Azure And Titanfall

I think people forget though that this all powerful cloud is just lots and lots of Microsoft servers, and I'd be willing to bet that many of them are virtual.

Are Microsoft just going to keep adding servers as more games make use of the Cloud? Perhaps in the beginning but eventually it'll be more cost effective to simply 'turn off' the games that are getting on.

What happens to games like Titanfall when they can't access the Cloud any more?

The Cloud has great potential for changing the way we play games. Problem is that it also has great potential to kill the ability to replay old games.

I take your points, but surely the current positives outweigh any potential negatives a long way down the line in a future where this gen may not even be relevant anymore.   I think it's pretty cool if it's down to Azure that they were just able to run a Beta that two million players we're involved in and it ran pretty much flawlessly.  I guess there will always be a risk of the kind you describe with purely online MP only games whether they are hosted with Azure or third party  dedicated servers.  

I think it's a bit sad people are willing to get invested in the current (or next) gen of gaming and aren't that bothered by whether or not it will be relevant in 10 years or so. I recently installed an old IDE drive on my PS2 and I'm having ridiculous fun playing old games on it, especially as the SH HD collection is such a disaster on PS3. This whole cloud thing has me worried tbh. Could just be another way of enforcing technological obsolescence on people's gadgets. "Buy the xbox two if you want to keep playing your old Halo games because we sure as *** aren't keeping Azure open just so some retro enthusiasts can keep playing Halo 5 on their dinky little Ones."

It is sad indeed.

Many older 360 games that had servers turned off could still be played 'online' by tricking them into thinking you were playing by system link, a feature I understand the one doesn't even have?

Even if they did introduce system link for the One, Titanfall would still be useless once it was cut off from the Cloud because of what that powers.

What happens when developers start using the Cloud to power AI and the like in single player games and campaigns? Could we be losing access to even solo experiences because of the Cloud?

Cloud lol Microsoft still going on about it... Yet no results.

If you read the article you would see it not MS "going on about it" clearly the success of the Titanfall beta running sweetly while open to the whole One community can be classed as "results".   It's fine I don't expect you to concede that point or agree.

I think the technology behind the Cloud is a great one, with a lot of potential for gaming.

My issue is as I said before, I fear it will kill the ability to replay games in the future.

I still play games that are over 20 years old and enjoy them. I would find it a shame if 20 years down the road I couldn't revisit classic One games because they've been cut-off from the Cloud.

Totally not disagreeing with that point.  Personally I like to look forward, but that's just me.  I have intentions to revisit old classics I have enjoyed but I never seem to find the time, and personally I find that sometimes the reality of revisiting old timers doesn't do the memories justice.  

^Gears (the first) did that for me. Was the best looking game I had ever played on release. Now is shocking compared to todays games.

Is Donny still here?

I thought he flogged his ONE when he couldn't figure out party chat?