What's the most you've paid for a brick? I'm betting it won't compare to the most expensive tech brick ever made. Whatever you've paid for your brick, Microsoft has a brick that will only set you back by $499. What can you do with it? Well you can't build anything with it, but if you have a broadband connection you might be able to turn it into a media entertainment system.
GamesIndustry.biz spotted the news from an interview that Microsoft's director of product management, Albert Penello, had with Engadget, where it was stated...
"Functionally, you will be able to do very little without taking the day one update," … When asked what consumers could with the console straight out the box, he replied: "Nothing. You need the day one update."
Well that's convenient, eh? No games, no movies, no nothing. Just a big, fragile, $499 brick. Totally pro-consumer, right?
A lot of gamers had been curious about what would happen to the Xbox One post-180 with the removal of the old DRM policies, but technically the day one edition without the patch will be the original DRM machine before the reversals. So technically, some fanboys will have their wish granted and they get to play the Xbox One the way it was always meant to be if they decide not to get the patch.
Who knew the future of gaming was all about bricks?
Penello, however, tries to recover the situation and explain why the day one patch is necessary and why the apps weren't integrated with the production models of the Xbox One, saying...
"A lot of the apps come with the day one update because they wouldn't have even been done," … "You're gonna need to take this update. It's not gonna be really an optional thing."
I could spend the remainder of this article ridiculing Microsoft over their boneheadedness and all that went wrong with the Xbox One since its announcement on May 21st earlier this year. However, I will throw a bone to the people who may actually want to get the console for the exclusives but may not have a stable enough broadband connection (or broadband at all) to patch the system up to par so that it 's more than just a big, black brick.
If you already have the system pre-ordered or know someone who has the system pre-ordered but doesn't have broadband, you can have them bring the console over to someone's house who does have broadband. Let them patch the system up to par so that they'll at least be able to play games offline (and this article is a bit forward looking because I can guarantee you this will be an issue for consumers who buy the Xbox One off a store shelf but may not know that it won't work at all without the day one patch).
Alternatively, you might want to find out if some stores might be willing the patch the system for you if you don't know anyone with broadband.
Simply put, you will need a broadband connection at some point to patch the Xbox One. If not, well as Don Mattrick said to our troops overseas and other members of the United States armed services... buy an Xbox 360.
