Speaking to GT in an interview that was recorded on Sunday, but aired today, the President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, Don Mattrick, said that their E3 press conference would prove why they chose the controversial 24hr check in restriction, helping people “understand” the move, while adding that it made the One “future proof”.
He said that “I think that people arguably could have gone the other way if we didn’t do it” (which makes absolutely no sense) and that” fortunately we have a product for people that aren’t able to get some form of connectivity – it’s called an Xbox 360″.
If you have zero access, [the 360] is an offline device. I mean, when I read the blogs and thought about who really is the most impacted, there was a person who said ‘hey, I’m on a nuclear sub’ – and I don’t even know what it means to be on a nuclear sub [grins] – but I imagine it’s not easy to get an internet connection. I can empathize, if I was on a sub, I’d be disappointed.
So there you have it, if you live on a sub – or simply live in an area with poor internet – get a current generation 360 that will stop getting new content in a few years. Or get a PS4.
The issue of military servicemen/women being unable to play Xbox One is serious. From a business perspective, that’s a huge market of gamers who won’t be able to use an Xbox One – so huge, in fact, that GameStop have stores on military bases. From a moral perspective, I’m sure we can all agree that completely ignoring and disadvantaging servicemen is just awful – these are people we should all have the greatest respect for.
Mattrick added that, for most people, an online connection works for “the majority of the day”. Which, if true, makes the 24hr log in useable, but not the cloud based rendering some Xbox One games will use.
Do you think Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot with the 24hr connection? Can Sony capitalize on this error? Let us know in the comments below.
