kmtrain83

@Questionable_Duck
I guess context matters
Does this mean now that Microsoft promotes gamers to play anything they want everywhere they want all the time that they will abrogate the 10 year exclusivity clause from CoD and make it multi-platform in perpetuity

@Medic_alert
Yes, not too long ago the memo was to "spend Sony out of business." It did not work.

With all of this tinkering, they really are merging console into the PC world. This is like when I had to modify my swkotor.ini file to run the CDROM in Windows Vista. Good times.

I’m sorry I just don’t believe these executives when they say that they like it when they cannot have a monopoly and when consumers choose their competitors over themselves. You don’t get to be an executive with this type of mindset.

I would blame inflation, but then I look at how much an Apple product cost in 2019 compared to now and they’ve managed to keep a lid on it. My work MacBook Pro retailed at $2400, and you can get a 2025 version today for roughly the same, or the 15” Air for significantly less. The series S and X are not any faster or better than they were at launch, but they are not depreciating at the retail price level.

@fatpunkslim
I don't have a Steam Deck but I find it interesting the other launchers "don't play well." Of all the things it takes to make a great game, from creativity, coding, play testing, hardware compatibility and performance, support and updates, you would think the launcher would be relatively easy to get right.
It's like having a BMW everything is great, but the ignition switch is off.

This is one way that consoles are interesting piece of tech is that they seem to last longer than smartphones or PCs before getting "laggy."

It’s just putting in perspective the hype levels between the two things stated in the original article.
But I hear what your comment was that you’re so tired of hearing about GTA 6, so I guess I’ll just leave things at that and not tire you any further.
I’m not a particular fan of GTA either

@swedetrap
The GTA 6 trailer has 286 million views on YouTube. The previous Xbox 20th anniversary has 1.8 million views.
Take that information as you will.

Microsoft is a huge company, but they did not get this way by being satisfied with 1% growth. They have a duty to shareholders to invest their capital (which is a finite resource) in those areas which offer the best return, and either jettison or heavily modify the areas that do not. They are not a charity, and will not use the high margins from other divisions to subsidize Xbox just to keep us gamers happy, and I would caution anyone who somehow has this notion. Also, insofar as to the sunk costs of the ABK acquisition, they will make that "money back" more by AI, cloud, etc, and not chasing good money after bad with Xbox. Next generation is truly make or break. Perhaps by then cloud and high speed internet will be ubiquitous enough for the Netflix model to work, but I'm not so sure of that, and it would leave many people behind.

@ILuvGames
It would probably cause a net loss and accelerate the end of Xbox as we know it if they were not able to capture 3rd party sales of these 1st party titles.

@SuntannedDuck2
You just summed up the 21st century.

@BacklogBrad
I guess if you want to go true pirate, you can jailbreak any computer and install any software. It just depends how far you are willing to go into the uncharted seas. There are Youtube videos of people getting Xbox games to play on Switch.

@jesse_dylan
I'm not sure it is inevitable that Switch 2 will fall behind. The last time Nintendo tried a mid cycle refresh was with the "New" 3DS in 2015, but the software support wasn't there by that point in the lifecycle. Since they merged handheld and console lines, and are now trying to achieve a semblence of parity with current gen (Series S mostly), who's to say that they won't decide to make a "Switch 2 Pro" in 2029? If Sony can and PSSR, Nintendo can add SSSR.

@Banjo-
I’ve had a PC of some sort since the 1980s though I mostly moved over to Mac at home.
Every windows PC I’ve ever owned tended to slow down over time, so I wonder if this Xbox hybrid is going to suffer the same fate.

I used to also plug in my Commodore 64 to my living room television so I guess you could say I’m old school.

@fatpunkslim
Maybe so. I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the concept, for whatever reason.
I can already attach my desktop PC to my TV, so I’m not sure what this new Xbox offers. Is it just that it auto boots to a controller based UI with a legacy color scheme rather than mouse and keyboard, for me to then Exit to Windows and play my Steam games? Is that enough of a selling point?
Also if I have an Xbox physical library, what happens to those discs?

@Questionable_Duck
They would eventually have to phase it out though like they did with Xbox Gold.

@OldGamer999
Yeah I’m not sure with this device where does Play Anywhere fit it? Which version of the game will this PC hybrid run?

This is an interesting prospect, but since the Xbox experience is being rolled out to all handheld PCs, would it eventually get to where I can just relocate my existing desktop PC from the home office to the den, and boot to Xbox UI with controller input?

I wonder if you’re a game developer if you will let out a deep sigh when the director assigns you to the foliage department.
Always with the foliage.

It’s crazy how many 8 out of 10 games are coming out in the latter half of the year and there’s still a couple months to go.

Unfortunately, for all of them, all I’m can do right now is play Hades II, which is a 10 out of 10

I know it was supposed to be a PlayStation exclusive, but since KOTOR was an Xbox game back in the day, the Obsidian did KOTOR 2 maybe they could just give them the KOTOR remake, which has yet to materialize.

@Banjo-
You seem to know your stuff, but all this techno speak could be a turn off for those less well-versed. The operating system working well on day one should be a given when you buy a console.

@GoldenPants
I totally agree with this and when you couple that with the Xbox president already warning us of the high price, and this “work in progress” operating system, that’s why you see all the pessimism for the future of the brand.
I’m not a huge Xbox fan or anything. I had the original Xbox and then we got a Series S for the family, but I am hoping they turn it around the way that Nintendo did with the Wii and the Switch.
I’d rather not in my lifetime have to only choose between PC and phone games because console died a slow death.

@Banjo-
I’ll definitely be following this with interest for a few years to see when or if they actually announce Steam on a lower end console.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner
You bring up some interesting points such as the fact that series S has out sold X by a two or three to one margin (we don’t get official data), but they are leaning into their lesser sold direction.
And then also that if they target the hardest of the hard-core gamers, they still won’t be able to compete with the high-end Nvidia GPUs, so PC master race will still badmouth.

@Banjo-
This sounds good, but could they do it on a series S2 for a low price when it’s time for me to replace my Series S?
I also feel they don’t have confidence in the Surface line otherwise they would make their own Surface handheld.

@themightyant
I did not envision when I got my first Xbox in 2003 that a couple of decades later they would evolve to the equivalent of getting a Bang & Olufson elite speaker from the Crutchfield catalogue.

@themightyant
When I look at the graphics already on display with my 4K TV from a typical viewing distance with both Series S and base PS5, I don't think the next generation can improve on that by a factor of two, in order to justify a doubling or more in price tag.
The diminishing returns of power is butting up against massive inflation.

@Fiendish-Beaver
My eyes are starting to water at these kind of price estimates.
I miss the days when you could get a Nintendo 2DS XL and a copy of "Nintendo Selects - Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds" for a modest sum.
Heck, I got my Series S for $237.50 on sale at Target with a bonus $50 gift card (net after tax ~ $200) for Xmas only 3 years ago. This NextBox price point is a long way from that.

@OldGamer999
I usually get my phone upgrades for "free" if I trade in my old phone and keep a mobile plan with the same carrier. If Xbox offered a trade in for Series X, and gave me the next box for free as long as I contracted for 3 years of Game Pass, then that would be an equivalent situation.

@fatpunkslim
I could see PC first gamers excited about a box that plugs into the TV with a bespoke controller and UI, that runs games with modern GPU performance levels. On the other hand, folks coming from the console first perspective may bemoan the loss of low cost of entry, and mass market appeal that once defined this space.

When I hear a corporate person use the word “very” to preface the words “premium” and “high-end” my eyes start to water at the actual final price.
I already have a decent desktop PC with a 4060 card that cost roughly $1000 from Costco. I can’t imagine buying one for my desk and one for my television.

I guess Xbox fans can rejoice that this is still a console exclusive

@fatpunkslim
I have an ASUS monitor and Wi-Fi router and looked into getting their TUF gaming laptop. They make quality devices at a reasonable price. Even still I think this is relatively expensive for what you get compared to what else is out there. I’m also comparing it to gaming laptops and lower end handhelds.
It is totally fair to compare this to a Steam Deck the way you would compare a Honda Civic to a BMW 4 series. They are both sedans. I would not compare the BMW to a pick up truck though.

@BAMozzy
Hello again, I don’t think it’s a matter of people forgetting or failing to distinguish. It’s more that if you are a gamer, you’re not going to get juiced by the next announcement being touted as “From the makers of Excel and PowerPoint.” Any reminder that Xbox originates from Microsoft makes it uncool.

@BAMozzy
If people have difficulty separating Xbox from console, Microsoft is partly to blame when they claim that everything is an Xbox. Our frame of reference is gone.

Interesting take, so it is the " ROG Xbox Ally X," but if you complain about the price it is the " ASUS " ROG Xbox Ally X

I voted "Maybe when it drops in price" although it would have to be a pretty steep drop. Maybe I would try it out in 1-2 years as a clearance model if a version 2 arrives. I can't find a place for this device with my current set up, and I don't intend to renew Game Pass.

@MinervaX76
This makes me wonder if maybe I need to ask my financial guy about my video game portfolio at our next meeting.

I did not have a big gaming collection until about five years ago when I got back into it. I previously just played the same things over and over. Now my backlog is so big, that I am mostly looking to work on that.

Although this is an Xbox owned property, I tend to associate it as its own thing even now

This technobabble doesn’t mean much to me. What’s the actual plan? If we’re going to get an Xbox native version of Hellblade 3: Senua”s Revenge or something, in which case I don’t care. Series X was already powerful, but it’s still below a gaming desktop level, so PC snobs will not be impressed at the Nextbox either.

That reminds me I pre-ordered the "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Lumiere Edition GameStop Exclusive - PlayStation 5" set to launch October 31. I wonder this "near future" update will be included on the disc.

Gaming PC aficianados are quite adept at figuring out what is a deal based on specs. They look at websites and Reddit posts with spreadsheets containing FPS per dollar. The lower price ROG Ally apparently does not match up well to the higher one.

As someone who previously rented and finally bought my own home some years ago, I can tell you it was like a cloud was lifted when I went from renter to owner. I don't think I can ever go back to renting, and hopefully I won't have to. With digital games, you are ceding part of the rights of ownership to the corporations in a way that did not exist with physical media. For some people this feels like a step back. As far as longevity goes, the jury is out on that one. I'd have to give the edge to digitial. Case in point, I am more likely to be able to play Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on Steam in 2050 than on my PS5 disc.

The screenshot of the French guy reminds me of everything I dislike about Youtube.

@OldGamer999
I agree with you in princple. It is possible by the 2030s though, that the kids who grew up with Minecraft and Roblox will settle for blocky home streaming games via Netflix. It's like me that I am fine playing songs on my Echo dot with Spotify, while a true audiophile will spend thousands on their music set up. The market will evolve in the direction of the consumer.

We live in interesting times when a $3 trillion company has to respond to a guy on the internet.

The 1 and 5 hour limits can't be the final policy. I might as well just play a throway mobile game.