criticism is deal with it

Microsoft Studios creative director Adam Orth has enraged fans with a condescending defence of always-on devices, tweeting: ‘Sorry, I don’t get the drama around having an ‘always online’ console’.

He then followed that up with: ‘Every device now is ‘always on’. That’s the world we live in. #dealwithit.’
Challenged over the fact that Internet connectivity in the U.S., let alone the rest of the world, was not always reliable he then replied: ‘Why on earth would I live there?’

Bizarrely he then continued digging a hole for himself and when asked by BioWare’s Manveer Heir whether he’d learnt anything from the debacle of the SimCity launch Orth compared the problems to a power cut and said: ‘electricity goes out, too’.
When he finally realised what a public relations disaster he was being Orth then changed his https://twitter.com/adam_orth so that only confirmed followers can see it.

Orth’s comments are essentially the best evidence so far that the next generation Xbox does require a permanent, or at least semi-permanent, Internet connection. Although his outburst was likely inspired by new insider info from website http://kotaku.com/the-next-xbox-will-require-an-internet-connection-to-st-470062456, which also seems to reinforce the rumours.

‘Unless something has changed recently, Durango consumer units must have an active internet connection to be used,’ said one source – Durango being the codename for the new Xbox.

‘If there isn’t a connection, no games or apps can be started. If the connection is interrupted then after a period of time – currently three minutes, if I remember correctly – the game/app is suspended and the network troubleshooter started’.
Kotaku does note however that some of their other Microsoft sources are unaware of these plans, although they don’t rule out the possibility that they simply wouldn’t have been told at this stage

http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/05/microsoft-response-to-always-online-xbox-rumours-is-dealwithit-3584410/

I'm not buying a console that requires a constant internet connection I like having the ability to play my games when I want to and not having to worry about the internet going down or something so I can play a game

Playstation 4 it is, then. Thanks Microsoft for making my decision, easier.

There's no way MS would make the next Xbox always on. It would be a business strategy fail of epic proportions.

there has been rumors of the same thing for the PS4 but it sounds like this might be official for the new xbox system

Is it me, or does he come across as a bit of a...no, a lot of a...no, I can't say that.

They officialy debunked it on PAX East.

Hah, if this doesnt show M$ giving its users the shaft, IDK what will.

Guess M$ decided to follow Blizzard's example with Starcraft II where you have to be online to play, and to play offline you have to first register online to go into offline mode. I'll never forget that LAN party I went to where the connection went down for like 5min and couldn't get into SCII cause I needed to log into online before I should shift to offline mode.

You have just summed up Steve Ballmer's career at Microsoft.

Steve has no clue what tech customers want, he just wants to shove his world view down people's throats. He seems to forget that the reason MS had 90% of the market was because they made the best OS and Apps, not because MS forced Windows on everyone.

Microsoft needs to realize that is now back in a position where it needs to make products that people want in order for them to buy it. For a couple of decades folks did not have any other choice, or needed one, as MS superior products drove out the competition. Since then, Ballmer has tried to use the monopoly to force the products he wants to make on people, not the products people want.

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2408515