‘Always online’ Xbox system requirement defended by Microsoft’s Adam Orth

There’s been rumour that the next generation of Xbox console will require users to always be online, meaning that if you lose connection to the Internet, you risk not being able to play your game, even in single player.

While many people are very against the idea, Adam Orth, creative director of Microsoft Studios came out on Twitter last night saying he didn’t understand what the big deal was:

Orth’s Twitter account, @adam_orth, has since been locked down, but Redditor MrWill4466 managed to get a screenshot of his exchange with another Twitter user before that happened, and posted it to Reddit:

Sixteen hours after being posted, the image had garnered almost 1 million views on Imgur.

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Interestingly, the other person in the exchange is also involved in the gaming industry. Manveer Heir (found at @manveerheir on Twitter) is a senior gameplay designer at BioWare and working on the next Mass Effect game in Montreal, Quebec. The Mass Effect series started out on the Xbox 360, produced by Microsoft Game Studios in 2007. Heir said in a tweet that he and Orth are friends, and it was good natured ribbing that went very public.

The issue of needing an always-on Internet connection has become a very hot topic in the gaming world, in light of the recent problems that have plagued EA’s SimCity since its release last month and Diablo III prior to that. Problems that began with SimCity purchasers not being able to install the game they ordered because of overwhelming server demands and continued when the always-online servers were called ‘unnecessary’ by an anonymous source who had worked on the game, saying the game could run just fine without relying on the servers.

Some news outlets are taking Orth’s comments as confirmation that the rumours are true, and the new Xbox system, which could be announced in May, will indeed require it to be permanently connected to the Internet. TechRadar UK points to both Orth’s comments and recent confirmation by sources to Kotaku that the console will be always-online as “the strongest hint yet that an always-online console is exactly what Microsoft is about to unveil.”

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Orth has since apologized for his comments on Twitter, but the topic coming up does pose some interesting question as to why he felt the need to jump to always-online’s defence in the first place.

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