Microsoft announces Xbox One price: $499/£429 launches in 21 countries in November

[jimbo77]

apologies if being stupid but do not seem to get the locking the games after 24 hours without internet connection, can someone explain?? i do not play my xbox360 on a daily basis but it is always hooked up to internet via network cable - does this mean i need to connect to the xbox 1 on a daily basis otherwise i wont be able to play the games i purchase (via disc)

[dannyboy]

apologies if being stupid but do not seem to get the locking the games after 24 hours without internet connection, can someone explain?? i do not play my xbox360 on a daily basis but it is always hooked up to internet via network cable - does this mean i need to connect to the xbox 1 on a daily basis otherwise i wont be able to play the games i purchase (via disc)

If you lose Internet connection for 24 hours, or do not connect to the Internet in 24 hours then any game, whether it's single player or multiplayer will not work. One of the main reasons they are doing this is because the game installs to your hard drive and the cloud after you buy it on disc. If you decide to sell the game on disc, it gets scanned at retail and then is deleted from your system at home. That's why it needs to be connected every 24 hours for these checks to take place.

[jimbo77]

If you lose Internet connection for 24 hours, or do not connect to the Internet in 24 hours then any game, whether it's single player or multiplayer will not work. One of the main reasons they are doing this is because the game installs to your hard drive and the cloud after you buy it on disc. If you decide to sell the game on disc, it gets scanned at retail and then is deleted from your system at home. That's why it needs to be connected every 24 hours for these checks to take place.

so as long as the machine is connected to the internet then I wont have any issues?? I believe the machine is always switched on so in theory I wont need to physically turn on unless i lose internet connection for more then 24hrs - I never disconnect my devices from my broadband.

[dannyboy]

so as long as the machine is connected to the internet then I wont have any issues?? I believe the machine is always switched on so in theory I wont need to physically turn on unless i lose internet connection for more then 24hrs - I never disconnect my devices from my broadband.

You'll be fine if you're always connected, more than likely the checks are taken place when it's in standby mode too. If not the checks are made once you turn the machine on anyway. I believe MS are pushing it as the main media point in your house with the HDMI in port. So turn your TV on, it'll go straight to the Xbox dashboard. Want to watch Sky? Go to the TV section. Want to play a game? Go to the Game section etc.

But those without the Internet, lose internet for more than 24 hours, are moving house and won't have the internet for weeks will not be able to play any games at all until it is connected to the Internet again, although the TV and media features will still work.

[EvilBoB]

Id get 1 if the internet wasnt needed every 24hrs like crazyal said 2 weeks check in. And as for the digital buying i dont mind, but microsoft should let you buy it and if you dont like within 30mins refund bit like android market place.

All my kit is permanently connected to the internet. I can't see how someone couldn't have their setup like this. In standby the new XBox will still have a certain element on (This will allow things like the "XBox On" command on Kinect. This will also have connectivity if the internet is available.

In 2012 84.1% of homes in the UK had internet connectivity (source : http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/ma...d-demographics). This number will only increase. Now think about this for a moment. How many people do you ACTUALLY know that don't have broadband? I doubt there's many. My grandparents and the local drunk in town are the only people that spring to mind. It's almost a given that a household will be online these days so there is absolutely no excuse for not configuring the wifi in your console.

The argument of not being online is a weak one at best. I am very surprised that DF people are whinging about this - unless they just want free games on a modded console that can't be connected online...

Of course Windows needs activation and regularly checks too and this has been circumvented using VMs that act as an activation server so it's not outside the realms of possibility that a similar system can/could be used with the new XBox.

[normanji]

Ive never bothered to have a modded console i pay for games and i understand ms want to stop piracy. my dad is a softcore gamer, doesnt play online hasnt got the time nor the internet, he wants an x1 but after reading about it he cant get 1 due to no internet.
Internet around my way, virgin been the best but also the worst its good value for money and speed but fucking shit for gaming, as speeds get bigger it seems to get worser for gaming. Yeah i could change isp but the my line can take is 2mb at its best which if i was paying £5 per month yeah id take that. We pay £34 per month for 30mb and although seems good is shit as i said above. There are 6 houses on the side of the road i live on all but 1 have internet and all on virgin, longest ive been without the internet tv and phone is nearly 4 weeks, and therefore x1 is not useable. sure i could take it to a pals with internet to check in but i shouldnt have to nor should any one else. The internet is down more times here than anything.

[macmilm]

It also screws people who may from time to time take the XBOX ONE on the hols with em... no taking it to the static caravan or the south of france for 2 weeks with no Broadband !!!!

I know lots of people that do this kind of thing with the 360 and it would piss em all off.. M$ Should allow a 3 week holiday per annum from the X Ones restriction of this lol

[SiE]

You could probably tether your console to your mobile to authenticate.

[macmilm]

You could probably tether your console to your mobile to authenticate.

Even if your are holidaying in a cave retreat in Peru... and you left your mobile charger in the kitchen back home ????

[normanji]

And what if the xbox servers ever went down, what then.

[caaw]

I must admit the constant having to check in online on a daily basis is a downfall my broadband from virgin was screwed for 2 weeks so does that mean i wouldnt then be able to play offline. I also do not like the idea of having to have the kinect constantly connected. If you could simply disconnect the kinect and not use it would be a plus.

[lithho]

i agree with the point about the poxy camera, creeps me out tbh, the fact its always got to be on. Im a big xbox fan, although i dont play much at all anymore, this new console might be getting a wide birth from me. I always have everything connected to the net, but and this is the point, its cause i WANT them connected not cause i have to.

[Bald Bouncer]

NSA Domestic Spying Program Makes Xbox One Even Scarier

The government has been spying on US citizens by tapping into the servers of American tech giants according to The Guardian—so much for making privacy a priority.



Revelations that the government has access to all of Verizon’s call ‘metadata’ have widened.

The Guardian is reporting that the government has had essentially unfettered access to the servers of most of the biggest American tech companies since the end of the Bush administration.

This access began in 2007 and includes tech giants like Google GOOG +0.39%, Yahoo YHOO +1.75%,Apple AAPL +0.67%, Facebook FB -0.98% and Microsoft MSFT -0.74%.

Under the program—dubbed PRISM—the government can access all of your photos, email correspondence, stored data, and basically whatever else you do using these online services. The program has continued to this date under the Obama administration, according to the Guardian.

The British newspaper is reporting that the leaked PRISM document—a top secret Power Point presentation—is dated April 2013.

As it happens, the first company PRISM tapped for the program was Power Point creator Microsoft way back in 2007.

Microsoft has been lobbing about the deliciously ironic slogan “Your privacy is our priority” in the wake of criticism over its new Xbox One and its inclusion of the Kinect 2.0, which measures everything from motion to heart-rate and sends that information to Microsoft’s servers.

Much has been made recently of the limitations Microsoft is imposing on used games and an always-online (or nearly always-online) internet connection—revelations that have only been compounded by a recent blog post by the tech company.

Allowing publishers to determine which games are permitted for resale and requiring an online verification once every 24 hours are shockingly anti-consumer practices, of course, but the problems with the Xbox One go much deeper.

Until news broke on the PRISM program, fears that data recorded using the Kinect 2.0 would violate the privacy of Xbox One users were mostly vague.

Now that the NSA has apparently unlimited access to Microsoft servers, the notion of a camera in our homes watching us at all times and storing biometric data on Microsoft servers is downright appalling.
Microsoft has said that the Kinect can be turned off, but once it’s up and running how many consumers will actually turn the thing off?

Perhaps more will now—now that we’ve glimpsed just how far the national security state has reached into our private lives, and how a device like the Xbox One could make more personal data than ever before available to government agencies.

In a blog post detailing the Kinect and Xbox One’s privacy rules, Microsoft claims that data will not leave your Xbox One without your express permission.

But the PRISM news, combined with the fact that users will need to log onto the internet once every 24 hours to use the Xbox One, makes this the coldest sort of comfort.

As we’ve seen time and time again with services like Facebook, privacy “rules” can be mercurial at best, and difficult for the average consumer to understand especially as those rules are changed, and more opportunities to “opt-in” to data-sharing programs are presented.

Right now the Xbox One is looking less appealing than ever, even if these privacy concerns are addressed. The perfect storm of bad, anti-consumer and anti-privacy ideas have been baked into Microsoft’s box.

In a statement to Forbes, Microsoft said that it only provides data to the government under court order.

“We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis,” the company said. “In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don’t participate in it.”

At this point, I’d suggest playing it safe and trusting nobody, whether government or corporation, until we learn more about the extent of the NSA’s program.

As bad as the next Kinect could be, think about all the services you currently use that fall under PRISM’s scope.

Read the entire frightening Guardian report here.

P.S. Maybe the processing of all of this juicy domestic data is the reason behind the NSA’s giant spy center in Nevada which you can read about over at Wired.

​Source

[akimba]

I am sure the 24 hour connection is probably not going to be as strict as people are thinking

[dannyboy]

I am sure the 24 hour connection is probably not going to be as strict as people are thinking

I'm not so sure. One of the main reasons for the 24 hour check is to see if the game has been resold at retail. Microsoft are pushing for everything to be digital, disc based games are basically a quick way to install the game to the Xbox hard drive. Once it installs the disc is not needed. But when you want to sell it on, it is scanned at a participating retailer and it will register on the MS servers that it has been sold. When you get home that game is then deleted from your hard drive and the cloud. Don't connect to the internet in 24 hours? then none of your games will work.

[macmilm]

I think the always on camera spying is a bit worrying... As soon as the government get access and see someone of interest sat in your living room your rights will be right out the window!!!
I know that makes me sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist but I reckon that is where it will end up.. Basically we will have the rights until they decide they need something

[{{909}}]

I think the point that everyone is online and that hooking up to the net isn't a big problem isn't the point, its the fact that we have no fucking option but to do it and it gives MS the control to delete things off of OUR hardware without us having any control over it, even if you never buy an online title, or consider selling/buying a s/h game. It feels more and more like we are paying 400 quid for a service rather than a product you take home and is yours. I am more concerned about when MS will turn off the service. I have been gaming since pacman and I have always taken pleasure in owning my hardware and software and knowing I can pick up a 25 year old cartridge and it still works, it still has monetary and personal value. In 25 years are MS (let alone the smaller devs) going to still provide a service where I can play the games I previously paid 50 quid for or do they become worthless pieces of plastic? I understand why they are doing it but I see NO benefit to me, the consumer who has the money to spend. If I am buying a title, I want it to be mine for as long as I want and it not become instantly worthless at the press of a button when MS see's fit.

I may be antiquated in what I regard as gaming, but if this is MS's idea of progress they can shove it up their ass. I dont want a fucking camera watching my every move, a console relaying everything I watch back to MS's servers and I dont want MS deleting shit off my console.

[dannyboy]

I think the point that everyone is online and that hooking up to the net isn't a big problem isn't the point, its the fact that we have no fucking option but to do it and it gives MS the control to delete things off of OUR hardware without us having any control over it, even if you never buy an online title, or consider selling/buying a s/h game. It feels more and more like we are paying 400 quid for a service rather than a product you take home and is yours. I am more concerned about when MS will turn off the service. I have been gaming since pacman and I have always taken pleasure in owning my hardware and software and knowing I can pick up a 25 year old cartridge and it still works, it still has monetary and personal value. In 25 years are MS (let alone the smaller devs) going to still provide a service where I can play the games I previously paid 50 quid for or do they become worthless pieces of plastic? I understand why they are doing it but I see NO benefit to me, the consumer who has the money to spend. If I am buying a title, I want it to be mine for as long as I want and it not become instantly worthless at the press of a button when MS see's fit.

I may be antiquated in what I regard as gaming, but if this is MS's idea of progress they can shove it up their ass. I dont want a fucking camera watching my every move, a console relaying everything I watch back to MS's servers and I dont want MS deleting shit off my console.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-a-toy-company

Miyamoto told Eurogamer that he thought games, like a physical toy, should remain the property of their owner.

[SiE]

What happens if ms leave the console market? (servers go off and your console becomes a door stop)

Will the xbox one and the games you bought work in 20 years when you are booting up your retro games as I do know with my SNES?

The other question is if we cannot sell our games freely, are they going to be cheaper to buy in the first place? (I doubt it)

[EvilBoB]

I think the always on camera spying is a bit worrying... As soon as the government get access and see someone of interest sat in your living room your rights will be right out the window!!!
I know that makes me sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist but I reckon that is where it will end up.. Basically we will have the rights until they decide they need something

Just put some tinfoil over your Kinect