Check in is every 24 hours. If you plan ahead, there's no reason why you'd be without internet for more than a day. And even if you are, turn your phone into a hotspot so you can authenticate. As far as the military goes, Microsoft is working on something for you guys.
Honestly, it's not a big deal, and I wouldn't choose one system or another over it, but did they specify why they're not allowing the system to be offline when playing a single player game? I just don't see what they have to gain and it's certainly not making any customers happy.
They want to move as much as possible towards a cloud-based, Steam style distribution system for games, add-ons, updates, etc. Which would almost undeniably be better were it not for the annoying intermediary steps.
Bandwidth. And unless Im mistaken, Steam isn't cloud-based. It downloads each piece of software to your hard drive.
The fact that the PS4 doesn't require a broadband connection. I like what Microsoft is doing. They're going all-in on digital distribution. I'm hoping to Christ in heaven that by cutting out pawn shops like Gamestop, Microsoft will be able to cut deals with publishers to give us lower prices on games. I can't imagine a scenario where anybody under the age of 40 doesn't have internet access by choice, other than the poverty stricken. And if you're buying a video game console while making peanuts, you're probably too stupid to live anyway and should absolutely starve to death. In the end, if that's what Microsoft's plan is, count me in. I like not having to worry about discs getting scratched and my games getting stolen.
Re: Re: the be all end all video game thread If you think that games will be getting cheaper I got some property for sale that you might be interested in.
Except the PS4 does have a connection and could function on cloud based gaming if the consumer chooses too. There isn't anything holding it back which is my point. Sure people without internet couldn't cloud game but they also won't be able to get Xbox One as well. Plus it doesn't have weird out of the box restrictions.
Re: Re: the be all end all video game thread I'm just as pessimistic as you are, but the fact remains that if Microsoft is pushing for a console version of Steam, I'm all for it. If you were a developer/publisher, would you want to develop support for a cloud system that people may or may not use? Why use that money and time without knowing if it'll ever be utilized by the end user?
It's not the internet access that's the issue, it's the fact that it has to be stupidly fast access (Check out http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xboxone/what-it-is - at the bottom of the page, it says broadband internet is required). VERY few people here in South Africa have broadband (maybe 1 in 500-750 in the general population) and even less of those (probably about 3 out of 10) are gamers. Only a small percentage (maybe 10-25%*) of those have unlimited internet caps that would be needed for downloading digital content. I'd be surprised if Microsoft even brought the XBox One to Africa** at all, because the infrastructure to support it is simply unaffordable and unavailable (only one provider and it's the Government - you could wait 2 years like we did, be charge3d every month and STILL not have it installed). Sony has won this round, at least in Africa anyway. Microsoft should stick to making other things. *All numbers are an educated guess, obviously. ** I say Africa here because S.A. probably has the highest percentage of gamers because we probably still have the best infrastructure - if they can't sell it here to us, they wouldn't bother bringing it at all.
Re: Re: the be all end all video game thread I mean they develop games for the Sony or MS platform I don't see a big difference between the digital games you can download right now off of PSN and a system like steam? They're all digital right? What more would they have to spend money on? Servers to host the content? You're not convincing me Sony couldn't go fully digital as well but without the hangups. The HD thing is another thing, they again made it proprietary and more difficult for the user to remove at will. One of the great things about the PS3 was being able to upgrade hard drives in seconds. I guess we're still waiting to see if the new PS4 hard drive will be proprietary or not.
Re: Re: the be all end all video game thread I believe they've already stated you can use any old external hard drive. That's another thing I won't miss about Xbox - stupid proprietary bullshit. You can't use any old wireless adapter, you have to use the Microsoft brand one. You can't use any old hard drive, you have to use the Microsoft brand one. And so on. I guess it remains to be seen if Sony will keep the HDMI encryption it uses on the PS3, but if they get rid of that, even better.
I don't really have a problem with them fucking over GameStop. Fuck GameStop. What I have a problem with is the rent-seeking behavior of taking away something we've always been able to do for no reason but to line their own pockets. The whole thing is just additional bullshit that the consumer doesn't get any benefit from. Piracy on console games is statistically nil, so this is all about making an end run around the doctrine of first sale. I don't understand why customers are so eager to let corporations fuck them in the ass these days. There isn't any other consumer item where we would put up with this shit. Can you imagine if Ford demanded a $5k fee every time someone sold a used Focus? You know what's worse than taking a disc with you? Waiting for a 6 gig game to download and install. Also, I'm fairly sure the plan is that only one copy can be active at a time, so no playing together on one license. I doubt Orwell ever imagined that we would pay for and install the telescreens ourselves
Two copies. You can lend out one copy to someone you've been friends with on XBL for at least 30 days. But yeah, the biggest problem here is file size. Currently, even big DLC packs take forever to download. I'd love getting games digitally delivered if if can be done, but if it takes a day? And if any slight disturbance in the download causes the entire thing to shit the bed?
Lend being the keyword. I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that both of those copies will be allowed to run at the same time.
So much for cheaper titles on the XBONE <a class="postlink" href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/14/4431790/microsoft-says-games-for-the-xbox-one-will-still-cost-59-99" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/14/44317 ... cost-59-99</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=590951" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=590951</a> Did someone put a penny in the Microsoft Coin-Operated Self Destruct, or what?
A fistful of them, I think. Whoever is running this shit is going to be fired so fucking hard when sales figures come out after release and Sony has dominated the market. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/12/gamers-without-internet-can-stick-with-xbox-360-says-microsoft" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/12/ ... -microsoft</a> Holy fuck. Do they even have a PR guy any more? Are they intentionally trying to alienate users? Is this a "Major League" scenario, where they're trying to lower the division's value so someone else will buy it?