Microsoft unifying PC/XB1 platforms, Phil implies Xbox moving to incremental upgrades

I'm not so sure, I think steam will be around one way or another. Think closed PC gaming is what the online portion may benefit from for casual gaming i.e. Halo, gears, cod. The PC will benefit from both having open software sites like steam and ms store for consistency in the live network.... And it all runs in your PC.. Sony in demolishing Xbox in sales this generation may have forced ms to flex its muscles and opened up something Sony may have no answer for. Ps4 subscription base 100 million in 3 years, Windows 10 ...1 billion.... Even at 20% of those Windows users playing games that's a huge difference.
 
fallingdove said:
This seems like a really bad idea. There is zero incentive to be an early adopter if it means that 5 years after my purchase there have been multiple hardware revisions and newer games look and run shittier on my console. How will Microsoft even address hardware variation with software packaging? Will there be minimum requirements called out? Will they state 1080p/30fps for g1-g2, 4k/30fps for g3, 4k/60fps for g4?

Seems messy, and doesn't align with expectations that console owners have developed over the years.
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People all face this with smartphones yearly and PC graphics card also. It's never been a big enough issue for people to stop buying games. I guess they're trying to change the way people think about consoles in general.
 
yuraya said:
I would guess they just release 3 or 4 different consoles at the launch of the next gen.

So like...


$400 = 1080p 60fps

$600= 1440p 60fps

$800 = 4k 60fps.

or something along those lines.

You will be able to upgrade each several times during the gen for a set price depending on how you want to play.

The most expensive box will probably be called ELITE or somethin.
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that doesnt sound too good,

it would encourage devs to code to the pricing as opposed to the hardware potential

effectively gating the high end experience to the higher prices when it needn't be the case
 
Rengoku said:
In the same way, console gaming is doing fine too for years, because it caters to an audience that does not want to deal with the PC gaming model.
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Of course. And console gaming isn't going away.

MS may just decide that they aren't competitive their. The Xbox struggled, and the Xbox 1 is struggling as well.

The Xbox 360 did very well, but mainly driven by North America and the UK, and probably mostly because Sony botched the PS3 launch so badly.

So maybe MS decides to leave that console battle to Sony and Nintendo, and just focuses on windows 10 gaming with their store front and putting out some Windows 10 equivalents of Steamboxes/Alienware Alphas to make than transition easier for their current Xbox diehards who don't want to go full on into a gaming rig and want a simpler box to hook up to their home theater.
 
It was inevitable. Hardware has been stagnant for a while now, its silly to throw everything away for the little to no improvements that will happen with next gen hardware.

Same thing will happen eventually with cell phones, it'll be modular.
 
Stop comparing cell phones to consoles.

1.) iPhones are more expensive, but there are payment plans for them.

2.) mobile games/apps don't have 60-million-dollar budgets.

3.) Consoles don't sell as much as phones do. Phones serve a more important function in our lives.
 
outunderthestars said:
I fail to see why this is a concern in a world where there Apple sells 5 different models of ipad, each in different colors, memory sizes, and in wifi and LTE variants.

Even consoles are still sold in different memory sizes, bundles, etc.

The era of "Mom, I want a Nintendo for Christmas" has been long gone for some time.
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Neither tablets nor phones are running software that's as strenuous as PC/console games. Performance and compatibility will be a much larger issue than on those platforms. The burdens of compatibility and performance are placed on the end user in the PC market, and it is something that PC gamers must be constantly aware of. In that tablet market, that burden is practically non-existant. For console customers, that burden is about as strenuous as differentiating between a "3" and a "4".

Unless Microsoft can keep that burden from shifting to customers, this is a bad idea.

Also, it should be glaringly obvious that the phone or tablet market is not at all equivalent to the console market. How many times do we have to see consumers who happily pay hundreds of dollars for a new phone or tablet as often as every year turn up their nose at a relatively cheap console before this sinks in? Consoles, whether fair or not, do not have the same value to the average customer as a tablet or phone.

We'll see what happens, but I know one thing for sure: anyone who thinks that "it's just the same as mobile/table/PC/handheld" doesn't know what they're talking about.
 
Bold One said:
that doesnt sound too good,

it would encourage devs to code to the pricing as opposed to the hardware potential

effectively gating the high end experience to the higher prices when it needn't be the case
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No reason for devs to do that, they don't benefit from console price point, they want best possible performance on lowest possible spec device, for max sales.

Even the platform holders don't make money on console sales, it's a v v v low margin game.
 
barit said:
Yeah so that people can play them who never owned a PS3 last generation. We're talking about hardware upgrades and different version of games between a single generation.
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“Different version“? It's not a generation then anymore. Or would you want to make demarcation points in pc gaming? You can jump in every “generation“ to use your words and can play all the games released before.
 
kennyamr said:
This is the best thing that could ever happen to Nintendo.
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Funny you say that.

I'm currently looking at the space my Xbox one takes up under my to and I'm thinking that next Nintendo console could fit in nicely there if it's any good.
 
I feel like this has been the obvious endgame for Xbox for a decade.


Ill wait and see if it actually happens. They have been talking about Universal Apps for years but we are still waiting on that. Maybe this is just what they are planning for next gen and the XB1 will never see this still.
 
jabberwocker said:
And it all runs in your PC.. Sony in demolishing Xbox in sales this generation may have forced ms to flex its muscles and opened up something Sony may have no answer for. Ps4 subscription base 100 million in 3 years, Windows 10 ...1 billion.... Even at 20% of those Windows users playing games that's a huge difference.
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Lol, this is the exact same argument I heard about Xbox One in China.

"If it sells to just 1% of the Chinese population..."
 
MiamiWesker said:
I hate everything MS is attempting to do this gen. But you guys are ok paying extra money every year just to play games. Just wait till so and so game requires the upgrade to play, split user base always a smart idea, fun times ahead. 5-6 years was fine, games late in a console cycle looked so much better than stuff early on, no need for small upgrades. Hopefully Sony stays the course and continues to be rewarded for it.
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PC gamers only reap the benefits here. I personally wouldn't care one bit if MS dropped out of the console race if it means that more games end up on PC.

If you're strictly a console gamer though, then yeah, I could see why this wouldn't necessarily work in your favor.
 
I'm sure it has already been mentioned, but what about the people that buy a console for the simple reason that they don't have to buy another one for at least 5 or 6 six years? Plenty of us who really want the games to look/perform the best they can have no problem buying these upgrades every two or three years, but I am sure there will also be plenty of people who will just stick with the "outdated" hardware for much longer, what about them? Won't developers have to keep the old and new hardware in mind?

Hope MS knows what they are doing.
 
Tatsumi Oga said:
I'm sure it has already been mentioned, but what about the people that buy a console for the simple reason that they don't have to buy another one for at least 5 or 6 six years? Plenty of us who really want the games to look/perform the best they can have no problem buying these upgrades every two or three years, but I am sure there will also be plenty of people who will just stick with the "outdated" hardware for much longer, what about them? Won't developers have to keep the old and new hardware in mind?

Hope MS knows what they are doing.
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You'll still be able to play those games but the person with the next 3rd year revision will have a superior performance experience I guess.
 
I really don't know why MS just positioned the XB1 against a gaming PC unless they know it's gonna kill their console and they want to make their bucks in the PC space.

Why would anyone buy a walled-garden Xbox console when you can get all of its games and many thousands more on a gaming PC?
 
Tatsumi Oga said:
Won't developers have to keep the old and new hardware in mind?

Hope MS knows what they are doing.
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Yes that's why they're talking about backwards and forwards compatibility instead of just backwards.

You might still have a 6 year compatibility window but it would slide along at more regular increments instead of one big cut off after 6 years.
 
Coulomb_Barrier said:
I really don't know why MS just positioned the XB1 against a gaming PC unless they know it's gonna kill their console and they want to make their bucks in the PC space.

Why would anyone buy a walled-garden Xbox console when you can get all of its games and many thousands more on a gaming PC?
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Because using a PC in the living room, using only a controller is still a total pain in the ass.
 
Bsigg12 said:
What? They did that like 20 years ago, and Nintendo continues to do it themselves.
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That's not entirely accurate. While they have revised their form factors successfully in the past, I can only remember one time their hardware revision rendered a game unusable.
 
Coulomb_Barrier said:
I really don't know why MS just positioned the XB1 against a gaming PC unless they know it's gonna kill their console and they want to make their bucks in the PC space.

Why would anyone buy a walled-garden Xbox console when you can get all of its games and many thousands more on a gaming PC?
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Plug and play.
 
TheLegendOfMart said:
Xbox One
Xbox One Plus

Xbox One S
Xbox One S Plus

Xbox One SE which is just the original Xbox One repackaged.

This is going to cause headaches for developers having to support multiple SKUs as well as future games being held back graphics wise like cross-gen. They are just doubling down on all the stupid decisions they have made this gen.
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LOL, because devs have never been able to support multiple performance points...

*COUGH COUGH* PC games and graphics settings *COUGH COUGH*
 
This seems to me like a compromise made with the shareholders. It always seemed to me that they might struggle to sell investors on the idea of a 4th generation Xbox when the previous 3 had always managed to lag behind competitors.

That being said, it could also very much be interpreted as a "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" move. Either way, what happens next could define whether "Xbox" as a platform even exists in 3 or 4 years time.
 
Still dont understand people want MS to get out of the console business or say "there's no Xbox after Xbox One."

How does it benefit anyone if they exit the console business?
 
Coulomb_Barrier said:
I really don't know why MS just positioned the XB1 against a gaming PC unless they know it's gonna kill their console and they want to make their bucks in the PC space.

Why would anyone buy a walled-garden Xbox console when you can get all of its games and many thousands more on a gaming PC?
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this is a good question since the exclusives are most likely going to be showing up on PC, Microsoft positions themselves against all those steam machines, you'd literally have to make the ecosystem of MS so godly that people would be tripping to join in that gold tier.

I am fascinated by this because I wonder what the plan is
 
It feels like Microsoft is putting the grinder to Xbox, and this idea is what Spencer and co. came up with to give their division a raison d'etre. I don't think that it's going to work out particularly well for them because it doesn't make things any better for most gamers. Maybe if backwards compatibility was a significant selling point, this idea would gain more traction, but the world doesn't work like that.

Hoo-doo said:
PC gamers only reap the benefits here. I personally wouldn't care one bit if MS dropped out of the console race if it means that more games end up on PC.

If you're strictly a console gamer though, then yeah, I could see why this wouldn't necessarily work in your favor.
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That may be true if Microsoft's PC gaming policies were appealing, but they're a pretty major turn off.
 
Movalpolos said:
Boom. There it is. Just like I said. There won't be a new Xbox after this one.
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Except there will be more, even more frequently, lol. The only thing being changed is the console cycle and the fact that it will finally be more or less a PC and we keep all of our games from here on out. They are not killing Xbox, merely changing it and merging it into Windows. Which has been the plan all along anyway.
 
At the end of 2016, Xbox One will be 3 years on market.

Here's my bold prediction:

We're going to see an Xbox hardware refresh in time for the holidays. Let's say, October.
It will also support 4K Blu-rays.
 
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