Xbox One cloud updates may reboot your console mid-session, says Microsoft exec

Xbox One’s cloud framework will update on a regular basis and this could lead to the system rebooting mid-session, according to Xbox Live lead program manager at Microsoft John Bruno.

Bruno hosted a presentation at GDC Next yesterday entitled “On Demand Compute: Power For Games,” and IGameResponsibly was apparently there to hear what he had to say.

During the session, Bruno said that cloud-based system Xbox Live Compute has been in development for 18 months and is derived from Windows Azure tech. He conceded that the tech initially received criticsm from publishers such as Ubisoft early on, but that Respawn Entertainment was an easier sell.

Now, the studio is using Xbox Live Compute to offload many facets of Titanfall’s online play to the cloud, such as NPC AI, an more.

Touching on the issue of the Xbox One’s cloud-based updates Bruno explained, “Once in a while, rather frequently actually, the host OS will require an update, meaning the physical machine is going to get rebooted, whether your code is running or not. That’s a problematic thing for a game, and is oftentimes is in the middle of a multiplayer session, we’ve worked very hard to overcome that, but that’s not to say it’s going to be a reality in every case.”

This could be very problematic indeed. The site pressed Bruno on this issue and asked how disruptive these updates will be given Titanfall’s status as an online-only release. They also asked him about the worst-case scenario of Microsoft’s cloud servers failing altogether.

He replied, “I can’t answer that. I don’t know what the guys over at Titanfall have built into their game. It’s up to the game developer. If they want to rely more on our XBLC service, we’re happy to support that. We do provide a platform for them to persist data, but that’s up to the developer to utilize that.”

It begs the question of Titanfall’s performance without the cloud. Will it still run without cloud servers?

Yeah RYSE. Doesn't it bother anyone that the console that can handle the best looking launch-title [although 900p] isn't able to render CoD in more than 720p?

I have played CoD Ghosts on my PC [runs extremely well], but it's like day and night compared to Battlefield 4 in terms of visuals.

It will take some time before the devs use the special kinks like Tiled Resources, which only the One is capable of hardware-wise [and PC of course with DX11.2]. So the One will catch on and maybe, even surpass PS4 in terms of visuals. But would that stop you from buying your beloved Sony Santa Monica, Guerilla, Naughty Dog, Quantic Dreams etc. franchises? No, it shouldn't. Because it's about the games, not the hardware.

I read that as reboot the Azure host "may reboot host server" not the console lol

The hardware is weaker doc. This is a reality. There is no such thing as magic. It will get better as developers optimize, obviously, but this will happen w/ PS4 development too... so where are they gaining these magic leaps of visual fidelity? Ultimately, it comes down to the hardware you're given to work with. This is how it is on PC, this is how it is on consoles, and cellphones, and tablets. This. Is. Sparta.

This thread is such a simple reminder of how gifs really are the lamest thing on the internet. Silly fanboys...

That's because you actually took the time TO READ the article.

What's silly is how grown adults argue over console favouritism .. :/

Ironic though that Xbox fans were first to throw the "power advantage" at PS2 users in the last 2 gens but when the shoe is on the other foot everyone is being childish all of a sudden.

Sure is funny to watch though.

This thread is such a simple reminder of how gifs really are the lamest thing on the internet. Silly fanboys...

I don't see any argument there, just some fancy Austin Powers picture. Always the same with you, only bla bla bla ...

Reminds me when I said I played RYSE and combat played like Batman games and you also said no [though you never played it]. Frozpot had the same impression a few posts back btw ...

So because if only you say so, we should all take that for granted? Did you even bother to look-up "tiled resources"?

Here you go:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/DirectX-11.2-Tile...

I saw some guy posting how he was conflicted about buying the PS4( This is a real example, not some dig, btw) because he was interested in a couple XO exclusives. The kicker was he wasn't buying any games for the PS4 because he didn't feel drawn in by the available exclusives. So instead of getting the one with the games he wants, he gets the "more Powerful" one because of spec sheets. All the power in the world doesn't mean a hill-'o-beans if you don't like what's on it. I don't know how that's a tough decision, really. Just weird.

Fixed it for yah ;) I'd definitely agree on the PS2 area. Xbox fanboys wouldn't shut up, but the whole of this gen has been PS3 fanboys on about the Cell, 360 versions holding PS3 back, blah, blah, blah. All moot. Get the one with the games and features that appeal to you more.

Wonderful post scoobs, very productive for a change :D

What's silly is how grown adults argue over console favouritism .. :/

Ironic though that Xbox fans were first to throw the "power advantage" at PS2 and PS3 users in the last 2 gens but when the shoe is on the other foot everyone is being childish all of a sudden.

Sure is funny to watch though.

Exclusives don't tell the whole story, most of the more popular games are multiplatform, so buying the more powerful machine actually makes sense if those are the games you are interested in and don't have a gaming PC (those being FIFA, madden, CoD (lol), Battlefield, etc etc..)

Yeah. That explains the love people have for corporations. Or sports teams. It's very adult. Especially when you see the resulting behavior online.

Certainly more adult than liking Nintendo games.

Fanaticism is stupid and is not "mature."

Or maybe people legitimately don't care about those games. I think the point was that most "AAA" games are multiplatform.