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XBOHICA: Don Mattrick Defends Xbox One's Online Requirements

"and they want a future-proof system"

Sorry Mattrick, having a system that revolves around activating games online before they work is the complete opposite of future-proof.

Pretty much...

All you need for a future proof system is an ethernet port really, you can build any futuristic internet system from there but it doesn't mean that everyone needs to be in 100% internet enabled locations from day zero. Nobody complains about having to be online to play online games, bringing more online features will just happen naturally without having to force it.
 

FlyFaster

Member
the "experience" that the xbone will give me of getting blasted in the ass by no used games, blasted in the ass by data mining kinnect, blasted in the ass by draconian DRM, and finally blasted in the ass by multiple paywalls and non game focus overrides any of the buzz words and manufactured hype that Mattrick is trying to build. I'm sick of getting blasted in the ass by these companies.

also, you can never really future proof your system.
 

ymmv

Banned
"Gamers want the best experiences possible — and they want a future-proof system," he told Polygon.

Future proof = poof! your games are gone in 10 years when we sunset our Xbone servers?
 

Kusagari

Member
Anyone remember when Mattrick told Geoff right after the XBone event that it wasn't always online and they've got gamers covered?

Yeah....
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Its future proof...until the next system comes out and the servers go dead and the games dont transfer.
 
"and they want a future-proof system"

Sorry Mattrick, having a system that revolves around activating games online before they work is the complete opposite of future-proof.

Exactly what I was going to say. This is my major problem with this sort of system. It's going to make games pretty much throaway. It really bothers me. How do they not have this in mind? Do people really not care about preserving them? It's kinda sad really.
 
Uh, how does being offline prevent devs from using cloud computing? Does every game have to use it now?

What an idiotic defense. Future proofing my ass.

So this is final confirmation that the box is always online?
 

i-Lo

Member
And I'm still wondering about the fact whether XBL silver members will have access to our new gaming messiah.
 
ajj0QOa.png


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CMQTTQG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

looks like we will see the cloud computing stuff in action at e3
 

legacyzero

Banned
Don Mattrick, president of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, told me that the decision to require internet for the Xbox One was driven by a desire to create a console unleashed from the technical limitations of today's not-entirely-connected society. Microsoft had a decision to make, he said; either create a console planted in the present or look to the future and create a device built on the concept that one day the internet will be as available as electricity or telephone service.

LOL ok try telling the telcos and cable companies that. I'm sure they think it's worth the investment.
 

Slair

Member
Offline is the lowest common denominator? Seems like this past gen, all the online shit being tacked on to every game in every conceivable way was the lowest common denominator in an attempt to make the game worth £40. Didn't work then...
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
A part of me thinks this cloud thing is a a clever marketing stunt in reaction to PS4 vastly superior specs. Prove me wrong MS.
 

Thorakai

Member
Seems like the cloud will be the buzzword of choice for defending online requirements in the future. Mattrick's reasoning doesn't make too much sense when you take into account the 24 hour verification window that was touted for playing games offline. Wouldn't developers have to cater to the lowest common denominator anyway? Kinda sad that this is the best justification they could come up with after months of unease and the Adam Orth fiasco.
 

misterF

Neo Member
Kind of bothers me how often the "cloud" appears in Microsoft's statements. The way they use makes it seem like it actually is this thing that will improve games and they haven't even showed any concrete examples yet. They might as well use the term "secret sauce" :

"Now, with Xbox One, we're stretching the canvas again so creators can design for the secret sauce with every game they make," he said. "In the next decade, every great game will tap the power of the secret sauce to deliver richer, more immersive worlds.
 
Next we learn that Xbone runs only off of yet-to-be-invented future energy source.

Day 1 buyers may not be able to power their consoles at launch, but once society catches up with the next big wave of energy generation, gamers will be glad that their Xbone required it exclusively.
 

ironcreed

Banned
Does he really think we are this stupid? Keep on digging that hole with your damage control and absurd excuses. It will not make people any happier. Quite the contrary, in fact.
 
More inside the article.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/27/43...none-the-risks-of-an-internet-required-gaming

Don Mattrick, president of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, told me that the decision to require internet for the Xbox One was driven by a desire to create a console unleashed from the technical limitations of today's not-entirely-connected society. Microsoft had a decision to make, he said; either create a console planted in the present or look to the future and create a device built on the concept that one day the internet will be as available as electricity or telephone service.

"Gamers want the best experiences possible — and they want a future-proof system," he told Polygon.


"Now, with Xbox One, we're stretching the canvas again so creators can design for the cloud with every game they make," he said. "In the next decade, every great game will tap the power of the cloud to deliver richer, more immersive worlds. We have a great offline game system in Xbox 360 that gets better when it's connected. We could have made another offline console, but then offline would have been the lowest common denominator design point for developers. We chose to take the progressive path."

Here's a leash for you to wear! NOW YOU'RE FREE! As long as you stay on this leash.
 
"We have a great offline game system in Xbox 360 that gets better when it's connected. We could have made another offline console, but then offline would have been the lowest common denominator design point for developers. We chose to take the progressive path."
So they're doubling down on always online. This isn't the kind of article that goes out if MS is considering extending that 24 hour window to something more Steamy. If anything this reads like the first feeler for reducing that time back to something akin to the original and more restrictive 3 minutes.

The excuse here is that if you require everybody to be online, devs will design with that assumption rather than having to making online an enhancement. You can't design for that assumption AND have a 24 hour window of online.

I'd imagine that if you lost your connection the game would suspend itself.
 

Woffls

Member
I can't believe Microsoft are betting on people's broadband connections for the success of their next gaming platform. Such clouded judgement.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
So it's either always online required, or this "cloud" PR speak is all bullshit. Every 24 hour check in would not be able to use "the infinite power of the cloud."
 

IJoel

Member
It always strikes me as odd how the most obvious questions are not asked. How would this make games better from today? Do you have any examples? Does this mean, in your opinion, that an offline game is inherently worse than an online one? What guarantees can you provide that these authentication servers will remain online well past the active lifetime of the console, when you've already shut down Xbox servers? Have you polled your consumers, that are not publishers on ths?
 
A part of me thinks this cloud thing is a a clever marketing stunt in reaction to PS4 vastly superior specs. Prove me wrong MS.

It is very clever indeed, and it makes use of the fact that, sadly, a lot of people have no clue about how their modern devices actually work. This also means that they have no idea about the intrinsic limitations of cloud computing in the context of a video game. The higher specs of the PS4 or a decent PC in two or three years will vastly outweigh the benefits of whatever they've been cooking up. But the people are easy to please with promises of magical experiences made possible "by the infinite power of the cloud (tm)".
 

Audioboxer

Member
but then offline would have been the lowest common denominator design point for developers.

Uh, WTF? Said like it's a bad thing?

PS1/PS2/PS3/Xbox/Xbox 360/Gamecube/Wii & WiiU (and everything else) say hi.
 
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