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[Matt_Fox]

Online hasn't just been about multi-player vs single player gaming for a long time. It's now just as much about updates, patches and fresh content. If you have a relatively sizable library installed on your xbox or ps4 then you know how regularly downloads occur.

Gaming trends are sometimes hard to spot when they're happening, you need the benefit of time and hindsight, however one trend that has been extremely obvious is the industry striving to create a longer tail on a games lifespan this gen.

If you're not playing with a console that's connected online, and you're playing only the unpatched disc versions of single player games like Assassins Creed Odyssey with only day one content, then you really aren't experiencing that game at its best.

 

[CyberPanda]

We need a gaming industry crash.

 

[Bryank75]

PlayStation will not have forced online, I'm 100% sure.

It was really Xbox and specifically 360 where these practices of updates and dlc emerged and flourished.....
We need PlayStation as the leader and to make the more toxic companies like EA less relevant to roll back this stuff.

 

[Zannegan]

If true, I guess I'll finally be building that PC I keep thinking about. It's not that I anticipate connectivity being a problem. I just know that eventually they will flip the switch on that gen and it'll be lights-out forever. Game ownership is tenuous enough. If I won't be given guaranteed access to the games I "buy," then I'd rather just go full streaming/subscription-based. Thankfully, there's a third option, and that's the one I'll take if they try to pull this stunt again.

 

[CyberPanda]

If true, I guess I'll finally be building that PC I keep thinking about. It's not that I anticipate connectivity being a problem. I just know that eventually they will flip the switch on that gen and it'll be lights-out forever. Game ownership is tenuous enough. If I won't be given guaranteed access to the games I "buy," then I'd rather just go full streaming/subscription-based. Thankfully, there's a third option, and that's the one I'll take if they try to pull this stunt again.

PC is the way to go. So much flexibility and you can even run emulators.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

You can blame the Sega Dreamcast for all this 'evil' online gaming that seems to be causing a couple on this thread today to quit the hobby, first console to have a built in modem back in '98...

Actually that was the Apple/Bandai Pippin, pimpin' .

Tho maybe I see your point. At least Sega was doing it the right way (even if that was because they were about to phase the system out. RIP Dreamcast)

 

[GymWolf]

I hope he's wrong.

 

[Ma-Yuan]

Here we go again. Hope he is wrong. Otherwise retro gamer forever

 

[ethomaz]

After the huge backslash last gen.

Nope.

 

[Matt_Fox]

Actually that was the Apple/Bandai Pippin, pimpin' .

Tho maybe I see your point. At least Sega was doing it the right way (even if that was because they were about to phase the system out. RIP Dreamcast)

I must confess the Pippin is one of the few consoles that I've never played (I'll have to look one up now). But it's my understanding that the modem for it was a peripheral, not baked in like the Dreamcast.

File:Bandai-Apple-Pippin-Modem.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[Yoshi]

He speaks about his gut feeling. Everyone has one of these with certain things. Let him be. I believe that always online would be a dumb move right now, maybe in 10 to 15. So all the world can progress towards it together.

Regress.

 

[NickFire]

It's hard for me to believe Sony will NOT use the PS4 as their template for their next-gen console.

The NHL guy said I think. That means this thread is based on someone's speculation. And like you, I find it impossible to believe that Sony walks away from the existing template. The only people who think their model isn't the best are either in far distant second place, or trying to convince us that consoles have no future because they want us to pay for digital consoles instead.

 

[nikolino840]

Hot take inc: I don't care personaly.

My consoles are always online anyway, my connection is super stable and fast.
Ofc, there are still People in more rural places who might have a problem with that, so please take this as my opinion only, nothing else.

I have an unstable connection but i don't care..if i have no internet i do something else..i can put my Xbox to work offline but i don't have all the saves (are in the Cloud)

 

[bilderberg]

good. current gen should have already been always online back in 2013 but, "oh now what about the .5% of the population in bum fuck nowhere whose internet goes out once every two weeks".. fuck em.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Do people even read the OP, guy says "I think..."

This.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I wouldn't be surprised if the rumored backwards compatibility (which is a must-have if I'm gonna buy the PS5) requires a small download for each title, which is reasonable.

However, if I need to be online to play the game, nope. I don't even have PS+ anymore. Playing online simply isn't something I care about like I once did.

 

[Nero_PR]

Regress.

Oh, yeah. I would like to keep owning what I buy but sadly the world is changing towards a world where we just have the licensing of using something for the time that companies see fit for us to use.

 

[Riven326]

I doubt Sony will force this. Microsoft will no doubt try again.

 

[mckmas8808]

Do people even read the OP, guy says "I think..."

Why read the OP, when we can just rage against something to make us feel better?

 

[FranXico]

I doubt Sony will force this. Microsoft will no doubt try again.

Well, we used to believe that Sony would never charge for online...

 

[NickFire]

Why read the OP, when we can just rage against something to make us feel better?

So true. So very true.

 

[ResilientBanana]

90% of games are online as it is.

 

[Riven326]

Well, we used to believe that Sony would never charge for online...

True. But I think most people were okay with it as long as the price wasn't outrageous. In this case, it will still have a negative impact for those who live in rural locations. The last thing Sony wants is a Don Mattrick "What is a nuclear sub?" disaster.

 

[magnumpy]

I don't trust anybody. whether it's sony, ms, nintendo; they're all b******s and can f*** off. they are all apparently buying into this all digital future where you don't own video games but rather video games own you

 

[NickFire]

Well, we used to believe that Sony would never charge for online...

Although I still hate paying for online, to be fair they didn't just charge for online overnight. They first created a tiered service where online was free, but paid online got free games. Then they just merged the two into one paid service. Not trying to defend that decision. I just don't think the multi-console roll out of a feature that made them a lot of money is good evidence that they might drop a feature (offline play) that was a big part in their return to the top and MS's return to the bottom after that infamous E3.

 

[Team Andromeda]

You can blame the Sega Dreamcast for all this 'evil' online gaming that seems to be causing a couple on this thread today to quit the hobby, first console to have a built in modem back in '98...

The DC wasn't the 1st console to have a Built-in Modem, that would be the Pippin . Ever since X-Box LIVE allowed MS to check if OG X-Box users had a modchip in its system, this day was coming. Today I don't see the issue when everything logs in to the network, even my alarm clock does.
I would expect that after the outcry mind, MS or SONY won't use it to ban the use of 2nd hand games

 

[scalman]

as now they are , as now our phones are too . might be surprise for someone coming out from rock.

 

[SonGoku]

NO, fuck off nhl 20 dev

 

[gioGAF]

If this is true, then I would definitely jump ship to whatever is not always online. I have a PS4 I keep offline specifically for games I don't want to be bothered on (not by others, not by updates/patches changing things, etc.).

Hopefully this is just some random speculating.

 

[Petrae]

Non-connected consumers are on borrowed time.

Game file sizes are continuing to skyrocket and often require additional downloads (via Day One patches) to fit some content in. Non-connected consumers also aren’t candidates for recurrent spending, which is where publishers and platform holders make a ton of cash... so they’re not as important to the big picture as some think.

“Always online” isn’t the bogeyman that people made it out to be back in 2013. The messaging leading up to it was also all wrong, as the benefits of constant connectivity were never properly played up. Are there some people who would be affected by this? Sure. Internet access isn’t everywhere yet, and its quality is spotty is some places. That said, as the majority of console video games today rely on internet connectivity to work properly— either through patching or through content additions/GaaS— there’s going to have to come a time when acceptable losses of consumers who aren’t able (or willing) to connect.

I’ve got no horse in the race, as I’m bowing out after this generation. If I was buying a PS5 or whatever-the-next-Xbox is, I wouldn’t think that an always-online demand would keep me away. It would not be optimal, and I wouldn’t like it, but it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker.

All of this said: I wouldn’t read too much into this just yet. We’re close to next-gen reveals, and it’s likely better to not jump the gun just yet.

 

[MightySquirrel]

Makes sense since console games now need day 1 update to function properly.

 

[mckmas8808]

Hopefully this is just some random speculating.

It is. The devs said he was speculating.

 

[ConnorDuffy1977]

What games are you guys playing that they *don't* need to be online?

 

[DESTROYA]

Love how people blow up some speculation like it’s 100% fact.
If true the backlash will be ugly.

 

[down 2 orth]

Good. Now I don't have to regret not buying a PS5

 

[Matt_Fox]

I’ve got no horse in the race, as I’m bowing out after this generation.

Get back in line soldier, this is gaming - and it ain't game over yet. No one leaves, no one quits!!!!

 

[NickFire]

What games are you guys playing that they *don't* need to be online?

I get what you are saying because I am always connected. But there are plenty of single player games, sports games with non-connected modes, etc., to make me think this would be a negative for plenty of people.

 

[scalman]

If this is true, then I would definitely jump ship to whatever is not always online. I have a PS4 I keep offline specifically for games I don't want to be bothered on (not by others, not by updates/patches changing things, etc.).

Hopefully this is just some random speculating.

dude i just dont have any friend list there , and my ps4 allways online sure but i play nothing online. how can anyone bother you if you play single player game ? even online game like Division i dont care about anyone out there. just doing missions . dont see any problem console and any other device be online but i dont care to play online games at all. waste of time.

 

[Riven326]

Makes sense since console games now need day 1 update to function properly.

Yeah. Why has this become a thing? Can't developers finish the game properly before selling it to People? Guess not.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

What games are you guys playing that they *don't* need to be online?

Depends on what you mean. I haven't played an online multiplayer game nor have I purchased downloadable content for most of 2019.

 

[SonGoku]

Non-connected consumers are on borrowed time.

Game file sizes are continuing to skyrocket and often require additional downloads (via Day One patches) to fit some content in. Non-connected consumers also aren’t candidates for recurrent spending, which is where publishers and platform holders make a ton of cash... so they’re not as important to the big picture as some think.

“Always online” isn’t the bogeyman that people made it out to be back in 2013. The messaging leading up to it was also all wrong, as the benefits of constant connectivity were never properly played up. Are there some people who would be affected by this? Sure. Internet access isn’t everywhere yet, and its quality is spotty is some places. That said, as the majority of console video games today rely on internet connectivity to work properly— either through patching or through content additions/GaaS— there’s going to have to come a time when acceptable losses of consumers who aren’t able (or willing) to connect.

I’ve got no horse in the race, as I’m bowing out after this generation. If I was buying a PS5 or whatever-the-next-Xbox is, I wouldn’t think that an always-online demand would keep me away. It would not be optimal, and I wouldn’t like it, but it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker.

All of this said: I wouldn’t read too much into this just yet. We’re close to next-gen reveals, and it’s likely better to not jump the gun just yet.

I dont get it... what does updates and patches have to do with enforcing an artifficial online drm, how is this beneficial to customers?
I dont get how consumers can defend anti consumer practices.

 

[scalman]

What games are you guys playing that they *don't* need to be online?

only game i play that it uses online is Division . thats is no other game need online on my library. i dont have psn plus and never had . and i use PS4 from day one. playing all their exclusives without it no problem.

 

[SonGoku]

What games are you guys playing that they *don't* need to be online?

any single player game
gta5, you know the game that sold over 100m copies

 

[Birdo]

They will always be connected to bottom of my trash can.

 

[ConnorDuffy1977]

I get what you are saying because I am always connected. But there are plenty of single player games, sports games with non-connected modes, etc., to make me think this would be a negative for plenty of people.

With all the multiplayer modes, updates and other fixes what games don't require an internet connection? I haven't unplugged my PS4 from the internet since I got it. I'm willing to bet most people haven't.

 

[ConnorDuffy1977]

gta5, you know the game that sold over 100m copies

No multiplayer and no updates? No thanks. This argument is so silly to me.

 

[scalman]

just imagine game gets new update and you dont have online or dont use it for console. how you will play your game then ? some maybe workj but others dont. thats why you need keep console not just allways online but allways on sleep mode so it could download and update all stuff while you not playing so you wont waste more time when you wanna play .
allways online . never played online game on ps4 ever.

 

[NickFire]

With all the multiplayer modes, updates and other fixes what games don't require an internet connection? I haven't unplugged my PS4 from the internet since I got it. I'm willing to bet most people haven't.

Connor - you have to know that out of 100 million console sales, a decent chunk of PS4's ended up in the hands of people who cannot afford cable internet, and that there are plenty of games that can be played right from a disc. The experience might suck, but they are still playable. Sometimes I think you just blindly resist anything that possibly goes against your train of thought. I get it, we've all been there in our teens and twenties. But in this case, I agree with the notion, but our experiences are not representative of everyone else's. Yes, most people are probably connected even if they don't pay for PS+. But out of a hundred million people, even if 10% are offline only, that is still a lot of people who would be affected by such a change.

Maybe not enough to keep Sony in the current course, and on that we can agree to disagree. My vote for why they will stay the course is based on current success only. I have no access to their financial metrics on whether they gain more by changing course than they lose.

 

[SonGoku]

No multiplayer and no updates? No thanks. This argument is so silly to me.

Your argument is silly
Online features such as patches, dlc, updates and mp are fine. Nobody is complaining about that
Whats unacceptable however is enforcing some artificial online drm, how can you defend that crap?

Connor - you have to know that out of 100 million console sales, a decent chunk of PS4's ended up in the hands of people who cannot afford cable internet, and that there are plenty of games that can be played right from a disc.

Not only that but imagine your internet is having conection issues which is not uncommon and being constanly locked out the game, or you forget to pay the bill
Online drm isnt benefitial to customers at all.

 

[cireza]

And how exactly do they achieve this ? Do they come at my house and connect my console every time I disconnect it from the internet ?