If anything should highlight the danger of having a console “always on” it’s this: Xbox LIVE is currently down. The current status of the service says that “users may experience difficulties with … signing in to Xbox LIVE” which is about as crucial as it sounds.
Now, obviously, nobody’s saying 100% that the next Xbox will be always-on – there are rumours, but until Microsoft say it they’re exactly that: rumours. But if it’s true, and Xbox LIVE does go down next gen, potentially that’ll mean that no games will boot, at all.
“We are still hard at work fixing the issue members are having signing in to Xbox LIVE,” says the company. “Rest assured we have every available resource working on fixing the problem. Thank you for your patience and keep checking back here every 30 minutes for an update on our progress.”
It’s worth noting that the way Microsoft has some of its apps (like Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu, and YouTube) behind the Xbox LIVE paywall means that those won’t currently work either.
Hopefully this won’t last too much longer and at least there’s the service update page so that users can keep an eye on progress – not that Microsoft’s frequent updates haven’t halted the obvious jokes appearing. But this timing is all too cruel given the events and rumours of the last few weeks.
wonkey-willy
“wonky-willy Translation: I use Live and not PSN so my comments aren’t based on real world experience, rather an assumption based on some interwebz articles I’ve occasionally read.”
correction wonky-willy has got both consoles and can be found frequenting both online services on a regular basis. In my experience you get what you pay for.
to me psn is like morrisons ketchup whereas xboxlive is heinz…
ya gets what ya pay for..psn is a watered down wannabe bottle of xbox heinz.
Thechunkymunky
Gotta be honest, the “watered down” PSN works. It works and it’s free. I’m happy at that =)
Origami Killer
Sam here. I never buy Heinz anyway, it’s always the 19p Tesco stuff. Cheap and cheerful – you can never go wrong with that!
Origami Killer
*same
cam the man
If the nextbox is always on it will be a bigger target for cyber attacks.
The Lone Steven
It’s a good thing the 360 doesn’t use that shitty kick to the groin and kill your children always online DRM. Yeah, i went a bit dark there. :O If the 720:Durango uses it and it’s linked to XBL. MS will have a massive backlash everytime it goes down or if it gets hacked as gamers prefer to actually play their games instead of looking at them. I wonder if it’s a hack or if Orth has stolen the server?
Origami Killer
I’m no Live user but if I was paying £40 a year for the service then one day downtime would piss me off just a little, especially If i then couldn’t use some of the services like netflix.
PSN, can have maintenance when ever it likes, it’s free, we can’t complain.
DapperHayden007
http://www.evilmilk.com/pictures/Deal_With_It91.jpg
Bilbo_bobbins
HA HA HA HA HA, sorry but this is just funny after all the kerfuffle of last week.
ratkiller75
I find it amsuing that its two years since the PSN hack and now LIVE has gone down…coincidence?
ratkiller75
*amusing, I hate typing fast.