Windows 10: The Next Chapter - Media Briefing Details (Phil Spencer speaking)

  • Xbox Live Digital store on Windows 10
  • People that don't have Xbox Ones can buy its software on Windows 10 machines
  • People can play those games on their PC
  • Cross platform support between PC and Xbox One
  • Xbox One gets Windows 10 apps

Just what I think.

* The Xbox Live store is already available online
* Already possible
* Then they would not sell many Xbox One´s anymore ...
* Cross Platform for some games maybe
* This could happen
 
I just can't see them allowing Xbox One games to be played on PC. There would be too many lost console sales.
 
  • Xbox Live Digital store on Windows 10
    [*]People that don't have Xbox Ones can buy its software on Windows 10 machines
    [*]People can play those games on their PC
  • Cross platform support between PC and Xbox One
  • Xbox One gets Windows 10 apps

Just what I think.
I don't think MS is ready to kill of Xbox just yet.
 
  • Xbox Live Digital store on Windows 10
  • People that don't have Xbox Ones can buy its software on Windows 10 machines
  • People can play those games on their PC
  • Cross platform support between PC and Xbox One
  • Xbox One gets Windows 10 apps

Just what I think.

I think it's close, but I think the selection of apps Xbox One gets will be curated and limited, simply because the Xbox One is the only closed platform they have and I highly doubt they would allow PC game apps to be able to subvert Xbox games or open up the ability to install any thing and everything. They will probably decide what can and cannot be a "universal app" that can be on every single device. I'd imagine they would only be allowed via the "one store".

I'm also expecting a free version of the OS that only allows transactions via the one store and has other service limitations such as using bing etc; I also expect subsciption packages for the OS along with offers for Xbox Live and Office 365 / skype etc in bundles
 
I just can't see them allowing Xbox One games to be played on PC. There would be too many lost console sales.

I doubt MS make much money on console sales, it's all about the upsell from there: services, subscriptions, games, accessories, etc.

The earlier poster had an interesting vision where XBox = gaming brand, and the Xbox One console was the 'living room' device for that.

(As ever I should say this is all speculation from me, I have no inside knowledge on this)
 
  • Xbox Live Digital store on Windows 10
  • People that don't have Xbox Ones can buy its software on Windows 10 machines
  • People can play those games on their PC
  • Cross platform support between PC and Xbox One
  • Xbox One gets Windows 10 apps

Just what I think.

If that happens I'm not looking forward to the whining that's going to result from not people able to toggle graphics settings due to people playing console games on there PC's. (even though that is a huge win for PC only gamers)
 
I don't think MS is ready to kill of Xbox just yet.

I don't think it kills Xbox at all if it is actually a living room friendly Windows machine at that point. Market share metrics for Xbox are suddenly not tied to just consoles, which may actually bode well for the platform - windows
 
I doubt MS make much money on console sales, it's all about the upsell from there: services, subscriptions, games, accessories, etc.

The earlier poster had an interesting vision where XBox = gaming brand, and the Xbox One console was the 'living room' device for that.

(As ever I should say this is all speculation from me, I have no inside knowledge on this)

Fair points and I would like to see it happen, but I file this one in my "too good to be true" category.
 
I don't think it kills Xbox at all if it is actually a living room friendly Windows machine at that point. Market share metrics for Xbox are suddenly not tied to just consoles, which may actually bode well for the platform - windows

Exactly.

Put the fanboy mentality out of the equation and you'll see that it would eb a win, win for them. They want people invested in the brand and their services, not necessarily in the expensive hardware they barely make money on. Consoles have a shelf life. They won't be around for ever. The game behemoth that starts planting roots in that digital future is the gaming behemoth that wins.
 
Simple. Efficient. Convenient. Compatible.

Not annoying. Not frustrating. Not restricting.

Give me options, do not force options on me.

All those i already have with 7, more or less.

If they can offer me more with 10 i will be a happy gamer.
 
Yeah, Microsoft are limiting themselves to just the console, could make money on PC as well without hurting either. Some people might decide a PC is for them but still buy into the games and ecosystem, win. Other people will be happy with Xbox One, win. Devs, major win.
 
I just can't see them allowing Xbox One games to be played on PC. There would be too many lost console sales.

most third party X1/PS4 games already see a PC release. these games are so expensive to make, any additional sales will not be turned down. combined with the fact that the new consoles are basically x86 PCs anyway, its a no-brainer..
 
Exactly.

Put the fanboy mentality out of the equation and you'll see that it would eb a win, win for them. They want people invested in the brand and their services, not necessarily in the expensive hardware they barely make money on. Consoles have a shelf life. They won't be around for ever. The game behemoth that starts planting roots in that digital future is the gaming behemoth that wins.
What fanboy mentality? MS turning the Xbox console into a low end gaming PC a year and a half into this generation would be a giant middle finger to everyone who already bought one. If I had known that a year and a half later I could build a PC and get all Xbox and PC games I never would have bought an Xbox, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
 
This. Exactly this. I figured it didn't need spelling out, but there you have it.

Durante is no fool, but I wonder if he and I should have both put a /s at the end.
I wish I had that confidence.

Microsoft is a publicly traded company. They see the amount of money Apple and Google earn for doing basically nothing by controlling the only viable distribution vector for their platforms. Hell, add Valve to that list if you want, though the situation there is a bit different (Valve doesn't have its position in game distribution on PC because they can force everyone to go through their platform).

This type of incentive has caused smarter companies to make even dumber decisions. I'm honestly concerned.

GAF Hopes:

48% Stream XBO games to PC
48% PC Port Begging
2% Rare

Am I close?
I guess I'm the missing 2%, I just hope for them to stay the fuck out of PC gaming. As I said earlier, it's not like they have any exclusives I really need.
 
I wish I had that confidence.

Microsoft is a publicly traded company. They see the amount of money Apple and Google earn for doing basically nothing by controlling the only viable distribution vector for their platforms. Hell, add Valve to that list if you want, though the situation there is a bit different (Valve doesn't have its position in game distribution on PC because they can force everyone to go through their platform).

This type of incentive has caused smarter companies to make even dumber decisions. I'm honestly concerned.

They won't do it. Especially since there are alternatives like OpenGL that devs will just jump ship completely to. I am assuming you are referring to DX12 being locked to WinRT.
 
What fanboy mentality? MS turning the Xbox console into a low end gaming PC a year and a half into this generation would be a giant middle finger to everyone who already bought one. If I had known that a year and a half later I could build a PC and get all Xbox and PC games I never would have bought an Xbox, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Hypothetically, your Xbox wouldn't suddenly be useless, same as now and I doubt Microsoft would release Halo 5 the same day on Xbox and PC, big games would probably take a while to make the jump. Smaller so called indie titles perhaps but that happens quite often anyway. I think PC focused titles like an RTS will be a priority for PC, streaming content between platforms and maybe a few old Xbox games here and there. They aren't taking anything away. People buy consoles for convenience as well as exclusives but I think the former holds more weight for the majority.
 
What fanboy mentality? MS turning the Xbox console into a low end gaming PC a year and a half into this generation would be a giant middle finger to everyone who already bought one. If I had known that a year and a half later I could build a PC and get all Xbox and PC games I never would have bought an Xbox, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

I feel like you completely miss the point and indeed follow an almost fanboy mentality. Nothing is changing in terms of Xbox. Your grievance is that under this hypothetical - Windows plays Xbox games. Why is this a middle finger, when it does nothing bad to the Xbox systems?

The spec remains the same and availability is broadened to include Windows - something which in this hypothetical is what the Xbox runs in the first place. Xbox is now the device, and the platform is Windows. Xbox games actually become something more attractive to develop for as they can appeal to both PC and Xbox users.

You still get your numberwang exclusives to list and the Xbox device becomes the cheaper mass produced Windows box to go for if you want Xbox games more specifically as well as Windows apps. The hardware of the Xbox may not sell as much over time comparatively to say a PS4, but it wouldn't matter as long as the Xbox games and ecosystem now a part of Windows are still popular and growth increases with that broadening, as it also includes PC hardware heck maybe even Streaming if they have a service for it.

Again Windows is the platform and Xbox represents locked spec games in this hypothetical along with Xbox consoles as a Windows box. It could pose a very interesting scenario to regular PC gaming along side that
 
I feel like you completely miss the point and indeed follow an almost fanboy mentality. Nothing is changing in terms of Xbox. Your grievance is that under this hypothetical - Windows plays Xbox games. Why is this a middle finger, when it does nothing bad to the Xbox systems?

The spec remains the same and availability is broadened to include Windows - something which in this hypothetical is what the Xbox runs in the first place. Xbox is now the device, and the platform is Windows. Xbox games actually become something more attractive to develop for as they can appeal to both PC and Xbox users.

You still get your numberwang exclusives to list and the Xbox device becomes the cheaper mass produced Windows box to go for if you want Xbox games more specifically as well as Windows apps. The hardware of the Xbox may not sell as much over time comparatively to say a PS4, but it wouldn't matter as long as the Xbox games and ecosystem now a part of Windows are still popular and growth increases with that broadening, as it also includes PC hardware heck maybe even Streaming if they have a service for it.

Again Windows is the platform and Xbox represents locked spec games in this hypothetical along with Xbox consoles as a Windows box. It could pose a very interesting scenario to regular PC gaming along side that


Man I really hope this is the direction we are headed. I've been a fan of this new MS since Windows 8.
 
threshold_banner.jpg

I'm really intrigued by what could be behind that picture. As a Windows phone/RT/8.1/Xbox user I can see the current connectivity between those devices, but I wonder what the next step could be.
 
I feel like you completely miss the point and indeed follow an almost fanboy mentality. Nothing is changing in terms of Xbox. Your grievance is that under this hypothetical - Windows plays Xbox games. Why is this a middle finger, when it does nothing bad to the Xbox systems?

The spec remains the same and availability is broadened to include Windows - something which in this hypothetical is what the Xbox runs in the first place. Xbox is now the device, and the platform is Windows. Xbox games actually become something more attractive to develop for as they can appeal to both PC and Xbox users.

You still get your numberwang exclusives to list and the Xbox device becomes the cheaper mass produced Windows box to go for if you want Xbox games more specifically as well as Windows apps. The hardware of the Xbox may not sell as much over time comparatively to say a PS4, but it wouldn't matter as long as the Xbox games and ecosystem now a part of Windows are still popular and growth increases with that broadening, as it also includes PC hardware heck maybe even Streaming if they have a service for it.

Again Windows is the platform and Xbox represents locked spec games in this hypothetical along with Xbox consoles as a Windows box. It could pose a very interesting scenario to regular PC gaming along side that

One potential problem I see - developers lose some incentive to release "actual" PC versions of their games. If they can just make XB1 versions without the development cost of a dedicated PC version, PC gaming could suffer for those who like to change their settings.
 
One potential problem I see - developers lose some incentive to release "actual" PC versions of their games. If they can just make XB1 versions without the development cost of a dedicated PC version, PC gaming could suffer for those who like to change their settings.


PC versions say Platform: Windows, with Xbox now being a DEVICE it doesn't matter. Graphic settings probably will still be included on PC .


I would love to do all my gaming in the MS ecosystem.
 
They've certainly got something planned. The Windows and Xbox teams used to be so completely divorced from each other it was like they weren't in the same company. And this is completely not a games focused event.

Nadella MS is certainly completely different. To be fair Ballmer started moving in this direction after he threw Sinofsky out.
 
PC versions say Platform: Windows, with Xbox now being a DEVICE it doesn't matter. Graphic settings probably will still be included on PC .


I would love to do all my gaming in the MS ecosystem.

It wouldn't be too hard to lock settings for the console and add a graphical menu to PCs. I'm sure they could find a way for the game to detect which platform you're playing on.
 
One potential problem I see - developers lose some incentive to release "actual" PC versions of their games. If they can just make XB1 versions without the development cost of a dedicated PC version, PC gaming could suffer for those who like to change their settings.

Optimist vision: they would have more time than ever to dedicate for PC version. Graphics are one of the biggest marketing points of AAA games these days. Devs even like to neglect frame rates to get better visuals.
 
It wouldn't be too hard to lock settings for the console and add a graphical menu to PCs. I'm sure they could find a way for the game to detect which platform you're playing on.

Still, game assets would be much bigger in size for the Xbox, and that's unnecessary. I don't believe MS plans on one build for Xbox and PC games.
 
What fanboy mentality? MS turning the Xbox console into a low end gaming PC a year and a half into this generation would be a giant middle finger to everyone who already bought one. If I had known that a year and a half later I could build a PC and get all Xbox and PC games I never would have bought an Xbox, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Xbox as a service with a hardware line I think is a good direction and an exciting one. I love my Xbox and I rarely play on PC (I have an old laptop I play old RTS on sometimes) If Xbox released as a service on windows 10 more people who aren't interested buying Xbox hardware could have access to to stellar games like KI Forza, Halo, Gears and Crackdown. It doesn't have any negatives for people who bought an Xbox One because it isn't as if they are dropping support.

Cross buy would be amazing for people who have a gaming PC in the office and an Xbox one in the bedroom.

Xbox consoles could be a more fully realized steam machines at some point. Say you want the simplicity and features of Xbox but you don't like the current Xbox, maybe Microsoft opens up the service to be licensed to 3rd party manufacturers and develops their own Xbox consoles with all the same content. Microsoft could upgrade whenever and you would never lose content. Its all there. Have Iphone like upgrades for consoles. Every 3 years new hardware revisions all under the same umbrella of the Xbox service.

The elephant in the room is the Xbox live service because PC gamers will not buy a monthly fee for online service. I'm not sure how they could swing that.

Anyway, there are a lot of variables and I'm not sure if any of this os likely in the future at all. I do however expect serious changes to this industry that will no longer follow the same pattern that console launches have followed.

Microsoft wants people to buy into their ecosystem and I think it would be smart to use gaming as the catalyst to that end.
 
Xbox as a service with a hardware line I think is a good direction and an exciting one. I love my Xbox and I rarely play on PC (I have an old laptop I play old RTS on sometimes) If Xbox released as a service on windows 10 more people who aren't interested buying Xbox hardware could have access to to stellar games like KI Forza, Halo, Gears and Crackdown. It doesn't have any negatives for people who bought an Xbox One because it isn't as if they are dropping support.
The negative is that I now own a $500 non-upgradeable low end gaming PC.
 
Um... You bought a $500 low end non-upgradable game console and that wont change.
And if I had known that the console would lose all exclusive games and become a crappy PC within a year and a half I wouldn't have. If MS does go in that direction they better have some kind of amazing ambassador program for everyone who bought the console. I really don't think they will go that direction though. Remote play on PC is far more likely.
 
I'm fully expecting some kind of One to PC cross-buy deal. They did demo Forza 5 in DX12 at the DX12 event, iirc.

They're laying the foundation for something.

And if I had known that the console would lose all exclusive games and become a crappy PC within a year and a half I wouldn't have. If MS does go in that direction they better have some kind of amazing ambassador program for everyone who bought the console. I really don't think they will go that direction though. Remote play on PC is far more likely.

If it changes nothing about your console, but for maybe the look of the dashboard, what exactly does anyone deserve an ambassador program for?
 
I'm not sure what lies for gaming, but in general they have some very aggressive plans. The jump to 10 is a bit hokey, they should have stuck with the original rumored plan to change the name entirely.
 
Not super optimistic about this. Microsoft is only interested in PC gaming if they can control distribution and sell us on a subscription service. There's about a 0% chance we'll get Sunset Overdrive or MCC on Steam. The best we can hope is that the new GFWL is included with XBL gold, but that's still pretty unpalatable to people like me who aren't invested in the Xbox ecosystem.

Actually, reading this thread make me realize how far removed I am from the Microsoft universe at this point. The most recent MS product I use is Windows 7, and there's no real impetus to move on from there. Maybe that's what they're afraid of, but I'm not expecting any meaningful improvements beyond arbitrary DX version exclusion.
 
I feel like you completely miss the point and indeed follow an almost fanboy mentality. Nothing is changing in terms of Xbox. Your grievance is that under this hypothetical - Windows plays Xbox games. Why is this a middle finger, when it does nothing bad to the Xbox systems?

The spec remains the same and availability is broadened to include Windows - something which in this hypothetical is what the Xbox runs in the first place. Xbox is now the device, and the platform is Windows. Xbox games actually become something more attractive to develop for as they can appeal to both PC and Xbox users.

You still get your numberwang exclusives to list and the Xbox device becomes the cheaper mass produced Windows box to go for if you want Xbox games more specifically as well as Windows apps. The hardware of the Xbox may not sell as much over time comparatively to say a PS4, but it wouldn't matter as long as the Xbox games and ecosystem now a part of Windows are still popular and growth increases with that broadening, as it also includes PC hardware heck maybe even Streaming if they have a service for it.

Again Windows is the platform and Xbox represents locked spec games in this hypothetical along with Xbox consoles as a Windows box. It could pose a very interesting scenario to regular PC gaming along side that

This this this and this!

Said better than I ever could, but I hope that's where we are headed. I'm in for the ride!
 
One potential problem I see - developers lose some incentive to release "actual" PC versions of their games. If they can just make XB1 versions without the development cost of a dedicated PC version, PC gaming could suffer for those who like to change their settings.

The concept of universal games/apps that Ms is pursuing with win10 is to adapt to where the app/game is being run, not one to rule them all.

The same game could still offer options when running on a desktop, the entire interface could be completely different even.
 
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