Yesterday, Microsoft announced their new console, Xbox One, but since the console was announced more questions than answers have begun to surface. Reports about used-game fees and online requirements have all begun to appear online.

The reason for all the conflicting reports is due to one issue. A lack of clarity from Microsoft, questions such as used-game fees have being sort of denied or not specifically discussed. Let’s look at some reports.

Yesterday, Wired reported that Xbox One users would have to install games onto their HDD, a statement which was clarified by Microsoft “On the new Xbox, all game discs are installed to the HDD to play,” The Wired article continued on and stated that each disc would be tied to a unique Xbox Live account, which meant that the disc could only be used by a single owner. However Wired stated that the disc would work on a second account if the owner of the second account was willing to pay a fee.

Shortly after the article was published, Microsoft contacted Wired to state that the company did have a plan for used games, and that further details were forthcoming.

Actually let’s take a look at what Microsoft have to say about used games on their Xbox One Q & A page.

Q: Will Xbox One allow players to trade in, purchase and play pre-owned games?

A: We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We’ll have more details to share later.

As you can see the answer is pretty vague. It does say they are looking at ways to design Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games, but they don’t give a concrete answer. This lack of clarity has had some ramifications. GameStop which rely on used game sales have seen their stock price drop, at the closing bell yesterday GameStop’s stock price dropped to -5.11%.

Microsoft sought to quell the reports of used game fees by telling the video game news site, Polygon the following in an email.

“While Phil [Harrison] discussed many potential scenarios around games on Xbox One, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail,”

Just before this answer was given to Polygon, the Xbox support 3 twitter page answered a question regarding the used game fee.

@modronfixer No fee, correct – and they just got that information wrong. As soon as we saw, we contacted them to correct it. ^EM

— Xbox Support 3 (@XboxSupport3) May 21, 2013

So as you can see the used-game aspect of Xbox One is confusing with Microsoft not giving a 100% clear answer.

Now let’s talk about the online requirement confusion. This was probably the most talked about pre-reveal aspects of Xbox One. Before yesterday, it was rumoured that you would need an always on internet connection to use the console.

Microsoft did answer this question via the Xbox One Q&A page.

Q: Does Xbox One require an “always on” Internet connection?

A: No, it does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet. We’re designing Xbox One to be your all-in-one entertainment system that is connected to the cloud and always ready. We are also designing it so you can play games and watch Blu-ray movies and live TV if you lose your connection.

Not the best answer in the world. The answer to the question is no, but after saying no they say “Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet”. This might be statement about how the console will have features that require internet access such as online gaming, but it isn’t made clear. Then Microsoft decided to confuse people again with the very last sentence. “We are also designing it so you can play games and watch Blu-ray movies and live TV if you lose your connection.” I’m not really sure why this had to be brought up, because honestly reading that sentence slightly confuses me. At the start they said you don’t always have to be connected to the internet, but state that aspects of the console will work if you lose your connection. Honestly I don’t know why Microsoft couldn’t give a simple yes or no answer to this question. Unfortunately I’m not the only confused person.

The video game site, Kotaku asked Microsoft vice president Phil Harrison about the always on internet connection. His answer did turn a few heads. During the interview Phil Harrison said:

“Xbox One is no different in that it requires, at some point in the beginning and at various times through it’s on state, to connect to our cloud and to our Internet. That is to deliver Xbox Live functionality that is to deliver download content to you, that is to deliver some of the innovations around TV and entertainment that we showed today. But it doesn’t require it to be online all the time.”

Kotaku’s boss, Stephen Totilo, the person who conducted the interview asked Harrison “So how often does it check your connection?” Phil Harrison’s reply was “Depends on the experience,”

“For single-player games that don’t require connectivity to Xbox Live, you should be able to play those without interruption should your Internet connection go down. Blu-ray movies and other downloaded entertainment should be accessible when your Internet connection may be interrupted. But the device is fundamentally designed to be expanded and extended by the Internet as many devices are today.”

Here is what Kotaku believes to be the bombshell moment of their interview.

Kotaku: If I’m playing a single player game, do I have to be online at least once per hour or something like that? Or can I go weeks and weeks?

Harrison: I believe it’s 24 hours.

Kotaku: I’d have to connect online once every day.

Harrison: Correct.

Needless to say this isn’t news that Xbox and gaming fans want to hear. Granted I have a stable internet connection, but not everyone does. So having the Xbox One constantly checking if you are connected to the internet everyday might turn off some potential customers.

Like with the above mentioned used-game issue, Microsoft decided to answer the issue created by Phil Harrison’s interview. The answer was done via an email to Polygon. The email answer was as follows:

“While Phil [Harrison] discussed many potential scenarios around games on Xbox One, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail,” “There have been reports of a specific time period — those were discussions of potential scenarios, but we have not confirmed any details today, nor will we be.”

In all honesty this is a terrible answer. Microsoft has failed to answer the question. Instead of saying that Harrison was a making a potential scenario, they should have given a direct answer.

With just the above used-game and always on connection answers, you can clearly see that there is a small bit of confusion in Microsoft. People are contradicting each other and not giving concrete answers to questions people want to know.

Hopefully these two questions will be fully answered in the not too distant future.

I would also like to mention that Microsoft stated that Xbox 360 games will not run on Xbox One. The answer for why Xbox 360 games will not run on Xbox One can be seen below. Answer is from the Xbox One Q & A page.

Q: Will Xbox One be backward compatible with my existing games?

A: Xbox One hardware is not compatible with Xbox 360 games. We designed Xbox One to play an entirely new generation of games—games that are architected to take full advantage of state-of-the-art processors and the infinite power of the cloud. We care very much about the investment you have made in Xbox 360 and will continue to support it with a pipeline of new games and new apps well into the future.