Thanks for writing this up and articulating something that I think has been increasingly... complicated. As you pointed out - this isn't necessarily a 'right vs wrong' or 'causes violence' conversation. The questions are closer to: what direction are we pushing gaming and how do our choices, voice and wallet pave the…

I totally agree that the Wii/WiiU/DS have introduced innovative advancements to gaming and that they sold well (well, excluding WiiU currently). And I certainly don't disagree with the concept that the general populace (consumer market) is embracing of "technological advancement".

I've been curious about this over the past few weeks. Really trying to dig into the purpose (if any). Some thoughts on why companies were doing this.

I was thinking the same thing; nothing you said seemed trollish. I'm also stoked about this game and the Xbox One. This game kinda epitomizes they strengths of Microsoft's digital/online/cloud plans. I also love games dedicated to the concept of online multiplayer. On that note: Destiny piqued my interest too!

Owen, loving the open outlook this article shows. I had never really thought about Sports as the ideal genre to exemplify the benefits of "always online" or "MMO style subscriptions". In fact, I find this fascinating and a great analogy. But looking at the comments, I understand why MS/Sony/Publishers don't bother…

Like the rest of the commenters here, this sounds like an awesome idea. Free-to-play isn't a bad idea. What is nice about the F2P model is that it finds a niche with pockets of people and also serves as a fun game for others; that might mean that they aren't fully invested, but they can still enjoy it.

Great article, Stephen! I think this is going to be one of the keys to the future of consoles. I've had a hunch that Sony was going to 'silently' move towards going mostly digital.

Thanks Stephen, for the great article and sharing your conversation! Great insights from everyone and it is exciting to know that publishers/devs are excited by the possibilities of the X1 features. Looking forward to hearing more about these online X1 games (and all the games for Wii U and PS4)!

Luke, one of the rad benefits of having an always online system (aka 24hr checkin) is that you have infinite switches (switches that actually get switched for every console within 24 hours). That power can't be underestimated for the future of a console. In 5 years, the console that can force some epic updates...…

Exactly right on the internet speed thing. If you don't have the internet for the X1, it won't work. The reason Steam can do $10 sales is because they can guarantee that the games get high level advertisments on their network. So yes: X1 will have insane sales. What information do you have that Steam type systems…

Always online has tons of benefits. Being not connected means you can't have a true Steam-type distribution system with guaranteed customers . Luke was saying persistant/changing/evolving worlds (not really graphics) is just one of the first compelling arguments that he has heard (there are many more). Options don't…

Thanks for the article Luke! Messaging is key for MS at this point and we will keep seeing game changing announcements from MS that "ease the pain" of MS. You make a really interesting point that

Love that Kotaku is writing this article and doing the journalism behind it to get some answers. MORE questions to ask!

Not only would it not be surprising, I'm basically expecting a Wii 2 around that time. I was kinda bored and had too many beers, but I wrote up some rambling thoughts on why this needs to happen. Some thoughts from that:

You're right on the money. But PR is 99% timing. Messages, you can change/spin. Timing you can't. Sony wrecked it at their E3 conference not simply because of the message but the timing and weight given to that message.

Well said. And we're all for people being opinionated (although this new Kinja system....). I think my main beef is with this reporting. I used to think this community was THE BOMB! Now I'm stuck waiting for Kotaku's Saturday "This Week In Business"... which you think would sum up to more than 12ish quotes/links :)

Right on. And I am by no means saying that either console is bad. They are both great! I love the new PS4 controller and I love the social and multiplayer possibilities that the X1 is allowing publishers to explore by knowing that every console has an internet connection and Kinect. This stuff is huge! Publishers can…

I'm not sure why the author phrased the article this way (well, yes I do...), but shouldn't this be titled: Ubisoft Says "We Still Haven't Decided" Over NextGen Pre-Owned Games? It doesn't really make sense to go through the bad PR of blocking a game on X1 and not doing it on PS4. Not sure why people aren't grasping…

You mean that is how you share DISC BASED GAMES. For a company that has Gaikai, what does that mean? I liked the Sony presentation though! Just might wanna add that caveat and drop a warning so people aren't surprised.

Holy S**t