It’s been noted that Microsoft’s Xbox One doesn’t quite have the processing power or high-speed RAM of the PS4.  For graphics enthusiasts beckoning the new generation of gaming, this is surely a drawback of the system.  What the Xbox One does promise, however, is that it’s “Cloud Powered.”

Microsoft has increased the number of their Xbox Live servers from 15,000 to 300,000 and promises that these servers will help with some of the graphics processing of your game system.  They specifically indicated that the servers will be used for background effects such as lighting or fog to prevent latency from ruining your gaming experience as these effects don’t need to be persistently updated.

This cloud power may explain why Microsoft would require an online connection for the Xbox One, but it doesn’t explain why you’d need to check in every 24 hours.  If you’re not connected, you’re not going to be experiencing the benefits of this additional processing power, so why make the connection necessary at all?  I can see the availability of this additional power a nice perk that would encourage gamers to stay connected, but requiring a connection to their servers sounds like it will hurt the system’s longevity.  For instance, if I want to play my NES right now, I can play my NES; twenty years from now, if I want to play my Xbox One, I won’t be able to because their servers will, undoubtedly, be offline.

Source:  The Verge