New report claims the next-gen system will fight piracy with constant internet requirement
Microsoft’s next generation games console will employ an always-on internet connection to safeguard it from piracy, a new report claims.
News site VG247 believes the system is due for release Christmas 2013 – a claim in line with what Develop’s sources have said on the matter – and will play game media through Blu-ray.
The claims remain unverified. Microsoft was not available for comment at the time of going to press, though has in the past declined to discuss speculation.
It is not known whether the alleged always-on internet connection will be used to curb second-hand game sales.
Further speculation within the VG247 article suggests the system will inhabit two GPU cards, both said to be the equivalent of AMD’s 7000 series.
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“The GPUs aren’t structured as they are in a normal dual PC set-up, in which the two chips take it in turns to draw lines of the same object: Xbox 720′s graphics units will be able to work independently, drawing separate items simultaneously,” the report added.
The machine will work with “four or six” processor cores, it is alleged, of which one is reserved for Kinect which “will be built into the device as standard”.
A wave of studios, from Lionhead to Bethesda, Crytek and Remedy, are currently hiring for “next generation” projects.
The current 360 has "always-on" checks for the disk drive, so this must be to combat the "JTAG" units that allow unhindered offline piracy for things like XBLA titles and DLC. I have to wonder how this move will affect things. Currently, JTAGs simply cannot go online because they get banned within minutes, so live is kept relatively safe (it used to take much longer and that's when games like MW2 were plagued with hackers). If the next 360 gets a similar kind of hack, this always-on DRM might go one of two ways - it might stop piracy in its tracks (doubtful), or it might encourage the hackers to find a way to bypass the Live checks in much the same way that the modified DVD firmware does. It could be bad for MS if that happens.
There's sort of an unwritten rule of "don't mess with live and MS won't mess with us", but who knows how long that'll last for.
Requiring a permanent internet connection is a stupid idea; it assumes everyone has access to great affordable broadband. An internet connection should only be a requirement for people who actually want to play online.
All consoles next gen should come with a wireless reciever by default and an ethernet slot for hardcore online gaming/media.
FYI: United States gov passed something where they're buying cable lines or something and we should be getting better Internet over the next few years(Or decades). It was mentioned that Microsoft and Google would be very pleased.
hi there you are wright we do need the goverment needs too pass somthing that will make internet way better then other contries no 2d no 3d v 3d 3d internet 3d websites 3d projectors 3d halograms and of couse wait for it star trek 3d halo deck and a mobile 3d halo deck too
