to use other inputs to control games, apps, live TV, or other entertainment experiences, such as the Xbox One controller, a remote control, or a smart, connected device (like a tablet running Xbox SmartGlass). The Kinect sensor is designed to be the ?best? (or at least fastest) way of performing certain actions. But it?s optional."

I suspect that because it's a separate piece, you could just not plug it in. [EDIT]: This isn't something that they've specified on so much yet. I suspect waiting until E3 or after might be beneficial for information gathering.

The console will not boot to the Dashboard unless the Kinect is plugged in. I think this popped up somewhere in the briefings. You can elect not to use it to control games, but it must be attached to the console for anything to work. I suspect that even simply turning it to the wall will simply generate a stream of configuration complaints wanting you to calibrate sensors or move your couch.

Oh even worse. They say that yes, you can turn the Kinect OFF so it isn't listening or watching your living room... well yes, they say you simply say "XBox Off", and it will stop listening... until you SAY "Xbox ON". Does anyone else see the problem with this? I really am starting to think that Obama's NSA had more than a little design input. This sucker is just creepy.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Because there are no such things as blackouts ~_~

Exactly. Perma-net is terrible, or as the French would say terrible.

I don't get why so many devolopers/publishers have such a fetish for it, especially when it comes to games that are predominantly singleplayer.

 

[mokes310]

I live in México and blackouts and problems with internet are a common issue having times with up to one week without any of them so I guess it's NO Xbone for me

And that's really just part of the issue. It doesn't address those who live in rural areas, which in the States, is quite a few people.

 

[A-D.]

Look I think PCs really put a lot of fear in people. I say this as a person who only now started tinkering with my tower after I fried my hard drive. I did something I never did before: I replaced it myself with a spare one. It was scary, but it worked.... Then I got crazy, I looked up what the ram chip looked like and installed another one as well... then I was like, ya know what? This DVD drive is always faulty, let me replace that too....

Basically I discovered this PC building nonsense is actually pretty easy for a lay person like myself to do and I want to get into it more as a hobby. But I think Joe and Blow public is intimidated by computers and just wants something they can plug and play and trust they won't have to fiddle with it for 5 years.

Except, to use a PC you do not have to have built it yourself. There are enough pre-built PCs out there, some are pretty good. Granted if you do it yourself you can save alot of money while getting a very powerful machine, but its not like those pre-builts are crap or anything. PCs arent really all that difficult, most of it is "Plug and Play", basicly like consoles, except you can change the hardware if you so see fit, even if you arent a expert in doing it yourself, there are people who can do it for you, even if it costs you a little.

With the Xbone? Yeah, you'd have to ship it to MS if it breaks im guessing and all they'd do is replace whatever broke with the same identical piece of crap. They wouldnt upgrade it, they wouldnt sell hardware parts for it so the console had a longer life-cycle because, like a pc, you could upgrade it. You'd still be stuck with the same hardware for however long until its replaced with a next-gen console. May as well buy a PC then, you can get a pre-built for 500-600 bucks and they run plenty of recent games just fine, maybe not on the highest settings, but even on medium settings, the pc tends to have more power under the hood than a console has. Point really is that Consoles are becoming less and less viable because they are getting closer and closer to what a PC is, so just buy a PC instead of a "want-to-be" PC that is Xbone. Everything the Xbone can do, my PC can do since years but it doesnt have to phone home every 24 hours at least.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

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.

Why does it have to be connected for the console to function then?

It isn't... It's required so much as it comes with the system. You can't buy it without. Quoting another article here:
"Kinect is not required. While the Kinect sensor is a key, integrated component of Xbox One, you?re free to use other inputs to control games, apps, live TV, or other entertainment experiences, such as the Xbox One controller, a remote control, or a smart, connected device (like a tablet running Xbox SmartGlass). The Kinect sensor is designed to be the ?best? (or at least fastest) way of performing certain actions. But it?s optional."

I suspect that because it's a separate piece, you could just not plug it in. [EDIT]: This isn't something that they've specified on so much yet. I suspect waiting until E3 or after might be beneficial for information gathering.

The console will not boot to the Dashboard unless the Kinect is plugged in. I think this popped up somewhere in the briefings. You can elect not to use it to control games, but it must be attached to the console for anything to work. I suspect that even simply turning it to the wall will simply generate a stream of configuration complaints wanting you to calibrate sensors or move your couch.

Oh even worse. They say that yes, you can turn the Kinect OFF so it isn't listening or watching your living room... well yes, they say you simply say "XBox Off", and it will stop listening... until you SAY "Xbox ON". Does anyone else see the problem with this? I really am starting to think that Obama's NSA had more than a little design input. This sucker is just creepy.

It is possible to argue that the Xbone will 'only' respond to "Xbox ON", but still... What does that mean? Exactly what is being turned off, and what is still running while my Xbone is on standby?

Surely a microphone and voice recognition technology requires a fair amount of power and processing to run, especially for hours on end?

If I disconnect the Kinect when I'm not using it, am I going to get an angry message upon turning it on (even if I plug it back in), or is there simply no power button to turn it on and I'm forced to use voice commands?

And why exactly should I believe Microsoft when they say everything's fine, and not just assume it's going to be recording everything, both video and audio, just because Microsoft is so bloody insistent on being as vague as possible?

Might I say again that forcing the fucking Kinect in the first place, which is a dumb idea anyway because they tried it before and it flopped, is extremely blind and stupid?

Edit: It's bullshit like this that makes me want to track down Bill Gates, grab him by both shoulders, shake him extremely violently and scream "Your lackeys are fucking up big-time! DO SOMETHING!"

 

[SteewpidZombie]

We're getting to witness a modern day Seppuku...it's almost as if they're just begging for the sweet mercy of death.

(The only way I could properly sum-up the new Xbox)

 

[Xan Krieger]

Here's what baffles me. Microsoft knows there's all these flaws with their new system so why aren't they fixing it? Why don't they make it so it never has to be online? Why don't they make it so the kinect can be unplugged? It makes no sense for any company to make something despite knowing about these flaws this far in advance of release.

 

[TimeLord]

Sony has all the cards in their hand. They simply have to play the right one!

At this rate Sony just has to hold the cards to their chest and watch Microsoft squirm and panic without having to reveal a single one.

OT: Personally, having to connect once a day to the Internet is not an issue for me. But I can see how it will be an issue for some people and will probably bite Microsoft in the ass.

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

I'd rather have a Console that you can keep using after the unexpected death of the company and all its servers.

... Even better, a console you can use on Mars or somewhere where connecting to the internet is almost impossible.

...Or a console you can use after the Apocalypse...

Or generally any situation where the chances of actually connecting to the server is impossible.

...

And considering that I only started getting a Wireless router recently, and before that used a USB stick for broadband, while our flipping Phone line was still on Dial Up. And USB Internet doesn't work for Consoles.

...

XBONE is Not my first choice!

 

[littlerob]

Y'know, I think I'd have actually preferred it if they'd been honest with their announcement instead of trying to spin it. Just say "Yeah, look, preowned games are killing us, marketers pay huge amounts for your inconsequential details and gaming habits, we hate not knowing what half our consoles are used for because you only play single player and don't even connect to Live. So we're restricting the resale of games and lending in some half-ass attempt to be like Steam (because nobody seems to complain about Valve), we're integrating the kinnect and using it as a recorder, and we're making online connection mandatory so we can check you're not using any borrowed or pre-owned games and check what you're playing and for how long and at what times. What can we say; you want bitchin' new games, you deal with it."

 

[Gregg Johnson]

Could I support all of these requirements to use the Xbone? Yes.

Will I actually put up with all this crap they're shoveling? Hell no.

I'm making sure I tell everyone I know about the bullshit MS is trying to pull here. If anybody I know actually BUYS one of these anti-consumer pieces of shit, I'm going to stop speaking to them. Straight up. And no, my convictions won't change once they start revealing games. I had an original XBox, and I loved it. I never got into the 360, for various reasons, one of them being the Xbox Live requirements to play online. I never even bought a 360 because of it. If I survived the swaths of amazing games like Halo: Reach, I can survive whatever MS is going to pull out of its hat now.

Edit: It's bullshit like this that makes me want to track down Bill Gates, grab him by both shoulders, shake him extremely violently and scream "Your lackeys are fucking up big-time! DO SOMETHING!"

Good luck with that, Bill Gates retired YEARS ago. He doesn't have practically any say whatsoever in Microsoft anymore.

 

[ironpatriot]

With an always-on console, you have to consider the future.

What happens if (admittedly unlikely) Microsoft goes bankrupt?
What if, in 12 years, they decide they will no longer support the XboxOne?

If for 24-hours, there is no connection, there are no games. The console becomes a brick. (Or an over-sized DVD-player, if you prefer.)

What happens if my Xbox Live account is banned?

It's very unlikely this would ever happen to me, but plenty of people have been banned. I want to know what happens to the games. Will the games be gone?

More importantly, could Microsoft use the always-on requirement to block an XboxOne's access to their servers?

Oh, by the way, I CANNOT WAIT for the Xboxone patch that causes all of them to be unable to connect for over 24 hours. That is going to be funny. (Assuming, of course...)

 

[Treaos Serrare]

Good luck with that, Bill Gates retired YEARS ago. He doesn't have practically any say whatsoever in Microsoft anymore.

He May Have PUBLICLY retired but a man who basically rules the worlds computers does not just "step down" that fucker will be calling the shots till he dies

 

[Aggieknight]

Good luck with that, Bill Gates retired YEARS ago. He doesn't have practically any say whatsoever in Microsoft anymore.

He May Have PUBLICLY retired but a man who basically rules the worlds computers does not just "step down" that fucker will be calling the shots till he dies

I'd like to see where you are coming up with THAT theory. If you look at all the charity work that Bill is involved in, you will see that he does enough to fully occupy three people, much less a freakin billionaire that can afford to buy anything in the world that he wants.

Now, his opinion is worth billions in the technology world. But that's not the same thing as calling the shots.

Personally, I've watched the steady decline of M$ since Bill stepped down. Balmer has proven himself a poor successor to Bill.

Back on task, I can definitely see why M$ doesn't want to talk to the press at E3. Will be very interested to see how all this plays out (and no, I'm not buying an Xbone). Sony has a golden opportunity to take the next console generation, but I'm concerned that M$ wouldn't stick this flag in the ground without confirmation that Sony was as well (market collusion).