Xbox One: Concerns for Next-Gen

Microsoft has unveiled it's new system: Xbox One. While most groan at the name (I know I did), it's Microsoft admitting they are focusing on everything, not just gaming. The "All-In-One" console. See what they did there? Clever.

The majority of the conference itself was focused on the casual crowd, not the gamers. We saw a lot of what the Kinect can do and the numerous apps that the new console will use. The integration, if working properly, looks amazing and better than what it currently does. While all of this is intriguing, as a gamer, that's not what I care about. And unfortunately for those who saw the conference, I wasn't the consumer they were caring about. Games were featured in the last 20-30 minutes, with only two real exclusives in Forza 5 and Quantum Break. I love games, but I don't get surprised with the reveals of EA sports games which come out every year.

So I wanted to make a post regarding my biggest concerns for the Xbox One, especially since most of the big news has been coming out after the conference itself. And it seems to be with good reason.


Internet Connection Required

Microsoft was quick to point out after the conference that the always-online rumor is indeed that, a rumor. But there were two caveats, one being, that an Internet connection is required. As Joystiq points out, Xbox had a Q&A on it's website answering various questions posed to them by users and while admitting that it isn't always-online, you must have an active Internet connection for the console.

To stoke the fires a tad more, the post was removed shortly after.

So at least to my understanding, it seems that while it's possible to run games offline, there will be cases where needing an Internet connection is required regardless. One of which could be to just log in and "save" your profile to that Xbox. The other...



Used Game Fees

Wired broke the news that used games will be playable. Hallelujah! That rumor has now been debunked as well. But not so fast, there may be something hidden they didn't quite mention straight out!

According to Microsoft, all game discs need to be installed to be playable on the new Xbox. Not a big deal, it sounds like something Sony currently does on the PS3. But where the concern comes in is with used games and the ability for multiple accounts to play the same game. For a second account to play the game, a user will be given the option to pay a fee and install the game. You read that correctly, a fee to play an online game.

EA recently announced that it is dropping it's online pass option from it's games because it just wasn't working and it was listening to it's fan base. But then news of this drops, and it seems to make sense. Instead of having online passes, just have "game passes" so you need to pay a fee whether you play single or multiplayer.

Jon Hicks with Xbox Magazine then went on to confirm that a used game will need an additional fee to be played. And once it is installed, the original user will have it uninstalled which seems to lead more credence to that required Internet connection.


Kinect Requirement

Big Brother is watching you. And now, you won't have a choice. IGN has word from Xbox UK Marketing Director Harvey Eagle that Kinect is a requirement for the Xbox One, otherwise, it will not work. Eagle went on to assure that the Kinect will work even in non-living room layouts including bedrooms, but as current Kinect owners know, that statement needs to be proven to be believed.

While the idea of Kinect is awesome, it has fallen far short of it's potential. If it works as intended, fantastic, but most devices don't usually work flawlessly. And to force users to require this device makes little sense. Not to mention, who knows what exactly Microsoft sees from a Kinect transmission.



Exclusivity

I'm sure to most, this doesn't seem like that big of a problem. Exclusivity isn't anything new, especially when it comes to Microsoft and many of the multi-platform games.

The reason I put this as a concern is because it seems Microsoft is taking the safe route and not expanding on more gaming studios. I'm sure they are tossing a pretty penny to games like Call of Duty to receive DLC a month earlier than other systems, but I would much rather them go the route of giving that money to a developer and put out a console-exclusive game instead.

To continue and go this limited exclusivity route feels lazy. While it will undoubtedly help their sales, it just feels like a cheap ploy to lure gamers to their consoles instead of doing so with actual games that no other console can have. There is something that makes me cringe at this business practice and I refuse to give Microsoft any of my money for these lame tactics. But for those who love these games, some will be rewarded by early access, and some will be punished for it. All for the sake of that limited exclusivity. Ugh.




It's a shame that I'm being less and less interested in this new Xbox console. It seems that there are answers being obscured as much as possible, and these aren't questions that don't need to be danced around if they are easy enough to answer. Trying to hide behind all of these vague answers doesn't bode well for things like used games and required Internet connections, not to mention the concrete answers of no backwards compatibility or Xbox Live games being carried over.

It's great that Kinect should work better and more servers are being added, but if all of this negative sounding talk is coming up now, it makes me scared about what else is unknown to us.