Microsoft: Next Xbox will work even when your Internet doesn’t
Scenarios that users expect to work offline will, in fact, work offline.
Should single-player games, Blu-ray playback, and live TV viewing be possible on a gaming console with no Internet connection? Most gamers would say "yes," but they have been worried that Microsoft feels differently; the next generation Xbox has been consistently rumored to require a permanent network connection.
It won't.
According to an internal Microsoft e-mail sent to all full-time employees working on the next Xbox, "Durango [the codename for the next Xbox] is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today's Internet." It continues, "There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should 'just work' regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game."
How far this offline support will extend still isn't clear. It could take the form of a fully offline mode akin to that on the Xbox 360 (insert optical disc, install game, play, all without an Internet connection) or it could be more like Steam (install and activate online but enable subsequent offline play once this has been done).
While one could argue that "installing a game" is one of the "scenarios" that gamers "expect to work" when offline, a more Steam-like approach would be consistent with rumors that the next Xbox will use its Internet connection to block installation of secondhand games.
Still, though the next Xbox won't make everybody happy, it looks like fears that the console will be useless when your broadband goes down have been overblown.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/05/microsoft-next-xbox-will-work-even-when-your-internet-doesnt/
Microsoft: Next Xbox will work without mandatory internet connection
Since the first rumors of Xbox Infinity, we have had got two paths to discuss. First, Durango would require an internet connection to run games and apps, we denied this fact weeks ago. The second repetitive rumor was the second-hand games block system. Microsoft could have reported to all their staff with an internal e-mail refusing the mandatory internet connection for Xbox 720:
Durango [the codename for the next Xbox] is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today’s Internet. There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should ‘just work’ regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game.
Therefore, we will be able to play Infinity games without Internet, regardless our current connection status we should run different content, including movies, apps and games. Albeit, they don’t unveil certain points, will have Durango any type of block system for the second-hand games? Why MS would have sent an internal e-mail? Microsoft changed their work methods since the firsts leaks come to light. Each section did not know anything about the other ones, so, MS had to report everyone with this point. I guess they had to clear this point between their employees.
http://www.vgleaks.com/microsoft-next-xbox-will-work-without-mandatory-internet-connection/
