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Is the next Xbox essentially going to be a Steam Machine?
- Thread starter Fess
- Start date
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
vaibhavpisal
Member
They are building a company to outlast all gaming companies.
In a couple of decades, both PS and Nintendo would be gone, while they will keep on going.
Laptop1991
Member
No i don't think so as Steam and the Windows Store PC games and gaming are different, Microsoft won't allow the freedom Steam has with games, it's not their style.
Fess
Member
You do have a point! I guess I think Steam is PC gaming but I understand that it might be a glawed definition. Is Steam Deck PC gaming? Maybe not. Idk now you get me confused lol
BlackTron
Member
I think you just described a HTPC/mini gaming PC. All shapes, sizes, prices and power levels out there.
FunkMiller
Banned
I think you just described a HTPC/mini gaming PC. All shapes, sizes, prices and power levels out there.
Yep. I've been looking quite closely at those. Although it still feels like they'd need something more angled towards being a bespoke gaming console for it to work (and for it to be cheaper!)
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RickMasters
Member
Man I just want my GPU and my steam accounts on the same box! Good times ahead!
RickMasters
Member
This is what I’m hoping the next Xbox will be. A console that I had some part upgradeability like a PC but has all the form factor and simplicity of a console. Maybe that’s why the surface team are designing the next Xbox…… maybe
splattered
Member
Maybe both next xbox and Playstation will side load steam/pc stuff
Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
I do think that something like that marketed in a console way could make sense. At least part of why I don't even consider PC as a games machine is because I can't be bothered to start trying to work out what kind of spec I need and how much it'll cost. I think people would like something like this if they know roughly that the hardware will have support, have a general idea of it's performance, that it will last for a decent amount of time and the price be suitable for the mass market. That makes a lot of sense.I think you just described a HTPC/mini gaming PC. All shapes, sizes, prices and power levels out there.
But then I'm describing a console.
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Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
The question remains, why would they allow that?
BlackTron
Member
I think it's a big ask to have all that AND replaceable parts tbh.
FunkMiller
Banned
This is what I’m hoping the next Xbox will be. A console that I had some part upgradeability like a PC but has all the form factor and simplicity of a console. Maybe that’s why the surface team are designing the next Xbox…… maybe
I honestly doubt Microsoft would make such a thing. They'd have to allow third party upgrade parts, and that probably ain't happening. They'll want to maintain a stranglehold. I doubt Steam would even be allowed on Xbox the way it is now.
Much more likely that Gabe and Valve themselves would come up with something like that.
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Topher
Identifies as young
Zzzz *gasp!*
If the rumors are true that the next Xbox will run Steam and have third party manufacturers doing their own versions.
Won’t that turn it into a Steam Machine??
On my PC I boot into Steam Big Picture and except for 5 seconds of looking at a Windows desktop it feels like a Steam device, literally.
MS could tweak the OS and have some overlay to get people onto Gamepass etc but the big thing will no doubt be Steam access, right?
Then is it still a Xbox? Or is it more like a Steam Machine?
… just tell me to go back to bed if this is dumb zzzz
The thing is Xbox already runs a modified version of Windows. I think Microsoft will continue to utilize the hypervisor tech already in place but make adjustments to allow people to switch from a "console mode" to "PC mode". The PC mode is technically already there but all the Windows UI to access it is stripped away.
Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
Yes, I agree, and that's why I think the idea that xbox would have some sort of pc approach doesn't really make sense.
Essentially, I don't see how a console business can become more pc-like and get any real benefit from it unless they do it at a price that doesn't make sense to consumers.
Topher
Identifies as young
In the event that PS5 Pro does release in 2024 but there is no new Xbox Series console because there is already Series S & X
There’s absolutely zero chance it will offer twice the performance. And I doubt 1.5 too. Also lol at “only” a 1.5x performance increase. You guys are living in a fantasy world.www.neogaf.com
Microsoft ain't going to try and fight Steam. lol
FunkMiller
Banned
There is zero chance Microsoft (or Sony for that matter) would ever allow such an open platform to compete with Steam. Their greedy little black souls just wouldn't be able to cope with all that juicy money they'd lose not having full control over the eco-system.
Topher
Identifies as young
Only way I see Xbox going open platform is if they junk subsidization and make a proft on the hardware and stuff the UI full of ads with Game Pass being at the forefront.
They can't keep going with the traditional console business model. It just isn't working for Xbox.
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exactly, they've already put too much work into this "xbox os" over the years (why it took them 9 years to be able to draw 2d squares and game tiles without lag escapes me but i digress), if anything they would create their own steam app but never fully replace with steam os, that would be kind of losing all their work?
Fess
Member
Yeah I also have a PC connected to the TV. No big screen mode outside of Steam and having to use mouse and keyboard when closing Steam or having to log on somewhere is not couch friendly from a console gamer perspective. I use a wireless keyboard with a touch pad for that but wish I could do everything with the controller.
Topher
Identifies as young
They could just utilize the existing Xbox console interface as their gaming overlay. I don't think Steam OS would be there at all though.
BlackTron
Member
IMO the answer is that they're getting out of the console business. They don't intend to sell these like hotcakes. They're maintaining the option to have a Xbox along with the ecosystem while throwing the console model out the window to be a third party publisher.
diffusionx
Gold Member
I am sure MS is exploring the possibility and Jez Corden seems weirdly interested in talking about it instead of the total failure and subsequent restructuring of the Xbox division, but it doesn't make a lot of sense if you think about it. Gamers buy consoles because they want a console. They buy PCs when they want PCs. This thing would have to be expensive, it would be confusing for people who aren't in the loop, it would have no shot at moving significant units, and it's just a bad idea for a company that has long struggled with hardware.
They should just kill the console and become a third party publisher.
They should just kill the console and become a third party publisher.
Palabragrís
Member
If the rumors are valid, I'd seriously consider buying that Xbox. It'd me a lot cheaper and convenient than a new desktop PC or a new gaming laptop.
Jaybe
Member
Why do you think it will be cheaper? As I understand it, the reason behind this is to stop subsidizing console hardware.
vaibhavpisal
Member
No one knows what its gonna be at this point.
But I believe it won’t replace your pc. If you are into pc gaming then staying there is probably going to be for the best.
Targeting the pre built gaming PC with a "S-mode" for gaming is doing just that lol
Steam will be a option but Xbox will be front & center on these devices & PC
Topher
Identifies as young
Windows Store and Xbox are already front and center on PC. People just ignore that shit and install Steam.
When Microsoft pulls all their games from the Steam store then we can talk about how they are "fighting" Steam.
Fess
Member
Developer Mode?
Imo there is nothing PC-like there at the moment. Can’t run any normal PC programs, you don’t have file access, have to do some weird push method to get files onto the console, I’ve dabbled a bit with that. Not a fan tbh.
Dream scenario for me is a big picture mode looking like the Xbox 360 blades UI, with Steam content on one blade, Epic on another, and Gamepass, GOG, Ubi, PS, EA Play etc. Flipping between blades with RB/LB. Then I want to be able to exit that and access Windows, or just Edge and the file explorer would be enough, to install mods. Touch pad on controller would be nice when a mouse cursor is needed.
And I want all that as a specific Windows version for the living room, installable on any PC.
Right now Valve is the one on top, everybody else is helplessly behind. And I do think Steam on a Xbox would help Valve more than Microsoft.
Topher
Identifies as young
Not a dev mode. I'm talking about a full-fledged Windows mode on Xbox where they allow users to do all the things you are talking about, but you can flip to Xbox mode for the living room console experience. MS would just have to make sure the Xbox side was completely isolated and secure. I like your blades idea though.
Just guesses on my part obviously. The other part of this that I can't figure out is how they are going to shoe-horn AI into all of this from a user standpoint. That's front and center in everything Microsoft is doing right now.
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Palabragrís
Member
Because I live in Chile, a South American country where building a desktop PC requires selling a kidney and where a good RTX gaming laptop would require selling other internal organs of your choice. A gaming console isn't as cheap as it was some 10 years ago here, but it is far more affordable than the other two options. That's why.
Fess
Member
Roughly sounds like Steam Deck and Linux. I don’t like the secure and isolated bit though. Why does it have to be secure? I’ve installed my hobby Unity platformer on the Deck, it’s great seeing it on the UI playable with one press of a button among other regular games. Things like that is a system seller feature for me.
Jaybe
Member
What’s a Microsoft Surface laptop cost vs other laptops there, that’s the same price positioning this Xbox PC is going to have versus gaming PCs. It’s not going to be subsidized. I’m not trying to be a jerk, I’d just temper your expectations on price.
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Topher
Identifies as young
Exactly. Microsoft embraced Steam. They are not fighting Steam.
Fess
Member
Sooner or later everybody will pull their games from Steam if they have any platform holder ambitions. Everybody playing nice and paying a 30% cut to Valve is a short-lived scenario. Ubi, Rockstar, EA, PS don’t make us log into their accounts because it’s fun. They’re currently using the Steam pond to fish new customers, once they’re satisfied with the catch they’ll start doing timed and eventually full exclusives on their own launchers.
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Holammer
Member
Said it a dozen times before already, but as I see it, such a machine would be more about keeping users in the windows ecosystem so they don't run off and get something running Linux. So even if people buy one to install steam on it, MS still wins.
Drop the Xbox brand while they're at it. It's kinda shit and it's been run into the ground repeatedly. Dare to be like Nintendo, they're not afraid to rebrand and we would be at NES7 right now if they kept it safe.
Drop the Xbox brand while they're at it. It's kinda shit and it's been run into the ground repeatedly. Dare to be like Nintendo, they're not afraid to rebrand and we would be at NES7 right now if they kept it safe.
Topher
Identifies as young
They have tried all that before and failed. Now the publishers who tried their own launchers are bringing their games back to Steam.
