Oh yes, especially from day one owner's. Rest of the world won't care...
Microsoft unifying PC/XB1 platforms, Phil implies Xbox moving to incremental upgrades
- Thread starter dancrane212
- Start date
Oh yes, especially from day one owner's. Rest of the world won't care...
Well, only time will tell for sure. I'll say hit in a few years and see how well my thoughts on the matter panned out. It looks like to me they are exiting the console business and going back to the things that make them money. They hope the remainder of the momentum of the XB brand can help propel the 10 store.
We'll see if there is a XB2(10) or if the w10 works out. My prediction is the XB2 not be a console as we know it and won't sell as much the XB1 did and the w10 store will fizzle because it offers less than what is in that ecosystem already.
StealthPandemic
Banned
Phil is really god in disguise.
Also, this makes sure no console revision is ever fully utilized, at any point in time: No game can be designed to make full use of superior hardware, and newer games would almost always under-perform on your older console, if they are to utilize more of the newer machines.
This may be considered a bad thing. But it may not matter to most.
This may be considered a bad thing. But it may not matter to most.
Cynn
Member
Sounds more like they are tripling up on the console business.
My anecdotal evidence is better then yours. 😛 Believe me plenty have asked for it. They want the upgrading without having to deal with PCs themselves. (Two different issues that many are blurring) this has been a constant in game magazines from decade(s). Assuming people won't pay for this is a prediction and nothing else my friend. Time will tell.
Bitch Pudding
Member
Yeah, and a shit ton of people right here said that Sony should leave the console market for good. That was 2012. So yes, clever idea to listen to what people on message boards have to say.
I upgrade most of my stuff fairly often, but I always look for great deals and sell whatever I have to get the upgrade. Mainly when it comes to phones and consoles though, TVs the technology doesn't change all that much over time, and my early 2013 MacBook retina 15 honestly is hardly any worse than the newest version. Mainly because apple is skimpy on their hardware outside of their nice displays. I could sell sell my MacBook for about $1000, which is what I bought it for nearly 2 years ago. It's important to take really good care of your stuff and keep the boxes so you can resell them mint condition.
yukianderson
Member
So if this plan fails we can look forward to MS becoming third party...
That's what I'm thinking too. But look at how much PC-like traits consoles have adopted in the last few gens (HDD-installs, patches, etc).
I'll remain skeptical for now, but if there's one thing Xbox *usually* does very well, it's marketing. They might be able to carve out an audience for this from where there was none.
Krisprolls
Banned
That's why it's good PR talk. Much better than "we're leaving console business but please buy our xbox anyway".
A console you upgrade is just a PC without the advantages PC has.
InquisitorAles
Member
But why the hell you'll start to think like that if there will be option to upgrade your system? If you don't care about graphics (and this is the only thing that will be changed in different version of consoles) like true console gamer, then you don't need to care about upgrade every 2 year, because all new titles will be compatible with every console version. If you DO NOT want to buy a console every 2 years, then just don't do this. Seriously, you don't care about this now, but if you'll have an option to upgrade (and not fully rebuy) your console, you'll suddenly started to care about it. I can't see logic here.
MilkyJoe
Member
Turn it on via controller
Not have to fanny about with a mouse and keyboard
Antivirus
Windows updates
Just generally have zero windows desktop interaction when sitting on my sofa?
Yeah I'll take that.
MS had a ulterior motive when they started Xbox. The share holder oriented press at the time painted it as their spearhead to control the home computing market. The open PC environment let them sell a lot of OS licences and home office licences to retail consumers but they wanted a bigger share of the pie (they didn't make a % off all software. Just OS licences) and they saw consoles as a good way to get it.
They tried to get Sony to bundle windows with the PS2 but when Sony declined; they got paranoid and tried working with Sega. When Sega exited the market, they decided to get into the business.
However the home computing business didn't go as they thought it would. Instead of consoles becoming the keystone of home computing, smart phones did. So they had invested a lot into something that didn't forward their over all goal. Their hope with the XB1 was they could shift the business model enough to make it competitive with their other business and just keep it. But it didn't work out and being #2 is massively less profitable than being #1.
So thus this shift in strategy and an apparent exit form the console market.
MilkyJoe
Member
Right, this is what I don't understand. A shit ton of console gamers rebuy the same console because they are out of warranty or get a slim revision, or special edition, or different color, etc. This is just like a bonus of getting better performance, and is still completely optional if the system you have still works fine for you.
That fundamental thing here was that no one could have imagined Microsoft fucking the Xbox One in just about every way possible. As far as implementation of everything software, Microsoft was leagues ahead of Sony to the point that the erosion of Sony's market share was inevitable.
But that didn't happen because Microsoft screwed up in just about every way you could have imagined. It was expensive, they provided just about no case for paying for the Kinect, it was weaker, the OS has some really stupid issues tied to how games are installed and downloaded, etc. The PS4 really didn't so much beat the Xbox One but rather the Xbox One beat itself.
Ok, that's your way of doing it. But what I really was trying to say. This is a run for the general consumer's purse. MS won't compete with Sony if they release a new console every 2 years but with any other electronic consumer device that is relased in the same fashion. 'Am I going to buy the new Iphone 8 this year or Xbox 2.5?'
Yes I know, rich GAF will respond 'Why not both?'
I would actually imagine by this holiday. Otherwise, why reveal the strategy this early, particularly as it might undercut current XB1 sales? That would mark 3 years since the XB1 release, the halfway point of a traditional console cycle.
Krisprolls
Banned
That's not the way it works. Games would become unoptimized for some consoles. You get every PC problem, just without PC advantages.
PC would kill upgradable consoles in a heartbeat.
People choose consoles because it's simple and convenient. Even MS knows it would be an instant failure.
They're talking about going back to PC gaming right here (w10 store).
To be even handed, Xbox beat themselves while Playstation stopped fucking themselves over. PS4 was not amazing, but it did everything okay. While XB made mistakes.
Last gen Playstation fucked themselves over and Xbox did everything pretty good to great.
Phones are not the same as PC's, tablets, TVs, or consoles. Phones are necessary, they are status symbols, they are highly personal, and they can be purchased via contract. Think of it this way, how many poor Africans scrimp and scrape in order to buy a TV/console/tablet/PC? How many do that for a phone? Phones are on a different plane. People keep PC's/tablets/TVs/consoles until they break or don't run necessary software, thee purchase cyle is 5 years minimum and they are luxuries.
Yes many do just that.
I dabble in way to many hobbies, some, like RC car racing I get the minimum to play (single car, starter control, cheap charger couple batteries) Other people have MUCH more and a LOT nicer than I, but for me, its enough to let me play.
Others, like my main hobby, Video Gaming, It would be weird if I didn't have at least one (ok several) large expenses every year devoted to my hobby.
* 3 months ago, built new PC for son
* Got new S6 Phone last month
* Wife got Tablet 6 moths ago
* I built new Gaming PC 9 Months ago
* Bought new Samsung 40" TV for Mother-in-Laws Bedroom 12 months ago.
* got $600 held back for VR, but thinking about skipping this gen
* doing plans on my daughters gaming laptop right now.
Hmm after I put it down, maybe I have a problem, LOL
BlindJesus
Member
I don't think 99.99% of gamers out there don't even humor the idea if games are services or not. I don't think 99.99% of gamers even care if a game is coming out for PC or not. Implying that MS is literally on their way out because they are broadening their horizons to more platforms is ignorant.
And games have always been a 'service.' You, as a consumer, has never 'owned' a game, you simply had access to it.
Bitch Pudding
Member
Could someone put "Sony won because MS let them win" on the bullshit bingo board... It really deserved its own spot right now.
You make sense.
You, not so much, but at least it seems you are not starving. LOL
The Xbox One you paid $500 for in 2013 is not getting a magical upgrade.
Mr. Spencer is talking about new hardware, that you can be damn sure you'll be paying full price for, that will be released a couple of years down the line. My guess is that it will take the form of a set-top PC that will run apps you can buy on the windows 10 store.
I can give you my reaction to that right now if you'd like: "meh". Is that thoroughly entertaining?
old manatee
Banned
An Xbox PC is like a My First Sony boombox.
Chittagong
Gold Member
What? I don't even. Literally the only game I have played at any length on Xbone is Halo 5, all the rest has been PS4 as it's more powerful.
We'll see. I don't think it'll pan out the way you hope as the slices of the market we're talking about don't behave in the way MS is spinning it.
Multi-player games perhaps but there is still a market for complete experiences vs Services. It's why Consoles still sell rather than shifting to the mobile games as service or MMO style business models. There is still demand for a game you sit down and finish rather than a multiplayer model or progression tread mills.
yukianderson
Member
Yeah, Sony just show up and the PS4 sold record numbers. This should be added to the bingo card...
Not seeing how my claim is bullshit. The huge negative backlash to EVERYTHING Xbox during the Xbox One launch combined with the dramatic 100% turnaround in just about every single policy they had is sheer proof to this.
It was 100% Microsoft's game to lose and hey just did that.
At the expense of Microsoft's sale figures.
Look, it's not saying Microsoft let Sony win. Sony won with the magnitude they did because Microsoft fucked up in every single way you could imagine. If you don't agree with this, where the hell were you during the Xbox One launch?
There were rumours MS were going to buy them
I do think this idea is inevitable in the console space. If iOS and Android can do this, PC games are made to operate at a bunch of different settings, then something like this could and probably should happen. Would love to see Sony do this as well. It's obviously not that easy to do and will have downsides like expecting variable performance from your games depending on what version of the system it's been optimised for. It could work.
JayhawkerStL
Banned
Why has it been necessary to re-write the OS for every new console. If XB1 becomes the OS and not the console, how is that different from Android and iOS?
Consoles are cheaper on day one, and cost a lot less to keep active. But we let phone carriers do this why?
It actually makes good sense going forward to stop thinking of each console, but rather each OS and how often it is refreshed.
Consoles are cheaper on day one, and cost a lot less to keep active. But we let phone carriers do this why?
It actually makes good sense going forward to stop thinking of each console, but rather each OS and how often it is refreshed.
That seems too soon in my opinion. Also, I wouldn't call this the official Xbox strategy yet. We need a press release or an announcement at a conference first. It is possible they fully reveal the concept at E3, but again, it seems like that would be too soon in my opinion. I think late 2017 is a safer bet.
I really think this is where things are going. Nintendo (NX), PlayStation, and Xbox operating systems across various devices the companies make instead of just one plain "current gen gaming box".
Performance is the big thing. Having one performance SKU to target in development is a big selling point of consoles vs. PC. One hardware, one target, you're guaranteed your userbase is getting the same experience. As a consumer, you know everyone's on the same level and it becomes the standard. With tiered SKUs, you get the most expensive becoming the flagship and then there's a whole psychology associated with the lower tiers.
Papacheeks
Banned
GUYS!GUYS!GUYS!.....LISTEN
If Microsoft slowly goes out and integrates everything into XBox/Windows 10, and fully stops making dedicated xbox hardware, because people get sick of having revisions every couple years like they want to do now.
Do you know what this MEANS!!!
SEGA CAN RISE AGAIN!!!!!!
SEGA PROPHET CONFIRMED!
If Microsoft slowly goes out and integrates everything into XBox/Windows 10, and fully stops making dedicated xbox hardware, because people get sick of having revisions every couple years like they want to do now.
Do you know what this MEANS!!!
SEGA CAN RISE AGAIN!!!!!!
SEGA PROPHET CONFIRMED!
Don't you see why from a business perspective that makes a lot if sense? With x86 there is literally no reason for any of the console manufacturers to stick with the same hardware for 6+ years. Some might say it's anti-consumer, but I'd actually say it's pro consumer as it gives you more options. It isn't a run for the general consumers money, because you can still buy a unit and keep it for 6 years if you want to. I have no idea why people keep their laptops for 6 years though, as they basically lose all their value when you could have sold it 3 years earlier for at least a decent percentage of what you bought it for and not be using 4-6 year old hardware for half the lifetime of the product.
InquisitorAles
Member
No, i see that is you don't understand how things worked on PC. The reason that a lot games on PCs are hard to optimize is lack of unification (tons of OS and different drivers) and literally millions variable hardware from thousands companies in quadrillion combinations, and it's impossible to optimize them to every combination that might exist. Xbox will still have one OS and some core configuration, and this updates that will come once in 1-2 years will not cause optimization problems like usual PCs did because they will still be unified. Possibility to upgrade, especially if those upgrades will be rare, not automatically means that Xbox now became a PC and will force console gamers to experience PC gaming at it's worth.
"Very probably will"? Haha, alrighty then.
They've spent too much on gaming to leave it anytime soon.
Disaster Nebraska
Banned
Behold. This is what it looks like when someone limits their perspective to the USA alone.
Hockeymac18
Member
So how does it work on the PC? You're not coding for every single conceivable config out there... Or am I missing something.
old manatee
Banned
I heard that Microsoft is going to scrap the XBONE and rerelease the original Xbox, in a bid to capitalize on Millenial nostalgia. It's going to be called Xbox Throwback. All your old games will work!
Krisprolls
Banned
Revisionist history at its finest. Truth is unlike PlayStation, Xbox never managed to become a global brand. Outside the US and the UK it never really took off. But people here don't know because they're mostly Americans.
Brand power is why Sony could turn PS3 around. A brand power they built by just focusing on games and studios for years.
Outside of some periods, Xbox lacked a constant focus on games and exclusives. Had they invested on studios from the start like Sony did instead of Kinect shit and years of zero 1st party exclusive, they'd probably have a global brand now and even Xbox One fiasco could have been salvaged.
Wii success was ultimately their downfall because they thought Kinect was the future while motion controls were just a gimmick.