The Xbox Thread

[thelastdisciple]

Well at the end of it all maybe i should've just followed my own advice because clearly i opened some can of worms......

I probably should have known acknowledging such a precious issue would start to ruffle some feathers.

Sure discuss whatever you want to believe in of course this is a "discussion forum", speak up, voice your opinions and all that jazz i encourage it...... I'm just expressing how i was seeing things from the outside looking in and just hoping that for some point in time we could let bygones be bygones and share in the wealth of awesome things that have been happening instead of focusing on all these other avenues... it gets exhausting sometimes with everything having to be so politically correct all the time, i don't need Grandma to hold my hand while i walk across the road.

I'm getting off topic now but back to Xbox One, I'm just not too impressed and don't feel good about supporting any of Microsoft's business practices with it.

Yeah there are some incredible games announced and at the end of the day that's what you'd want but there are just too many hurdles now put in place around what I'd actually LIKE to enjoy about the console.

[Wretchedest]

I have to say, Titanfall looks so fucking kickass!

[ibanez33]

"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, and it's called the Xbox 360"

"So stick with the 360, that's your message?"

"Well...."




Well done, Microsoft.

[Conan The Barbarian]

That man will not last at his position.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Jinsai]

That man will not last at his position.

Maybe not, but what should he have said in response? I really can't think of a good way to answer that question, and that's part of the problem.

[october_midnight]

Looks like they're finally starting to officially make statements.

The knee-jerk reaction online was 'kind of expected'. They want the Xbox One to possibly be 'the last console you'll ever buy'.

[october_midnight]

Also interesting to note, that the quick once-every-24-hours connection can be done through your cellphone too in case your net connection is down for whatever reason.

[Jinsai]

Looks like they're finally starting to officially make statements.


The knee-jerk reaction online was 'kind of expected'. They want the Xbox One to possibly be 'the last console you'll ever buy'.

Maybe they should have just gone digital only then, and admitted that the new Microsoft console is basically a pc... With one of the big differences being the pay-to-play online precedent. You can argue pros and cons for that, much as you always could argue that pc gaming is the way to go and has been all along. Either way, all of this is moving away from a gaming console in the traditional sense.


I don't believe the argument that this move is going to drive down game prices significantly or that we'll start seeing console sales similar to steam. If that were the case, wouldn't we already be seeing a huge divide between retail physical copies and their digital counterparts? Instead it seems that if you keep an eye on physical sales, you can get it cheaper than the direct download. Also, I don't get how this family plan is going to benefit publishers. That seems more like one sale of a game turns out to wind up "in the hands" of nine other people who otherwise might have bought their own copies.


Part of the sales model for steam works because it's practically a parallel economy to the console market, and there's little crossover business. The negative reaction to Microsoft adopting the strategies of the pc market isn't causing a "knee jerk" reaction, and people don't misunderstand what they're trying to do. A lot of people prefer gaming on a console instead of a pc, and they have legitimate reasons for that.

[Hula]

Also interesting to note, that the quick once-every-24-hours connection can be done through your cellphone too in case your net connection is down for whatever reason.

Oooh, really? One point for Microsoft! At least I could always nip down to McDonald's and use the wifi there if I wound up without internet for months again like last year.

Although... If it's possible to check in on your phone, why have they made it a feature to have to connect every 24 hours at all? I assumed when I first heard about it that it had something to do with keeping data updated to the cloud or whatever but if checking in on your phone is sufficient, it seems more like they're just making you have to connect regularly for the hell of it.

[Jinsai]

Oooh, really? One point for Microsoft! At least I could always nip down to McDonald's and use the wifi there if I wound up without internet for months again like last year.

Although... If it's possible to check in on your phone, why have they made it a feature to have to connect every 24 hours at all? I assumed when I first heard about it that it had something to do with keeping data updated to the cloud or whatever but if checking in on your phone is sufficient, it seems more like they're just making you have to connect regularly for the hell of it.

I'm assuming it means that there will actually be a way to pair your smartphone with your console, and that it will then use your phone's 3G/4G connection to bring the console online for a moment so it can "validate" with Microsoft's servers. Of course, none of this will prevent Microsoft's servers from being hacked and taken down in the event of a security breach. Before anyone claims that it just can't happen to Microsoft's video game division, consider that hackers have broken through the Pentagon's security in the past.

Not even Steam does something like this sort of "check up on you" bullshit, and I'd expect it's going to be done away with in the future via a firmware update.

[october_midnight]

The article I got the smartphone stuff from.

[Wretchedest]

It seems like the one thing xvox has done right, other than land the Titan Fall exclusive, is somehow make it appear as though they are the only console that does non game things.

I keep reading "but XB1 does all these cool other things. " yes, so does ps4 they both do all kind of video streaming and wacky other bullshit. The ps3 and 360 currently do most of those things too. Its a falsehood, but it seems to be all the ground they have left to stand on.

[Hula]

The article I got the smartphone stuff from.

'"We do recognise there will be these very rare edge cases where for whatever reason your internet is down," said Harrison. "In my experience internet downtime lasts for seconds or minutes.'

Um, yeah. He should come to Ireland sometime. Thirty houses eating up the same bandwidth? Lotsa downtime. Also the phone thing is only useful if you have a data plan which, again, is a bit of a novelty here unless you're raking in dough. Sigh.

[october_midnight]

The phone check-ins will be kilobytes at the most they've said. I'm just sitting back watching the internet working itself up in to a frenzy (as anyone with half a brain knows is what happens pretty much daily) over shit that won't be an issue soon. Like I've said, if Twitter and Facebook were what they are now back for this gen's consoles...people would've collectively shit their pants then too. People were so...SO pissed when the PS3 was more...then a few months later nobody gave a shit. Once both these consoles are out, the exact same thing will happen. Changes will be made, kinks worked out.

If someone can afford high speed internet but can't get a valuable and proficient service where they are, the rage should be pointed at the provider. Microsoft is playing long-term and people fear change. The day-one $60 disc model is crumbling.

[Hula]

The problem is, it's not the ISP's fault that gamers will be unable to reliably connect to the Xbox servers when needed, it's Microsoft's for making it a necessity. The fact of the matter is, a lot of countries (read: not North America) don't have reliable internet. Some people don't have internet access at all. Shock revelation: some of those people are gamers. And, as I've mentioned here and elsewhere, there are times when people just don't have access to the internet, for example when I moved house and had to wade through a metric fuckton of bullshit with my landlord trying to get it set up, leaving me without broadband for around a month. That time would have been even more irritating had I not been able to play the 360 as it was about the only thing I could do in that time, and it kept me sane.

If someone can afford high speed internet, they probably have a proficient service. If you're in a country where broadband only became a common thing about a year or two ago, you're fucked because there just isn't the infrastructure and even when there is, you're probably being charged through the nose for it because it's still considered a luxury. Again, read: not North America. I'm paying for a pretty okay package right now but it's the cheapest I can get without seeing my connection suffer and it's still more than I can afford right now. I genuinely won't be surprised if I have to give up the internet by November if I want to be able to afford living away from home (yay for making less than people on unemployment benefit!). Part of what will influence my decision on which console to go with will be whether or not I think I'll even be able to use it should I have to sacrifice my broadband.

It's just shit because I love the Xbox 360 and I think Microsoft are this pretty cool, dorky company and even having tried the PS3, I still prefer the 360. The problem is Microsoft are alienating a lot of people and the people who aren't affected by the issues are like 'Well get the fuck over it, it's not a big deal.' Good for whoever has the luxury of reliable internet / being able to afford brand new games at full retail price / blah blah blah but they're not the segment that is going to be adversely affected by this.

I'm really, really glad they're not phasing out the 360 with the release of the new console. There's a part of me that wonders if they anticipated people not bothering to go next-gen in favour of hanging onto the 360 as long as new releases come out on it, but then I know enough people will rush out to buy the Brand New Thing that it probably won't be an issue anyway. It just feels counter-intuitive for them to be telling us this is God's gift to gaming and multimedia with one breath and with the next telling us not to throw away our 360s just yet.

[october_midnight]

It just feels counter-intuitive for them to be telling us this is God's gift to gaming and multimedia with one breath and with the next telling us not to throw away our 360s just yet.

Couldn't you also view this as their way of acknowledging these people that have internet issues and saying 'Yeah it's a shitty deal, but we wanna make sure we let you know that you still have an option to play new games for at least a few years still, and we hope you stick with the 360.'?? Seems like there's still two sides to view the 360 bit as...1) counter-intuitive, or 2) acknowledgement of something that can't be side-stepped so at least there's this, kinda deal.

[thelastdisciple]

It may be slowing down and on a constant state of decline but physical media will still stick around for quite a long time to come yet and i doubt the Xbox One has the future in check that far down the line, record shops have been closing and your typical music selection at Best Buy has been scaled back but look at music CDs... we've had access to MP3s and digital marketplaces for 15 years now (mp3.com was even a thing in 1997 don't forget) and they're still being made and so far people are still buying 'em. A Nielsen/Billboard sales report from 2012 even still quotes physical media as the dominant format, i am almost positive that this has a similar reflection on disc-based gaming despite the price difference.

Plus if they're so bent digital content, why not put in a bigger hard drive? it isn't that much for a terabyte these days....

[Hula]

Definitely a positive way of looking at it, but it seems like every bit of official news we get on the matter is all very rushed and 'Oh, you caught me out there!' It's really great that they'll still be supporting the 360, but it's like what is there to make me want the Xbox One when I do find myself in a situation where it's advantageous to buy one? They're essentially saying it's cool, we can make do with the 360 for now - we're not missing out...which makes me wonder why bother? If that's not what they're saying, then what they are saying is tough luck if we don't have internet, sucks to be us, there's always the 360...which makes me not want to buy the console on principle.

Eh. I find myself getting entirely too jaded over all of this because I don't want to hate what they're doing with the Xbone, but I do. If anything, this just seems like the best time to give the competitor a proper trial while they're offering something that Microsoft aren't. That seems to be the crux of it right now - apathy, rather than any strong inclination one way or the other. Sure there are those who claim to hate Microsoft right now but they'll probably come crawling back the second some big thing happens in the Sony camp. I think that was what Space Suicide was getting at about band wagons - it's not so much band wagons, though, as sensationalism. People are freaking out because yeah, it's a scary, shifting time in gaming right now. The problem is Microsoft are selling us a pretty damn raw deal and Sony are just sitting back and smirking to themselves as they do the opposite of everything Microsoft do.

[twilight explosion]

I honestly can't wait to see the bitching from people when their kinects break and they can't play their cable box one. I'll be sitting in my room laughing with my ps4.

[Piko]

Would really suck if Live got hacked like what happened to PSN. Of course, i'm stating the worst case scenario here. But, if Live was taken down for an extended period of time, everyone would be locked out? Cool that they want to fully embrace cloud tech and so on. But don't force it on someone. Options are nice. Plus, a lot of people like to reference steam. Problem is, that the live marketplace doesn't lower it's prices. You can buy a new copy of a game for 20 bucks off amazon, but the digital version of it on live could still be 60 bucks... I don't see it being cost effective for anyone.

[october_midnight]

Would really suck if Live got hacked like what happened to PSN. Of course, i'm stating the worst case scenario here. But, if Live was taken down for an extended period of time, everyone would be locked out?

Something tells me they've already thought of a scenario like this, among countless others...

[Jinsai]

Something tells me they've already thought of a scenario like this, among countless others...

Something tells me there's a lot of things they haven't thought of. In the wake of the backlash to their 24-hour check-in policy, they're now scrambling to find a workaround that will let people in the military be exempt... which I'm sure will wind up being something similar to offline software authentication.

Still though, isn't the Kinect kind of essential for basic operation of the system? After all, it's required for it to work.

[Wretchedest]

actually, all grief aside, the mandatory kinect thing seems baffling and insane to me. Why did they decide that Kinect MUST be a part of this thing? it raises costs, complicates things... I don't get.

Do they get extra PRISM points or something?

*edit*
Holy shit! I have not thought about the repurcussions of a mandatory kinect system getting hacked PSN style. Crazy!

[Jinsai]

actually, all grief aside, the mandatory kinect thing seems baffling and insane to me. Why did they decide that Kinect MUST be a part of this thing? it raises costs, complicates things... I don't get.

Besides some more cynical considerations, I'm sure the reason they require it is so that the technology will be considered "available" to everyone who owns the console. Obviously, the original model for this is the runaway success of the Wii. I'm sure there's also some consideration that the Sony Move didn't do as well as it would have if every PS3 owner was given one with the system, and maybe there's even a point there with the fact that fewer PS3 users are on headsets compared to 360 players... which I'd say is actually frequently a blessing, but anyway...

I'm sure the idea is that they're hoping publishers will feel more comfortable developing with Kinect in mind if everyone on the X One has a kinect, and they can rest assured that it's plugged in and working, because if not, their system doesn't work. If a peripheral is not forced upon the consumer, the adoption rate is always a disappointment, and the support for it rarely flies. See the Sega CD, the 32X, the Sony Move, the Super Scope, the N64DD, that stupid dual joystick controller for the Dreamcast, that stupid LCD screen thing that plugged into the Dreamcast controller, the ram expansion card for the Saturn, any light gun...

The Kinect was a success, especially at first when people were wowed by a five second glance at Best Buy, but in the long run it turned out to be a disappointment. Unless you like dancing games. People might not be as eager to upgrade to the new version, so...

[october_midnight]

And you won't have to. It's not mandatory for most games (unless you actually BUY the exercise ones, etc.). For things like Dead Rising 3, it's optional...but fucking cool. Wanna distract zombies to lure them away from something? Yell at your tv....that's fucking cool. And they've already also said the 'always watching you' can be turned off at your leisure.

That's what's baffling me...everyone's talking about these worst case, what-if scenarios that'll probably never ever occur. Yes, I get the military one..that's a misstep and MS shit the bed if they didn't plan for those people. I think MS realized that in the long run (which is what any console 'war' ends up being) it'll be cheaper to switch to digital distribution. It's no secret that GameStop (or EB for us hoser Canadians) has stated that the used game market has consistently declined throughout the years. My guess is that MS sets up some kind of market online to trade games where prices (or points rather...it IS Microsoft) can be gathered or bought to exchange used games..something like older games or less popular games are worth less points. Like I've said, they're just sitting back and weathering this childish social media horseshit.

Microsoft (and I can guarantee you, Sony as well) is probably LOL'ing at these exception scenarios being tossed about ('what if I'm on a submarine!' says the kid in his mom's basement, from his tablet, next to his PS3...) Microsoft realizes what most of us do too (even though it's 2013 and with social media the way it is, everything ever released on shelves is torn apart like a steak by hungry wolves)...that 99% of these boxes will be sitting in people's living rooms near their tv, connected online. 'I have to check in every 24 hours or I can't play? BUT WHAT IF I LEAVE ON VACATION FOR A WEEK?' 'It checks in the second you return and fire it up...problem solved.' Everyone's overreacting to shit because that's what people do today. Go to the new Gears of War's FB page. They post something about 'Buy this new shirt in our online store!' and self-entitled idiots post endlessly on how 'better GoW3 was than this piece of shit'. Why do you think MS hasn't 'scrambled' and released a statement? Why hasn't EPIC games posted on FB saying 'Guys we did our best! We're proud of Judgment and love that some still play GoW3!' ??? Because they know....everyone's overreacting. That's what people do today.

[Kodiak33]

Would really suck if Live got hacked like what happened to PSN. Of course, i'm stating the worst case scenario here. But, if Live was taken down for an extended period of time, everyone would be locked out? Cool that they want to fully embrace cloud tech and so on. But don't force it on someone. Options are nice. Plus, a lot of people like to reference steam. Problem is, that the live marketplace doesn't lower it's prices. You can buy a new copy of a game for 20 bucks off amazon, but the digital version of it on live could still be 60 bucks... I don't see it being cost effective for anyone.

Yes, the Steam comparisons are dumb. You have multiple sources where you can get Steam keys from, the competition is fantastic therefore prices go lower, and you can play games offline with Steam. This will not happen with the Xbone because Microsoft etc. will control the market themselves.

[twilight explosion]

the kinect is mandatory for the cable box one to even function dude

also http://levelsave.com/banned-xbox-one...f-their-games/

[Conan The Barbarian]

It just has to be connected to the system, you don't have to have it turned on. Although its sort of listening for voice commands.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[twilight explosion]

so it's always on

[Piko]

It's a standby mode. Pretty sure PS4 has it too.