Xbox One - Where Microsoft actually listens to consumers

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Good thing none of these countries have areas where internet connection might be sparse.

But how does that affect you at all? Everyone that is arguing about lack of internet connection here lives in cities with plenty of access to internet. Seems like you are just looking for a reason to make yourself feel better about choosing PS4?

[Kerplunk]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Serious question... how many of you do NOT have an internet connection that is always on connected at least ONCE every twenty-four hours?

I would say myself, but based on some comments I would just be told to suck it up.

[Huntingwhale]

I'll give my take on the whole situation. I've been a 360 user since day 1. I stuck with the console even after the RROD fiasco (3 times). I chose to stick with the system because I found the quality and graphics of the games to be superior to PS3. I like xbox live and how it operates. I like the achievement system. I like the controller and other gaming peripherals that come with it.

But MS, WTF are you doing??? After reading much of the new ''features'', I have no doubt that the #1 priority is to cut out piracy. I'll admit, I was able to mod my current 360 and download games all the time. Having to check-in every 24hrs will effectively end the method I use (however it will only be a matter of time before that is figured out).

But there's just too many screwed up features on this new system that will probably cause me to go over to the Sony side. I just don't get why MS is re-writting the book on such a successful product. Sony seems to be keeping things the same, while adding some new features. MS decided to redo all that. Not cool.

After the RROD fiasco, issues with xbox live, and the worst PR campaign I've ever seen, this system will go the way of the Dreamcast, mark my words.

[Burninator]

I can only speak for myself, but the online authentication and used game policy does not matter to me. I always have internet and rarely buy used games. The $100 price difference is not a big deal to me. Choosing between the two systems will come down to two things. Exclusive games. Apart from Alan Wake (Xbox 360) the PS3 had more games that are up my alley. The second is their online service. Comparing the paid options between the systems and Xbox comes up pretty short compared to Live. Live only gives discounts to games and DLC no free games (till now). The PS4 is the front runner for me right now, but I will wait for more games and info about PS+. This is coming from a pretty happy Xbox 360 owner.

[Erick Estrada]

I always get both so I don't worry too much about the pros and cons of each console but I have different feelings on each.

PS4 - Really to me so far is a PS3 with updated hardware and the addition of pay for playing online. Nothing new or revolutionary but that doesn't disappoint me too much as I have never been into the gimmick stuff like the Wii and prefer traditional controller to play games. I'll stick with Microsoft for online and enjoy the Sony exclusives in next generation graphics.

Xbox One - Not a fan of the DRM stuff but at the same time it's more an mild annoyance than any sort of deal breaker for me. Also kind of wish that Kinect was optional as like I said before I'm not really into the whole movement style gaming. On the bright side maybe I will turn out to like what Kinect can offer if developers can successfully implement it without being too much of a gimmick. Voice commands and pointing to your temples to actuate say night vision to simplify controls (for example) may be the future and this console does have the feeling that in three or four years it may be more cutting edge than the PS4 which is like I said before more of a hopped up PS3 and since add-ons never catch on Sony will be pretty well pigeonholed into their base hardware.

Time will tell but I consider myself a winner because I will get the best of what both have to offer.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

After the RROD fiasco, issues with xbox live, and the worst PR campaign I've ever seen, this system will go the way of the Dreamcast, mark my words.

One thing the XBOX One is going to have that is going to make a difference in comparison to the Dreamcast...publisher support.

With the piracy protection on the XBOX the publishers will support them, and if the games and exclusives are good enough people will ignore the DRM fiasco and will buy the system.

[TorqueDog]

I'll end up buying both, similar to Erick Estrada, simply for the exclusives on each system.

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

But that's not the point. I may very well have internet connection, but I don't like the fact that MS demands I check in with them every 24 hours to verify my game that doesn't use the internet for anything else. What happens if the network goes down for more than 24 hours? It renders your whole gaming library useless.

I think it's annoying as well, but I don't see it as any sort of obstacle if you consider the technological age we live in. If your internet connection *was* down, that's just your home internet connection, everyone now has a TON of ways to get to the internet because we rely on it so heavily. I'd just flip on the Internet Sharing/Mobile HotSpot that every new smartphone is coming with now, let the console do it's stupid little check-in (it's only a few KB at most), disable the hotspot, and go back to playing.

If your internet goes down for more than 24 hours, chances are your gaming console is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you're screaming at your provider to fix the damn thing.

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

I mentioned this in the PS4 thread. There are many instances where people would be without internet connection for an extended period of time.

Yeah, there's some - like living in a place without internet - but I'm asking specifically in response to the people here suggesting that a 24 hour check-in is unworkable to them.

Full disclosure, I hated the idea myself when I first heard it. Immediately I thought back to the SimCity launch. Then I thought about it and realized that there isn't much that I do or play that doesn't require some sort of - at least occasional - internet connection for complete functionality. I realized it was an objection that may have been valid ten years ago, but in that time we've been conditioned to expect it from everything on the PC platform, it's just strange because now it's carrying over to consoles, so it *feels* foreign.

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Last 2 times I moved I had to wait at least a week for the cable/internet to be hooked up. Not being able to play my single player console games would have sucked. Last year when the Shaw building caught fire thousands in the city were affected and without internet for days, and construction hitting a cable or fiber line by accident does happen and leaves entire areas without internet.

Firstly, those are freak occurrences (or you not scheduling the cable guy well enough in advance ). Secondly, see above: cell-phone tether, do the check in, untether, and back to your regularly scheduled gaming. Again, I'm not a fan of the check-in either, but at least I'm willing to admit there are ways to work within the system that still enable play.

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

And what about the millions of rural residents in the US and Canada? Are they just #### out of luck because broadband internet isn't available in their area or is very intermittent at best?

Technology hasn't been terribly kind to those still on dial-up or in areas without proper access, I'll grant you that. But that problem extends to nearly everything now. Not having broadband is basically a guarantee that technology is kinda ... gonna suck for you. 81% of Canadians live in urban areas, and rural areas don't have nearly as tough a time as you think getting some form of broadband these days. Hell, I was just in Riverton, MB for a wedding, and they have high-speed available there... for a town that is all of 600 people.

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

It's an asinine policy, and you know that. I get that you're a Microsoft employee, but defending such a ridiculous practice is kinda making you look like a shill

I don't work on the Xbox team, my opinions are my own. I've said previously I'm not a fan of the check-in, but again, it's also not something that would impact my own buying decision because it literally changes nothing for me. If you want to talk about the merits of the system, I'm more than happy to. Leave your ridiculous insinuations at the door that I'm anything less than genuine about my thoughts on the subject.

[chemgear]

[dissentowner]

I wonder if some developer will make a video game for the Xbox One that revolves around making your own adult movie, lol.

[To Be Quite Honest]

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/06/1...says-microsoft

Gamers Without Internet Can Stick With Xbox 360, Says Microsoft

“We have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity; it's called Xbox 360.”

[PsYcNeT]

Goddamn that is one out of touch mother####er.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

But how does that affect you at all? Everyone that is arguing about lack of internet connection here lives in cities with plenty of access to internet. Seems like you are just looking for a reason to make yourself feel better about choosing PS4?

I thought I explained pretty well why I'm going to buy a PS4, but maybe you missed it. Basically it comes down to the fact that I like to swap games with my buddies, and I like an extra $100 in my pocket. Explain how that's "making myself feel better."

[rubecube]

I should also add that the first Sony product I ever owned was a PS3 after my second 360 RRoD'd. I thought the first Xbox was vastly superior to the PS2, and I liked the controller and the graphics of the 360 better than the PS3.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Goddamn that is one out of touch mother####er.

That's just bad form. It's like Steven Sinofsky all over again.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Full disclosure, I hated the idea myself when I first heard it. Immediately I thought back to the SimCity launch. Then I thought about it and realized that there isn't much that I do or play that doesn't require some sort of - at least occasional - internet connection for complete functionality. I realized it was an objection that may have been valid ten years ago, but in that time we've been conditioned to expect it from everything on the PC platform, it's just strange because now it's carrying over to consoles, so it *feels* foreign.

So in regards to SimCity, what happens when Microsoft's authentication servers go down? Look what happened when two of the biggest game companies on the planet tried to force an online-only component into their games (EA, Blizard). Imagine when a blockbuster game like Halo 5 gets released and the authentication servers get absolutely hammered, do you trust everything to still run smoothly? Sure a simple online check every 24 hours doesn't sound like much, but when you multiply that by millions of users worldwide that's a ton of data routing to a few single points of failure. And that's not even factoring in stuff like DDOS attacks

I thought Blizzard making D3 online only might blow up in their face, everyone pretty much thought EA making SimCity online only would blow up in their face, and now you have Microsoft making ALL of their games require online checks. History is not on their side here

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Goddamn that is one out of touch mother####er.

Well, here is to hoping you are a Game of Thrones watcher/fan.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

So in regards to SimCity, what happens when Microsoft's authentication servers go down? Look what happened when two of the biggest game companies on the planet tried to force an online-only component into their games (EA, Blizard). Imagine when a blockbuster game like Halo 5 gets released and the authentication servers get absolutely hammered, do you trust everything to still run smoothly? Sure a simple online check every 24 hours doesn't sound like much, but when you multiply that by millions of users worldwide that's a ton of data routing to a few single points of failure. And that's not even factoring in stuff like DDOS attacks

I thought Blizzard making D3 online only might blow up in their face, everyone pretty much thought EA making SimCity online only would blow up in their face, and now you have Microsoft making ALL of their games require online checks. History is not on their side here

If you look at XBL's track record, it is. Outages under the current model have been few and far between, and a 'few' single points of failure? Dude, MS is throwing huge resources at this. Xbox Live under the 360 model runs on 15,000 servers. When Xbox One hits, it'll be 300,000 servers on the Azure service which is a hugely business-critical service for Microsoft and any of our cloud customers. So my confidence in the reliability of the service comes from both this, and past experience with XBL.

Thing is, you're equating a 24-hour call-home with a persistent connection requirement, which is apples and oranges. SimCity dies after 20 minutes of being unable to connect, and won't even start without a server check. D3 is cut from the same cloth. This isn't that.

[The Yen Man]

So how does this authentication work anyways? Does it check at a specific time? What if, say I haven't played my game in 2 days, and I decide to play it on the weekend. Does it then need authentication before I can start playing?

What if, I haven't played my single player game for awhile, and for some reason, the internet goes down, so I decide to pass the time by firing up the Xbox One and playing some games I've been meaning to for awhile, but just didn't get around to yet. They basically won't work until I get my internet back.

I know you can tether it to a phone (in my case, I can't even do that because I only have a 500MB data plan, and Fido locks my tethering ability on the my phone). Even with tethering, the point is it's more of a pain in the ass than it should be, and something MS artificially created for no other reason than to make sure I check in with them constantly.

[flamesfan6]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

So how does this authentication work anyways? Does it check at a specific time? What if, say I haven't played my game in 2 days, and I decide to play it on the weekend. Does it then need authentication before I can start playing?

What if, I haven't played my single player game for awhile, and for some reason, the internet goes down, so I decide to pass the time by firing up the Xbox One and playing some games I've been meaning to for awhile, but just didn't get around to yet. They basically won't work until I get my internet back.

I know you can tether it to a phone (in my case, I can't even do that because I only have a 500MB data plan, and Fido locks my tethering ability on the my phone). Even with tethering, the point is it's more of a pain in the ass than it should be, and something MS artificially created for no other reason than to make sure I check in with them constantly.

it'll all be automatic .. won't be at a set time... if you are connected to the internet the last time you were online will be the time you log off the console, when you login to the system it will do the verification right then and there.. in the end most people won't notice a single problem.

The only time there would be an issue is if the microsoft servers go down (see PSN's 24 day outage)

[Hemi-Cuda]

So if you're not in one of the Xbox Live supported countries, you won't be able to play ANY games on the Xbox One



For a comparison, the PS4 is completely region unlocked