Ever wondered why a portable Xbox console has never seen the light of day? Robbie Bach, who ran the Xbox business between 2001 to 2010, said that proposals for a handheld system "just would not die" internally.
As transcribed by Gamespot, a recent interview with Bach during the New York Game Awards dove into some of the reasons why the company has avoided making a handheld system for so long.
"During my time at Xbox, there were at least three groups that presented portable Xbox presentations. They always got called 'Xboy' for some reason. Would have been a trademark problem, I'm sure. All three times we decided not to do it."
He later went into more detail about why this wouldn't have been feasible, comparing the production of a handheld to creating an entire new Xbox system from scratch, and preferring to keep the focus on the main consoles:
"It would have meant starting up another team. It would have been like starting Xbox [again] except creating a handheld. And we just didn't have the bandwidth to do that."
Bach added that despite shutting down proposals for a handheld, pitches from employees "just would not die". Obviously it never came to fruition, which is why we are yet to see the fabled 'Xboy' in our homes.
Would you have liked to see a portable Xbox console? Let us know in the comments below.
[source gamespot.com]
Comments 12
Don't think they should make a handheld, just team up with Samsung or someone else to make a small tablet with 5g, built in controllers, and sell it as a portable GamePass streaming device.
I think history has shown there is no point in directly competing with Nintendo on the mobile offline potable market.
The name "XBoy" is pretty cool, but that would also mean that Microsoft would have to deal with Nintendo. It just wasn't meant to be.
Xbox doesn't need a handheld device..
Streaming to the phone from either xCloud or from my Series S works excellent and together with my Kishi it makes a perfectly doable XBOX Switch even for games like Gears 5. With a strategy game like Gear Tactics it's a timesink in the bathtub!
At this point xCloud is basically Xboy, but I still want an Xboy.
@Tharsman Doesn't xCould specifically say you can't use it with your cellular connection though?
I'd much prefer all three consoles be hybrid consoles, rather than skyscraper sized powerhouses.
Between actually being able to play games off the physical media without installing the entire game, and smaller form factor, the Switch is the only console that still feels like a console.
And God it would be nice if games weren't catered around the group of people who throw hissy fits when a game "doesn't look next gen enough".
People do realize that with Xcloud you have a portable right? It would be nice if you could download a game like you can download a show or movie from Netflix/Disney+ for a few days so you don't have to stream it always... camping outhouses aren't known for great reception.
Realistically they would never have been able to compete with Nintendo, so its probably for the best. As for Xcloud it certainly has potential to be a great service but it does seem to be limited by location, I struggle to get a consistent connection with 200mbs Internet and some games like Forza were unplayable due to the lag. Streaming from my console works very well though
I think with xCloud/Console streaming its unnecessary to have a dedicated handheld as you can pair your phone with your controller natively. Its not as flexible as Nintendos offerings but they would have to compromise on graphical fidelity and would make no sense to MS when they have built two fantastic machines that fit their strategy better, even the Series S is next level compared to the Switch(which I love) and fitting that in a handheld is nigh on impossible(or prohibitively expensive).
Because like Sony it would fail
Actually Xbox created the perfect handheld console: Windows Phone.
There was a whole swathe of really good games (including a blinding version of Hexic and Halo) that all featured achievements and gamerscore. You could send messages via Xbox Live to your mates and arrange games whilst out and about. They all lived in a neat Xbox app you could also use to edit your Avatar who lived inside your phone.
Then Microsoft buggered it all up with WP8.1. They decoupled games from the Xbox app, decoupled the Xbox app from the OS so it ran like tar rather than butter and allowed non-XBL-enhanced titles onto the marketplace.
Between 2010 and 2014 they had the perfect ecosystem with their mobile devices.
Just buy Nintendo and use the Xbox Switch brand. Gamepass and XCloud enabled but with dedicated games from Nintendo Studios
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