Xbox One won’t be always-online, requires check-in every 24 hours

Written by Brandon Hofer on June 07, 2013

Xbox One News: Microsoft is all about the cloud these days and Xbox One is no exception. From the power of the cloud to your Xbox One being “always ready."

Xbox One won’t be always-online, requires check-in every 24 hours

Microsoft revealed some new information this week regarding used games on the Xbox One and now they have released some new information about the online capabilities too. More information should be revealed this Monday morning at the Microsoft E3 press conference but until then here is what we know:

“A new generation of games with power from the cloud: Because every Xbox One owner has a broadband connection, developers can create massive, persistent worlds that evolve even when you’re not playing.“

This is one of main things that Microsoft has been saying since the May 21 reveal. Their belief that everyone has a broadband connection, in my opinion, seems to be a bit misguided. There are still rural parts of the US and the rest of the world itself that do not have internet infrastructure that big metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle have. Microsoft made waves with the original Xbox by only including a broadband adapter and leaving behind 56K, the popular format at the time. While broadband is much more prevalent in 2013 this still might be a problem for some people.

“Your Xbox One is always ready: Xbox One is designed to run in a low-powered, connected state. This means your system, games and apps are always current and ready to play—no more waiting for updates.”

This sounds really great but I am interested in the options that Microsoft will provide us for limiting what the Xbox One can do. If at all possible I want to turn off the feature of saying “Xbox Off” as I don’t want someone that I live with messing with my gaming time by turning off the console, accident or not. On the flip side the fact that Xbox One is “always ready” means that, hopefully, Xbox Live will run smoother than it does now. Make no mistake, Xbox Live runs well now but there is definite room for improvement and hopefully this is a step in that direction.

“Stay connected to your friends: Never miss an opportunity to play games with your friends or to catch up with family on Skype. Use Skype in Snap mode to chat while you play games or watch TV. Or enjoy group video Skype calls with people around the world, all from the comfort of your living room.”

One of the great things about Xbox Live on Xbox 360 was the feeling of community you had. Being able to talk to my best friend while I am playing Madden and he is playing Assassin’s Creed is awesome. For a group scenario party chat worked really well and I have fond memories playing with a group of friends in games like Halo, Call of Duty and 1 vs. 100. Now, with Skype integration, hopefully that will be taken to the next level. The snap feature on Xbox One could work really well...or it could be more of a hindrance than a help. Only time will tell obviously but group calls over Skype while playing games or watching the NBA finals could be very cool when you pair it with something like the new features surrounding fantasy leagues.

“Access your entire games library from any Xbox One—no discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud. So, for example, while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games.”

This is one feature that was covered in the previous update of information but it is cool nonetheless. Being able to have access to your games library from anywhere, without having to carry around your discs could be liberating. It could be similar to how I originally felt when I traded all of my CD’s for my first iPod. Depending on how well this feature works I can envision a time where I can simply go to a friend’s house and show off my library, without having to bring over 20 discs. This scenario is hoping the system works the way we think it will and, hopefully, it will.

“Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release.”

For those who wish to transition to an all digital future early this is big news. Digital copies of games are rarely available for Xbox 360 on day one, while Sony seems to be doing it more and more on the PS3 (and presumably the PS4). With the Xbox One having day and date digital copies available this certainly good news while those of us who like to look at our collection on a bookshelf and certainly continue to do that as well.

“Superior wireless performance and coverage throughout the home: Xbox One is equipped with a gigabit Ethernet port and 802.11n wireless. With 802.11n, Xbox One can use the 5GHz wireless band which eliminates considerable interference from other devices in the home, such as cordless phones, Bluetooth devices and microwaves. Xbox One uses two wireless antennas, versus one in Xbox 360. This provides dramatically better coverage and sustained performance, which means faster internet speeds in more areas of your home.”

The upgraded wireless hardware in the Xbox One should, theoretically, make Xbox Live run even better than it does on Xbox 360. With the two wireless it will hopefully give out a stronger signal so that if you happen to be a ways away from your router there won’t be signal loss.

“Faster connection to a world of smart devices: With Wi-Fi Direct, Xbox One can speak directly to smart wireless devices and connect to them through the cloud. This means your smartphone or tablet will interact with Xbox One seamlessly.”

This has some very cool potential but again, it is another “wait and see” to see if this will work as advertised. If the Xbox One really can speak directly to my iPhone or iPad and use the cloud to keep everything in sync then I can imagine some great things done with games. If it does come off as seamless as they hope though I wonder if this will be another feature that is a nice bullet point on features list but rarely gets used in the real world.

“Future proofed with power from the cloud: Microsoft has created a global network of more than 300,000 Xbox Live and Windows Azure servers, to help creators realize their visions of what is possible with a connected system.”

Microsoft is all about the cloud with all of their services, including Xbox One. The fact that Xbox Live and Windows Azure will have a global network of more than 300,000 servers is mind boggling. This is up from the roughly 15,000 that handle Xbox Live for Xbox 360 so we are talking about a massive upgrade and, hopefully, one that will benefit everyone.

To ensure that you have the best possible experience with Xbox One, it was described with the following network requirements:

For an optimal experience, we recommend a broadband connection of 1.5Mbps. (For reference, the average global internet connection speed as measured recently by Akamai was 2.9 Mbps). In areas where an Ethernet connection is not available, you can connect using mobile broadband.

While a persistent connection is not required, Xbox One is designed to verify if system, application or game updates are needed and to see if you have acquired new games, or resold, traded in, or given your game to a friend. Games that are designed to take advantage of the cloud may require a connection.

With Xbox One you can game offline for up to 24 hours on your primary console, or one hour if you are logged on to a separate console accessing your library. Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies.

The question still must be answered as to what will happen if someone is in an area that loses internet for more than 24 hours. Can we tether the Xbox One to a cell phone for the sole purpose of quickly “calling home”? What do you think about all of this? Will you be picking up an Xbox One?