Xbox One Is Not Always Online, But Seems To Restrict Used Games

The next Xbox won't require an Internet connection to function, but could very well block used games, unless you feel like paying Microsoft some extra cash.

Wired got a look at Xbox One before today's big reveal, and they say that games will require installation to use. “On the new Xbox, all game discs are installed to the HDD to play,” Microsoft told them.

But games will be tied to an Xbox Live account, Wired reveals—or else you'd just be able to pass games around to everyone you know. And if you want to link a game to a second account, you'll have to pay a fee:

What follows naturally from this is that each disc would have to be tied to a unique Xbox Live account, else you could take a single disc and pass it between everyone you know and copy the game over and over. Since this is clearly not going to happen, each disc must then only install for a single owner.

Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc.

But what if a second person simply wanted to put the disc in and play the game without installing – and without paying extra? In other words, what happens to our traditional concept of a “used game”? This is a question for which Microsoft did not yet have an answer, and is surely something that game buyers (as well as renters and lenders) will want to know.

Wired also asked what we've all been wondering: will the console be online-only? The answer: it depends.

And what of the persistent rumors that Xbox One games will be “always online” – that is, that single-player games would require a constant online connection to function? As it turns out, those rumors were not unfounded, but the reality is not so draconian. Xbox One will give game developers the ability to create games that use Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service, which means that they might be able to offload certain computing tasks to the cloud rather than process them on the Xbox One hardware itself. This would necessitate the game requiring a connection.

Are developers forced to create games that have these online features, and are thus not playable offline? They are not, Xbox exec Whitten said to Wired — but “I hope they do.” So the always-online future may come in incremental steps.

So it's up to the developer. Some games may require an Internet connection; some may not. The future of always-online remains hazy.

Xbox One will not be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games
By Sean Hollister 1 Hour Ago

If you were hoping to play your vast collection of Xbox 360 games on Microsoft's latest creation, we've got a spot of bad news. Microsoft Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten confirmed to The Verge that the new Xbox One console will have no backwards compatibility whatsoever.

"No, there's not," said Whitten, when we posed the question. "The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn't really work from that perspective."

That means that Xbox 360 discs won't work, but also extends to Xbox Live Arcade downloadable titles. Anything that was designed for the Xbox 360 will have to be rebuilt, and it sounds like Microsoft doesn't plan to do so.

AN INCOMPATIBLE ARCHITECTURE

Technologically speaking, it's not wholly a surprise that backwards compatibility is off the table. Today, the company confirmed months of rumors that the new Xbox would use an x86 CPU. Games designed for the Xbox 360's Xenon processor simply won't run natively on the new hardware, since the Xenon used a PowerPC architecture instead. Of course, Sony's PlayStation 4 has the same problem: Sony also chose to move to x86 from PowerPC, and the PS4 also won't directly support PS3 games.

But while Sony is promising that PlayStation 4 users will indeed be able to play PlayStation 3 games at some point, by streaming them from the cloud, Microsoft is not promising any such thing for Xbox One. When we specifically asked Whitten whether the company had any streaming option or download option for existing Xbox 360 games for the Xbox One, he confirmed that there was no such thing in the works at Microsoft.

Microsoft does, however, plan to keep selling the Xbox 360 alongside the new console for the foreseeable future. "This isn't about getting rid of the Xbox 360," Whitten said. Perhaps the lack of backwards compatibility will be good for business there.

Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One console today. It’s a next-gen multimedia hub that will play games, TV, and movies in one seamless experience. Xbox Live, the Xbox name, and your Gamertag will all transition to the new hardware — but you’re gonna have to leave some things behind — like Super Meat Boy.

The company confirmed today that the Xbox One isn’t backward compatible with the 360. That means the Xbox 360 games you own wont’ work on the new device, but it also means those digital Xbox Live Arcade games you purchased won’t migrate to the next system.


Those digital goods are forever stuck in the Xbox 360 ecosystem unless Microsoft and other publishers make an effort to port the old games to the new hardware.

Xbox One uses a PC architecture that is very different from the 360. In order to add support for those games, Microsoft would have to include 360 inside every Xbox One. That would shoot up the price on a unit that already includes a console, a controller, and a Kincet motion camera.

You Will Be Able To Trade Xbox One Games Online, Microsoft Says

Xbox One games will require a one-time activation code to use, but you'll still be able to trade and sell them online, Microsoft tells Kotaku—although we're not 100% clear on the details.

Speaking to us at the big event in Redmond today, Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison clarified a couple of details about the system's used game policy and explained that there will be a solution for people who want to trade games with their friends.

Here's how the system works: when you buy an Xbox One game, you'll get a unique code that you enter when you install that game. You'll have to connect to the Internet in order to authorize that code, and the code can only be used once. Once you use it, that game will then be linked to your Xbox Live account. "It sits on your harddrive and you have permission to play that game as long as you’d like," Harrison said.

Other users on the console will be able to play that game as well, Harrison said. So you don't need to buy multiple games per family. "With the built-in parental controls of the system it is shared amog the users of the device," he said.

But what if you want to bring a game disc to a friend's house and play there? You'll have to pay a fee—and not just some sort of activation fee, but the actual price of that game—in order to use a game's code on a friend's account. Think of it like a new game, Harrison says.

"The bits that are on that disc, you can give it to your friend and they can install it on an Xbox One," he said. "They would then have to purchase the right to play that game through Xbox Live."

"They would be paying the same price we paid, or less?" we asked.

"Let’s assume it’s a new game, so the answer is yes, it will be the same price," Harrison said.

But that doesn't mean used games are dead. In fact, Harrison told us, you'll be able to sell your Xbox One games online.

"We will have a solution—we’re not talking about it today—for you to be able to trade your previously-played games online," Harrison said.

The Xbox exec wouldn't give further details on how this system will work, but we're assuming that once you're done with a game, you can trade the code online and it will be erased from your machine. But what will you get? Other games? Microsoft Points?

No matter how the final system works, it is not likely to please GameStop, the world's biggest buyer and seller of used video games, but it could be a tantalizing way to share games with your friends in the virtual space.

Personally, I never trust anything "confirmed" by Kotaku.

We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today. While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.

Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.

Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house – should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile.