back to article 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

This was the week when former British Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher died, setting the Twitosphere alight with opposing deluges of vitriol and veneration. The passing of the woman the media insists on referring to as "divisive" inspired a whole slew of people to post "Ding dong the witch is dead" tweets, while others …

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  1. Flywheel
    FAIL

    "Orth was quick to point out that he wasn't talking about Microsoft policy and it was just a laugh between buddies and all that, but the internet had already chewed him up and spat him out, leading to his resignation this week"

    It's a pity they retired Clippy and chums: "It looks like you're committing career suicide Adam; would you like some help with that?"

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

    OK, here is how it works.

    Gamers are mostly fickle children that jump on whatever bandwagon the internet tells them to jump on.

    Last year it was OtherOS removal, this year it's Microsoft's always on "you are a pirate unless we can determine otherwise" system.

    Karmas a bitch 'aint it....

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Re:Gamers are mostly fickle children

      whereas internet trolls are super mature....

    2. Danny 5
      WTF?

      Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

      Gamers are mostly fickle children? really? You might want to look up the stats on that and find out just how wrong you are.

      Microsoft should be concerned about this, as they stand to lose a lot of customers if they stick with the "always online" directive.

      1. Test Man
        Stop

        Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

        Considering the entire "always on" thing is a massive rumour, for all we know Microsoft were NEVER considering it. That one bloke who ranted on about it isn't indicative of Microsoft's official position on the matter whatsoever, especially as he has nothing to do with the development of the next Xbox at all.

        1. wowfood

          Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

          As far as we know we don't even know what they mean by "Always on" always on what? Is it always on fire?

          Honestly I expect what they mean by "always on" is the same as the Wii meant, which used the same wording, whereby even when the machine is off, it's online and downloading updates so when you boot up you don't have to wait an hour to download updates for your games and console.

          Lets see what they actually mean by always on first before we start to judge.

          1. Dan 55 Silver badge

            Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

            The Wii barely does anything when it's in standby apart from polling bulletin board messages, the weather, and the news and pointlessly heating up the graphics card. Microsoft's statement afterwards didn't clarify that the 720 can manage go without an Internet connection.

            1. David Hicks

              Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

              And flash its DVD slot, don't forget that, it wakes up and glows at you FOR NO REASON. Or at least it used to, I don't let mine sit on standby any more. Bloody thing.

        2. Dave 126 Silver badge

          Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

          "That one bloke who ranted on about it isn't indicative of Microsoft's official position on the matter whatsoever, especially as he has nothing to do with the development of the next Xbox at all."

          It is important for companies to get their message out clearly about their products . Anything that has to be explained away (even if the explanation is valid) or clarified is taking away from the attention that prospective customers will give to your proper message.

          Far more people will hear "MS man said..." than will hear "...but he was speaking in a personal capacity and is not related to the project being discussed" and that's just the way the world works.

          He was well aware that there was an information vacuum on the subject, and that rumours and opinions were circulation, because it was what prompted him to make the remarks in the first place.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

          The usually shouting from the rooftops about everything ever, Microsoft is totally silent on this.

          You can take it as read it's real.

          1. Richard 81

            Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

            This may sound a bit conspiracy theory-ish, but if they were never considering the always online option wouldn't they release a statement saying just that? It would kill the bad PR dead.

    3. reno79
      FAIL

      Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

      Quite frankly, no. I am a gamer. I am also a techy (software and package developer with long history of support).

      I purchased Diablo 3, Sim City and have a lot of DRM infused software on my PC. I hate every single aspect of it. The main time I get to game is while I'm travelling, either by train or once I'm actually in a hotel. Both of the games I mentioned previously do not work without an Internet connection.

      If for whatever reason my internet goes down I do not want my console suddenly telling me I cannot play a game I have legally purchased prior just because Virgin/BT/ISP of choice is having a technical burp.

      Then imagine, for whatever reason, that technical burp goes on for a whole day, a few days, whatever. You still, for reasons outside of your control, cannot use your console for the purpose it was intended and purchased for. Would you accept the same from your laptop? Your television? Your mobile? Of course not. That it what the uproar is about. There is no bandwagon. There is genuine distrust from the supplier of the console that assumes that everyone lives in fully built up areas with 100% uptime records which UK ISP's cannot provide.

      I live in a rural area where cable (or equivalent ADSL) services haven't permeated the entire region. A lot of people I know locally have only had basic ADSL installed within the last 2 years and can only just achieve 1 or 2Mb (with ridiculous latency and downtime galore) thanks to the distance from the exchange. I would never be able to consciously recommend they purchase a console that requires this sort of 100% connectivity as they would only be able to use it half the time, if they are lucky.

      Even though I am lucky enough to have a decent connection, which *knock on wood* has had great uptime so far; and the fact that I actually prefer Microsoft on the current generation of consoles, this decision has made me think twice on the next generation. Sony, for all they've done wrong in the past, has made me reconsider.

    4. Badvok

      Re: 'Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console'

      @Barry Shitpeas, have an up-vote to counteract the, not unexpected, down-voting.

      A lot of the reaction to this 'always-online' stuff makes it sound as if MS are planning on forcing people to buy the new console at gun-point.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Achievement Unlocked : Unemployment

  4. Chairo

    I hope he will get another job soon

    at Janesville, Wisconsin, of course.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: I hope he will get another job soon

      Jayne! The man they called Jayne!

      He robbed from the rich, and he gave to the poor.

      Stood up to the man, and he gave him what-for.

      Our love for him now, ain't hard to explain...

      Oh sorry, he was the hero of Canton, ignore me.

    2. Armando 123

      Re: I hope he will get another job soon

      I know there is an opening for a dunk tank target in Schenectedy.

  5. Melzeebub92
    FAIL

    TalkTalk

    I once used TalkTalk as my provider..... never again. The reason why BT is becoming a monopoly is because most other providers are truely terrible.

    My advice: Improve your own service before you start bitching about how everyone else is doing better than yourself.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: TalkTalk

      Melzeebub92,

      But TalkTalk have improved their service! This was the first year in ages that they didn't come bottom of Ofcom's customer satisfaction survey.

      They came 2nd bottom...

      1. Melzeebub92
        Joke

        Re: TalkTalk

        Perhaps I should change my provider....

        Who came last Kaesong?

        (Bad Joke alert!)

  6. MacGyver
    Pirate

    Where does this go?

    You want to sell me something that requires the internet at all times to validate that I'm me, or whatever it is that they are wanting to do, fine, where does that free SIM card that you are going to provide me need to be inserted?

    No free SIM, let me get this straight, you want me to pay for an internet connection so you can spy and check that I'm not a pirate? Get bent. Watch and see how many "lost sales" you have with your new DRM instead of pirate copies. I predict that it will be cracked in a month, and the pirates will be steering their own boats, but the rest of us law abiding users will be getting the shaft, and paying for it too.

    It never works, it only pisses off your users, when will you guys learn this. If you want to ream people on prices, then move back to the cartridge format, your desire for maximum profits by using cheap DVDs and BluRays is the problem. You create an "always on" console, and your going to see a "Cydia" site for that Xbox before the decade is up, one that lets user d/l fully cracked offline games from your own damn console from what started out as a fake validation server.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Where does this go?

      Where can we find out more about this new DRM that's making you so upset MacGyver?

      1. I Am Spartacus
        Facepalm

        Re: Where does this go?

        Where can we find out more ....

        @AC - you could always try Google. try "XBOX 720 ALWAYS ON". It's just a hint, you understand.

  7. Rampant Spaniel

    I don't see talktalk suggesting they are willing to pony up the 10's of billions it would take to ftth the entire country. As much as I am not a fan of BT or their dithering, I can respect the not wanting to hock the entire company twice over to pay for a new network that will just handed over to offtwat to set the prices at the whim of lobbying and uninformed public opinion.

  8. mark l 2 Silver badge

    Even if the next Xbox does require an always on connection, give it a couple of months and the Chinese hackers will have found a way around it with a mod chip to play the games offline.

    DRM may stop your casual pirates but if your determined to hack a system it will happen, and Microsoft are not renouned for producing secure software.

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