kmtrain83

@BAMozzy
I was mostly referring to the 720p since Switch 2 screen is 1080p. I appreciate your insight into the other aspects involved.

When I play Switch in handheld mode, it is mostly when I'm feeling tired. I often play in bed at night, where I don't have the time and energy to tweak settings versus plug and play for 30-60 minutes before beddy bye. I hope this "mostly compatible" stuff does not require extra work on the user end to get the game running.

I need to get back to the Lost Crown. As with many of these kind of titles, I got stuck somewhere and dropped off.

I already played it on Switch, but I am glad this is getting wide release. I'd actually look forward to a sequel, since the ending I got (limited spoiler?), seemed to leave room for a new adventure?

They could probably set the base price down, and try to nickel and dime with accessories.
$30 plastic stand, anyone?

Tempted... and yet....

I don't know. I'm also looking the get a new notebook computer next spring, and I think that $899 would be more useful if spent on that. As I said before, I'll wait and see how these review and perform on the games that I like. The 720p version could be okay if on sale, but it is already $100 more than Swtich 2 will lesser graphics?

@Coletrain
Did they announce a price? This might be my first Steam Deck type device.

I started Marvel Midnight Suns

Life is fleeting, especially if you are a digital game.

I thought it was heavily insinuated that this handheld would run Steam games? Is this just to improve the interface?

I wonder if by then there will be any hype left for this game among PlayStation players. I would actually consider getting a Starfield DualSense controller

Still getting it on Switch and not Xbox

@WildConcept6
In the end, we don't know what the Microsoft Corporation will decide to do with this piece of hardware, but I imagine it will come down to spreadsheets, as opposed to the sentiment of gamers.
On a positive note, I got an Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max for my son's TV, along with the ethernet dongle. It works fairly well, so for $50 [total price] we have a device upstairs that upgrades that TV in a major way. Given that both the Series S and PS5 are in the basement, I could see this as an incentive to get a multiplatform title on Xbox instead of Playstation, because it would be playable in more rooms. Too bad he is mostly playing Roblox, Minecraft, Valorant with his friends on PC (a lot this summer.)

@WildConcept6
Why I cannot answer for the original poster from my standpoint I lived through the end of Atari and Sega, and although they remain alive to some degree as game publishers, it’s just not the same as being a hardware manufacturer. There are people who want Xbox to keep producing Xboxes.

I wonder how far away we are from having an AI script that does the ports to other consoles for you

I got John Wick: Hex for $1.99 on Xbox right before it was delisted. Xbox was the only platform that dropped down from the $19.99 list price, otherwise I likely would have got it for Switch. Now it is safely dowloaded and on the backlog...

@GameOverScreen
My son just installed an Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max on his old Sony plasma 1080p TV. It was $35 on sale and we also got a $15 ethernet adapter to get 1 Gig hardwire. I played a match of EA Sports FC 26 on the built-in Xbox app using a third-party controller. Overall, I’d say it was not too bad. He’s happy with being able to play Xbox in his bedroom TV and not having to track down two floors to the basement TV. For me the price was pretty good compared to having two consoles.
I guess I’m a little more open to the “ all streaming”, no dedicated hardware” future then was two days ago, although I guess it just depends on how it all evolves.

@Kaloudz
After the Sony-Concord fiasco, even being ready to ship is not enough to avoid the guillotine.

@CallMeDuraSouka
I’m also in the health field and except for Dr. McCoy on Star Trek most futuristic healthcare is either robot android hologram or combination. It’s what science fiction has always held as the future for healthcare professionals.

@Millionski

I am mildly interested in this hand held device since I do own Nintendo but so far nothing in the PC or Steam Deck space. I will wait for reviews.

I also look at the console as still the best option for people who invest heavily in a large TV and surround sound system. The typical Windows PC is not optimized for that set up.

PC console and mobile remain multi billion dollar markets, so hopefully they will remain viable, and not go the way of arcades.

Yeah, it’s interesting. They keep saying they’re making a console with AMD but people still doubt.
If we’re in speculation mode, then I wonder what will be the price, power, and release date relative to PS5 Pro which could presumably still be Sony‘s flagship at the time.
The current Series X is not competitive in terms of power vs price, and the latter seems to be a choice that was made recently.

It must be a slow news day to ask about this after “almost “two years maybe just wait for the exact two year anniversary.

I haven’t tried it yet. The Series S has a limited hard drive capacity so I have to be choosy.

@BAMozzy
Hello. You brought up a couple of technical points that are quite interesting. I don't quite understand the concept you stated " games on Steam that require MS Windows and MS Direct X API's to work, which really impacts them negatively on Steamdeck and can make them unplayable (don't work well with the Proton Layer)," but it kind of reminds me how Microsoft used it's position in the 1980's to dominate over Apple/McIntosh. Might they pull this over on PC against the other platforms by making them wonky in Windows?

The other mention is since it is Prime Day in the US, I forked over $35 for a Fire Stick 4K Max, and I'm eager to try out Gamepass this weekend on my bedroom TV, since we keep the Series S in the basement TV room.

@SeaDaVie
Yes, I get it. Corporate double-speak can be grating. They say how great you are while handing you a pink slip. I don't think this is limited to the gaming industry.

It's interesting they mention "sources... tell me.... microtransactions." I wonder how much of it is microtransactions, since that seems to be the bulk of what my kids ask for, when I reach into my wallet.

@Millionski

Maybe that is what the industry needs right now is to reconnect to creativity and gameplay, rather than the technology arms race.

When I was growing up, we all wanted better graphics, but my kids today like everything to look pixelated. They have been conditioned by Minecraft and Roblox.

I’m won’t be rushing out to buy a 16K TV anytime soon.

@PushButtons
Compared to the Xbox, PS2, GameCube generation, I’m rather enjoying the slightly different lanes they have taken. I am extremely fortunate to have all the consoles. We use the PS5 as our AAA device on the big TV. There’s also a Series S for Gamepass offerings. I played Indiana Jones over the holidays, and I thought it was great. The Switch 2 is in my kids room on an older TV (not 4K). However, we brought it on the airplane / hotel for two player tabletop MK World last week, and it was real fun that I couldn’t have had with the others. I can understand the frustration then when each console seems a compromise, if you can only pick one.

@BaldB3lper78
Well said. I do wonder if we’ll ever get true photorealism, and break out of the uncanny valley in my lifetime. And even if we do, when we get there, will we feel like it was worth it? I look at stuff like Balatro, which was one of my top games last year, and think that it does not have to be cinema to be fun.

It will likely remain 3 markets, with some overlap
1- mobile: mostly quick and ubiquitous experiences
2- console mostly TV/sofa with some handheld
3- PC desk and chair, mouse / keyboard

Judging by my kids tastes, they play Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite mostly on PC, and sometimes on mobile when they can’t access the PC. Where the console version exists, they have only dabbled in it as a novelty.

Console is the most superfluous of the three, and may be eventually replaced when gaming on the TV via cloud is technologically close enough to having a dedicated box.

Of the big three console manufacturers, Microsoft is the best suited to build in the direction that makes the most financial sense, except perhaps mobile, where Apple/Google are dominant.

@Ricky-Spanish
Ah yes, the early days of online, when we thought it was utopia with no bad actors

I bet since then if you ever did a face to face transaction ever again, you would insist that it take place in a police station

@Kraven
Yes, they have nobody to blame but themselves.

@EVIL-C
At least Canada Day was nice

@RZ-Atom
When you say we won’t need hardware anymore do you mean that the smart TV and mobile phone gaming apps will be sufficient for AAA experience?

@Gabrie
Ya it’s too much of the “ everything you want anytime you want wherever you want just whatever you want, OK?

@VoidPunk
I was with you until that last bit. I have not played Avowed, but what’s the harm in keeping it on Gamepass?

@Questionable_Duck
When you put it that way, the outlook does not seem very good. By the time the Call of Duty multi platform deal ends, and Elder Scrolls 6 comes out as Xbox exclusive, there may not be an Xbox.

@Neither_scene
I asked on the other for him as well

Maybe someone with more business background can answer but how is the $70 billion ABK acquisition structured in terms of yearly profit and loss. Like I know it’s a big amount, but it also gets added to Microsoft net worth so it’s not like completely in the negative column.

Television streaming services are also running into problems in terms of production cost versus subscriber revenue. It seems like no one really understands this business model.

@datamonkey
It took me like 45 minutes online refreshing after midnight to secure a single Switch 2 at launch. I wonder how they got so many for all of their employees. I don’t believe they work with Nintendo directly in any products.

I don't know about this rumor, after they just reiterated their vision to "play the games you want, across devices, anywhere you are..." except Prague.

@WildConcept6
I think the Xbox is less important for $3 trillion Microsoft than PlayStation is for Sony, and Nintendo is obviously wholly dependent on console sales.
I could easily see Microsoft jettisoning their Xbox console division if it becomes a money loser, due to shareholder demand. The smaller Xbox gets relative to Microsoft as a whole the more likely they’ll just decide to move on. Otherwise, if it’s just about having bank and force of will, Windows Phone, Cortana, and Zune would still be around.

The only hardware I was tempted to get was last year was when they had an Amazon Fire-stick, and Xbox controller on Black Friday sale, and that was mainly for the controller part. The Fire Stick would’ve just been a cheap experiment in cloud gaming. I didn’t see any mention of that series recently. I don’t think I’m in the market for the ROG Ally or Oculus with an Xbox UI.

@Gabrie
I agree that but mainly because Microsoft is about 20 times the size of Sony, and not because of any kind of particular strategy they have, nor insight as to what video games will be like in two decades. Microsoft is a big player in cloud services and so if video games is forced into being cloud based, then I guess they win. That’s not what I want, though. Thankfully by then I’ll be too old to care.

Wow, I was not expecting this. So does that mean when they bring Gamepass to PlayStation there will be a PS6 Xbox edition?

I came across this negative take on a blog

https://gardinerbryant.com/xbox-is-dead-windows-isnt-far-behind/amp/

There again I keep hearing the word "hybrid," but I'm afraid it is confusing because it seems to mean different things to different people. I'm better off waiting for the actual hardware reveal, pricing, and reviews than this random conversation. It is fun to imagine future tech, but this is too discombobulating. I must be getting old...

@NishimuraX
Yeah, the more I think about it the more I wonder what is going on at corporate, since they just had a showcase with actual games, and now they release this weirdly phrased PR video. People are reading what they want into it and writing very detailed explanations, but who can explain why they just did what they did with this video.

@Millionski
Do you expect this Xbox label on Windows devices will be required to have the Xbox experience? Or could I still just get a traditional gaming PC such as HP or Lenovo, and run the same software. What makes it an "Xbox PC" and not just a gaming computer?

@Kaloudz
I don't know. I mean Series X was already "better" than PS 5 in terms of technical prowess, but they are still losing to Sony. Backwards compatibility is fine, but not forward focused enough to make we want to invest in new hardware.

@StonyKL
I'm also struggling with this. I keep hearing about a "hybrid Xbox/PC," but what exactly is that? I own a PC with an NVIDIA GPU with Steam, EPIC, EA, GOG, Amazon, DVD-ROM, and I own a Series S. I hardly use the Xbox Windows app. What am I actually going to stick in my home in 2028, and what will it be plugged into? I don't have an engineering or design background, so maybe I just don't have the vision that they do.