Creative Director at Microsoft Studios Adam Orth has gone on twitter to defend the always online requirement that the Xbox 720 console is rumored to feature.
He tweeted earlier today:
“Sorry, I don’t get the drama around having an “always on” console. Every device now is “always on”. That’s the world we live in. #dealwithit”
When someone asked him about people without the internet, he just simply replied for those people to “get with the times and get the internet“. He also mentioned it shouldn’t be a problem if internet drops since electricity drops too.
I do think there is a bit of arrogance and ignorance to his opinion. Some people cannot afford the internet, but may still want to play games. There may be people out there that might move house and want to play games until they get their internet reconnected. They won’t be able to play games at all if they need to be connected all of the time. Simply “getting with the times and getting internet” is a luxury some people cannot afford right now especially in this economy.
I also feel he lives in an area of the USA that has a fast and reliable internet connection. I live in New Zealand and my internet is slow and drops off very often. Not to mention there are some countries in the world that are worse off than New Zealand when it comes to internet accessibility.
Hopefully Microsoft does not implement an “always online” feature for the Xbox 720. One has to look at EA and its launch of SimCity to know that it might be a disastrous and risky move to take.
Deadpool
April 5, 2013 at 3:44 AMWhat about people with spotty Internet, what about our overseas soldiers with xbox’s, I know plenty as I’m a retired Marine. It’s too soon to implement this type of console Microsoft, please reconsider until the next iteration of the Xbox
random dude
April 5, 2013 at 9:29 AMPS4 it is
Matt
April 5, 2013 at 11:20 AMIf the Xbox 720 requires an always on connection, i’m afraid i shall be moving back over to camp Sony instead. Microsoft need to remember that the average age of a gamer is now 34. Many people 30+ don’t really play games online as they come from an age where all they had was a campaign to play, and that’s what they like. Me and my friends (all in our 30’s) only buy games for the campaign, we don’t use all the online stuff. I’ve got 2 Xbox 360’s + 52 games, i’ve only ever played 2 of those online in the 7yrs i’ve had the consoles, then that was using the free 48 hour codes that used to come free with games. Us older gamer’s still prefer gaming to be a solitary experience. Think about it, we grew up playing games in the 80’s,90’s and early 2000’s, back then there was no online gaming, all we had was campaigns to play, that’s what we’re used to and like. Also many countries don’t have ‘truly’ unlimited broadband, so you can see people being scared of racking up a huge bill and being forced to pay it. I myself use mobile dongle broadband with a 15GB monthly usage allowance. Reason i get my internet this way is cost. It costs me £15 a month, where normal broadband would cost me £16 a month + £10.75p line rental a month. That £11.75p i save each month goes towards buying new games. Also what happened to saving the plant and switching things off?