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[Windows Central] Microsoft is exploring options around letting third-parties build Xbox-branded devices
- Thread starter bitbydeath
- Start date
- Rumor
Parazels
Member
I think so as well. That's why I'm finishing my Xbox backlog to be no longer tied to the platform.
TBiddy
Member
I love how he considers himself an oracle. We have a saying where I'm from, that even a blind chicken finds a seed once in a while. The seed, in this case, is an unsubstantiated rumour on Wincentral. I'll believe it when I see it.
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Rush2112
Member
Fun fact: that dude was arrested for DUI and cocaine possession.
I am kinda of looking forward to it. I have wanted an Xbox branded PC for a while now. It will really depend on coolness factor of the designs and not being outrageously overpriced.
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
Your parents didn't ask for the memory upgrade at the hospital when you was born?
Dick Jones
Gold Member
SweetTooth
Gold Member
Say OEM! ( They changed my title to include PlayStation by the way)
I took this screenshot yesterday by the way ( kinda knew it was going to come in handy)
Them adding Playstation to this is very pitiful and funny
Astray
Member
If they can get a buck out of an Xbox fan they would. These thing won't be selling for 299 or 499. We're talking $650 and up.
They also release things on an annual or biannual basis.
These companies know that, so they keep produced quantities relatively small and the distribution net wide. They also spend far less on after service than Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft do (hence the Asus scandals we saw this year, I bet if you dig deep enough, you will find similar bullshit from all of them).
They're moving Xbox into a version of their tried-and-true Windows OEM licensing business. Will be hilarious when console users start having to deal with BIOS/driver/Chipset issues like PC users do (because all these guys won't be agreeing on which WiFi chips to use, which bluetooth chips to use etc etc, you already see a version of this mess ).
Looking at this, now it makes sense why they promoted the guy who managed to fragment the Xbox userbase to handle the further fragmentation that will follow. It's gonna be the worst of both worlds.
Yep the consumer is the one who will get most screwed from this.
PauloRoberto
Member
IDK what is funnier... MS trying desperately to make this make alive again or some users here really convincing themselves that, 'yeah, everything will be alright next year'...
reinking
Gold Member
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SneakersSO
Member
Yeah, this is happening. Honestly, I really cannot imagine this taking off, in part because of the HW manufacturers that are gearing up to make their own 'Xbox' devices.
What is helping push this initiative is simply how 3rd party relations have devolved this year with MS and other publishers. Team Xbox is anticipating far less support than what they get now in the coming years, which they largely pay for anyway, so this is merely a move to enable some form of HW expansion to hopefully shore up support and to stop the current userbase bleed they are dealing with. On the one hand, its a model of approach that has largely worked in the mobile device sector; Google pushing AndroidOS as the largest mobile OS for smart phones being a fantastic allegory.
So, the issue is the trade on performance quality right, and this has always been one of the stronger things a console or platform has in its favor over PC - consistent, uniform performance, guaranteed or vetted performance standards. It isn't a necessarily impossible problem to solve, but this approach invites the massive hardware overhead that plagues Windows OS PC gaming. A service like GamePass, at least, does help make this upcoming launch of PC handhelds more attractive though, simply cause its asking consumers less to invest to enter the ecosystem, so it does have that going for it, but given what the selling power of Game Pass is now for dedicated Xbox HW, not really sure this will help all that much.
The irony is, if this mobile Xbox OS does not allow you to install any 3rd party stores like Steam, then the biggest selling point of these PC handheld hardware - your ability to access your Steam library - goes out the window. The biggest success stories in this HW sector is nearly exclusively the Steam Deck, but the other devices have boasted their ability to let you access Steam through their current Windows OS versions. If an Xbox OS only allows Xbox titles & Game Pass to run on them, then I fear this will have even less appeal than I thought.
What is helping push this initiative is simply how 3rd party relations have devolved this year with MS and other publishers. Team Xbox is anticipating far less support than what they get now in the coming years, which they largely pay for anyway, so this is merely a move to enable some form of HW expansion to hopefully shore up support and to stop the current userbase bleed they are dealing with. On the one hand, its a model of approach that has largely worked in the mobile device sector; Google pushing AndroidOS as the largest mobile OS for smart phones being a fantastic allegory.
So, the issue is the trade on performance quality right, and this has always been one of the stronger things a console or platform has in its favor over PC - consistent, uniform performance, guaranteed or vetted performance standards. It isn't a necessarily impossible problem to solve, but this approach invites the massive hardware overhead that plagues Windows OS PC gaming. A service like GamePass, at least, does help make this upcoming launch of PC handhelds more attractive though, simply cause its asking consumers less to invest to enter the ecosystem, so it does have that going for it, but given what the selling power of Game Pass is now for dedicated Xbox HW, not really sure this will help all that much.
The irony is, if this mobile Xbox OS does not allow you to install any 3rd party stores like Steam, then the biggest selling point of these PC handheld hardware - your ability to access your Steam library - goes out the window. The biggest success stories in this HW sector is nearly exclusively the Steam Deck, but the other devices have boasted their ability to let you access Steam through their current Windows OS versions. If an Xbox OS only allows Xbox titles & Game Pass to run on them, then I fear this will have even less appeal than I thought.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
The only way any of this works if MS has some xbox os or the ability to install steam on an Xbox.
I, like anyone has absolutely no fucking idea what is going on at ms and I'm sure they don't know either.
I, like anyone has absolutely no fucking idea what is going on at ms and I'm sure they don't know either.
Crayon
Member
I don't see why it would be more expensive than the same hardware with windows.
Bry0
Member
Xbox prophet,You still want the smoke huh ? I gave you a warning a few weeks ago
Say I wanted to play my BC OG Xbox titles. Do you think these OEM devices could do that?
Why can’t I just play those games under windows? I don’t see why windows and Xbox have to be separate operating systems at this point. Just let me have my game collection…
Either way I think valve has an opportunity here to eat their lunch (as they already have been on PC)
Synastry
Member
It may not be dead yet but lets not act like its in good shape.
November NPD
PS5: 1220K
NSW: 620K
XBS: 430K
Spain.
November 2024:
PS5: 121.700
NSW: 44.400
XBS: 6.650
UK.
Assuming similar marketshare of prior months that PS5 had in the UK, I estimate something like:
PS5 : 150K
XBS : 55-65K
NSW : 55-65K
That would put PS5 Nov 2024 with BF as 233K+
Japan is not even worth posting numbers for.
And one can only Imagine the blowout in Europe.
It may not be dead but boy is it in life support.
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GHG
Member
Nah, this will be easier money for them than WMR ever was.
Based on the rumours these will be pretty much a combination of standard off the shelf PC parts. They will be able to throw an Xbox logo on these and make bank from the inflated margins.
There's little to no risk for the OEMs here.
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HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
Oh its on life support which is also why they will be trying something different next gen
Super close
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ChorizoPicozo
Member
Phil Spencer: oh shit! Nutella is Killing the fucking console.
Xbox team:
but also:
who would want to use the Xbox brand, anyway?
Xbox team:
but also:
who would want to use the Xbox brand, anyway?
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Hey ms....Just hire some absolute child genius to get xbox console apps running natively in windows and let me sign into my pc as an "xbox"
K thanks, bye.
K thanks, bye.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
This would also apply to handhelds (especially if there are multiple manufactures)
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
Oppoi
Member
It has value as in "we'll give you money if you pretend we have a product worth selling."
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semiconscious
Member
mayham2199
Member
I guess it is the most humane. Sucks for them getting stuck with PC hackers though. That shit is a nightmare and infects every single game I played on PC.
Phil Spencer: oh shit! Nutella is Killing the fucking console.
Xbox team:
but also:
who would want to use the Xbox brand, anyway?
Asus , Lenovo, Razer & a few others
mayham2199
Member
I can't wait to see how this works. They've had trouble getting their store working properly. Now they are overhauling the whole windows UI and trying to get it to work like a console? I'm very interested to see how this turns out.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
why?
Crayon
Member
Yeah there's downsides. But steam is an awesome home platform. There's a lot to love. And if they can get your digital xbox library to run (with the exception of discs, i guess), an you can keep your gamepass sub, that is actually a great transition for the core fans. Only thing is that it might be kinda expensive. Maybe ms can subsidize a refference model.
Don't worry little blind chicken you will find that seed
March Climber
Member
mayham2199
Member
From everything they are saying this is $999 minimum. Which IMO isn't so bad but if I was getting stuck with basically a PC I'd just build a PC.
Because it's what they do anyway so this will be an opportunity for them to sell another product.
They're trying to go the software and services route (content and sub/OS). They are hoping their content library will launch a new android-like platform for games on OEM devices. They have some pretty big franchises under their belt now but I don't think it's going to work out as well as they hope to be honest.
ManaByte
Gold Member
Good then he PS5 Pro would have a good ecosystem.It's inevitable, right?
GHG
Member
It's such a good ecosystem that PC gamers have been flocking towards it ever since it's become available.
Synastry
Member
Thanks for your insight I find you and your post to be the most insightful for info on the xbox brand.
TBiddy
Member
It makes no sense. If they want to succeed in gaming, they either need to produce a great console with exclusives (the Playstation way) or go all-in on 3rd party.
Making "Xbox"-branded hardware that may or may not play all Xbox-games to an acceptable level is just diluting the brand to a point where noone gives a shit about it. And who in their right mind would buy a cheap Asus "Xbox", when they could just buy a cheap gaming PC and have a gigantic library at hand instead?
Consoles became a succes because of the singular hardware model that allowed developers to optimize for it, plus the ease of use. Outsourcing that to 3rd parties is recipe for disaster.
Bry0
Member
if the new “Xbox OS” is windows with a “Xbox” frontend, and a alternative desktop mode like Steam OS. That would be pretty killer. Like Steam OS, you could vastly reduce the overhead of windows with a “Xbox” mode, so I don’t think “but windows services overhead” is something to worry about with that approach.
But yeah, in my opinion this is actually somewhat compelling. If “Xbox OS” meant what we currently have on the series consoles then this sounds DOA.
Yes because Microsoft has a team preserving Xbox games right now.
PC is wide open & not gaming focused but a Xbox can focus on gaming .
ZoukGalaxy
Member
Experiment™
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Crayon
Member
It might take 2 more years but amd is going to have apu's available that are graphics focused like the console ones. That would be the way to get the performance at a good price. Have to see how those turn out.
Really I've always wanted a console-pc and have been wanting to make on for a long time. I just want to get a fast laptop with a busted screen. Take out the board and put it in a custom enclosure. I just know I would take forever doing that and maybe even stall out midway.