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[statham]

1) Always-on connectivity is indeed part of the next Xbox, and it was interesting to see this guy confirm that unofficially.

2) He could have been more tactful, but let’s face it, people are way too sensitive online.

3) The biggest issue here, frankly, was the cyberbullying that occurred in the wake of Orth’s comments. Those sensitive people aren’t so sensitive when it comes to other people, that’s for sure. In fact, that’s my exact definition of a bully.

4) Microsoft is only upset about the way this feature was communicated, because it likes to present this kind of thing has a positive, not a negative.

More to the point, I think that an always-on Xbox is directly in keeping with Microsoft’s strategy for all next-generation platforms, including Windows Phone (all versions) and Windows 8/RT, which are designed to work as if you are simply connected all the time. Yes, they do work offline, of course. But the apps platform on these systems—which will be replicated on the Windows 8-based next Xbox—assumes a connection. Microsoft’s new platforms are integrated conduits for online services.

Let’s see what Microsoft has to say about the next Xbox, first in a late May launch event, and then later at both E3 and BUILD 2013, before we make up our minds. Let’s not let one ill-conceived comment ruin what’s going to be an awesome year for Xbox. And yes, it really is going to be awesome.

lots more @ link.
http://winsupersite.com/xbox/xbox-vnext-and-always?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

Here we go again.

 

[Hoo-doo]

How reliable has Thurrott been with his predictions and statements over the last years?

 

[Salvadora]

So what is the positive, Microsoft?

 

[stktt]

How reliable has Thurrott been with his predictions and statement over the last years?

Usually correct.

 

[Espada]

So what is the positive, Microsoft?

I can't wait for what the marketing machine has in store for us.

 

[Sorian]

Xbox sucks, PS4 will be king. Etc. Etc.

I still think Xbox is going to shoot themselves in the foot and I, personally at least, won't be there to bandage it up. They can have the rocky start to a generation that PS3 had last time.

 

[FStop7]

Cyberbullying

 

[Hoo-doo]

Usually correct.

Yikes.
Makes me wonder how Microsoft will spin this.

 

[shadyspace]

we live in a world where people can now be accused of bullying a grown man

 

[CengizMan]

Microsoft's E3 presentation is going to be fun.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

BUILD 2013?

 

[plagiarize]

Usually correct.

yeah. he's usually on the money for Microsoft related things.

 

[enzo_gt]

Cross-posting from the megathread:

Hey look another article that can't distinguish "always on" and "always online." Becomes even more clear when he confusingly then suggests all the devices will have offline modes. And don't get me started on that "likely have high speed cable connections" quip, as if that suddenly makes them reliable or something.

It's a pretty shitty article that doesn't even know what he's trying to say and isn't clear in the slightest.

 

[Unknown One]

Time to boycott Microsoft and mostly the publishers that implement always online in single player games. Sorry I got to get BF4.

 

[Nibiru]

So what is the positive, Microsoft?

All of your gaming achievements will be instantly tweeted to all of your best buddies and posted to facebook for the total social experience !!!!!

 

[entremet]

How reliable has Thurrott been with his predictions and statements over the last years?

Very.

 

[Sorian]

Microsoft's E3 presentation is going to be fun.

I will be watching intently and I will probably be making grumpycat.jpg face the entire time. Or the face from Duke Bobby's avatar.

All of your gaming achievements will be instantly tweeted to all of your best buddies and posted to facebook for the total social experience !!!!!

No permission needed either! Best of all, whenever you search anything online, your search history will also appear on your twitter feed!

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

I love how people try to defend BS like always online for SP games and use the few people who cyber bullied as an argument point.

"Always Online" is fine if my console will work for watching movies and playing SP games when my connection drops/is non existent..otherwise, fuck off MS. I payed for a game, and I sure as hell better be able to play how, when and where I like.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

I can't wait to read more about why a Microsoft product will be great from Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows.

Fuck that noise.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Folks, the next Xbox is going to require an always-on Internet connection. I don’t know the specifics of what that means, but as I explained on this week’s What The Tech podcast, which was recorded on Friday instead of the usual Tuesday because of my travel earlier in this week, this piece of information had been communicated to me, along with some other relevant tidbits, in January. It’s true.

Will Microsoft change this requirement in the wake of early outrage? Frankly I think we’re too far along in the development process of the next Xbox, codenamed Durango, to make such a change. More to the point, I think that an always-on Xbox is directly in keeping with Microsoft’s strategy for all next-generation platforms, including Windows Phone (all versions) and Windows 8/RT, which are designed to work as if you are simply connected all the time. Yes, they do work offline, of course. But the apps platform on these systems—which will be replicated on the Windows 8-based next Xbox—assumes a connection. Microsoft’s new platforms are integrated conduits for online services.

With bad memories of the horrible SimCity launch in our minds—that PC game also requires an Internet connection, even in “single player” mode—it’s understandable why some are nervous about this. And yes, of course we’re going to hear from the people who live in rural areas of the US, or in parts of the world where Internet connections are slow and unreliable, expensive, and metered. As we always do when any cloud-computing-type issue arises.

Deal with it.

Just kidding. But the knee-jerk reaction to this functionality—which, again, could certainly have been communicated a bit better—is happening before we have all the facts. Let’s see what Microsoft has to say about the next Xbox, first in a late May launch event, and then later at both E3 and BUILD 2013, before we make up our minds. Let’s not let one ill-conceived comment ruin what’s going to be an awesome year for Xbox. And yes, it really is going to be awesome.

Interesting.

 

[partyphone]

How reliable has Thurrott been with his predictions and statement over the last years?

This isn't a prediction. It's information he got from an inside source and he's not usually fed misinformation.

 

[Colonel Nasty]

Can we at least see how its implemented before we bash it. I agree, if its just current xbl with this caveat then its dumb but lets at least see its functions first.

 

[grimshawish]

Played AoE today; seriously the amount of people who can hardly play a game on the internet is unreal. Its sad they even try.

Meanwhile in cloud cuckoo land MS is going to fracture its userbase and the connections between people as some just won't be able to participate.

 

[DaBoss]

Well that's that.

So what is the positive, Microsoft?

The double speak they can use to present it.

 

[stktt]

BUILD 2013?

Pretty sure it takes place shortly after E3.

 

[Father_Brain]

Deal with it, indeed. The Internet—or at least a certain part of the Internet—reacted with outrage, despite the fact that most of the complaints were likely made over high-speed cable connections.

What? How is this supposed to qualify as hypocrisy?

 

[op_ivy]

i'm excited for what this will bring and the way i see it, if your internet is so spotty that this truly will be a huge negative for you - maybe you ought to be complaining about your ISP...

 

[partyphone]

I can't wait to read more about why a Microsoft product will be great from Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows.

Fuck that noise.

Of all the MS fanboys in tech journalism he's probably the most critical of their products. Still have to take what he says with a grain of salt but he's not one to lie about Microsoft's bullshit.

 

[LumpOfCole]

Criticizing always-on functionality?

 

[SloaneRisette]

I'm almost morbidly curious to see how Microsoft could try and spin an online only/always online Xbox into a positive...

 

[Derrick01]

So what is the positive, Microsoft?

Did you read the OP? He says it's going to be an awesome year for MS!

 

[Manmademan]

Yikes.
Makes me wonder how Microsoft will spin this.

there's been a virtual flood of "unofficial" rumors and confirmation about always on for a couple of months now. There's no way it isn't true.

 

[FStop7]

Thurrott is Microsoft's Gruber.

 

[hodgy100]

they will likely spin it as always being connected to your peers or "online-required" boost's security of the xbl system to allow for hack/cheat-free gaming

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Pretty sure it takes place shortly after E3.

Thanks. I follow E3 and post E3 events somewhat closely but hadn't heard of it before.

 

[LumpOfCole]

I'm almost morbidly curious to see how Microsoft could try and spin an online only/always online Xbox into a positive...

"Now you can harness the power of Twitter and sharing at ANY TIME, letting folks know the moment you land that legendary achievement! Every game will be a social hub for you and your friends, and Live is the only place to realize the full potential of the next generation of games! With NextBox, you are not just the cloud. You are the thunderstorm."

 

[Glorified G]

I'm almost morbidly curious to see how Microsoft could try and spin an online only/always online Xbox into a positive...

For their sake, hopefully better then people have on GAF.

 

[Y2Kev]

4) Microsoft is only upset about the way this feature was communicated, because it likes to present this kind of thing has a positive, not a negative.

haha, no shit. We are so mad we didn't get to spin it our way first!

 

[entremet]

For those who don't who Paul Thurott is he a journalist covering MS and technology. He has great sources and connections and is very accurate. He's basically the MS version of John Gruber, the Apple blogger.

Look at his setup, he's hardly objective, but his ''market'' is MS enthusiasts.

http://winsupersite.com/hardware/what-i-use-march-2013

Very MS heavy.

 

[twinturbo2]

Can we at least see how its implemented before we bash it. I agree, if its just current xbl with this caveat then its dumb but lets at least see its functions first.

I'm taking a wait and see, too, but I'm leaning towards getting a PS4 at launch and waiting a year so that the next Xbox can have the inevitable issues worked out. Forza Motorsport V should be out by then anyways.

 

[Karsticles]

I feel like this is the part that should be quoted in the OP:

Folks, the next Xbox is going to require an always-on Internet connection. I don’t know the specifics of what that means, but as I explained on this week’s What The Tech podcast, which was recorded on Friday instead of the usual Tuesday because of my travel earlier in this week, this piece of information had been communicated to me, along with some other relevant tidbits, in January. It’s true.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

Of all the MS fanboys in tech journalism he's probably the most critical of their products. Still have to take what he says with a grain of salt but he's not one to lie about Microsoft's bullshit.

http://winsupersite.com/hardware/what-i-use-march-2013

I just read through that ^

I now hate him more than I hate most Apple fanboys.

I am using the final shipping version of Windows 8 (various editions) on all of my PCs.

I use and recommend Office 365 Home Premium

For work-related image editing, I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Microsoft Paint.

This guy would literally eat a piece of shit if it had a Microsoft logo on it somewhere.

 

[joeblow]

Why is the OP's thread title (and the article writer's first sentence) talking about "Always On" as the source of controversy? That's not it at all and they know it.

"Always ONLINE" is the real issue for the people complaining, and my guess is that the author and OP realize this when they tacitly chose to use the false euphemism instead of the real one. It contradicts the entire argument if even defenders can't call it what it is.

 

[aeolist]

it's not fair to point out potential negatives before the marketing machine has had a chance to spin itself up guys

lay off the giant evil megacorp for once

 

[Sorian]

I predict a microsoft bomba reaching critical mass in December of 2013. Stay tuned for this and other stories at the top of the hour.

 

[Zyae]

All of your gaming achievements will be instantly tweeted to all of your best buddies and posted to facebook for the total social experience !!!!!

Sony is doing exactly that with a share button on the controller

 

[gofreak]

I'm struggling to think of anything the regime described by Kotaku can bring that cannot be done with a platform that is neutral about whether the machine is connected or not.

Software can require and use net connections if it wants. Every feature I've ever seen suggested in this context can be done without a universal connection requirement across all software. Why force it? What benefit to force it on a platform level if it's not necessary? The only benefits I can see are for MS.

 

[alr1ght]

As someone who has been fighting with an unstable internet connection for the past few days, I'll deal with it by not buying it.

 

[Glorified G]

haha, no shit. We are so mad we didn't get to spin it our way first!

Hey, I don't approve of the cyberbullying that's happening to Paul right now.