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With Summer quickly approaching and the time for Microsoft to toss its’ hat into the new console ring quickly coming the rumor mill is churning its’ wheel faster than most people can react.
Well, not everyone, that is. Adam Orth, Microsoft’s Creative Director, has suddenly (and aggressively) tossed out his own ideas on the newest console’s biggest and harshest rumor — that it would require an “always-on” connection and, in the absence of one for longer than three minutes, will shut down.
Unfortunately, either for him or his employer, his comments (posted to Twitter and shown here in snippets while conversing with Manveer Heir — BioWare’s senior Gameplay Designer) weren’t passive or any sort of “smoothing out” tactic; Instead, they’re incredibly derogatory not only to people who still don’t have access to a fast enough internet to justify purchasing a system that requires it but also to people who live in rural areas (which, unsurprisingly, is a large majority of people both inside and out of the United States).
Regardless of the accuracy of the rumors, Orth is obviously on board with shutting out a large demographic of buyers — one that is probably one of many reasons why many major companies haven’t gone completely and exclusively digital. If the rumor is true, it’ll mean a lot of people who still only have access to slow and unreliable connection methods like dial-up, Hughes Net, and others will be purchasing a system that won’t function for them at all — or will be speaking with their wallets and going either with the already available Nintendo WiiU or Sony’s Playstation 4 due out later this year.
Microsoft has yet to confirm or deny the rumor or release a statement about Orth’s comments.