I read the conversation though. What context do you think there is other than late entry into a crowded market? Valve wouldn't be a late entry. They can wait and launch a successor whenever they feel that market needs new hardware at a reasonable pricepoint. That's not the same as entering a crowded market when the market is mostly yours already.
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Jez Corden: Xbox is working on a Xbox handheld, multiple prototypes in the works
Josemayuste
Member
I have literally zero interest in a Xbox/PS handheld nowadays, 10 years ago, maybe, now it's too late for a closed ecosystem to shine in a market where handheld PCs already exist, Switch is on the road to being the most selled console and Steam Deck came to stay, there is not a worst time to think about developing a handheld console, be it from Sony, or Microsoft.
ZehDon
Member
Microsoft is transitioning the Xbox platform off of a closed ecosystem. They lost that war, they're not going to fight it again. Their handheld will be closer to a Steam Deck than a PS Vita. If they can actually put together a next gen handheld that sits as the low cost entry point, I think they just might have an attractive product on their hands.
GoldenEye98
posts news as their odd job
Honestly don't see how they do a native handheld that isn't basically a Series S on much smaller process node.
That's the only way it works in terms of game library/dev support imo. Can't introduce a brand new spec target.
That's the only way it works in terms of game library/dev support imo. Can't introduce a brand new spec target.
RoboCain
Member
I think the Steam Deck broke the invisible barrier of platform agnosticism. Sure, Sony and Nintendo had Consoles and Handhelds at the same time, but they always made sure that you get charged twice. Sony had a nice run with the cross buy for PS3/PSP/Vita years ago, but it was only for a few games technically able to do so (and at great expense for the developer as they had to create several ports of a title and only charge for one of them).
Valve did all the hard work and just gave it away. They've been giving you offers for 15+ years now, created Steam Input, created proton, created the Steam Deck, took a hit on the MSRP, released a new model so the used market got flooded with second hand offers in the span of... two, or three years? Not only they brought the easiness of use of a console to the PC space, but also created an ecosystem that can be run on any hardware. And in case you didn't already know, PC gamers don't pay for shitty proprietary memories, headsets, platform fees, online gaming.
The big three are probably seeing the writing on the wall. People won't adopt 4 ecosystems for one or two shitty exclusives. They need to come up with an angle so you want to buy their flashy hardware, their version of the same games, their subscriptions before people realize there are no perks of having 4 consoles and at least 2 of them just roll and die.
Native running Handhelds from PS and Xbox may seem not likely now, but I think they are bound to happen as a part of becoming their ecosystem more attractive to users. They pretty much are racing to fill the second place behind Steam before is too late (they won't provide more value than Steam, but they only need to outrun the other 2 really).
Valve did all the hard work and just gave it away. They've been giving you offers for 15+ years now, created Steam Input, created proton, created the Steam Deck, took a hit on the MSRP, released a new model so the used market got flooded with second hand offers in the span of... two, or three years? Not only they brought the easiness of use of a console to the PC space, but also created an ecosystem that can be run on any hardware. And in case you didn't already know, PC gamers don't pay for shitty proprietary memories, headsets, platform fees, online gaming.
The big three are probably seeing the writing on the wall. People won't adopt 4 ecosystems for one or two shitty exclusives. They need to come up with an angle so you want to buy their flashy hardware, their version of the same games, their subscriptions before people realize there are no perks of having 4 consoles and at least 2 of them just roll and die.
Native running Handhelds from PS and Xbox may seem not likely now, but I think they are bound to happen as a part of becoming their ecosystem more attractive to users. They pretty much are racing to fill the second place behind Steam before is too late (they won't provide more value than Steam, but they only need to outrun the other 2 really).
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Josemayuste
Member
Yeah, it may, but which game library would that supposed handheld have, Microsoft Store, Steam? If it's the first option, there already are a lot of handhelds that can do that. On a positive note, official Windows support for Deck as of recently may be indicative of some kind of tradeoff, we'll see, that said I think that Microsoft doesn't know what gamers want since decades ago though.
BlackTron
Member
Just wait until MS gets Steam on their device, and then, Dolphin.
Nintendo is doomed confirmed
Yes. And I was being sarcastic when I talked about Valve. I thought that was obvious.
No matter how crowded the market gets, Valve’s Deck 2 will definitely still get massive interest. It’s similarly hard to argue that the market getting a ton of Windows based hardware from MSI or Lenovo would take away interest from new hardware launch from a console maker.
Physiognomonics
Member
I think that would be a great idea and that would be good for competition against similar sized devices like the Steam Deck.
This is likely where the "largest technically leap" comes from. Xbox are done with powerful home consoles.
This is likely where the "largest technically leap" comes from. Xbox are done with powerful home consoles.
A handheld would never be called the ‘largest technical leap’. It would be a home console.
Physiognomonics
Member
No. They would call "most powerful console" again like they did for X1X and XSX. Why no mention of power? Because they are talking about IPs levels ex: RDNA 5 > RDNA4 and Zen 5 > Zen 2. Just example to illustrate my point. Not sure about what we'll get here.
This is how they are going to market it. After XSX was released, and they couldn't really boast a "most powerful console" slogan, part of their PR was about "True RDNA2" "with features XYZ superior to PS5" etc. And it worked for some naive people in forums! Even "experts" are still claiming "true RDNA2 features" are better (but sadly underused cause lazy devs) than whatever custom tech inside PS5.
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Fat Frog
I advertised for Google Stadia
Basically a micro Series S with a screen.
Would be cool.
ZehDon
Member
All of them. It’s a PC-hybrid.
Ammogeddon
Member
Totally agree, if they go for a closed ecosystem they’re setting themselves up to fail. The way these companies are behaving at the moment it wouldn’t surprise me though.
Astray
Member
I think a major problem would be the competition from a Switch 2 (which they are supposedly planning to port things to as well).
There's no such thing as a low price point anymore. Subsidization is largely over for many, many reasons.
What they're all vying for is a piece of Nintendo's overall dominance in handheld and their marketshare in Japan (which largely favors handhelds too). They might have to take a hit on hardware to do so tho (especially Sony imo).
Steam Deck created a new segment yes, but its sales are still nothing to write home about for various reasons (~3m units last estimate).