Despite the backlash that EA faced with games like SimCity, it seems that it hasn’t quite learned its lesson. PopCap Interactive’s Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare seemingly doesn’t allow you to play offline, according to a new video for the Xbox 360 version which reveals you must be connected to Xbox Live to play its game modes.

How bad is it? You can’t even go into the Options without connecting online. The offline split-screen mode is limited to the Xbox One, but it may not be offline as we suspected. The only explanation that’s been offered is that when micro-transactions are eventually introduced, they can be stored on the server rather than locally. Though micro-transactions haven’t been confirmed, PopCap hasn’t ruled them out.

Then again, it could just be the Xbox 360 version. We’ll find out for sure when the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions release on February 25th, so stay tuned for more information.

Now here’s something interesting: Visual Concepts’ NBA 2K14, which received rave reviews on both current and next gen platforms, has apparently been patched since release to be always-online for the Xbox One and PS4. According to a recent NeoGAF, you have to be connected at all times in order to play the game, even during single-player modes.

Why? Purely because of the game’s Virtual Currency, which seems to tied to all aspects of the game and needs to be authenticated via the publisher’s servers. In order to prevent cheating, that authentication is going on at all times and necessitates an always online console. To make things worse, if your connection drops during play for any reason, you immediately exit the game.

And no, this wasn’t mentioned during or before launch. 2K Sports hasn’t even taken the time to clarify it publicly since the next gen versions releases. The person in question did later report that you can play the game without an internet connection – however, you’ll be fairly limited in what you can do. MyCareer and MyGM modes are totally inaccessible, and there will be an authentication loop for several minutes before the game starts as “offline”.

Have you been facing this issue lately? If so, what are your thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments below. For a generation that opposed “always online” DRM for consoles, it’s amazing that 2K Sports even thought of implementing such a mechanic.

“Because if you’re playing single player, all your accomplishments in the game are going to eventually matter if you’re playing against a villain player, or alongside other heroes. If you’ve somehow cheated your way to victory – so that’s a concern for us. If you’re somehow cheating, online is way for us to track it, because your performance can be measured in the Xbox Live cloud.”

Considering that there will be games like Destiny and Titanfall which are online only, it seems that Fable Legends will just be something akin to Forza Motorsport 5. You’ll be able to take advantage of the Xbox Cloud but if you try to game the system when interacting with other players, there’ll be trouble.

As of now, Fable Legends will be arriving on the Xbox One, although a release date is still pending.

“But on PC, we really want players to feel they’re part of the bigger Blizzard and Diablo community. It’s a choice of platform and opportunity for our players to benefit from. There’s a more secure item trading environment, but also a more social environment. We have a lot of plans to make online matter. For us it’s about that connected experience.”

He also stated that Diablo 3 was “a co-op game from day one. We didn’t add co-op in. It’s not a value added feature. It is the ideal. It’s not something we want to force upon people, but the idea it’s always available – the whole drop-in, drop-out thing – has been of value since the very beginning of the project. We tried to make the game with that in mind.

“As we add new things, as we look to the future, we’re still trying to enrich that. We still are doing a lot to make online matter. Improved matchmaking, new social systems and extra rewards for playing together.”

Are you feeling the benefits of the same? Let us know below.

According to Microsoft’s Albert Penello on NeoGAF however, that seems unlikely. “I don’t see that ever happening with content you’re buying today either on disc and digitally. All of that DRM stuff was in place because there was no physical security on the disc itself, so all the licensing was done digitally.

“When you build that type of model, then you need to make sure people can’t install games on a bunch of machines, then unplug them. That would have made us an awesome Pirating machine, and that can’t happen for obvious reasons. When we went back to disc security, those DRM policies weren’t necessary. So no reason to turn it on later.

“If there’s ambiguity, it’s because it’s possible that, in the future, IF WE ADDED BACK some of those family sharing ideas we had in the beginning, we’d have [to] reintroduce similar types of policies. So IF you wanted to have a game and have that family sharing, always-in-the-cloud, and digital loaning – then we might add those requirements back.

“You can imagine a world where we have both types of models at the same time. Again, big IF, but the bottom line is I wouldn’t worry about us making those policies ‘retroactive’ which seems to be the issue I hear people worry about.”

The Xbox One launches this November across 13 territories worldwide, with 8 other territories such as Norway, Switzerland and Russia seeing its release in 2014.

It also seems that despite The Sims 3’s multiplatform status, The Sims 4 may not necessarily be heading to other platforms other than PC and Mac. As of now, consoles aren’t being looked at as platforms for the game according to Rodiek.

Concerning the lack of console releases, this could change somewhere down the line if the demand is high enough and if The Sims 4 is successful enough to warrant expansion on to other platforms. For now, it seems that The Sims Studio and Maxis are keeping it thankfully simple, avoiding many of the pitfalls that befell SimCity and ultimately catering to fans of the series. The Sims 4 will be released in 2014.

“In the last few months, we have started making changes to the business practices that gamers clearly don’t like. In the spring, we dropped our online pass program for consoles – both next-generation and current-generation. We listened to the feedback on SimCity and decided that The Sims 4 would be built as a single-player, offline experience. We announced some new intellectual properties at E3 and will unveil more new games in the months ahead.”

SimCity did sell two million copies though, and as Gibeau revealed, “the number of people logging in and playing is holding steady. SimCity is a success. However, underestimating demand in the first month was a major miss. We hope that the game and the service we’ve provided since then meets the fans’ high standards.”

The Sims 4 will reportedly be shown off at next month’s Gamescom, happening from August 21st to 25th.

“We think about that a lot at Ubisoft – because we have a lot of big, AAA games that are hero-based – and we think that the transition must be smooth. I think what happened with the Xbox One, [Microsoft] are in the trend. What they wanted to do was a business trend, I would say, and they went a bit too fast. It was too brutal, maybe, especially with the gamers.

“But in some ways they realised that the connection is going to be the meaning [of the next generation]. You will want to want to use your console to be connected. Even now, with a phone, if the internet is not working you’re like, ‘it’s useless’. [Microsoft] knows that consoles are going to be like that, but they did too many things at the same time.

“Don’t force them to do it. Make something so good that they want to be connected. That’s the difference. Make people, in a positive way, go in the direction you want.”

The console also won’t have any used game restrictions. Consumers can do whatever they want with the disc when they purchase it, which means they can trade it at retail, sell it to some one else, lend it to friends, etc. It’s their property and they have a right to it.

Tretton stated that, “We believe in the model that people embrace today.” And needless to say, the crowd loved it.

Of course, if that wasn’t specific enough for you on what the PS4 won’t be doing in terms of connectivity in the name of security or whatever nonsense, the latest tweets from the PlayStation Twitter should clear that up enough.

“PS4 games won’t stop working if you haven’t authenticated in 24 hours.” We heard you!

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 11, 2013

“If you enjoy single-player games offline, PS4 won’t require you to “check in” online periodically.”

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 11, 2013

They also make mention of PlayStation Plus membership carrying over from the PS3 to PS4.

Yes, your PlayStation Plus membership will carry right over to PS4. 3 consoles, one price. “You’re already set for PS4”

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 11, 2013

Give credit to Sony: They floundered in the beginning but are bringing it home.

However, speaking to GamesIndustry International, Eagle stated that, “We are building the Xbox One to support the trading and re-selling of used games. We are working through the policies of how that will work right now, but we will not block used games.”

So it seems you will be paying a fee to install games on another Xbox One console (since it will be coded to the original system it was used on, making it “used” for other consoles).

Regarding the rumours of the Xbox One being always online to function, Eagle stated, “The answer to that question is no, you do not require an always on connection to use Xbox One.”