Amid 1001 next Xbox rumours, 999 of which have been pertaining to the console's alleged always-online functionality,
today reports have emerged that Microsoft's next Xbox (codenamed
Durango) will actually let you play games offline after all. That's if a
supposed internal memo issued by MS officials is to be believed.
"Durango is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while
engineered to be tolerant of today's Internet," the internal e-mail
message reportedly reads. "There are a number of scenarios that our
users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should
'just work' regardless of their current connection status. Those
include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live
TV, and yes playing a single player game."
Rumours are still circulating that games will need to be installed to
Durango, with speculation pointing to online activation codes. Yet, as
ever none of this has been confirmed and we'll know absolutely nothing
for certain until Microsoft reveals the next Xbox on May 21st. Then we can put all of these frankly irritating rumour stories to bed.
So will the next Xbox be always-online or won't it always be online?
We're saying that keeping offline functionality baked into the console
would be the savvy choice. Read Lee's feature outlining the reasons why an always-online Xbox would be a bad idea.
