Microsoft Responds to Always On DRM Worries With Deal With It

Gaming is second only to politics in terms of painful gaffs and slips of the tongue. Today’s big PR messup comes from Microsoft Studios creative director Adam Orth, who apparently has no sympathy for people who have concerns about always-on DRM.

"Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an 'always on' console," Orth said on Twitter (via Destructoid). "Every device now is 'always on'. That's the world we live in. #dealwithit."

Deal with it indeed. Now, lest you think that this was just an example of overaggressive hashtagging, think again. Orth wasted no time digging himself into a deeper hole by saying "Sometimes the electricity goes out. I will not purchase a vacuum cleaner. The mobile reception in the area I live in is spotty and unreliable. I will not buy a mobile phone." Unfortunately, Orth’s comparisons aren’t quite correct, because while it does seem foolish to not buy a vacuum cause the power goes out every so often, no one would by a vacuum that ALSO need to be connected to the internet just to work.

Orth’s comments were responded to by BioWare’s Manveer Heir, who pointed out the poor launch of Diablo III and SimCity and noted that users in non-metropolitan areas such as Janesville, WI or Blacksburg, VA would have a hard time securing an always on connection.

His response to this was pure gold. “Why on Earth would I live there?”

Orth has since protected his Twitter from further comment.

Microsoft has not confirmed or denied the fact that the next Xbox would be an always on machine, but rumors from developers who have gotten hands on time with the machine have pointed toward that being the case.

There are plenty of situations in which having an always-on connection could hurt a console. For example, it will completely destroy e-sports and other tournaments that rely on multiple Xboxes at once. It will be nearly impossible to have that many accounts connected all at once with a reliable connection, especially at big tournaments like EVO or MLG. It also makes the console nearly impossible to transport. For example, it's likely that Microsoft devkits aren't online when they're showing off new software at big gaming conventions.