Xbox one revealed, next-gen console from Microsoft

[Graal]

I guess the XBOX360 and PS3 were something more than XBOX/PS2 with better hardware?

No, they weren't, which actually just makes it worse. Consoles haven't seen any innovation in generations.

I'd have my console online 24/7 anyway, so that doesn't bother me in the slightest. I know this is flogging the dead four-legged running animal a bit, but is always-on really such a bad thing? Steam pretty much requires us to be online, by having a hopeless offline system, but there are very few complaints there.. D3 and SC2 both require always-on connections to progress in the game, but we've accepted that..

The problem is, now you're limited to where you can use it. When I was younger, I took my PS2 everywhere with me. We often spent 4 weeks at our holiday home over Decembers, and I'd take it with me to use on the shitty days when we couldn't play outside. Now that's not possible.

Portability and ease of use have always been major features of consoles.

[czc]

I get that always-on internet isn't.. erm.. always on, but what I'm getting at is that we've accepted it in other formats/forms. If you don't explicitly log Steam out to offline mode and the internet dies, guess what? You're screwed out of your Steam library until you're online again.. But we've become accustomed to this and tolerate it. And tether our phones for emergencies.

I'm not trying to say that this is a brilliant idea, just that maybe it's not worth boycotting the console over.

I'm able to go into Offline mode without hassle if my internet is down. So it must be something other than that.

[Saint_Dee]

No, they weren't, which actually just makes it worse. Consoles haven't seen any innovation in generations.



The problem is, now you're limited to where you can use it. When I was younger, I took my PS2 everywhere with me. We often spent 4 weeks at our holiday home over Decembers, and I'd take it with me to use on the shitty days when we couldn't play outside. Now that's not possible.

Portability and ease of use have always been major features of consoles.

+1. Another factor to consider whenever the topic of always-on comes up.

[jasong]

No, they weren't, which actually just makes it worse. Consoles haven't seen any innovation in generations.

That statement just isn't true. A console in itself is just a graphics-oriented computer with some kind of controller. You can't do much to change that basic model. It's in the details of the implementations of the types of control, interface, services and so on that there's room for innovation. And there's been plenty of that in the past few generations.

The problem is, now you're limited to where you can use it. When I was younger, I took my PS2 everywhere with me. We often spent 4 weeks at our holiday home over Decembers, and I'd take it with me to use on the shitty days when we couldn't play outside. Now that's not possible.

That would be a problem yeah.

[Graal]

I'm able to go into Offline mode without hassle if my internet is down. So it must be something other than that.

Yeah, Steam offline mode was fixed somewhere in the past few months. There was a big discussion on it on the Steam forums. I haven't had trouble with it in a long, long time.

That statement just isn't true. A console in itself is just a graphics-oriented computer with some kind of controller. You can't do much to change that basic model. It's in the details of the implementations of the types of control, interface, services and so on that there's room for innovation. And there's been plenty of that in the past few generations.

And yet the Nintendo at least tried to innovate the way you play games on their console by changing up their controller with the Wii-U. Microsoft isn't trying to do something new to improve the gameplay experience.

[Ike_009]

This talk about innovation reminds me of this http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...e-of-Two-Poets

[jasong]

And yet the Nintendo at least tried to innovate the way you play games on their console by changing up their controller with the Wii-U. Microsoft isn't trying to do something new to improve the gameplay experience.

Wii-U controller was changed but not really in a very well executed way. If it's just change for the sake of change then it's worthless. I keep going on about the new Kinect - IF it's properly executed with exceptional resolution that you could use your fingers in place of a controller with that level of sensitivity, that counts as a legitimate innovation.

[Grievous]

See, the problem is, our complacence has made this the acceptable norm when it shouldn't be.

Its not really my complacence, I've never had a problem with it, since I've had always on internet since they started implementing these features. As crap as Diablo 3 was, it at least forced my friends to sort out their internet connections, get online and experience the small extras you get with being always online. Highscore lists, Lap times for racing games. That sort of thing, which they never bothered with because they didnt see the point until being forced online. The line is being blurred between offline games and online. You wouldn't question always online with Dota 2? Yet you could possibly play with bots offline if they allowed it.

[jasong]

Nice article on the XBOX One media capabilities:

Hardcore Console Gamers Don't Want Much, Just the Impossible

[_Caboose_]

Call of duty Ghosts spoiler...























Dog is gna die