Monday, April 8, 2013

Random Shots: Always Online, If You Bother To Buy One

  • If you have been anywhere near the internet last week, there was no way for you to miss this Twitter exchange about the potential that the next Xbox console will require and always on internet connection:
  • There has since been an explanation, an apology, and the privacy block, but the flames have already been fanned. Since the PS4 announcement, we have been met by a cold wall of silence from Microsoft. Everyone knows, or thinks they know, certain things about the next Xbox, but the silence continues.

  • Always on is going to be a dealbreaker for some people. Even though some people have the privilege of one hundred percent internet uptime, that is not the experience for everyone. I live in a decent sized Southern California city, and even I have experienced serious internet problems from time to time. When that happens, I would like to be able to count on my console still behaving.

  • That is where Microsoft's silence has been a problem. Maybe it's not true at all. Maybe it is true, but there are contingencies that would allow offline play. Maybe it is true and we just have to deal with it. But until we know, it is natural to fear the worst.

  • I've been saving money for the eventual new console release. I'm sure there is some nostalgia about console generations past, but I'm really looking forward to playing game on new hardware. Up until this year, I would have bet money that I would be first in line for a new Xbox. But with everything we have heard from Sony and what we haven't heard from Microsoft, it is no longer a sure thing. Always online won't be a dealbreaker for me, but it will absolutely fall heavily in the con list when I weigh my choices.

  • There is still time, of course. Any console release is still more than half a year away and that is forever in consumer electronics. But Microsoft had better get its act together because my purchase is looking more and more like a foregone conclusion to me.

  • Coda: I can't help but think this tweet sums things up perfectly.

© 2013 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.

2 comments:

  1. I really hope this doesn't turn out to be true, then again I still have a backlog of 360 games and wasn't planning on picking up any next gen consoles until there's a "must play" game. I didn't buy a 360 until Mass Effect came out.

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    1. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is all just the internet being stupid again. At some point, we have to find out for sure, right? At least we live in interesting times. :)

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