Earlier this week, Microsoft introduced the next generation of its Xbox gaming platform. The Xbox One is a powerful PC-like box that taps into the company’s cloud infrastructure to help run its games. Microsoft claims the cloud will make the system better over time as it moves more of the processing load to remote servers, but it may also cause a headache for gaming historians.
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“While we don’t have many details yet, what I’ve read so far gives me cause for concern as to how we’ll be able to work with the new system in the Computer & Video Game Archive,” Carter wrote in a blog. “As far as offloading gameplay to the cloud and requiring an Internet connection to function, this offers a challenge that is in many ways similar to dealing with massively multiplayer online role-playing games like World of Warcraft.”
Archivists like Carter have long struggled to replicate the online aspects of games like WOW and even Microsoft first-person-shooter Halo 2.
“There is a history of manufacturers not supporting their old gaming platforms,” said Carter. “[Like] in 2010, when Microsoft stopped supporting the original Xbox on Xbox Live. If you want to play Halo 2 online multiplayer on your Xbox — sorry, you can’t. And that’s for a game that’s less than 10 years old.”
Carter points out that gamers can grab any system from 30 years ago and plug them into a compatible television and start playing without issue.
“[That’s true] even for companies that are long defunct,” said Carter. “Will the same be true in even 10 years for games for Xbox One?”
The archivist also expressed concern regarding Microsoft’s plans for digital-rights management. Xbox One may have the capability to restrict used-game sales, but the company isn’t providing details at this time.
“We’ve been dealing with this sort of thing with PC-based games for several years now, and I’m sure we’ll deal with it,” said Carter. “But it doesn’t fill me with warm, fuzzy feelings.”
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Carter wrote that he’ll wait to get more information from Microsoft before deciding how to handle Xbox One games. As of now, it seems clear that Xbox One will make his job a lot more difficult than when he was just responsible for the Nintendo Entertainment System.