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[LakeOf9]

I can tell you right, that the next-gen console will be a very premium and high-end curated experience. You're starting to see some of the thinking we have in this handheld, but I don't want to give it all away.

 

[Artistic]

This is the Xbox we need.

 

[Chuck Berry]

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

 

[R3TRO]

I have no interest in the device but I am interested in how they will reveal it.

 

[memoryman3]

Yep. This lines up exactly with what S SneakersSO was saying back in December 2023.

First - I think folks need to drop what they normally view as a 'next-gen' anything. What we used to call next-gen does not apply to that term anymore. Gone are the days of the PS2 or 360 launches, with loads of software that couldn't have been done on the machines that came before it.

Second - my understanding about Xbox's interest in HW going forward paint a very different picture from what folks imagine, based on convos i've had with folks in MS and in Xbox itself. Yes, a new machine is coming, but its not gonna be this HW approach intended to take on Sony or Nintendo. Enthusiast-focused, expensive, and with the only selling power being the GP sub itself, while software releases on all major platforms. Thats the future of Xbox.

While it will be billed as a next-gen thing, that is pure marketing speak. Very powerful, but very expensive, with far, FAR more limited supply. Its less of a console strategy and more of a method of giving current GP subscribers a reason to not just crater that revenue stream until their other initiatives are more mature.

There has never been a console platform thats taken off while not having exclusives, and releasing in fewer regions and quantities than its predecessor. They just don't want GP investment to crater while they attempt to use it as leverage in Cloud adoption on TVs and such.

 

[Loomy]

Randy Pitchford crying tears of joy right now.

Also

"To reach new players, we need to be creative and adaptive of new business models, new devices, new ways of access. We're not going to grow the market with $1,000 consoles."

- Phil Spencer

 

[Humdinger]

I see we're back to "console" now. I thought I saw a PR shift when they called it "hardware," but no, just random verbiage.

very premium and high-end curated experience

Get your wallets out. That's rich people talk.

 

[Unknown?]

$1200 minimum

 

[evanft]

I literally don't believe a single fucking word they say at this point.

 

[spookyfish]

"Hmmmm ... how can we sell even FEWER??"

 

[Bry0]

I'm interested to see more about it as a pc gamer. But any "walled" anything is a no go.

 

[NickFire]

Remember when sales stopped mattering?

Yeah, I'm guessing the traditional and ordinary usage / definition of the word console will be stretched thin with this one.

 

[adamsapple]

Give me a machine that retains my Xbox library and functionality and also lets me retire my 1060 laptop.

 

[Topher]

"Very premium" obviously means very expensive.

 

[TVexperto]

Please fire her together with Phil Spencer, they have to be Sony insiders trying to destroy xbox

 

[LectureMaster]

 

[ReyBrujo]

Microsoft realized that the market is not accepting its product and is taking a page of Nintendo with the Wii, find a new market. In this case it's going for Apple market of extremely expensive products. Yes, it will go fine.

 

[lughnasadh123]

"We're not subsidizing a damn thing since you little shits stopped buying our stuff"

 

[Bondo]

Zero interest. That's great and all - but unless something changes they wont be offering any exclusives i cant find elsewhere for a better price.
So maybe we get better looking games for the $1200 console but nobody is gonna cater to it when the install base is smaller and more catered to whatever Playstation puts out. If the intent is to create their own niche like Nintendo- Nintendo has first party exclusives and a decent price.
At over $1000 you may as well build a PC if visuals is your end goal.

 

[viveks86]

the largest technical leap ever in a hardware generation

very premium

high-end curated experience

You're starting to see some of the thinking we have in this handheld

 

[adamsapple]

"Very premium" obviously means very expensive.

I'm ready.

 

[Negotiator101]

I think what she's trying to say is that it will be very powerful but also very expensive

 

[Bankai]

 

[Loomy]

The problem with something like this is RAM and storage are going to be the only upgradable parts. What enthusiast is going to spend over $1k on a system they cannot upgrade?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Waiting to see what the amazing marketing department names this new vaporware, I mean, hardware.

 

[Topher]

I'm ready.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

"Very premium" obviously means very expensive.

Other store fronts = no subsidizing

 

[CrimsonTide]

I do think it will be the way to play GTA 6 if you want all the bells and whistles RT and 60fps etc

 

[adamsapple]

I'm already sitting at $600~ in Reward balance.

Other store fronts = no subsidizing

I think some folks are understating how the prospect of a 'hassle free' PC storefront experience can be appealing to users as well.

 

[LectureMaster]

"Very premium" obviously means very expensive.

Sarah Bond after the console launching with $2000 price tag and backlash:

 

[Topher]

Other store fronts = no subsidizing

Still trying to get my head wrapped around that. Why would publishers create Xbox console version of games when they can just publish on Steam?

 

[Dr.D00p]

It's not a strategy,

... it's the last desperate 'break open in case of emergency' plan that was sealed in an envelope at Xbox HQ, 25yrs ago.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Still trying to get my head wrapped around that. Why would publishers create Xbox console version of games when they can just publish on Steam?

Only thing I can guess is the small market that currently is Series consoles and even those people are trained to not buy games

Really have no answer to that

 

[Topher]

I'm already sitting at $600~ in Reward balance.




I think some folks are understating how the prospect of a 'hassle free' PC storefront experience can be appealing to users as well.

Devil is in the details. It will either be an incredibly brilliant and cohesive gaming experience or it will be a convoluted mess.

 

[Bernkastel]

They never recovered from the Xbox One debacle where the PS4 was 50% more powerful. And the PS5 still got better version of games.

This is the Xbox we need.

Since 2013, you guys are getting a hardware inferior to your competition.

 

[Venom Snake]

If some corporate head says you will get something "premium" it will be expensive but completely not worth the price.

 

[jshackles]

You laugh, but this is my expectation. Some sort of PC-based, "under the TV", "console" that's really just a powerful pre-built PC. Probably powerful enough to run Xbox Series games in some sort of emulation layer for extra compatibility and library portability. Probably also with their new shiny Windows 11 gaming experience, but this time locked down so that you either cannot break free of their walled garden, or only in ways that are tightly controlled (think GeForce Now type Steam integration, where you log in to Steam via their service and only get to play compatible games from your library).

And like others here have said, these things will probably be outrageously expensive ($2,000+) and for a very small niche market of people who have more money than sense.

Could be wrong, but that seems to be where Xbox is heading.

 

[Seiryu21]

So is this an admission that the days of directly competing with PlayStation are over? There's no way they're selling 100 million of whatever this is.

What is the way forward for your average Xbox user who can only afford a $500 console?

 

[LectureMaster]

I'm ready.

Papa Phil:

 

[Artistic]

They never recovered from the Xbox One debacle where the PS4 was 50% more powerful. And the PS5 still got better version of games.

Since 2013, you guys are getting a hardware inferior to your competition.

True or not, I'm okay with that at this junction.

While it was the sole reason why I chose Xbox, it's not the reason why I stayed.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

I won't buy it

 

[The_Observer]

Frankly, these suits, who have no idea what they are doing, should just shut up already because no one takes seriously anything they say. Be better, earn the trust again then maybe you can talk.

 

[Bernkastel]

True or not, I'm okay with that at this junction.

While it was the sole reason why I chose Xbox, it's not the reason why I stayed.

So you chose Xbox because its an inferior hardware?

 

[Magic Carpet]

$1500 Microsoft gaming device that performs as well as a $2100 Microcenter shopping cart of parts?

 

[PeteBull]

The higher price new xbox gonna be, the easier we will swallow high-ish ps6 price

 

[xrnzaaas]

What is the way forward for your average Xbox user who can only afford a $500 console?

Fortunately there is a product for people who aren't able to get rich, it's called Xbox Series S.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

No shit. You jacked up the price for customers, developers, removed it from store shelves, and are barely getting publisher support. It's so exclusive that NOBODY will buy one.

 

[Sooner]

Very premium, very high-end? These are the dudes charging $800 in 2025 for an Xbox Series X.

Most likely, the most "premium" aspect of whatever they put put will be the price.

 

[Artistic]

So you chose Xbox because its an inferior hardware?

No, I chose Xbox because in its early stages...mainly Xbox/360 days...the hardware was superior for multiplatform games. The exclusives were a plus.