: Huh? ANY game that will be on XBO will be an 'online-only' game. And the
: Elder Scrolls games have never been exclusives... I'm saying because I
: like the Xbox of the past and its controller, I'd love to continue playing
: these games on similar hardware - but I won't be able to because of its
: DRM and forced connectivity. Thus, the thing to blame from my perspective
: are these Microsoft 'solutions'.

Well, developers would be dumb to put an offline-capable game on the XBO, if without realizing it would require 1/24hr online checkin. I'd hesitate to say that every game will be "online only" - in the sense of persistent world/multiplayer. I'm sure there will be games with (pseudo?) offline single player campaign (pseudo for the fact that the game still requires a 1/24hr checkin), but with the above recognition. Most likely, the most excited developers who really want to move to XBO are the ones who want to create focused games that truly take advantage of the online/cloud capabilities (and minimum user requirements) in their games - games that wouldn't work and/or be the same on the 360 or PS3 (or even PS4 perhaps).

To my knowledge, "online only" !~ "1/24hr check-in", not inherently connected. The former is developer choice, the latter is MS system wide.

: So you're saying the games I like shouldn't even be on the XBO? Sounds like I
: definitely shouldn't get an XBO then, hah.

I'd hope they would, but not for your sake if you don't buy or can't properly use an XBO :) That is to say, an offline-only capable game could find a place on 360 and XBO, though for the latter user the online check-in would be transparent. But an online-only game would likely find a better home on the XBO as the developer wouldn't have to worry about dealing with users who are not online. It could still be built for 360, though with more work from the developer in that sense. And of course games designed to take advantage of XBO exclusive features obviously wouldn't be available on 360 (at least in the same capacity).

The way I see it - games will end up wherever the developer feels the environment is best suited to provide the game they want to create. XBO has capabilities the 360 doesn't. That doesn't eliminate the 360 as a gaming platform, because there will be plenty of games and developers who'll still develop for it. Ideally. :P

Hey for all we know (and I suggested in a previous comment), this gen will be yet another developer-centric dilemma. For newest-gen game development, last generation it was 360 vs PS3 (difficulty of development, but effectively the same capabilities) - this gen it's XBO vs PS4 (additional online/cloud capabilities but a smaller target demographic vs a more powerful system with standard gaming policies and likely a much larger market). If developers still want the Xbox brand/environment, they can stick with the 360, but give up the improved power output of the latest hardware (which may not be an issue anyway). I'm willing to bet there will still be developers making PS3 games for some time too, perhaps much in the same way (whether for PS3 or PS4 or both)

: Right. Microsoft's new model only has negatives for offline single-player
: games for poor people and thus has no place for me. That's why I'm
: frustrated and saddened by it. They're forcing me to go PS4 to play the
: same way I did on the 360.

Remember $500 has been the typical launching point for consoles, or less for the odd one out that wants to undercut competition. Nintendo essentially did it last time. This time Sony's doing it to MS, and that may well be the winning component of their campaign in the end.

Apart from the types of games developers choose to create and where, MS's new model only has negatives for users A) who can't get their system to connect online once every 24 hours due to no internet and no tetherable mobile data. Presuming they don't already play any games online (which would be surprising considering MS's push for XBL), that's a small portion of the community. B) those who will not, on principle, connect online once every 24 hours, but rather whenever they want. But if they have XBox Live, then what's the point in debating, except on principle? And if they don't have XBL, they're likely in [A], if not in an even smaller segment of XB owners. C) The final crowd could be those who worry about power outages lasting more than 24 hours... as far as I know, MS has yet to answer to that concern (even though the chances of it happening regularly or significantly is, really, also very small; and like, #firstworldproblems small).