"The next Xbox will allow publishers to decide if their games should require an internet connection to be played."
Apparently they have backed-down on the 'always online' then? Not according to What The Tech's Paul Thurrott's sources a couple of days ago. But the rumors are literally trading off, one re-afirming the worse-case rumors, others saying it's not as bad etc, and they are literally day-by-day contradictions at this point. MicroSoft really need to reveal the Xbox and relevant details.
On a related note, if MS ''are'' now matching Sony's policy of letting publishers/devs decide on a game-by-game basis rather than locking-up the entire console, then that is a step upwards in the right direction. But XBL still has the "Gold Issue". It will be interesting to see if Sony are stupid enough to take a step down and start charging for online multilayer in a retooled PS+ service (the rumored PSWorld).