In a slight development, VentureBeat journalist and industry insider, Jeff Grubb, has apparently revealed "pretty much everything" we saw on Phil Spencer's shelves during a livestream is a sign of things to come. That includes the Nintendo Switch, too.
Grubb made these comments during a recent GamesBeat podcast and this was followed by "Shpeshal Ed" of XboxEra, mentioning how the "cat seems to be out of the bag" about the Xbox and Nintendo news, and that more would be revealed this Fall.
While there's already been a lot of speculation since information began circulating, one thing it's supposedly not got anything to do with - according to the same source - is "GoldenEye" - which appears to be a reference to the recently leaked XBLA game.
So, what could be going on between Nintendo and Microsoft? While nobody has said anything - the official Halo Instagram added fuel to the fire by sharing the following fan art of Mario X Masterchief by pikathorchu. This was previously shown on 4th April, at the end of a community spotlight Halo post.
Last week, a similar but different story did the rounds about the Kojima Productions' statue on Phil's shelf - igniting rumours that the legendary game developer may be working towards an exclusive deal with Microsoft.
What do you make of all this yourself? Do you think Microsoft and Nintendo might be up to something? Leave a comment below.
[source nintendolife.com]
Comments 50
My guess would be Master Cheif coming to Smash Bros.
“Everything’s a rumor if you’re brave enough!”
“Phil, no!”
Xcloud on Switch would be great
Either MCC for Switch, Game Pass for Switch or both if Microsoft decides to release more native Switch releases.
Think at least Game Pass is most likely.
I think it's about Game Pass too, I won't guess at what shape or form though, but it'll certainly be interesting.
Still holding out hope for a long standing partnership deal that sees Xbox launch a version of the xbox network on the system, including cross party chat and friends system, a constant stream of new titles, updating old games, all with achievements, Game Pass, and Goldeneye.
I'm dreaming big.
I can’t wait to see what appears from this. Maybe I’m being optimistic. But I’d love to see Smash on Xbox.
I would say GamePass in some form on Switch, maybe MS offering to help Nintendo with their online services, in conjunction to GamePass being made available for XBox 1st party and ‘certain’ third party titles (ie titles that the Switch would have no chance of running)… no indies, nothing that has a chance to be ported.
It's about time Nintendo put their games on Xbox
It’s happening!
Banjo Kazooie 3!!!!!!!
you heard it here first
There's absolutely no way Nintendo's games are coming to xbox and no way xbox games are going to nintendo in terms of physical and digital sale format.
But gamepass I can see being available on the switch
I think the obvious conclusion is xcloud Game Pass app on Switch. Works for both parties.
The Switch hardware is too dated for many native ports these days, so they gain a vast library of games unavailable on the system and MS gain another subscription avenue.
I imagine if MS allowed a 30% cut of any new subscribers to go to Nintendo, that would close the deal.
Would be an absolute killer blow to Sony if this happens though.
Based on Phil’s specific wording around the Bethesda thing of ‘exclusive to platforms game pass is on’ I’m guessing it’s streaming for switch. There’s bound to be an app for Smart TVs like Netflix too. Probably with Samsung first of al.
@GateCrasherUK It's never going both ways
Nintendo is even less platform agnostic than Sony is, especially given gaming is just their whole business and so they care way more about selling hardware
I'm starting to think this might be Game Pass for Switch
It's clear Microsoft's long term ambition for the service is to just have it on damn near everything under the sun to maximize their audience and the revenue generated from their services
Microsoft Edge coming to Switch. Will support xcloud in the browser.
Nintendo gets Gamepass and Microsoft gets the virtual console app with the SNES and NES games.
@TheFrenchiestFry I know it was a joke, It's most likely going to be some sort of collaboration on a game for Switch. I can't see Nintendo allowing Gamepass on Switch.
The only thing that makes sense here is GamePass on the Switch, and the Switch Pro if rumors of it coming out this year is true (tell me a Switch Pro bundled with GamePass wouldn't FLY off the shelves).
Microsoft doesn't care about as much about console sales, and where their games are played. They want subscriptions. If Nintendo (or even Sony) want GamePass, MS will stumble over their own feet to get the service on there.
They don't own iPhones, or Androids or Samsung's where their pushing GamePass. They want you subscribed, with a Microsoft login, and in their ecosystem.
@Bmartin001 agree. Alot of ambitious theories doing the rounds but likely related to smash bros.
I can't see Game Pass coming to Switch and Nintendo first part games are not going to Xbox. Likely just about Smash of some more MS games coming to Switch. The GamePass rumours have been doing in rounds for the last 2 years at least.
Of course MS want everyone in their eco system but making a console redundant doesn't make sense. Interesting to see what happens but can't see it being anything major.
@John117 The sales of Nintendo Switch hardware disprove your theory. A lot.
What @blinx01 said. I mean, what native Series X|S games do you fellas think the Switch (or Switch Pro, while we're at it) will be able to run? 🤣
@John117 Switch outsold the last gen Xbox in half the time on the market. Nintendo will carry on making consoles for many more decades to come. Switch will be re iterated like the DS and they can survive on exclusives alone. Sony and Xbox exclusives don't get close to Nintendo exclusive sales.
@The_New_Butler so Nintendo Switch gamers can play Xbox games, but Xbox gamers can't play Nintendo games
@John117 Nintendo don’t need third party games to sell well. Never have done. Not an expectation it’s just how they have always been. As long as you have to own a Nintendo console to play their games, Nintendo will keep making consoles. I genuinely do not ever see a time when you will see Nintendo games on another platform because the simple truth is they do not need their games to be on any other platform.
@The_New_Butler Control and Hitman 3 both cloud games on Switch and both are horrific.
There are plenty of possible Tie ins that could work for both Nintendo and Microsoft.
Xcloud is possible on Switch as long as Microsoft can make it worth Nintendo’s while financially. You could restrict Xcloud on Switch to a selection of games that aren’t on the system but it’s still likely to hit Nintendo’s third-party sales so it will come down to whether the compensation on offer from Microsoft will cover that.
Or maybe we get some Game Pass functionality without Xcloud. There are plenty of games on Game Pass and Switch-the Oris, the Dooms, the Wolfensteins, Hellblade, Minecraft, Skyrim. Maybe GPU subscribers could access them with Nintendo getting ‘per play’ revenue. Works towards MS goal of engagement on many platforms and could generate extra revenue for Nintendo.
Finances aside it could be mutually beneficial. Switch gets extra third party support and Microsoft gets another Avenue for Game Pass Ultimate, including Japan.
In fact being realistic I think it’s more likely we’ll see MS try and leverage the absolute dominance of the Switch in Japan to try and get a foothold there themselves. A Switch port of Master Chief Collection, or even just Halo CE would be great marketing for Halo Infinite (and a big boon for Nintendo Switch Online). Maybe we’ll see ports of older Forza and Gears games to Switch before their new iterations on Xbox.
The other question is Rare Replay. Several games on there are actually 360 games running under emulation. They would probably have to be ported individually to Switch. Doable of course but how much effort would it take and how much cost? How much work to include games like Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing and Starfox Adventures that aren’t on Xbox because of licensing issues with Nintendo? Personally I suspect it would be worth it as the Switch Userbase would absolutely lap it up but they would want to get the calculations right.
Could we please use Xbox Live on Switch somehow? Quietly take NSO out?
Lastly that recent Battletoads game is perfect for the Switch.
@The_New_Butler so everybody wins except xbox gamers
@John117
It's very hard to see Nintendo leaving the hardware business while they're successful in it. They currently have a big niche of the market to themselves.
In the case of the Switch, actually Hardware sales are profit for them-they stated in their Financial report before Switch even launched that it wouldn't sell at a loss so it will certainly be profitable now, and Nintendo usually do profit from their Hardware. If they were to leave the Hardware business they would give up profits from Console Hardware, profits from peripheral sales and profits from third-party sales (which is basically risk-free money for Nintendo regardless of what users buy on other systems). Even worse, they'd have to give up a huge chunk of their biggest revenue stream as they'd pay Licensing fees to MS/Sony on their first-party games. Simply put, the only way Nintendo would leave the Hardware business if their systems stop selling.
@SegataSanshiro @The_New_Butler if gamepass is the only thing that matters then they should stop making consoles and become a 3rd party developer
May as well go batcrap crazy with the prediction.
There is no Switch Pro or even a next Nintendo, all Nintendo games get released to Xbox and PC with Nintendo getting a partnership arrangement with the Xbox console. Nintendo games included with gamepass where Nintendo also gets a hefty cut.
Series S was always aimed at this as it’s been proven you don’t need a graphics superstar to sell Nintendo games, but those that want to play on X could.
@teraflop797 I fail to see how putting Gamepass on Switch would be any different than xCloud on the phone or GP for PC. Lots of people here don’t own Xbox and play Xbox games through Gamepass in some form.
Also, I’d rather see Gamepass blossom.
@John117 Who knows what this will mean but I agree with you. Nintendo's games will sell very well (extremely well, at the end of the day, people consider buying a Nintendo console for a few games) on other platforms like Microsoft's games are selling very well on Steam. Third-party games don't sell well on Switch and the benefits that Nintendo get from hardware are smaller than what they'd be able to get on all platforms. It makes sense for Nintendo to become a third-party publisher.
I really hate when these rumors appear, the discussions are always about what will switch win now, but xbox players get absolutely nothing
And yeah, I understand that xbox is more than just a single platform
But giving another reason to not buy their consoles are not going to make the series x/s more popular
At this point I just want know why they continue making consoles if they are going to make other platforms like switch more attractive
Buy a switch and have the best of both worlds
But why should I buy a xbox? Just to play the games at 4k? If thats the only reason their consoles are going to have, well, I guess it will be the death of the xbox consoles
Could be X-Cloud on Switch. Would be great !
@Duck21
I guess it depends...
It might be gamepass streaming only on the switch... there's a lot of Xbox games not on gamepass.
Also, 4k 60fps matters to some people (though not all).
Series X also has optical drive for those who liked playing physical copies of games (or watching DVD and blu ray).
Having the Nin Switch LITE as a portable Xbox gamepass machine (in addition to their series x) could be quite appealing for some Xbox users, as it's better designed for portable gaming than a phone or tablet... could be their on-the-go, throw in a bag device, while the series x is for play at home on the TV.
@antstephenson Exactly that, if Switch gets Game Pass Cloud, it is not a replacement for Series X/S but a replacement for a tablet/phone used as a streaming device.
Maybe he just respects the legacy of Nintendo as one of the forefathers of the console gaming industry, hence why he has the console on his shelf!
@G8crasha That's exactly what I thought!
GPU on Switch + NSO on Xbox.
Some of the comments on here be like 'Oh yeh, it's def a Gears of War & Yoshi Island collab 'cause Ninty hasn't released anything good since Rare left them'.
The reality is though, Crackdown's Terry Crews is going to appear in Animal Crossing & Goombas are going to replace Grunts in Halo Infinite.
GP on Switch seems unlikely, given the limitations of that platform. Unless it's a cloud streaming app, like on mobile, which wouldn't surprise me (and also wouldn't interest me, unfortunately).
@Duck21 that would false. xCloud is built off Xbox machines not PCs. So it doesn’t matter if they sell a consumer a piece of plastic at a loss no less, or keep it to power their cloud network; an actually physical Xbox is necessary, if anything MS needs consoles more due to that.
@Ralizah well Internet reliability makes streaming unappealing for a lot of people. That said there are countries with phenomenal connection speed and don’t have any issues. But yeah I get that :/ going camping and playing games doesn’t work well.
@SegataSanshiro https://youtu.be/s4df_0JjKR0
hope that helps.
I agree about the Switch xCloud and Japan but who knows at this point. I’m still saying a shelf is a shelf.
@SegataSanshiro I don’t really disagree about not getting worked up. Especially because again it’s just a shelf to moi
However, I hate people that think MS doesn’t need consoles, it’s wrong. In essence, that’s how xCloud works, so really every cloud user is playing on an XBox just like Phil’s been saying. Xbox is more than just the console in your living room; it’s the one in your hand too
@antstephenson
You know very well that not only switch is successful in Japan, also the mobile market, for something xbox is making deals with companies like razer to create controls that make it play on xcloud like a portable console
But apparently you think that only giving absolutely everything tl switch will give xbox success
In that case, why does Xbox have temporary exclusivity deals with indie games? why don't they let them come to switch day one too like ori and cuphead
Even why the heck they don't bring games like halo infinite to ps5, since they are not competitors, plus it would get a larger player base according to your logic.
Because of course, they are playing in the "xbox ecosystem"
You know, at first I liked the idea of xbox expanding to pc and mobile
giving the consumer more options to play on xbox
But now is just a ***** show
At least they made it clear to me that they dont care about their consumers, instead of giving a reason to xbox/pc/mobile players to use gamepass, they are just telling you to invest in a switch, so yeah
I will continue asking why the ***** xbox continue making consoles
Things like backwards games will come to switch with xcloud aswell 4k, quick resume and other ***** they pretend to use to make people buy their consoles once the servers of xcloud upgrade to use series x
And also, I hope you enjoy all the ***** from nintendo players saying now that they got more games meanwhile xbox players gets nothing
@Duck21 you seem to have a lot of unresolved issues. I think you need to rethink why you play games in the first place. Because from the sound of it; it’s not for the games, but the plastic.
As a fan of Xbox, you should want Gamepass to be everywhere. It’s how Xbox gets more of that sweet Daddy MS money. Not by outselling playstations.
@SegataSanshiro totally agree. But Im someone that buys devices for what the device does not what’s on it ...
@Duck21
I think you need to relax my friend
I'm not even going to bother to unpack and respond to everything you posted there... frankly I should be working now and don't have the time.
Remember... games are fun, gaming is fun... And, this forum is fun (let's keep it that way 🙂👍).
Relax, enjoy your gaming... and you don't have to buy or subscribe to anything you don't want or need.
In the grand scheme of things (particularly looking at what has been happening in the world the last year or so), none of this is in the slightest bit important... so, kick back, chill and enjoy your gaming 🙂👍
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