Originally Posted by SS_Firehawk

Their power PC architecture is still the same, the GPU is based on a 4770. That did change, but their old GPU's were based on ATI chips. The Wii was basically a hotrodded Gamecube with slight improvements. The Wii U only carried over the CPU architecture, but the GPU was a definite improvement.

Now to comment on not having internet. That is a big deal for Military. There are field ops, missions, deployments, secure areas, and so many other scenarios that just don't fit in to "must have internet 1x a day" You can't plug an Xbox into NIPR and expect to not get that $hit forcibly taken from you. The firewalls are already blocking well known gaming ports. Not only that port security will lock that switchport before it could even try to send traffic. If the MAC isn't recognized, it's not passing traffic. If there is somehow a Wifi hotspot in your location, it doesn't allow xbox or Steam connections, not even youtube. Major installations have internet options, but it's expensive and slow can't begin to describe the bandwidth limitations. I know service starts at at least $90 for 30 days of service. Not only that, but when the entire installation goes into a blackout period, your internet goes too. Xbox was not just alienating service members, but civilian contractors too. That number is in the millions.

The cloud computing effort is something that will be implemented at the developer level. If a game requires the resources, it will be online only or some features will not be available unless online.

I'm also not one to trade games, but I can see why people do it. There are better ways to combat piracy. Their implementation was too draconian in my opinion. I think one way of handling it is still using a pairing method, but also using a method for users who can't plug their consoles in to a network. After 30 days of play without pairing the disk to your account, make it a requirement. Maybe a key generator that spits out a hash you can send to Xbox to add to your live account and in return, they send you a corresponding hash you input to your console. It's just an idea, but it at least has options. Granted anything is hackable to whatever they use has to be seriously strong and have a lock out period to prevent brute forcing.

Originally Posted by Sandman

While the 24 hour check-in seemed excessive (1 or 2 times a month would have accomplished the same thing), the fact that Microsoft changed their policies is a little disappointing. I hope they offer a separate xbox live account that has the new stuff so the people that actually understood what they were trying to do can enjoy it. The family/friends sharing system would have been a much better feature than being able to buy/play a used game without limitations.