Gaming news xbox one

The Xbox One80

Gamers, breathe a sigh of relief, Microsoft’s President of Interactive Entertainment Business, Don Mattrick revealed last night via a press release that the Xbox One will be undergoing some serious changes.

Gaming news xbox one

Xbox One No Longer Requires an Internet Connection

The changes to the console, which will be released later this year, mean that the console will no longer require an internet connection to function, nor will it need to have some form of connectivity every 24 hours. The need for an online connection had proven immensely unpopular with game critics and even the US army who claimed that the feature made the Xbox One completely useless to troops.

In the press release Don Mattrick said:

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

Microsoft xbox one

Aswell as the changes to the ‘always online’ aspect, Microsoft have also changed their stance on pre-owned games allowing gamers to freely share, rent and trade-in their unwanted games. The press release simplified the changes into two easily explained points.

  • An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
  • Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today”

However, these changes to the console will also impact some of the consoles highlights as the press release also states:

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

This means that Microsoft’s vision of storing all of your games on the Cloud instead of having to keep physical copies will not be happening just yet.

So why has Microsoft changed some of their most boasted features? During E3 Microsoft’s conference only ended badly for the Xbox One, with Sony’s Playstation 4 soon becoming the console gamer’s new favourite. Sony presented itself as the good guy who didn’t want to restrict gamers from sharing games or even using the console, leading to the Playstation 4 stealing the show.

E3

Along with the new features Microsoft also addressed concerns about the security risk that could be present by having the Kinect always on and always watching in a press release.

By design, you will determine how responsive and personalized your Xbox One is to you and your family during setup. The system will navigate you through key privacy options, like automatic or manual sign in, privacy settings, and clear notifications about how data is used. When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded.

So what does this mean about the price? In his press release Don Mattrick didn’t mention anything about an increase of price in either the console or the games, but with publishers gaining less control over the pre-owned market, could we see a rise in online passes and the infamous ‘Day One DLC?’

What do you think about these changes? Are you happy that Microsoft has listened to what fans want? Or are you angry and think they’ve sold out? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @JonathonAalders