Catch the Live Stream of Microsoft’s 2013 Press Conference from GameSpot. We will hopefully see a a better picture of what Microsoft is doing with the Xbox One.
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Xbox One Offline Gaming Only 24 Hours
If there was any uncertainty about whether or not Xbox One would be an always-on console, it’s pretty much clear now.
It’s not technically online “all of the time” but Xbox One will only allow you 24 hours of offline gaming and anything after that you will only be able to watch movies and television. If you are on another console besides your own, you will only get one hour of offline gameplay. This will likely rub gamers the wrong way and many who are already on the fence may choose the Wii U or Playstation 4 instead, based on this feature alone.
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, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies. ” -Microsoft
Xbox One games will be tied to your console but you will be able to trade in disc based games, that is, if the publisher allows it and they are likely to charge you a fee. You will also be able to give disc based games to your friends as a gift but they must be on your friend list for at least thirty days and you can only do it once.
One plus about the console is that you will be able to buy games online or in-store on day one of a game’s release. I’m hoping that this particular feature becomes the standard for all consoles.
It’s also important to note that Microsoft may change things up in the future, especially if things go sour with sales or complaints. So remember it’s still early and we have yet to see how this all plays out.
You can get full details on Xbox One game licensing here and you can also see the online requirements here.
No Charge for Used Xbox One Games
There has been a lot of buzz going around on whether or not Microsoft’s new next-gen console, the Xbox One, will charge a fee to “re-activate” used games on other consoles. If this were to happen this would likely send most gamers into a frenzy and likely lead to many angry emails and maybe even console boycotting. Let’s not forget about businesses who basically exist because of used games, like GameStop, they wouldn’t be very happy either.
Thankfully, it seems that there will NOT be a fee, at least according to Polygon who also mentions that the games will still need to be authenticated from time-to-time through random checks done online. The system is said to authorize and de-authorize systems once the disc is loaded up in to a console. That means one specific disc for one specific console, period, until someone hacks it.
It’s pretty easy to get all up in arms over things, especially when we don’t get all of the details and when it involves something that’s close to our hearts like our games, but we don’t know everything just yet. Microsoft still has a lot more to talk about before the actual release of the console and we won’t truly know what this or any console will be like until it’s in our living rooms.
‘Ring of Fire’ Solar Eclipse Today: How to Watch Live
From Space.com
The moon will block part of the sun today (May 9) to create a potentially amazing “ring of fire” and you can watch the celestial sight live online.
The “ring of fire” solar eclipse — known as an annular solar eclipse— will be viewable (weather permitting) over certain areas of Australia and islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean where the local time will be Friday (May 10). If you don’t happen to live in those parts of the world, however, you can still catch the cosmic show.
The online Slooh Space Camera will host a free webcast featuring live views of the eclipse today, beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT.
Watch HERE!
Coffee With Tim Cook? You Will Need A least Half a Million
You can have coffee with Tim Cook at Apple headquarters but it will cost you at least $600,000 according to the latest bid on Charitybuzz. All of the money goes to charity, in particular the RFK Center For Justice and Human Rights. This number is pretty incredible considering the original value of the meeting was thought to be worth $50,000. Apparently that number was just a bit off.
What makes all of this even more interesting are some of the other auctions that are up on the site for this particular cause, including getting to act in a scene with Chris Hemsworth in a Michael Mann Film. The current bid for that is just over $3,500. Another auction has you visiting Jay Leno’s car collection and meeting him backstage, that one is just under $8,000