AfterDawn: News

Microsoft: Don't have Internet? No Xbox One for you, get an Xbox 360 instead

Xbox boss Don Mattrick, during an interview this week, had an interesting response for gamers who may not be fans of needing an always-on Internet connection.

"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360," said Mattrick. "If you have zero access to the internet, that is an offline device."



Mattrick conveniently ignored the millions of gamers out there that may have slow or unstable Internet. The Xbox One requires authentication (phoning home) every 24 hours, even if you are playing in single player mode.

The company recently unveiled a slimmer, new form-factor Xbox 360 and announced hundreds of new games would still be headed to the console in the coming years, making it a perfectly usable platform.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 23:57

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• 37 comments

• DarthMopar

  Are you kidding me??? Sounds like Microsoft just said F*** you if you don't have broadband. Wow...the fact that they are sticking to this authentication requirement, when Sony just said you are free to play offline as much as you like for $100 less is just amazing.
  

  13.6.2013 00:04 #1

• elbald90

  microsoft are becoming the next apple , its the " don't hold it like that " saga all over again
  

  13.6.2013 01:27 #2

• m3_chris

  What a slap in the face... Curious to how the die hard Xbox fans feel about this.

  13.6.2013 02:21 #3

• Dragon3000

  Thinking about it, is it actually that much of a problem? Anyone who owns a 360 or PS3 are bound to be connected to the internet anyway and this is probably why Microsoft are sticking to their guns. Yes, I appreciate that it's a matter of principle for most people but realistically? you're going to be connected anyway. As stated within the opening of the London Olympics by the great Danny Boyle 'We have officially entered the Digital Age' and with that in mind we are ALL looking to be connected online 24/7.
  
  Yes, we have the PS4 and yes they have stated that you can play offline if you want to. That is a good 'selling point' but again, you are more than likely going to need to connect to the internet anyway for updates on those games you bought.
  
  I honestly think that Microsoft don't have too much to worry about here, apart from their price point that they might have to reduce to keep up with the PS4.
  
  
  

  13.6.2013 03:00 #4

• bloke2000

  It sounds like he is saying the XBox 360 is still alive and good enough to consider as an off-line alternative to the One. If that is the case then the One becomes redundant because the 360 can do on-line and off-line.

  13.6.2013 03:38 #5

• Justoneguy

  Originally posted by Dragon3000:
  I honestly think that Microsoft don't have too much to worry about here, apart from their price point that they might have to reduce to keep up with the PS4.
  
  So your someone who doesn't mind having a company restrict how you use the games your supposed to own. I think you've over simplified it. A LOT of people are upset that Microsoft and it's new spybox will restrict how you lend/trade games your supposed to own. That will hurt them, we'll just have to see how much.

  13.6.2013 03:43 #6

• Menion

  I own a 360 and I'm "Not" connected. I stripped my slim of its wireless card directly after i pulled it from the box, I hate forced updates and over writing hardware and slipping interesting files non mentioned into "Required" updates.
  
  With the new Kinnect having to be always on tracking blood flow, video, sound and direct link to cloud storage I feel my privacy is being violated, not "Principal" but that's just me, no way in hell would I put the spybox in my living room somethings fishy on how belligerent they are ensuring they have access to a device in your living room with a camera at all times

  13.6.2013 05:08 #7

• bigfamei

  Originally posted by Dragon3000: Thinking about it, is it actually that much of a problem? Anyone who owns a 360 or PS3 are bound to be connected to the internet anyway and this is probably why Microsoft are sticking to their guns. Yes, I appreciate that it's a matter of principle for most people but realistically? you're going to be connected anyway. As stated within the opening of the London Olympics by the great Danny Boyle 'We have officially entered the Digital Age' and with that in mind we are ALL looking to be connected online 24/7.
  
  Yes, we have the PS4 and yes they have stated that you can play offline if you want to. That is a good 'selling point' but again, you are more than likely going to need to connect to the internet anyway for updates on those games you bought.
  
  I honestly think that Microsoft don't have too much to worry about here, apart from their price point that they might have to reduce to keep up with the PS4.
  
  That is a not true. In urban and burb areas in the US. Its less then 90% availability and if you are in the country. Its going to be less then 50% Hell 10% of our country is still using dial up! And just because its available doesn't mean its affordable or fast enough. If you have a long term outage like my buddies area that got hit by the May 20th Moore tornado. He was without broadband for a week. And I'm sure he would have dropped his ditched is xbox by day 4. Also new games for those who don't have the net. Usually carry game and dashboard updates. But they are still playable.
  
  The problem is that the xbox 1 is just a rented system. You don't own the games, games can be removed from your xbox(yes it has happened) And if you don't check in. Your system is disabled. Want to play a movie from a USB. Can't unless you are connected to the net for xbox.
  
  How long do you expect MS to keep providing new games for an old system? It didn't take very long for the original xbox to get left behind after the 360 hit the market. Its us gamers that push the new systems to the average guy. Without their support. Good luck selling it.
  

  13.6.2013 05:23 #8

• GryphB

  Digging its' own grave... Love it!

  13.6.2013 06:37 #9

• xnonsuchx

  Originally posted by elbald90: microsoft are becoming the next apple , its the " don't hold it like that " saga all over again
  Except the "don't hold it like that"/"you're holding it wrong" thing was true...I had friends w/ iPhones show me how oddly you had to hold it to affect the signal that badly (which would only drop the signal by maybe 30% at most). And polling showed that only around 5% or so of users said they had any issue with it...though it's certainly more than the 0.0000001% of iPod/iPhone users w/ 'exploding' battery issues, but also less than the ~15% of console buyers who say backwards compatibility is important to them.

  13.6.2013 07:16 #10

• ivymike

  Sounds like the soup nazi.....
  
  "No X-box for you! Come back one year!"

  13.6.2013 08:57 #11

• Mysttic

  That's a whole lot of special there Don; come holidays we'll likely see PS4s in demand and short of stock and likely everyone else would go with Wii-U over MS. Sure there will be those die hard fans that appreciate the value of Xbone's games over ownership *not just software, but what impact will this have on the hardware if reselling used?* : and there will be the parents who get suckered into said system by kids who don't know better for things like Sesame Street and Rabbids TV; still I don't expect this to do well, but what I expect doesn't matter. As someone said, it's all up to the consumers, not even gamers, just over all educated (or not educated) consumer spending.

  13.6.2013 10:29 #12

• joepet200

  Me to Xbox boss Don Mattrick: "No Xbox1 for me? No Xbox1 sale for you" Try meet your quota with that.
  Maybe they are look for your type of product marketing at Netflix?
  

  13.6.2013 11:42 #13

• ddp

  what happens if the kinect is diconnected or it craps out, does the xbox1 still continue to work & let you play games?
  

  13.6.2013 12:53 #14

• hearme0

  That is a HUGE "F YOU!"
  
  No excuse WHAT-SO-EVER for needing an "always on connection" and moreover, NO NEED FOR EVERY 24 HOURS FOR VALIDATION.
  
  I truly hope that this unit fails like Windows Vista and soon-to-be Win8!
  
  I do love MS but hate some of the crap they pull like this.

  13.6.2013 13:37 #15

• scorpNZ

  How easy one forgets, no! that's not right its plain ignorance to expect everybody to have internet assuming it even works half the time & what a frak'n toe rag to suggest use a 360,wtf how you supposed to play newer games considering the stack of em dropped the support for the original xbox like a stone & nothing new was released game wise,however it should be interesting to see if there's a back track by ms as from what i've been reading in other forums the backlash looks set to be huge,time will tell,Sony at this point looks set to trounce ms if this bs continues.
  

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  13.6.2013 14:25 #16

• ThePastor

  The problem with "Always on" is not DRM... it's the forced updates and the potentially restricted use on Hardware.
  For example: If I put my own, not-approved Hard drive into my box, always on makes it so they can disable my machine.
  If I install my own not-approved software, always on can disable my box.
  
  

  Oh, Im sorry... Did the middle of my sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?

  13.6.2013 14:43 #17

• Mrguss

  To @Microsoft ---> No Xbox 1 for me.
  No $ from me to you Spyboxes.
  My $ goes to PS4... end of the BS.
  

  +5000

  13.6.2013 15:24 #18

• JOHNSTARR

  You can't rock titanfall, destiny or battlefield 4 properly without Internet. Microsoft is just doing those suckazzz a favor by telling them up front this isn't for you.
  

  No time for Leap frog!!!

  13.6.2013 15:29 #19

• ugc

  What he said - "Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360," said Mattrick. "If you have zero access to the internet, that is an offline device."
  
  What I heard - "Fortunately there is a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called PS4," said Mattrick. "If you have zero access to the internet, that is an offline device."
  
  

  Know how to drive a person CRAZY? <<Click Here>>

  13.6.2013 15:33 #20

• DarthMopar

  Originally posted by Mrguss: To @Microsoft ---> No Xbox 1 for me.
  No $ from me to you Spyboxes.
  My $ goes to PS4... end of the BS. SpyBox...I love that! Hope it catches on. LOL
  

  13.6.2013 15:34 #21

• SoTired

  MSFT has bungled the XB1 announcements to no end. Their policies tick me off.
  
  With that said, I do not share the view that any of this stuff matters to most people. While the principle of it annoys me, I suspect this nonsense will all be a yawner at the end of the day.
  
  First, as for the internet connection: It has no impact on the vast majority of the market. Yes, there are people who still don’t have an internet connection. But the 68-year-old widow chicken farmer in Podunk, Nebraska with no internet connection isn’t buying a $500 gaming console anyway. And if you are otherwise willing to shell out $500 for an XB1, much of what you are paying for are in the nature of new online features; if you don’t have an internet connection to enjoy those features, why would you spend a bunch of money on an XB1 or a PS4 when you can buy a much cheaper 360 or PS3 that will play most of the same games anyway? The principle annoys me, but as a practical matter, aside from a few oddballs in highly unusual situations, very few customers will care.
  
  Second, the used game issue is a much bigger annoyance to me. However, it’s still an annoyance based on principle. I haven’t identified a single game that I will be unable to sell used (and neither have you, because none have announced that restriction). What we do know is that no games published by MSFT will have that restriction. So you can sell Halo if you want. We also know that the vast majority of games will be multi-platform; for many reasons, a publisher would be foolish to restrict transferability on the XB1 version of a game when the same game is freely transferable on the PS4. So it is highly unlikely that the multi-platform games will be restricted. Which means that the only games that are likely to be restricted are XB1 exclusive games published by third parties. That’s a pretty small list of games, and those publishers will be wary of putting used game restrictions on their games when very few other games have such restrictions. One or two publishers may try, but the market will respond accordingly, and the publishers will learn their lesson. Again, the principle bothers me immensely, but I think it will be a yawner for most people. And if, practically speaking, very few games are restricted, then maybe the principle won’t bother me so much either.

  13.6.2013 16:33 #22

• ugc

  Take a read of the PRE ORDER DISCLAIMER:
  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/pre-order-xbox-one/disclaimer
  
  
  Wow.
  

  Know how to drive a person CRAZY? <<Click Here>>

  13.6.2013 19:52 #23

• Mysttic

  Quote:Take a read of the PRE ORDER DISCLAIMER:
  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/pre-order-xbox-one/disclaimer That's as funny as it is sad: this should be news in its own right. Good post.

  13.6.2013 20:21 #24

• biglo30

  They should say "don't have Internet connection? Get a ps4 instead!!!!"

  13.6.2013 20:46 #25

• Mysttic

  Originally posted by biglo30: They should say "don't have Internet connection? Get a ps4 instead!!!!" It doesn't even come with a cable to connect to your TV. NO composite, no HDMI, nothing. For $100 more we'll throw in Kinect but you can't hook it up to your TV! Awesome bargain... GO back to the store and buy and HDMI cable; only it's farking xmas day, and all those kids who are opening xmas day and don't have a cable are going to cry... Kids are going to steal it off the 360 or PS3s instead, and their dad's are going to be yelling NOOOOOOOooooooo.

  13.6.2013 21:03 #26

• lilfree22

  I loved Xbox but as they say loss is part of love goodbye Xbox hello play station
  

  
  
  
  4get psp's im on dat 360 now cha dig!!
  

  14.6.2013 00:55 #27

• molsen

  I really think M$ is seeing what the feeling will be now, and make appropriate changes before release. I think with all this swagger there will be a backlash.
  
  Then again.....I might be wrong and the consumer will give the big fu to M$ and then after a dismal start will then realize a firmware update is needed and make the system available off line as well.
  
  I will wait until 1st quarter 2014 to see what issues may arise with either system. As it stands right now, PS4 vote for me.
  

  14.6.2013 07:06 #28

• Mysttic

  Quote:I really think M$ is seeing what the feeling will be now, and make appropriate changes before release. I think with all this swagger there will be a backlash.
  
  Then again.....I might be wrong and the consumer will give the big fu to M$ and then after a dismal start will then realize a firmware update is needed and make the system available off line as well.
  
  I will wait until 1st quarter 2014 to see what issues may arise with either system. As it stands right now, PS4 vote for me. No offense here: but you are wrong, MS won't change anything prior to launch.
  
  First they capped their demand knowing about the high criticism, so they are already prepared for either scenario if suddenly there be a mad pre-order rush, but will look good if they hit their forecasted #s anyhow.
  
  Second, there would be no need to change anything until after launch because actual figures instead of forecasted ones would show what consumers would tolerate.
  
  Third, it would then come down to US VS Global-wide sales, as it's generally expected Xbox will sell well in US as everything works out of the box for that country.

  14.6.2013 08:42 #29

• SuckRaven

  Except here's the thing........We all know that SONY likes to bait and switch. At least MS is being honest right-off-the-bat about the requirements for its next console. As much as it pains me to say it, it is very likely that this is exactly the kind of PR stunt that SONY couldn't even come up with in their wildest dreams. Wait for MS to make its announcement, then wait for the grumblings/backlash, and then do exactly the opposite....for now....
  
  It's entirely conceivable that SONY will do exactly what they did with the PS3. They'll start making hardware....umm....revisions, and stripping out features. except in this case, those "features" will be the same as what MS is already stating. Always-on and phone-home authentication etc. I will be very surprised, if a few hardware revisions in, the PS4 remains a "clean" console, as it was intended during inception and good PR speak. But we'll have to wait and see. If SONY can manage to keep their console free from phoning home, or even just requiring an internet connection at all to play games, then I applaud them.
  

  SuckRaven

  14.6.2013 13:54 #30

• joebloe12

  To those that are sticking up for Microsoft...... as Forest Gump's mom has said......YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!
  
  If any of you are gullible enough to THINK that MS should get away with this, then there is no hope for you...YOU CAN"T FIX STUPID! Sorry, you just can't and I will not even bother to try to explain to MS fanboy's why this is so bad. But most people with brains have figured it out. For the brainless there is no hope.
  
  MS is acting anti-consumer! PERIOD! I don't know what more there is to say except some people are so stupid that they will accept anything and even make excuses like the MS fanboys coming on here and telling the people with brains that it is "no big deal"!
  
  Go ahead and be stupid and GET the spybox one. Does not bother me in the slightest...but DON"T try to tell me that what MS is doing is "no big deal"!
  

  15.6.2013 00:16 #31

• tongs007

  Originally posted by Menion: I own a 360 and I'm "Not" connected. I stripped my slim of its wireless card directly after i pulled it from the box, I hate forced updates and over writing hardware and slipping interesting files non mentioned into "Required" updates.
  
  that's a bit extreme you shouldn't have let it join in your network via the router

  15.6.2013 14:23 #32

• scorpNZ

  Originally posted by tongs007: Originally posted by Menion: I own a 360 and I'm "Not" connected. I stripped my slim of its wireless card directly after i pulled it from the box, I hate forced updates and over writing hardware and slipping interesting files non mentioned into "Required" updates.
  
  Originally posted by tongs007: that's a bit extreme you shouldn't have let it join in your network via the router
  
  agreed disabling live is all that's required works fine on my jtag
  
  

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  15.6.2013 19:46 #33

• Bigwillyz

  This has all changed now
  
  
  
  http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/19/...d-game-policies

  20.6.2013 10:54 #34

• DarthMopar

  Wow...they caved
  

  20.6.2013 12:04 #35

• scorpNZ

  They saw a poll done who was going to buy a ps4 vs xbox one,30,000 want a ps4 only 3000 want an xbox 1,i don't believe they didn't know there would be a backlash & now we're the good guys for listening to our public & back tracking,good guys! yeah right when hell freezes over
  

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  20.6.2013 15:05 #36

• voyager

  "Xbox One Will Not Require Internet, Restrict Used Games"!
  
  "Tooo late people and Xbox haters"...
  Microsoft quit all those problems; internet connection preown games etc...
  Now let me hear you xboxters., return again to safe home.

  20.6.2013 15:25 #37