Remember that big whoop-de-do over Xbox requiring an “always on” connection?

Never mind.

Microsoft: Next Xbox will work even when your Internet doesn’t

According to an internal Microsoft e-mail sent to all full-time employees working on the next Xbox, “Durango [the codename for the next Xbox] is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today’s Internet.” It continues, “There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should ‘just work’ regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game.”

Playing a Blu-ray disc? Watching live TV without an Internet connection? Very interesting.