Today, Creative Director over at Microsoft, said on is now, private twitter account, that he doesn’t understand something, here’s the quote from his twitter before making it private:
I’ll preface this with, this is an opinion on what he said, and my thoughts on an “Always on” console. Gaming on a console, isn’t always meant to be a strictly online deal. If I recall, multiplayer gaming in the past was, you, your friends over someone’s place, and your drinking soda and yelling and having fun with each other. Online gaming is recent, and lets be honest, a console doesn’t need to always be on to be enjoyed. You play some games by yourself, other games you play online because, guess what they are meant for multiplayer. But lets throw in the idea of, single player experience, like the recent release of Bioshock Infinite. Single Player only, and if you have a crappy connection, you can’t play it, if the new Microsoft console was current generation.
Makes no sense, right? All devices nowadays aren’t always on, but I’ll say this, phones need to since they require an connection to, you know, call a person! A 3DS doesn’t need a connection to play any of the games, it’s just the extra stuff created by the developer for you to access. Isn’t need to play the game, offline, but to add to the experience. An “Always On” console alienates anybody who doesn’t have a stable connection anywhere in the world. It alienates the gamer, who doesn’t play online because it’s not their cup of tea. It alienates the gamer, who, doesn’t have the internet because they just moved, and to pass the time in the morning or at night, they game! An “Always on” console, is just a weird version of DRM, if you can connect and verify your console, its a brick and you wasted money, but in the long run, in this case, Microsoft still makes money.
In the long run, gaming is offline first, then online. Microsoft, don’t cater to people who play online only. Guess what, people still play offline, and with their friends, on a single console, in a single room, and have a blast. Microsoft, I may be a fanboy of PlayStation, but I manage to think as a person. Don’t squander, the generation win you’ve gained this generation over Sony, only to lose, a large chunk of your fanbase over an “Always On” console.