I already loathe the idea that game developers are now releasing games that are incomplete due to publishers setting overly optimistic release windows which can't be adequately met; that's why we get sloppy messes like the recent Medal of Honour: Warfighter, which was released with over 90 bugs which were then fixed a few days after release. How's about not setting a release date until you're sure you can meet it? To me, releasing a game this broken is no better than putting out an unfinished game; the only advantage is that these companies now have the means to fix their mess after the fact. This is only likely to become more prolific if the 720 is online-only; if every player has to be connected, then developers are likely to form even worse habits as far as their release strategies go. Games don't need to be QC-tested because they can simply release the game and contend with the flaws as the complaints flood in from gamers the world over. If everyone owning the console has to be connected, then the developers won't feel bad about some consumers not being able to receive the patch; if there's a 100% compliance rate, they'll be more willing to use the patch system as a safety net to paper over the cracks they've not been able to fix ahead of launch.