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Military On The Xbox One: "It's A Showstopper"


I'm just going to jump into this story here...

In an article on the NavyTimes.com, Navy Lieutenant Scott Metcalf was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Xbox One. Now he's not even sure if he'll buy one.


Gaming is actually a big part of military downtime, the Xbox 360 is actually pretty popular with the military, but when it came to the DRM policies of  Xbox One the Lieutenant called these policies a "showstopper" for any service member who rely on their Xbox for off-duty diversions downrange, in the field, or at sea.

Aboard a ship or overseas, military members might not be able to play their next gen console.

"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,"

 An Xbox spokesperson told Military Times.

What are the troops not a fan of?


  • Can play in Xbox One-friendly countries. Even if you're lucky enough to have a reliable and regular internet connection while you're overseas, you'll have to be in one of the 21 countries included in Microsoft's server network. If someone in the military is stationed in Germany, Italy or Great Britain, you're good. If you're based in Japan, Kuwait or Afghanistan, you're out of luck.

  • Will have region-locked games. Games bought in the U.S. can be activated only in the U.S. That means no more opening up a care package that has the latest Xbox One title and playing the game. If you're overseas and want to buy a game locally, you can't. If your Xbox Live account isn't tied to the region when you activate a game, it won't play.
  • Serious security concerns. Even when the Xbox One is in sleep mode, the built-in microphone can always listen in. It's a feature developers say will provide quick-voice command access to games and apps, but that could spook commanders who might worry the always-connected device could also capture more than just idle chit-chat among troops.
Naval Aviator Jay Johnson states...

"Microsoft has single handedly alienated the entire military. And not just the U.S. Military, the militaries of the entire world," 

Johnson has also stated that his Xbox is "my sanctuary. It is where I went to calm down after a long day of flying."

Johnson also said...

"No longer will the sounds of Master Chief saving the human race echo through the hallowed halls of the USS Abraham Lincoln, or any other USS ship, when we have a few hours respite. No longer will you see Marcus and Dom sawing through the Locust Horde at the bases in Afghanistan after the Marines have returned from patrol and want to escape their reality for a bit. Those days are now firmly behind us."

______________________________________________________

Of course, we all know how Microsoft feels about this issue if you don't have an internet connection.

                          "Buy an Xbox 360"

It's no surprise that even more people are coming out in anger about Microsoft's policies on used games and always-online.

Microsoft needs to realize is that no one is being misinformed or being told a lie about what the Xbox One can and cannot do, Microsoft is telling everyone what their console can and cannot do and what their "vision" is.

When you try and privatize gaming, people will notice, the consumer will notice and lash out against you. You cannot expect to alienate a group of people and not get away with it.

A lot of these people lashing out at Microsoft about the Xbox One has a good reason to do this, these are not just Sony fanboys getting on Microsoft's case these are also Microsoft faithful, such as myself.

My first 6th gen console was an Xbox original, my 7th gen console of choice was an Xbox 360 and now it looks like my new console will be the PS4.

The problem isn't the media Microsoft, the problem is you.
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