Here Comes the Next Xbox

[D-Joe]

RicardJulianti said:

fillet said:

VGKing said:
"Internet-connected. The next Xbox must be internet-connected to use. This is source of the “always on”/“always online” rumors and isn’t as Draconian as many seem to believe."

*SIGH* If the next Xbox needs to be internet connected to be used, yes it is "draconian". Can't wait till May 21st to clear this shit up.

Id it really though? I mean...really?

Or is it just a really nice juicy negative to pipe on about over and over again?

It's certainly not good, but it's likely a deal breaker only for the technically informed and people who weren't going to buy it anyway.

Here's the thing though, Microsoft has sold let's say...75m Xbox 360's for the sake of argument. With 44 million XBL users (Silver and Gold) all it takes it simple math to show that it will severely cut into their market share before you add people who won't buy it out of principle.

44/75 = ~58% of Xbox 360 owners have Xbox Live. But that means 42% do not in any way, shape, or form. That's before you add 360's that have more than one account on them which could be quite a lot considering they offered the family bundle. It could easily reach 45%....MAYBE 50% but that might be pushing it a little.

Now, my internet connection is fairly solid but what happens when there is maintenance on my internet or on XBL? What about launch day when everyone tries to log on at the same time? Or when there is a major release like Halo or whatever new IP they come up with? When that kind of thing happens, my first instinct is to pop in a single player game or play the campaign....but if the internet is gone, it essentially becomes a $300-$500 brick. There is the possibility of being able to use the tv tuner while the internet is down, but we don't know at the moment.

Retailers will have to inform people that it requires an online connection as well, otherwise there will be lots and lots of returns and very unhappy customers. Microsoft has to inform everyone as well, it isn't the kind of thing that you keep from people. Just like when they came up with the dichotomy between XBL Gold and Silver, except this is an entire console that (presumably) ceases to function when the internet goes out. People WILL know.

So i don't even know why people think it will be true

Maybe some games will require online(like Destiny),but whole console?nope