Next Xbox ‘Always On, Always Connected’?

I can't wait to see if MS will require a monthly subscription to xbox live in order to have access to your games.
 
Think about it this way... they don't want current players to drop their xbox live payments. I wonder how they will weasel it in on everyone. xbox live $/month to play? or a xbox live premium to have unlimited access to your games? Premium for multiplayer while single player has to be connected but they get on free? <--That sounds silly
 
Tl;Dr.

A thought that might be a saving grace if they do require you to be online at all time while playing games... offer XBLG members (who pay the $20/month or w/e) the option to "rent" games for free. download the game play it a while and when you tired of it uninstall it and download a new game, with perhaps a 5 game-at-a-time limit. For those of us who dont play consoles much it would be a waste, but for those who play them often and blow through a 40-hour game in a couple days it could be extremely popular.

Otherwise... yeah... not happening. I've been a 360 supporter but I'll switch to sony or even *shudder* nintendo if MS pulls this kinda thing with "no used games" and "cant play games offline" I mean hell, even Steam lets you download games and play them offline...
 
I'm cautious about committing to any next-gen console. Until the thing is out, the rumor mill is churning out bullshit. It's like a political campaign between candidates: you don't know what's bullshit and what's truth.

I'm not really psyched for either one right now. I have both the PS3 and 360 and like them both. If it ever would work out, the 360 is my choice for multiplayer because I know more people with the 360.

The Nextbox720 rumors are troubling if true. A 1-time initialization for a single-player component, okay. Instead of a key, this is acceptable. However, if my internet is down for some reason, being unable to use it is silly. There's simply no justifiable reason to lock down single-player.

Even if I am interested eventually, I doubt I'll rush out and get one immediately. At that point, my kids may be old enough to have them as a consideration.
 
UrielDagda said:
I've been bitching about this shit since the inception of the online requirements for even so much as a DRM check started. A single player or local multi-player game should NOT require an internet connection. Once you've paid for your product, you shouldn't be denied use of it if the internet goes down, or circumstances happen that leave you without internet service.
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There is no such thing as local multiplayer these days. Your actions have to be managed!
 
jpm100 said:
Wow the number of people trying to be Officer Barbrady, "nothing to see here move along".

I guess people don't mind being exploited if it brings more certainty to their world. Because if people react negatively to this and go elsewhere or avoid consoles all together, running with the herd breaks down. They don't want to rush out and try to beat the herd and buy a console that turns out to be a flop.
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Exploited come on, this is a games console, how many people on here even read disclaimers on your smartphone apps while installing, that is exploiting ;) .

There only so many people that are so "self aware" on this planet and the category "Console gamers" isn't the 1st thing that springs to mind. Or are you going to tell me that the elite gamers that play Halo, Killzone, Gears of War are the computer industry top thinkers and philosophers?
 
Well, let's see what an always-on game console gives you:

  1. Periodic hardware and firmware modification checks to detect whether they have been tampered with.
  2. OTA (over-the-air) firmware updates when available from Microsoft.
  3. Social updates from Xbox Live and other social media services (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
  4. Games are possibly scanned and verified to be the original media and properly linked to the Xbox Live account logged into the console. Games not linked to logged-in account are assumed to be second-hand purchases (aka used games) are not loaded.
  5. Games continually check with an Xbox Live server (or publisher's server) to ensure authenticity of the game, or use product codes for verification with server and game media, and linked to Xbox Live account (rumored).
  6. If added DVR functionality, maintains recording schedule and records shows when they are shown.
  7. Maintains continuous game updates for games installed on console's hard drive.
  8. Possible ability to block a console's unique hardware ID and Xbox Live account if Microsoft determines malicious activity, tampering of console's hardware, unoriginal game media (aka pirated games burned to recordable media), or similar. Thus, banning both console and XBL account from online access to Xbox Live and its related services.

These are a list of things I came up with.
Are there more that should be added to the list?

Which would you agree with or be comfortable with? And, which would you not?​
 
Why not just rent the game consoles in the very same way that set-top boxes are rented from the cable company? It's getting harder and harder to tell the deference anymore anyway.
 
octoberasian said:
These are a list of things I came up with.
Are there more that should be added to the list?​
Click to expand...


You forgot the biggest one:

9. console and games become junk when they flick the off switch in a few years time (like they did with Live for the first Xbox just after the 360 arrived).

:D​
 
prndll said:
Why not just rent the game consoles in the very same way that set-top boxes are rented from the cable company? It's getting harder and harder to tell the deference anymore anyway.
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Exactly, they've become less game console and more of a set-top box similar to the Roku, Google TV, or Apple TV and others.

I miss the days pre-Xbox (non-360) consoles. You turned it on and didn't have to go online. You pop your game in and load it, and start playing.

No need to sign up for an account with Xbox Live or PSN or Nintendo's network.

There were no extra fancy features or add-ons like social media or media streaming.

There were no game achievements that got plastered to your online account or virtual trophies.

A game console was just that-- a device that played games and nothing more. And, it should have remained that way.
 
DeathPrincess said:
You forgot the biggest one:

9. console and games become junk when they flick the off switch in a few years time (like they did with Live for the first Xbox just after the 360 arrived).

:D
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, you are very correct there. I hated when that happened.
 
^^^ gaming shouldve never skewed away from at home playing against your friends.

instead the international model of multiplayer gaming came in and totally crashed the single player gaming experience and ruined alot of friend gatherings in one social environment.

instead people sit at home by themselves and play online against people down the street or around the world without even getting up to take a shower. in a way its helped to ruin the traditional oldschool social event that we used to love and enjoy as kids.

gaming will never be the same, im afraid the last great console generation is gonna be the 360 and ps3.
 
octoberasian said:
Supposedly, the always on feature, though not confirmed entirely unless you read the ongoing thread in the Console forum, is to prevent used games on the console.

The ongoing discussion is that games will now require a product code like their PC counterparts and be linked to your Xbox Live account. That is one rumor.

And, the always-on feature is to ensure that that game belongs to you and no one else, and that you didn't get that game from a previous owner.

Nifty, huh? Downright sneaky and inconvenient? Yes.

It's almost like having your Wii U account linked to your hardware which is doubly worse.
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The "Always On" function of the console likely has nothing at all to do with used games. That doesn't even make sense. What WOULD make sense is your console being ready for game invites at almost any time.

It would be like how the Wii was always "on", except that now you'd have a reason for a console to be always "on". Oh, what was that? Nintendo removed that function from the Wii U? Well fuck.
 
damicatz said:
Explain to me then, why the SpyBox 720 needs a camera hooked up at all times? I see no reason why one should need a Kinect to, say, watch videos, yet the developer reference clearly states the console will not function without it. Proprietary hardware with proprietary non-free software that inexplicably requires a camera to be attached at all times and you think this is trustworthy?

I'm not about to put a spy camera in my home so that Microsoft can observe what I am doing.
Click to expand...

It's probably because no one makes Kinect games because no one has a Kinect, and no one has a Kinect because no one makes games for it. By making the Kinect a standardized feature, developers are more likely to take advantage of it. You need a damn tinfoil hat and to move into a basement.

You do realize that the PS4 has cameras too, right? Their controllers are Move enabled, which requires cameras. I guess they must be using them to prevent used games from being played!

You realize people said the same shit when the Xbox 360 and the PS3 came out, right? With the same level of "OH MY GOD I'M CERTAIN THIS IS HAPPENING!!!!" as they're doing right now. My advice is to stop freaking out over stupid shit someone says on the internet. Also, stay away from Twitter... Facebook.... the whole internet.
 
octoberasian said:
Well, let's see what an always-on game console gives you:

  1. Periodic hardware and firmware modification checks to detect whether they have been tampered with.
  2. OTA (over-the-air) firmware updates when available from Microsoft.
  3. Social updates from Xbox Live and other social media services (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
  4. Games are possibly scanned and verified to be the original media and properly linked to the Xbox Live account logged into the console. Games not linked to logged-in account are assumed to be second-hand purchases (aka used games) are not loaded.
  5. Games continually check with an Xbox Live server (or publisher's server) to ensure authenticity of the game, or use product codes for verification with server and game media, and linked to Xbox Live account (rumored).
  6. If added DVR functionality, maintains recording schedule and records shows when they are shown.
  7. Maintains continuous game updates for games installed on console's hard drive.
  8. Possible ability to block a console's unique hardware ID and Xbox Live account if Microsoft determines malicious activity, tampering of console's hardware, unoriginal game media (aka pirated games burned to recordable media), or similar. Thus, banning both console and XBL account from online access to Xbox Live and its related services.

These are a list of things I came up with.
Are there more that should be added to the list?

Which would you agree with or be comfortable with? And, which would you not?​
Click to expand...

I imagine game invites and party invites could be sent to you and your console could blink a light to notify you of such. Then you could turn the console on and be playing within a couple of seconds. Also emails and other communications.
 
ballistic90 said:
I imagine game invites and party invites could be sent to you and your console could blink a light to notify you of such. Then you could turn the console on and be playing within a couple of seconds. Also emails and other communications.
Click to expand...

Oh! And don't forget, Microsoft owns Skype now. I imagine the built in Kinect sensor and the "always online" would go hand in hand with Skype calls.

(Sorry for the multiple posts)
 
People are still going to buy and play these games. It will happen regardless of any other consideration.

There will be controls and restrictions put into place that are completely out of the hands of the end user. It isn't going to matter how much is paid for the game (or access to the game). Accounts will get hijacked and account information will get posted somewhere on the net for the world to see. You can and should expect this to happen with much greater frequency and degree. That's not to mention what the company itself will do. Your gaming experience will be monitored, watched, and controlled. All this is a given and should not be seen as tin-foil-hat conspiracy because it's no longer theory...it's just a simple reality of the way things actually are. People are going to be caught completely off guard simply due to being totally unaware of what's really going on. Things are changing and the better person will take notice. Alot of people will blame Anon or any number of black hats that might break into the systems but bad things will happen and people will lose access (think PSN and SimCity).

The single best thing you can do is just simply be aware of what your doing when you are buying these things and playing these games. It's not just a simple play thing anymore. There are alot of other things going on. You make the decision. But, it's hard to listen to people complain about things not working, personal info getting plastered all over the net, and companies changing the rules in the middle of the game when you made the decision to buy into it. It's no different from using Facebook/Twitter. If your ok with all of it...then fine...knock yourself out....enjoy! But have you ever really wondered about what exactly gets put on the servers in all those massive data centers owned by Microsoft, Sony, and many others?

Ya know, I myself would like to know why these games actually need 233gigs of space on "MY" local drive if most of it is going to require an online connection anyway. I know things are more complex now, but that just seems a bit excessive (and that's just for ONE game). Things are required but just don't make much sense. The only thing that does make sense is for compromising personal security and handing over all authority and control to someone else (half the time...that someone else proves they can't be trusted anyway or are idiots that have no clue what they are doing).

What it all come down to for me (now anyway)...
To be a hardcore gamer essentially translates to being a begger to ones' own demise.
 
how they implement the always on thing will be important.

easiest fix for the always Kinect is...Duct Tape the Cameras/have it face the wall.

Personally i am not buying the Nextbox OR ps4- we do have the WiiU (awful name imo but hey i don't set the names) if not for the lack of ALOT of games, it is great.

My family got the WiiU and are quite happy with it, it has ~half-dozen of -almost- must have games for it so far and my kids love it.

wiiu games

Monster Hunter 3 ultimate- if you like that sort of game. it is great
Lego City: UnderCover- it is awesome.
cod blops 2- smaller community but it is there
nsmbu- it is super mario bros
zombiu- a very good - relatively scary- horror survival game.

the batman game is good- if old
need for speed U is very good
AC3 for the WiiU is very good
etc.

now if only rayman legends was still exclusive......
 
lenardo said:
how they implement the always on thing will be important.

easiest fix for the always Kinect is...Duct Tape the Cameras/have it face the wall.

Personally i am not buying the Nextbox OR ps4- we do have the WiiU (awful name imo but hey i don't set the names) if not for the lack of ALOT of games, it is great.

My family got the WiiU and are quite happy with it, it has ~half-dozen of -almost- must have games for it so far and my kids love it.

wiiu games

Monster Hunter 3 ultimate- if you like that sort of game. it is great
Lego City: UnderCover- it is awesome.
cod blops 2- smaller community but it is there
nsmbu- it is super mario bros
zombiu- a very good - relatively scary- horror survival game.

the batman game is good- if old
need for speed U is very good
AC3 for the WiiU is very good
etc.

now if only rayman legends was still exclusive......
Click to expand...

Don't forget Need For Speed Most Wanted. Criterion took the PC version textures and applied them to the Wii U console version and it's supposed to be beautiful to look at.

And I'd say Deus Ex Human Revolution: Director's Cut for the Wii U. The developers are adding in Anti-aliasing, cleaned up textures, better AI, and they're fixing those boss battles from the ground up.

However, I'm still considering the next Xbox, because the online functionalities were well implemented and I like the controller. I highly doubt that the "always on" functions will actually MEAN that online is required, or that they'll be preventing used game copies from being played on the console.

In fact, someone asked an Xbox Live developer, "Why do Games on Demand take days or weeks for games to become available after the game is released at retail?"

The answer? To maintain a good relationship with the retail stores. They rely on the retail stores to stock their hardware and merchandise, so I doubt they'd piss on them now by not allowing used games to work on their console.
 
Nytegard said:
If this is true and it doesn't fail, I'll be even more ashamed of the hypocrisy that exists in the gaming community.
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The iPhone and iPad has shown that you will probably lose this bet. I would submit that Microsoft's XBox is the iPhone/iPad of the gaming industry.
 
Parmenides said:
I can't wait to see if MS will require a monthly subscription to xbox live in order to have access to your games.
Click to expand...

This is all i'm thinking.

If they're going to require it always be online and connected, they're going to give you Live for free right?

I still can't believe people actually pay for that nonsense.
 
I bought an xbox and kinext for 200 bucks its been siting doing fuck all in a box. I think I played it for like 6 hour in a year and a half. Consoles are not for me.
 
Yea, because we all no the piece of sh#t 4 wouldn't do that with their eye toy :rolleyes:
 
chockomonkey said:
This is all i'm thinking.

If they're going to require it always be online and connected, they're going to give you Live for free right?

I still can't believe people actually pay for that nonsense.
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There is one possibility that scares me with the next Microsoft console:
If the console will requires to be always connected online and if Microsoft implements a method of linking games to your Xbox Live Account, then wouldn't that mean that you cannot play your games unless you are connected online?​
I cannot fathom or see Microsoft charging for that and would not force XBL Silver members to move up to Gold. However, paying for services such as going online to play, accessing media streaming services you already pay each month (Hulu+, Netflix, etc.), and possibly limiting social media services to Gold membership-only as things Microsoft will implement.

In other words, you either pay on top of the services you already pay for just to get access to them or you can still access those same services on your own computer without having to go through a middle man-- Xbox Live servers.
 
octoberasian said:
There is one possibility that scares me with the next Microsoft console:
If the console will requires to be always connected online and if Microsoft implements a method of linking games to your Xbox Live Account, then wouldn't that mean that you cannot play your games unless you are connected online?​
I cannot fathom or see Microsoft charging for that and would not force XBL Silver members to move up to Gold. However, paying for services such as going online to play, accessing media streaming services you already pay each month (Hulu+, Netflix, etc.), and possibly limiting social media services to Gold membership-only as things Microsoft will implement.

In other words, you either pay on top of the services you already pay for just to get access to them or you can still access those same services on your own computer without having to go through a middle man-- Xbox Live servers.
Click to expand...

you can still play offline, steam and origin have offline modes.

once you authorize an xbox to use your live account its hardware linked to that account so you can play it offline.
 
I hope they do this and then every console next generation proves to be a massive failure as a result of this decision.

I'll take the misery it would unleash on the gaming world just for the cheap thrill of cackling over the death of the hated console for a short while.
 
Kuraudo said:
I hope they do this and then every console next generation proves to be a massive failure as a result of this decision.

I'll take the misery it would unleash on the gaming world just for the cheap thrill of cackling over the death of the hated console for a short while.
Click to expand...

lol me too >_<
 
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