Rumor: More Evidence Suggests Always-Online For Next Xbox

[Snotnarok]

I'm honestly hoping for another video game crash so the industry takes a step back and tries to do right by the customer instead of taking more and more away .

Are you familiar with the old game "corrupt a wish?"

I'm just saying I think I can find a few dozen ways this could go wrong.

I'm sure a lot could go wrong but with the industry removing functions/features/content in their games and now down right lying and not giving ownership (always online DRM) it's getting to the point where they need a slap in the face to say no.

I mean EAs response to being called out on their lies was ..more lies, not even an apology, more lies. They've no intention to change or fix the game, they killed their modding forum it's just a downhill adventure. Blizard basically using their entire PC fanbase as a beta test for the console release of Diablo, and again just denial and whatever.

Not everything is shit but I still stand by some of these companies needing a big no to their bullshit.

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

Epic fail. So that's a PC. At least PS4 is still a console, although using PC architecture is questionable. This is just... Wow.

 

[Jburton9]

Ehm, no, Microsoft, no. I decide when I want to be online. You don't get to tell me I always want to be online. Sorry.

Funny thing about that. That's how I felt about what "page" my xbox should start on after they did away with the blades, but when I emailed them about it, I got this response:

"Dear YourJohnson, we are sorry that you are not happy with the new dashboard and the ads. Removing these is [not in the current plan] and is not the experience that we want you to have with your Xbox"

Part of the email is foggy by now, but the bolded part will be forever ingrained into my memory. I canceled my Xbox Live subscription that day, and I haven't gone back since. Last year (whenever the Infamous 2 bundle was being sold) I purchased a PS3, and have done all of my multiplayer and console gaming on that since. I have also started heavily using steam.

That email made me sick to my stomach. Ever since then, I have looked at the gaming industry with a Cynicism that cannot be matched. Microsoft have lost all of my trust, and I probably will never let them earn it back. So please, if not for yourself, then for me, do NOT buy the next Microsoft console. The less money they are able to make, the less they are able to rape consumers. And if it were to fail, I would be happy beyond measure.

I had a very similar thing happen to me, I was paying for Live gold at the time and I had recently renewed it because it was required in order to stream netflix. Also at that time a new dashboard was recently rolled out and it was now hitting me with full video adverts along with several other panels covered with ads.

After contacting Microsoft, my simple support issue turned into a two week long process of trying to opt out of ads. I already had it set in my options from the beginning to opt out yet microsoft ignored it completely. I was getting mazda full video streaming ads that were rolling along even when several panels away which wastes my bandwidth for something I did not want or even ask for.

I went through each step microsoft support asked me to go through yet the ads kept pouring in. I asked why was it that I was getting ads even as a full subscriber? In reply I was told it was enhancing my xbox live experience... Wow what corporate spin. I then asked well it is your platform why can't you turn them off? The rep said they do not control the panels on xbox live. I replied, that is an outright lie. It is a microsoft product from end to end and even more I have been to your website where you will happily sell me ad space and even sell me xbox live user metrics.

At that point I asked for a full refund of my recently renewed gold account. I then said "before you would have had a customer now you get nothing, I will leave my xbox nic unplugged so you will get zero data. From that moment on I have boycotted microsoft products.


A short while after that I went out and purchased a PS3 and overall I have had a much better experience with Sony vs microsoft.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

If this turns out to be true, then not only will they lose me as a customer, I'll make damn sure all my friends never buy the next Xbox.

My buddies at work have absolutely terrible internet, so they won't be too happy about this. And Kinect is a pile of crap too.

I'll make sure to persuade them away Microsoft. The PS4 is looking infinitely better.

 

[Domogo]

Lets think about this: 1.this console is going to last 8 damn years 2.Games take a shit ton of space and they keep going up 3. A lot of games come out in 8 years. I think you all can see where I am going with this.

your inability to delete games you dont play anymore? the part of my hard drive dedicated to games take around 120 GB currently. I have more video than games stacked on my 2x250GB HDDs. Its not like every game will take 50 GB. most games take 8-16 GB and if they put in the now standart for PC 1 TB drive thats 100 games. is 100 games at the same time not enough? and thats considering its all AAA games, indie ones take far less space.
The install necessity is fully understandable. the size these games are getting it is simply impossible for a blue ray player to read the drive fast enough.

You miss understand me sir, I am not saying that I cannot delete games I am saying that I will have to delete them. We live in an era of convenience I think that the idea of installing a game to the hared drive to reduce the loading times is brilliant however requiring it is a waste of time and essentially white washing everything.

Also lets consider this 1. If they actually have a 1TB hard drive (out side some 'elite' edition) I would be amazed 2. you aren't accounting for any DLC the DLC in map packs and updates for games like CodBlops take up as much if not more then the space of the game by its self, and there is another one every year at this point; and in an elder scrolls game the DLC is huge we are now to about 100 GB of Cod games and 50GB of elder scrolls by the end of this thing 3. No hard drive actually has the listed amount of space a 1 TB actually has 931 GB and that is without the massive Xbox dashboard or any apps or any movies that they will probably require you to install as well.

My estimates may be rough but I stand by them and I see this mainly as a great option they are now making an irritating requirement. Also if you think a Blu-Ray player is slow (which, if it any good, it isnt) wait till you are trying to play a game while it is downloading on a throttled speed from a server everyone else is attempting to download from all while thay are monitoring you with the same connection, then tell me blu-ray is slow.

Finally I didn't bold that section of my post for a reason

 

[Matt Dellar]

I've got problems with both Kinect and always-on DRM, but I like that the system itself apparently doesn't have to restart. Small consolation, considering both my wrists are crippled and I couldn't handle Kinect even if I wanted to. Always-on DRM? Probably wouldn't bother me, but around half the gamers in my county don't have good Internet, so I won't support the next Xbox if this is truly the case.

I get the feeling this will turn out not to be true. The only way I can imagine Microsoft actually requiring an Internet connection is if they ran an online survey in which the first question was "Do you have an Internet connection?" and got all their numbers from that.

 

[Smiley Face]

Well, this just sounds bloody ridiculous. In all honesty, I don't understand it. I don't understand how MICROSOFT benefits from a theoretical 'always online' position - and in exchange, they will lose a fair amount of business. Not everyone, sure, but a damn sizable chunk, myself possibly included.

And the sheer silliness of all that makes me seriously doubt the veracity of this rumour. Frankly, I don't buy it, and I'm not even going to bother giving credence to anything until they've at least announced/shown off the damn thing.

 

[Callate]

"Our customer base is slipping away! Quick, grab whoever's left and squeeze them as hard as you can!"

...Really, Big M? Really?

You have no solid foothold in the tablet or phone market. Your music player was a roaring failure. Your outreach to PC gaming was half-hearted and pathetic where it wasn't incompetent and irritating. Almost no one likes Windows 8 and its closed app store, and it drastically undermined your OS's openness, which was one of the few redeeming features the platform had left.

And now, in a sorry attempt to exert as much control as possible over the people who are still using your products, you're out to alienate your console gamers?

Do you even have a long term strategy for the company any more? Or is this becoming like one of those joke flowcharts with a long series of question marks and a box that says "Profit!" at the end?

 

[Lunar Templar]

Like i needed another reason to not buy an Xbox, but way to keep lengthening that list there Microsoft, assuming this is all true mind you

 

[JokerboyJordan]

All of this is most likely not true.

Microsoft are not that stupid. Yes, they have plans to turn the Xbox into an "entertainment system/centre", but they know full well that by forcing an online connection they'd already have something as a negative compared to the PS4.

I have been thinking on the next generation for a while now, and although my allegiance is generally Microsoft, if they're console is even remotely like some of these rumours, I will simply be switching over to a PC for all my gaming needs.

 

[Vivid Kazumi]

bloody hell, i'm starting to think sony is paying these journalist to post this crap.it doesn't help when the new leaked specs don't even mention drm or a anti-used game function...

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

At this point I'll wait patiently to see what else MS says about the future of the 720 while not taking everything out of proportion.

I don't see myself skipping to "only PC" platform any time soon however because I just don't roll that way like many others.

Also for PC only people this thread really has nothing to do with those that are still and always will be with the PC since you never wanted a console in the first place as you see it as "inferior".

 

[Mr_Terrific]

Well, if you're paying them to access the online you already pay your ISP, I don't see the problem. Always online...why not?

 

[scorptatious]

Hmm. Yeah, it looks like I might give this new XBOX a pass. Assuming this is true that is. Unless some really awesome games come out for it.

 

[XX Y XY]

So PS4 it is then. Thanks for making up my mind for me Microsoft.

 

[Zeckt]

The reason I went with the 360 this generation was because of how impressed I was with the introduction of xbox live arcade. Now we have steam greenlight which is 100x times better in every conceivable way on top of all the sales and no hardware failures. I think the only time I played my 360 in the past 2 years was when I bought ff12-2 on sale and they had no more ps3 versions.

microsoft are the makers of the ONLY console I ever had to buy twice with both of my limited edition wireless controllers dying within a month for my NEW system. Because of that, I forever despise them and will never, EVER trust any of their products again. Fuck you microsoft, never again!

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Microsoft seem to have gone awefully quiet after the PS4 reveal. I think they saw it and went "shit if people see our product in its current form they're going to be awefully pissed." There are probably a lot of people down at Microsoft HQ madly re-engineering the Xbox 720 (or whatever it is) to try and counter-punch the PS4, which seems to be more like a successor to the Xbox 360 than the 720 is claimed to be.

 

[Something Amyss]

Not everything is shit but I still stand by some of these companies needing a big no to their bullshit.

A crash isn't really what you're looking for, then.

 

[Royas]

If it actually requires an internet connection just to play anything, I'm out. My internet is fine, mind you, I don't trust the other side of the connection. I don't want to come home and grab my controller only to find that since MS had a problem, I can't play my games. Nope, not falling for that one again, too many bad experiences now.

As for the Kinect, I don't even have enough space in my living room to use it according to the instructions. Last thing I need are more games with motion controls.