'Xbox Hardware Is Dead,' Says Founding Team Member, 'It Looks Like Xbox Has No Desire — Or Literally Can't — Ship Hardware Anymore' - IGN
'Xbox Hardware Is Dead,' Says Founding Team Member, 'It Looks Like Xbox Has No Desire — Or Literally Can't — Ship Hardware Anymore' - IGN
Yeah, they think the Internet will get so quick that people will just stream every game from the cloud from any device and they want to be the leader of that.
Then maybe they should take comcast to court over their 10 years unchanged 1.2 terabyte monthly data cap seeing as they can afford to.
that would be cool. but id rather be able to download xbox games on my phone and play them offline
That will probably be a thing similar to how Netflix lets you download episodes for plane rides and such.
@kandoh @simple i would rather say they are aiming for full control over the product ;) How dare you used a bug in our game to your advantage - we block your acces to the game and of course to continous rising prices , cause there is no second hand deals ... let's hope that steam and gog will be really long available an people still buy games even it's much more expensive already ...
It'll also save them from flops. They'll be able to stick a game at the top of the front page and say it got 20 million streams like Netflix does with its shitty movies.
I'm all for Asus handheld becoming the future of Windows for consumer. Have little interest now in keeping it as a personal PC. Linux is the way now thanks to them force feeding Copilot and screen grabber.
Wait I thought stock buybacks and hollowing out all our dedicated talent didn't have consequences?
Was funny when they said they needed more original games like Hi Fi rush after firing the people that made Hi Fi rush.
technicallythetruth
Everyone knows developers only have one good game in them.
The problem at this point is not so much that they don't have games - they have released plenty in the past few years and most have been received positively.
The problem is that they released those games too late, and by that point, the ship had already sailed. After a streak of disappointing years with the XOne, they needed strong titles to pair up with XSeries. Instead, they released jack shit for an entire year, and after that the disappointment just grew further with the likes of Halo Infinite, Starfield and the weird vampire game nobody asked for.
By that point, everyone already got themselves a PS5, a Switch, a gaming PC or a handheld device. Xbox needed to show their fans they believed in their mission and were capable of delivering strong titles on their platform, but everyone saw their releases and said "Meh".
The strong titles eventually came, but by that point they had already decided to port them over to the competition to offset the cost, and everyone saw the writing was on the wall for the platform.
Spencer can go on stage spewing whatever bullshit he wants, but nobody outside of the most diehard Xbox fans believe that the platform has a future - and it's very hard to convince people to invest on your platform when it's not certain how many more years it will be supported, and whether your store will remain accessible or shut down a few years down the line.
Have you considered firing half the workforce and pushing AI harder? I think that might fix it.
So, re-release Tay as a sex chatbot, got it, on it!
Part of the problem might be that I literally have no idea what their current console is called? Whoever was in charge of naming the last threeish xbox consoles should be fired out of a cannon
Don’t know what you mean. Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X all make perfect sense and leave zero grounds for confusion at all
Lol, that has some pre-Switch Nintendo naming energy
They had all that free marketting from people assuming the third one would be the 720 and they ditched it in favor of calling it the Xbox One, which everyone was already using for the name of the first Xbox. Still baffled by that one.
I can't think of a single company worse at naming products and services than Microsoft. They have an abysmal track record. Some examples off the top of my head, all of which make web searches near-impossible:
Yeah, totally agree on this. If you put the last two names in front of me and asked which was newer, I’d have no idea. The new one has multiple versions too so it makes it more confusing.
I mean, after the 360 they had XXXbox sitting right there and they acted like they were too good for it. Prudes.
It's my sexbox and her name is Sony!
Microsoft suck at naming things in general. It's a problem across every single branch of the business, people keep calling Office 365 0365 because Microsoft insists on calling it O365 and people think that's a zero. Also the name makes no sense anyway, why not call it Microsoft Office Online?
Then we have Microsoft Azure, except they renamed that to Entra despite the fact that both names are stupid. Then of course there is the entirety of the Windows OS lineup.
Entra isn't Azure. Entra ID is what they renamed Azure Active Directory to. But not always; there's also Azure Active Directory B2C (yes, that's the fully expanded name). And various other Azure-branded things that may or may not belong together.
Microsoft are spectacularly bad at naming things.
It's a miracle they haven't renamed Windows 11 to "360 365" or "Live 6.5" or "Active-DOS Series X" or something.
I think It's called Xbox Series 365 Office Copilot Pro+ for .NET
The current one is the Xbox Seriez Z4 pro classic
Cmon keep up
"And here's the thing — maybe it will work," she added. "Xbox has a deep portfolio. [Oblivion Remastered] was obviously a huge success, and they can continue to outsource that work to external companies and make a lot of money releasing their older games — older games from an era when Xbox knew how to build them."
Shots fired. Despite Microsoft constantly claiming Xbox is here to stay and they're working on the next console, it's very clear they're trying to transition off hardware back into Windows so they don't lose that too since Linux is dominating the handheld market. Even if they do make a new console, theyll put as much effort into it as the Xbox One.
Microsoft is trying to make Xbox into Windows: Where 3rd parties make the hardware and then license the platform from Microsoft. It's a vastly more profitable model. Especially if they get all those end users signed up for a subscription service.
The problem is that the world thinks of "Xbox" as a console (and a specific kind of controller). To pull this off Microsoft is going to have to re-brand Xbox entirely by making people think of it more like a game-specific app store that runs on Windows and special handheld hardware. It won't be easy.
There's a bigger problem with this plan though: No real coordination with the Windows OS team. Windows on handhelds sucks. The past twenty fucking years of Windows development has been almost entirely focused on improving enterprise features with very little attention paid to end users or gaming.
Growth in Windows gaming has come despite Microsoft's investments. Not because of them. In fact, I'd argue that if it weren't for Steam, Windows—as a gaming platform—would be a fraction of what it is today.
Don't get me wrong, though! I love this new Xbox roadmap! Windows gaming has been holding back Linux desktop adoption for far too long. The latest benchmarks that show games on SteamOS vastly outperforming the new Xbox-branded handhelds pretty clearly demonstrates all that bashing of Windows by Linux nerds was deeply accurate.
It turns out that Linux on the desktop really is superior! 🤣
So basically they're trying to do what Trip Hawkins did with the 3DO in 1993. In order for that to work, you're going to have to convince people to pay PC hardware prices first. Two issues:
the xbone was the last console I bought. Soured the pot so bad on what I enjoyed about console gaming. I already had a PC, but still enjoyed the couch casual sessions that seemingly don't exist, and haven't for over a decade
I’ve just had my gaming PC hooked up to my living room TV for the last several years. I have a lower power desktop on my room for anything that isn’t gaming. I can’t imagine buying one of the modern consoles just for their limitations alone.
Plus I just wait a few years and 95% of the explained make their way to PC anyway.
Funnily enough though they're also potentially losing desktop users to Linux.
Well, everyone say hello to the $1000+ PlayStation 6.
What're you going to do, buy an Xbox? Build a PC with a GPU alone that costs almost the same?
No Xbox means Sony gains a monopoly on the console market. Unless Nintendo decides to actually compete with regular hardware again, which they won't.
Nah, I'll just keep gaming on a cheap Linux PC and fuck ever buying a console again. Honestly at this point a 5 year old GPU gives you access to 99% of all games ever made, why spend so much to play 4 shitty 'AAAA' games a year?
We passed the point of diminishing returns for graphics years ago. There's no point in keeping up with the latest hardware anymore.
But consider... Steam Deck.
Steamdeck probably tbh if they don't migrate to playstation
Budget and fits the exact needs of xbox users
What are you talking about you can buy a PC for less than the price of a PS5 and it will be better than the PS5. The advantage of gaming consoles has always been that it's plug and play. You just turn it on and there you go.
Sony aren't going to create a revolutionary GPU that's only available in the PS6. They might try and charge $1,000 for it but they will always be other options. Where do you think they get their components from? They don't have their own fab.
Look, I am still using a GTX 1080 Ti (GOATED GPU btw, best dollar per performance value probably ever) because GPUs are too expensive. $700 USD for a low-mid tier card, or $1000+ for a card that should (and usually does) give good lasting value. I don't see where anyone is buying a PC for less than $500 and it has better performance than a PS5, but I suppose it is possible this is a result of Price Discrimination, since I am in California.
NVidia is showing what PlayStation will look like when it feels there is actually zero competition. Xbox, so long as its hardware exists, is a constant threat to PlayStation keeping a lot of things in check. Once Xbox completely disappears, PlayStation will have no competition. Then Sony can set the prices however they want and nobody can do anything about it except pay up, or don't.
PS XBOX and Nintendo are all in the same market, along with Steam, Epic, GOG, etc. The video gaming market. MS will probably still sell an "XBOX", it just won't be locked down to the XBOX game store anymore. This is a win for everyone.
Yes it has a higher initial cost, but it will be lower in the long run. Finance that shit through Klarna or some shit and you'll still come out on top.
Well yeah because they screwed up one of their main franchises. All they had to do was leave Budgie alone to make Halo games, but no.
"There is literally no reason to buy this handheld," Fryer opined of the ROG Xbox Ally. "
You want access to games or services that are either better or only available on Windows without having to deal with the desktop Windows interface. That is literally the reason to buy it. Game Pass and popular live services can woo plenty of people over.
Gotta say, from the few times I've come across her channel, she seems like a shit-stirrer, and right wing rage baiters seem to love quoting her.
But what is the long-term plan?
To transition to a world where "Xbox" is the brand slapped across Microsoft's Windows gaming endeavors and they mostly serve as a Game Pass purveyor and the largest third party publisher by market cap.
Where are the new hits?
This one is really surprising as a question, because if you could will hits into existence, everyone would do it, but for a publisher of their size, they're doing more in recent years to create new franchises than most, even if they then lay off the team behind Hi-Fi Rush. South of Midnight came out this year; Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, and Grounded all came out of Obsidian as well as the much smaller Pentiment; and Clockwork Revolution got a sizable demo on display just this summer.
That Xbox would become Microsoft’s Steam has been the prevailing prediction for the better part of 10 years. I am immediately dubious of anybody who’s opinion is that a more capable than the Xbox device (as far as availability of games) has no reason to be purchased.
You want access to games or services that are either better or only available on Windows without having to deal with the desktop Windows interface. That is literally the reason to buy it. Game Pass and popular live services can woo plenty of people over.
What would that be exactly? Gamepass already works great on linux, it's a better experience on my steam deck than fighting with my windows laptop.
It seems like the main audience is people who are scared of Linux and just don't want to learn something new.
F tier click bait. Literally nothing informative was said in here.
Why should they be focused on it? Xbox is now just a slimmed down Windows pc. You can play the exact same games on a pc, with access to the same storefront.
What’s the problem exactly?
Microsoft's original plan was to own the living room the way they own the office space. Not just gaming, but all your movies, TV, shopping, etc. could be done through the XBox.
Kinect was a particularly big jump in that regard. There were demos of AR-type stuff where you could see yourself wearing clothes you might want to buy. You could move around and the clothes on screen would move with your body. There's some promo videos of that, but nothing concrete ever came of it.
Now they have slagging sales for two generations, and a AAA industry that struggles to make a real hit and is laying off a lot of people. They can't even hold onto the core gaming market much less get their tendrils into the rest of the living room. They then release a handheld that's basically an upgrade of an existing handheld that wasn't selling very well, but now with XBox branding.
Is this a problem for the rest of us? No, not really. There's plenty of alternatives, and we don't need to care. Is this the result the money people at Microsoft envisioned when they started this ~25 years ago? No, not at all.
For wanting to own the living room, they never tried particularly hard. PS3 was a damned successful blueray player. They just needed to give you a nice, curated experience and ease of use. There were literally people buying PS3's because they were cheaper than blueray players at the time
The end goal of all of that is to sell software. If they can do that without supporting a massive pipeline for selling custom hardware, that makes sense.
While this is bad for the market, it's also entirely expected.
Xbox have been producing sub-par hardware with names no one can remember and barely any exclusives, it was only a matter of time.
To other Europeans : do you know anyone who owns an Xbox ? I've only ever had one single friend in middle school who had a 360. I've never seen any other model outside of an electronics store.
Their current gen is hamstrung by the existence of the Series S, and the utter lack of features in their controllers (no gyroscope or any motion sensors ? No advanced rumble ? No touchpad ?). No one who is serious about controller gaming buys an Xbox controller, especially because of the lack of gyro.
Their dedication to digital-only and pushing the games pass also alienates anyone who wishes to play physical games and/or offline.
In the uk I remember the 360 being huge and nobody having a ps3, but now I'm not sure I know a single person who bought an xb1 or whatever the current one is called.
To other Europeans : do you know anyone who owns an Xbox ? I've only ever had one single friend in middle school who had a 360. I've never seen any other model outside of an electronics store.
Barely, lol. Knew 1 person who had an og Xbox and 1 who had a 360. Newer than that, nope.
I bought an Xbox Series controller and I was shocked by how shitty it is, especially compared to the wired 360 controller I had for years. Bought a DualSense and it’s so much better in every way.
I think that xbox controller are the best controllers for PC, so I don't need all the advanced features, but otherwise, you are right.
Their market is now clearly gamepass + Windows. Microsoft is banking on their market share to sell gamepass and capture the market.
OTOH I only have a PS5 because of Sony's marketing budget, lol (non-slim version included with a Sony phone on contract, so technically also a way for them to clear stock, lmao)
But yeah, I don't know any people with a recent Xbox here in Sweden. In the original Xbox era and the 360 era I think they had a big lead here, but after that I've seen much more Sony represented.
I just assumed they hired the same person that was previously in charge of naming Street Fighter games from Capcom. I was sure the next Xbox would be named something like Xbox X 360 Series X Alpha Championship Edition with Hyper Fighting
That'd still be better than Xbox S, Xbox Series X, Xbox One S
I literally have no idea what generation of console any of those names are from.
Super Xbox X 360 Series X Alpha Championship Edition with Hyper Fighting EX Plus Turbo & Knuckles
Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.
I'm sure they can but I think they also see the growth in the PC gaming industry as a potential opportunity to capitalize with "XBOX OS".
With "optimized for gaming" premise? That's obviously nothing more than "hey we decided to allow you to terminate resource hungry explorer/copilot/edge when you play".
Correct.
Waiting for xsx to go on clearance
With the rise of game streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna I predict that the console market is basically over. I honestly don’t expect Microsoft to release another console and if Sony does it’s almost certain to be the last. Nintendo may stick with it longer since they just released the Switch2 but they seem to be prepping for it with the digital key thing.
It sucks for the players but it makes fiscal sense for the Publishers and Console Makers (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) if there is an industry wide pivot to game streaming where players are required to pay every month. I know that some games don’t lend themselves well to this, yet, but it’s blatantly obvious (at least to me) that this is where the industry is headed.
We’ve already reached the end of “Console Exclusive” games and I think what comes next is “Streaming Platform Exclusive” games. I think what comes after that is the Publishers establishing their own Streaming Platforms for their own games.
This is precisely what has happened with the rest of the entertainment industry and there’s no reason I can see for gaming, which is a subset of that same industry, to do anything else now that the streaming technology exists.
Steam and GOG will end up pushed out of the market or they will also become Streaming Platforms, just ones that cater to a different set of players.
Streaming has plateaued, and I don't see anyone overcoming that plateau. The console market is coming to an end, but the transition is to PC gaming, not streaming, and we can measure that.
“Console gaming is coming to an end”
Yeah, if your XBOX.
I can't see streaming games being anything other than a niche market. It puts the burden onto the streamer, in order to be competitive they look after constantly be upgrading their offering, they will have to have multiple server centres around the world, they will always be beholden to crappy ISPs who just don't upgrade their infrastructure.
With local hardware you shortcut all of that, upgrading of your hardware is done by the user so they're not going to complain if it's out of date, you don't have to have any server centres, and the ISP issues either don't matter for single player games that were massively reduced for multiplayer games, now they don't actually have to send video over the connection. .
Steam will end up pushed out of the market
This has been explicitly attempted 3 times already, and that really didn't work out well for anybody who tried it.
Epic Games Store still resorts to bribing people with free games to keep their monthly active user numbers up, hemorrhaging money to attract users who are rarely interested in anything more than freebies.
EA and Ubisoft tried to forgo Steam releases in favor of their own stores and launchers in an attempt to keep 100% of the revenue. They eventually relented, releasing their games on Steam again. Even Blizzard joined in, adding Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 to Steam.
And Microsoft's attempt to dethrone Steam by releasing games through the Windows app store just ended up with Valve funneling considerable resources into helping Linux and WINE become a viable alternative to Windows for gaming.
Unless Valve enshittifies or legal shenanigans ensue, they're pretty unlikely to be pushed out of the market. No single game or game series is good enough to capture the entire market of Steam users and permanently drive them to alternative platforms. On top of that, Steam has a huge following of users who are loyal to the company, which is both insane and insanely hard to compete against.
or they will also become Streaming Platforms
Maybe, maybe not. I don't see it happening, though. Valve makes money hand over fist from digital sales alone, and they have more to lose in pissing off their customers by selling subscriptions than they have to gain by selling subscriptions.
I am concerned about GOG and PC hardware prices, though.
I feel her pain. Seamus Blackly and Jay Allard probably feel the same.
Makes sense honestly. I am incredibly underwhelmed with my series x.
What will happen to the games library? If only the ROG Xbox Ally can play Xbox Series X|S games…
I think the Xbox Ally is able to play the Series' games. It has a GPU that's comparable to the Series S.
However, we're gonna lose the old Xbox games (OG & One) compatibility unless Microsoft bundles an Xbox emulator into Windows.
I think you meant the 360 which had a PowerPC CPU and Nvidia GPU. The One and Series X|S use the same, more or less, AMD APU design as the ROG Ally.
I've watched a video of hers before. My takeaway was that Microsoft is a heavily bloated company that suffocates internal development but with the OG Xbox and early 360, they were like a side bet that didn't have a great deal of oversight from MS Windows/Office/Server mega money eyes.
They didn't have a great deal of internal dev studios but they were really good at identifying third party exclusives to pursue and early on managed them and the few studios they did fully acquire well. It worked well for the first Xbox and first half 360. It differentiated the Xbox/360 from Nintendo and Playstation
Then I guess success led to changes in leadership aimed at growth and using Xbox as a platform to push more MS services and they lost the focus and ability to identify and secure great third party exclusives. That coupled with not having internal game dev teams in numbers and experience like Nintendo and Sony meant if they didn't hit with their living room smart device dominance ambition, they'd just have a worse PlayStation. That's what they ended up with with the XOne - a worse PS4. Then it happened again with the XSX because of lack of execution with their internal studios. An XSX just became a PS5-lite library-wise