Xbox 720 to require Internet connection?
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Sources say new machine will require constant broadband connection, block secondhand titles, and ship with a new iteration of Kinect.
Additional alleged Xbox 720 details have come to light today. Sources speaking to Edge said that the platform will require an Internet connection to function and that a new version of Xbox Live will be an "integral" component of Microsoft's new platform. Though Microsoft is reportedly "absolutely committed" to online functionality for its new machine, games will still be offered in physical form, the sources said.
In addition, the sources said games for the new system will ship with activation codes and "have no value beyond the initial user." This falls in line with a report from last year, which said the Xbox 720 could block used games in some way. Analysts do not believe this is likely.
These games will reportedly be manufactured on 50GB Blu-ray discs, an upgrade from the DVD drive the Xbox 360 currently sports. Sony's PlayStation 3 supports Blu-ray, and it has since it was first launched in 2006. Blu-ray disc capacity is significantly greater than that of DVD.
In addition, the sources said Microsoft will ship a new version of Kinect alongside the Xbox 720. No further information was made available, though a previous report said "Kinect V2" could support four-player full-body tracking and allow gamers to sit down while playing. In addition, this technology is believed to adapt to players' living rooms, meaning they will not need to move furniture for an optimal experience.
Lastly, Edge's sources said the previously rumored Xbox 720's specifications will include an AMD eight-core x64 1.6GHz CPU, a D3D11.x 800 MHz graphics solution, and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. At present, the platform's hard drive capacity is still reportedly up in the air.
An Xbox 360 successor is, of course, still unannounced. A Microsoft representative told GameSpot, “We do not comment on rumors or speculation. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform, but we don’t have anything further to share at this time.”
It may not be long before that changes, as the platform holder is rumored to announce the Xbox 720 during an Apple-style media presentation in late March, perhaps in conjunction with the 2013 Game Developers Conference.
Sony is holding a "PlayStation Meeting" February 20 in New York City where the company is rumored to announce the PlayStation 4. GameSpot will be in attendance.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
1810 comments
1 Like This simply means my next gaming console will NOT be an Xbox. Thankfully, we have other choices.
Not happy enough with screwing over their fanbase with the Red Ring of Death for the 360......they want to further anger their customers by making it so they can only play with a constant solid internet connection at ALL times.
Well.....thats one clear way to make the Playstation 4 the definate choice for the next gen.
Everybody......give yourselves to SONY. They love you......they always have.
1 Like this better all be rumors.... because that's a fucking joke... Constant connection? no used games? why the hell do they think they can just try to control everything like that? what about their users who don't have much money? they rely on used games... and they can't always have internet.. I thought sony was going retarded.. now i see it is microsoft.. On top of all that shit.. they will probably raise the price of games another $10 just to rip us off even more... $60 for video games as is, is fucking retarded... now we will probably have to pay $70, not be able to buy used games, HAVE to have a constant internet connection, pay for membership, and probably a dozen other things just to play Xbox... and it wouldn't surprise me if membership was required... if they seriously do this shit.. fucking video games better drop down to a max of $30 goddamn dollars.. or they can go fuck theirselves..
@wolfen2k7 Even if games did cost $20, unless the game is very fun and has re-playability, it's still wasteful. whether you wasted $20 online or via disc, if they go this route.
microsoft are maybe greedy but they are not stupid
they know that Diablo 3 always online DRM was a complete failure on every level
they won't do it, mark my words
i wonder who on earth buys this -- i hope only 1 person buys it, because it would put an end to gaming as we know it if it catches with ridiculous drm -- ps4 and 720 - well defentally not take from wii us thunder if they put drm in
I wonder what cheat they'll pull with the name, it's really the XBROKE 3 finally but they'll call it 4 anyway, I bet on XBROKE 4PLAY, or XBROKE4CAST.
*falls over laughing* oh my GOD. what next. armed soldiers to put a gun to your head while you play?
the PS4 and new Xbox are going to go absolutely bat**** with the drm. You'll be paying full price to rent the game for a few days.
the only reason i'd buy one is to turn around and ebay it. probably not even allowed to do THAT. system is locked to the person who buys it
I also heard a rumor from a very reliable source that Sony and Microsoft might be coming together to make 98k televisions and 7D display headsets that will ship with the new tablet controllers.
4 Like On top of this rumor about the 720 not playing "used games", this will be financial suicide if they go through with it all.
1 Like Well it will certainly give Microsoft the ability to WATCH its customers more closely, won't it? Remember: This is the company that, having acquired Skype, promptly gave the US government the technical information it needs to be able to decrypt any Skype call.
Speaking of Skype, it's rumored that the voice messaging software on the X720 will be Skype. I hope that doesn't mean we have to pay an extra fee to use it on top of XBL.
4 Like Requiring an internet connection will hurt sales. There are times when internet connections go down and people just want to play a game. There are times that I play offline just so I am not bothered. The majority of Americans do not have broadband.
2 Like @127bones 90% of American households with computers have broadband. Just saying.
3 Like @ernelson1976 @127bones And those who don't probably couldn't afford $60 a game anyway.
2 Like @JasonGriffee @ernelson1976 @127bones
The requirement for online is a blatant DRM scheme that's absolutely pointless and simply removes ownership from the consumer.
Don't even try to defend it.
Not exactly true. I grew up without being able to not get broadband. It was because of location. We actually wound up paying way more just to get satellite and get off of dial up, and those connections have serious latency and data caps. It was completely unusable for gaming of any kind. It sucked. A lot of people who live outside of the radius of broadband providers could afford it. They're just locked out.
3 Like It's like M$ is wanting me to switch to PC gaming full time. If the "required internet connection" is true then I'm saying goodbye to console gaming. I live in the outskirts of town where there is only 1 available ISP (Hughes Net) and they purposefully put a .7 second delay on uploads making multiplayer impossible. I can't even connect to Xbox Live. I have to take my console to a gaming lounge to update. And most of this country's rural internet works this way. It's downright embarrassing that most other first world country's have a better internet infrastructure. Until this is solved you can count myself and millions of others out of the Next Gen phase.
everytime new things from the xbox 720 are exposed why do they focus on the worst things as online? tehy should be focusing on a better Games line up ps 1 didnt have the graphics of the wrld but sure it still entertain me and thats sad in some ways ah Ada wong wise hot lady : All style no substance ---__--
@Aentikraist Because the worst things are what we need to hear, do you actually believe anyone is even going to buy a game console that they can't even play used games or offline with? Yeah new games is something everyone cares about, but I don't care how great a game they make, if I can't play it offline or single player, then I'd best stick with EVERY OTHER GAME CONSOLE EVER MADE IN THE HISTORY OF VIDEO GAME CONSOLES.
Even a PC has single player, offline games, but there is some invisible want by Microsoft to oust single player, offline gameplay, and if they do decide to, I hope their console fails.
I hope the console will also support digital purchase of games... here games cost as twice as in rest of the world... that's why I love steam. but than again, downloading 50 GB game to x720 is kinda ridiculous as well... it will also require for the console to have a massive HDD...
I'm curious to see how will they tackle this problem.
@Shinteikun I doubt there's a game in existence that's 50 GB big. And 2TB+ HDs are nothing new.
@Shinteikun They could distribute their game downloads on high capacity discs, that'd solve that problem... wait they want to quit doing that
okay, good, it's about time Microsoft failed miserably and lost all its customers over their own greed and utter stupidity.
Can you guys shut up until we actually get official information. Same old bs you keep pedaling. STFU until there is real news not the same old tired BS rumors from different sources. I bet I could post something and you would repost it. Wait till the Sony event to mention anything else. Goodness.
1 Like I guess MS release this bad news just before PS4 reveal, knowing that PS will also have those features. There for, Sony will be the first to deal with the angry gamers and spoiling the PS4 launch. Good move MS. ;-)
What fun it will be to watch console fanboys swallow their pride (and their wallets) and buy these next-gen consoles regardless of blocking used games and constant internet connections.
1 Like I call BS. The edge is a little known website that drives virtually no traffic except by relinking yet it has sources that know almost every detail of both consoles and those sources also conveniently failed to mention that Sony just filed a patent to place RFID chips on its discs to eliminate the second hand market and the story paints Playstation as the console to get and Microsoft as the big bad wolf? This story stinks!
1 Like I'll never support Microbribe monopoly. Regarding used games, they should put the resellers out of business because it's destroying the market. The developers get NONE of the revenues generated off used sales, ONLY THE STORES that sell used games make that extra money off of doing nothing in the creation of the games, but the reselling of them=pure profit. I don't blame Sony or any developers for wanting to put stores that sell used games out of business.
1 Like @yixingtpot Its not all about companies losing money though. Look at the consumer convenience if used games become obsolete. You buy a game for $60 at release, but you absolutely hate it. Are you supposed to just burn it since you'll never play it and now nobody else can? I agree that developers should be receiving cuts, but if it goes away, people will be tired of having nothing to do with games they dislike.And on a side note, this also ruins the renting aspect of things, thus disallowing you to try a game before buying it. So whatever game you buy, you're tied to forever, good or bad.
I think this will make people more caution toward purchasing a 60$ game. I agree that selling game should be stop since it its all profit for the store. but be not being able to resell my disc suck, more the last 3 year i've bought more used game than new one because trying a different used game is better than buying a 60$ game you try wanna try 2 I dont have money to throw away 60$ everytime i want a game. but lets see hoew this goes if game go down because the developers are recieving a prohit i can get beheind that.
1 Like @Mersinary_Myth Ever since video games have existed, games have released, and people have ploped down the money to purchase them, knowing full well that they'd one day might be done with the game, not like it to begin with, or keep it forever. I know personally, I buy a $60 game new, and if I beat it and decide I'd like to buy some new games I sell it on criagslist or ebay and buy a couple used games, then I might keep some of them, or turn around and sell them to buy another game. Who are you, and who is Microsoft to try to end the market on used games? Sorry, but if they end a market so they can run a full on monopoly and turn it into an all out service, I truly, deeply, wish to God himself, that they fail and never see the light to make game consoles again. Same goes for Sony too if they're trying the same thing.
2 Like @yixingtpot So Ford should get a cut of you selling your car when you are done with it? If you sell your house should you pay a percentage to the original builder? The idea that you can't sell your property is idiotic at best. If the developers want to make a profit they should make games good enough to buy at full price!
1 Like @umpalumpa69 @yixingtpot Differnce is you OWN your house / car. You don;t OWN any game. You pay for a licence to play /use it. All software works this way.
You still have only bought a license to play it. You can own a physical copy all you want but, if a company say?s you can?t trade or resell their product then that is their right. The courts will still say you don?t own their product. It would be still stolen property but, only copies of those games.
@sammoth @umpalumpa69 @yixingtpot I have 2 big shelves full of games that I OWN and I'd beg to differ. I may not own the rights to take content from those games and reuse it to make new content, "that'd be copyright infringement" but the actual copy of the game which I bought and stuck on my shelf and in my game console I do in fact own.
Need proof? Try to take it from me, and I'll let the court decide whether or not I "owned" the game or not.
@umpalumpa69 @sammoth @yixingtpot I agree but, that is how it is. However like all software you are allowed to transfer licences. I could see something like a $5 fee to transefer it. Not Full price. The only way to stop it is to speak with your wallets. I also don't see Sony or MS doing this at all.
@umpalumpa69 @sammoth @yixingtpot You agreed to the terms. Most people just say yes and agree to them without reading them.
@sammoth @umpalumpa69 @yixingtpot I bought the game but I don't own the game. I paid 60 dollars to rent a game?
@sammoth @umpalumpa69 @yixingtpot
You are confusing what I said with how they have termed their licensing agreements. I don't care how they term them. My point is that saying I can't resell it is stupid regardless of what they are attempting to ram down our throats. The secondary market is a huge boost to the economy across all sectors. It's not a surprise that a group of judges backed by Silicon Valley support this idiocy but it doesn't make it right. I fully support their right to deny me the ability to reverse engineer, steal, or copy and redistribute their software. I don't support their ability to tell me I don't own it.
4 Like @sammoth@umpalumpa69@yixingtpot
I'm glad you brought that up (yixingtpot). Few people recognize that it's essentially the same thing as the examples you listed (selling your car, or home). And yes (sammoth) the game is an Intellectual Property, only the developers own that property. However, as the consumer, if you purchase a physical copy of said property, it's yours to do with as you please. And just because "all software works this way" doesn't mean it should. Even though you purchase a Ford vehicle, you don't own the patent on that vehicle - Ford does ... yet you can choose to sell it if you please. In that example, the game as an Intellectual Property is the patent. I will add, though, that I didn't agree with yixingtpot when he/she said that devs should create better titles if they want people to pay full price. For lack of a better term, that's unfair. Many developers create truly amazing games, games worth their full price tag, even so, that doesn't necessarily mean everyone can afford to pay that price. I have a great job, I don't have kids, I have disposable income, I can buy the games I want when they release. Not all of my friends have that luxury because they may not make as much as I do, and they have kids, and family responsibilities. To assume that anyone could buy the game, because it's worth it ... well not only is that subjective, but it's an unfair assumption.
I'm sure microsoft know better than to forcefully interfere with secondhand sales of consoles and games. They're not foolish enough to hurt their own sales.
A lot of retailers offer deals on secondhand trade-ins now. It used to just be limited to videogame stores, but now we see Virgin Megastores, HMV, and similar entertainment retailers participating. It would be wiser to find a way to skim a cut off those secondhand profits than to anger those retailers by removing them from the equation.
@Jonny-Two-Delta I can't think of a single retailer who'd stock a piece of shit like rumored on this article.
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