Dvader said:

Yeah. Also they made it christmas eve just so they didn't have to populate Gotham City.

That is placeholder box art right?

That Armature Studios Mega Man game looked like it was going to be fucking awesome....and this is from someone who never cared for Mega Man. It looked exactly like a Metroid Prime game. What is wrong with Capcom?

SteelAttack said:

Dvader said:

"Why MS needs to unveil its next Xbox and quickly" well no shit. This has become the biggest PR nightmare for any system prelaunch ever. Everything surrounding the durango is negative, EVERYTHING. Meanwhile everything surrounding the PS4 is magical wonderland of positivity. MS has to stop the bleeding now. But assuming everything is true how can they?

Unless something drastic changes Sony has next gen on lock down.

I don't think it's gonna be all that. Most people will have forgotten about it by the time the thing gets released, and let's not forget that while very vocal, our forum-dweller ilk does not comprise the bulk of people that buys consoles.

Yeah, all will be forgotten/ forgiven once the launch event happens. Assuming the always-online thing is not true.  I think that would be insurmountable for MS.

aspro said:

Yeah, all will be forgotten/ forgiven once the launch event happens. Assuming the always-online thing is not true.  I think that would be insurmountable for MS.

Dvader said:

Wow that Mega Man stuff is crazy. I want. Though I dislike the design. Shame capcom hates Mega Man now, idiots.

99.9% of the time, my consoles and PC are online. If MS were to do an "always online" console, it wouldn't effect me all that much. However, what concerns me is what happens down the line when MS releases their next next-gen console after the 720. All MS would have to do is disable the 720 servers, and you now own a doorstop and a bunch of coasters. Remember, they shut down all of the original Xbox servers, disabling all of those online games, and then told their loyal fanbase they have to upgrade now. An always-online console is nothing more than an expensive rental service. No thanks.

My internet disconnects on average at least once a day. Practically always on=no purchase. Even if my internet was more stable, I wouldn't buy it on principle. Steam is pretty draconian, but its prices make it easier to take, and there's offline mode so you don't even need to be online on start up.

Internet majority=buying minority. And a majority of that internet minority will buy it anyway, let's be honest here. Microsoft would be stupid to not go with always online because of the Adam Orth backlash.

aspro said:

Assuming it would be technically easy to fix I think the more difficult challenge would be for Microsoft to back off the philosophy and corporate culture that lead to that decision.  If they are doing always online it will be for very significant business reasons and they'd have to determine if those reasons are still valid (in the face of gamer-response).  I am presuming they are doing always online to:

• Subsidize the cost of the hardware by promoting use of their distribution channel for movies, music and games.
• Eradicate piracy
• Provide advertising impressions to entire user base

So they'll have to decide if the pay-offs for those three things are worth the initial backlash from hardcore gamers.

I am assuming that anytime someone brings this up at MS the argument ender is, "Look at Steam".  Initially a violent response from the hard core, now they beloved and synonymous with PC gaming.  And they are making money hand over fist.

Equally ominous is Windows 8 as an indicator that MS today is not willing to compromise their "good" ideas in the face of consumer backlash.

To most of you always online isn't going to be that much of a problem anyway.  Right now 360's connect by default and you don't even think about it.  It only screws pirates and people who don't live in big cities and Orth verbalized what MS thinks about the latter.

EDIT: and because it is quicker to edit than create a new post, FYI I'll be quiet for the rest of the day, my internet got slowed to cave-man. Fortunately it resets in 17 hours.

Its worse than that though because if games require an online verification to work and you buy the system and a big library and 10 years from now those servers are gone and your games no longer work. Steam is setup differently because it doesn't have generation changes while the consoles do.

This is a huge recipe for disaster, and a complete waste of money.

Former BioWare boss: PS4 and next Xbox unlikely to cure "sick market for old-school gaming"

Former BioWare boss Dr. Greg Zeschuk thinks the next-generation consoles are unlikely to cure what he describes as a "sick market for old-school gaming".

Analysts, game publishers and video game retailers are hopeful that the launch of the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox will spark a revival in traditional game sales - the kind of games gargantuan publishers such as EA and Activision make for consoles.

But according to Zeschuk, who alongside BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka left BioWare and its owner EA in September 2012 to retire from the industry, the next-gen is likely to fall flat in this regard.

"Everyone's kind of holding out hope for the new consoles, but I honestly don't think they're going to be that big a deal," he told GamesIndustry International.

"I worry a lot that unless Microsoft or Sony pull something magically out of a hat, it's pretty much the same old, same old repackaged and I don't think they're going to change the dynamic of the retail market."

He added: "I don't see how they can - the market is what it is."

While Zeschuk's comments are sure to make Microsoft and Sony executives wince, he insisted there have been recent successes - and pointed to games released by EA's bitter publishing rival Activision as evidence of this claim.

"Honestly, Activision and Blizzard have been doing really well, and they've been very disciplined and focused," he said, "but how long can they continue? They've been relying on a small number of titles, but no title works forever, and obviously they will be working hard to replace the games they're working on.

"So they're probably one of the shining examples of a company that's done well by really doubling down on a very narrow amount of things, and trying some different stuff - I'm actually really impressed with Skylanders."

Zeschuk was talking about the next-gen as part of a wider discussion around the departure of former EA boss John Riccitiello, who quit the publisher after admitting the company wasn't making enough money.

Many observers have suggested the failure of MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic - reportedly the most expensive game EA has ever made - was the primary reason for Riccitiello's downfall.

Zeschuk, who was in charge of SWTOR developer BioWare Austin, rejected this claim, instead suggesting Riccitiello was the victim of a depressed market.

"You really have to step back and look at the big picture of things at the macro level of the business," he said.

"The console core sales are slowing significantly - you can't get around that fact. And the interesting thing with SWTOR, almost the only way we could have moved the needle at EA is if we were just ginormous... it's kind of funny because it is such a giant company.

"I can't really speak to why John's not there anymore, but it was one of the many games released, and we're in a context where just a few days later it was Yoichi Wada who was booted out from Square Enix."

Zeschuk said EA's effort to increase revenue from digital games was "not filling in the gaps" left by the decline of traditional retail-based gaming, and that SWTOR was "actually doing really well" as a free-to-play game. The mobile business is, on the whole, not generating as much revenue as the console business, he said.

EA struggled during its last financial year, with FIFA 13 one of the few successes. EA retired the Medal of Honor brand after Warfighter flopped, and sales of Dead Space 3 and Army of Two: Devil's Cartel thought to have failed to hit targets.

gamingeek said:

You guys, if there is enough of an uproar MS will just patch the system with an update so you wont have to be online. Maybe towards the end of the systems life they would just release an offline patch.

That is not going to solve anything! lol towards the end of the systems life would be far too little too late. Microsoft is fucked if they go with this.