Xbox One won't play games on day one without mandatory update
What can be done with the system out of the box? "Nothing. You need the day one update."
Microsoft's Xbox One will not be able to play even disc-based games on day one without a mandatory update to the system.
The $499 machine, which goes on sale November 22 worldwide, will require a patch not just for online services and apps, but also retail boxed games and other functions due to shipping with an outdated operating system.
"Functionally, you will be able to do very little without taking the day one update," Microsoft's senior director of product management Albert Penello told Engadget.
When asked what consumers could with the console straight out the box, he replied: "Nothing. You need the day one update."
"A lot of the apps come with the day one update because they wouldn't have even been done," detailed Penello. "You're gonna need to take this update. It's not gonna be really an optional thing."
Microsoft's online services for the Xbox One have been the subject of scrutiny and criticism since they were first revealed at E3.
That disasterous showing forced the company to backtrack on a number of requirements, but the fact remains that the Xbox One is essentially a console that requires near-constant internet connection to function as it was originally designed.
has there been a price drop? I thought it was $499 / £429
Well goodness hope it's a quick update for those who have put their preorders in!
Hopefully MS will learn from Nintendo and have a LOT more servers ready to dish out the update at 8am on Christmas morning ;).
It still makes me think that MS have been rushed into getting something out so that they don't give too much of an advantage to Sony.
I can understand them not having it in day one machines (When did they start stockpiling them? Two months ago?) but would expect those shipped by christmas to have been properly updated in-situ.
@ Robert Barrow:
Given the state of both the XBO and PS4 software side of things they both feel rushed out!
Edited 1 times. Last edit by James Prendergast on 8th November 2013 6:18pm
Waahey, I got an XBONE whilst secluded in the wilderness for the holidays.
OH bugger, there is dialup internet......grrrr, trek to Bournemouth , sit in a net cafe and hook the machien up overnight....
Oh, don't forget to bring a small HDTV on that trek to that net cafe, as they probably won't let you use their TV at all (unless you're going to let people play that copy of Ryse you bought with you...). "My kingdom for a horse!" or something like that...
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Pete Thompson on 8th November 2013 8:20pm
"Well you can watch the dust settle ever so slowly on that glossy shiny bit....." Then got his coat and promptly left the building.
THOSE people are always forgotten until they step into the fray and speak up.
That being said, I can go out and buy an old Gameboy and it'll play Pokemon as soon as I turn it on.
All kidding aside, the PS4 can't play blurays, dvds, use the share button or a whole bunch of other features until you download Sony's day one update. I imagine in the future(after the holidays) both systems will start to launch with these firmware updates already installed. But for now it will have to be a minor inconvience.
Now I know MS isn't unhappy about this news (that's for sure!) as all it's doing is getting them early and primarily good press from those lucky folks tweeting away...
"Requires an internet connection" is basically de rigeur nowadays. I see this not being a major issue.
You can hope that there will be enough servers, but when that server load will only be required for a few days, that seems optimistic, especially after seeing the bigger always online game launches this year.
Ahhhh hahahahahahahaha.
*ahem*
Sorry, I read that comment after the news that at least one guy has had his early-sent XBone banned.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Morville O'Driscoll on 9th November 2013 11:03am
Either way, isn't that just picking at bones though ?? If the dial-up to BB user ratio was something like 50/50 or 40/60 then I could see your point, but with your stated 3% of (U.S) internet users still opting to use what many would consider as an out dated method of connectivity then I see no reason why the majority, in this case the remaining 97% of internet users shouldn't be catered for, in which case a day one update shouldn't be an issue.. My Android & iPad tablets have faster connections than dial-up via a simcard..
I honestly cannot see many people buying a next-gen console and not connecting it to the net..
I'm sure that even game dev's don't take into account dial-up users in what is a very connected world nowadays, especially as it seems that every game released MUST have an online mode, and, not forgetting that the Xbox ONE will make a lot of use of cloud processing which I cannot see being supported by dial-up at all.. Then there's the other connection issues associated with dial-up itself, such as PSN not supporting Dial-up, and XBL's minimum requirement (Xbox 360) of 3mb down & 0.5mb up for online gaming, while SD & HD streaming of videos is 1mb & 3.5mb respectively, I doubt that in reality there's many gamer's, even casual ones who are still on Dial - Up, unless they are mainly playing txt based adventures.. If you can get dial-up, you are pretty much guaranteed to be able to get a BB line even if its the basic ->0.5mb / -->1mb, which is a significant improvement over Dial-Up..
PS: Just think of the lag on a dial-up connection.. :-)
Edited 3 times. Last edit by Pete Thompson on 9th November 2013 11:23am
It also makes sense that these companies would take advantage of a controlled launch schedule to get the latest software out there at the same time.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Adam Campbell on 9th November 2013 7:11pm
Funny thing is that my brother wants an XBox One, but he doesn't have internet access. He's going to have problems when he tries to use it, but I've told my mother, who goes and helps him from time to time, about the problem.
Her response was "I don't know anything about it". My brother's deaf and doesn't always follow her directions anyway... They both live 2,000 miles away from me, so I can go over and just help get it going... It's going to be a problem.
Of course, with the recent oddball goodwill Microsoft dropped in the lap of that guy who got his system early from Target, ran that unboxing video and all those tweets, got his console banned until launch and then scored an invite to the Xbox One launch party as a guest, who knows what will happen with your brother?
Helicopter from Hyrb taking his console to the nearest broadband spot for an update and a fly back? Probably not out of the question (but questionable)...
I have a question. I have a Spanish account for both my 360 and PS3. Will I need to move the console to Spain to activate it if I want the Spanish marketplace? or will be enough to just use my Spanish address, bank account and stuff? I really don't want to create a filtered
German profile in which every single violent game will be filtered (although this should get fixed if you import profile, right)
No, this is nothing about manufacturing delay times. This is everything about ensuring XBone owners have a valid MS online profile created - and consoles are "registered" with Microsoft when activated.
The WiiU update was a pain, but at least we played games all night - then let it download all night, and install in the morning.
MS better rectify this going forward - I think we all remember the discussions about "mandatory internet access".
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Pete Thompson on 13th November 2013 10:53am