Kotaku posted a story that two of their sources have added more credence to the rumor that the next Xbox will be an always-online system

Every person we've talked to about the always-online connection, internally and externally, has been incredulous. They predict a fiasco. They detect hubris in a Microsoft riding high off of the Xbox 360's incredible post-Kinect sales performance. But they also detect, as I have, an intensified interest in Microsoft's part to position the next Xbox as an entertainment device, to not emphasize games as significantly as they had with past Microsoft consoles. Add that to far shakier rumors of the next Xbox working as a cable box or DVR or some other TV-viewing enabler--something not a single source of mine could confirm--and you might wonder: if my cable box always has to be connected, why not my next Xbox?

There are reasons for Microsoft to not do this, of course. They merely need to see the disastrous launch of EA's always-online SimCity and decide whether the negative backlash of selling people a product that can't work when the servers go down is worth it--especially if the earlier version of that product didn't require that kind of Internet connection.

 The Next Xbox Will Require an Internet Connection To Start Games, Sources Say