Microsoft Teases Next-Gen Xbox With 'Largest Technical Leap', New 'Unique' Hardware (theverge.com) 51
Tom Warren reports via The Verge: Microsoft is teasing the potential for unique Xbox hardware in the future and a powerful next-gen console. Four previously exclusive Xbox games are officially coming to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch soon, and Microsoft wants to reassure Xbox fans that it's still very much invested in the future of its platform and hardware. In an official Xbox podcast today, Xbox president Sarah Bond teased that Microsoft will deliver 'the largest technical leap' with the next-generation Xbox: "We've got more to come. There's some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that we're going to share this holiday. We're also invested in the next-generation roadmap. What we're really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation, which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions that they're building."
Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer went a step further, teasing that the Xbox hardware teams are thinking about building different kinds of hardware. "I'm very proud of the work that the hardware team is doing, not only for this year, but also into the future," says Spencer. "[We're] really thinking about creating hardware that sells to gamers because of the unique aspects of the hardware. It's kind of an unleashing of the creative capability of our hardware team that I'm really excited about."
Perhaps that unique hardware is an Xbox handheld. "We see a lot of opportunity in different types of devices, and will share specifics on our future hardware plans as soon as we are ready," says Microsoft in an Xbox blog post today.
Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer went a step further, teasing that the Xbox hardware teams are thinking about building different kinds of hardware. "I'm very proud of the work that the hardware team is doing, not only for this year, but also into the future," says Spencer. "[We're] really thinking about creating hardware that sells to gamers because of the unique aspects of the hardware. It's kind of an unleashing of the creative capability of our hardware team that I'm really excited about."
Perhaps that unique hardware is an Xbox handheld. "We see a lot of opportunity in different types of devices, and will share specifics on our future hardware plans as soon as we are ready," says Microsoft in an Xbox blog post today.
Duh? (Score:2)
"....[We're] really thinking about creating hardware that sells to gamers...."
Isn't that what the Xbox is? Hardware created for gamers? Talk about saying something and nothing at the same time.
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"....[We're] really thinking about creating hardware that sells to gamers...."
Isn't that what the Xbox is? Hardware created for gamers? Talk about saying something and nothing at the same time.
You act as if it takes much more than reciting a decade old company motto in order to pump the stock price another nickel.
If it looks like clickbait bullshit, and it smells like clickbait bullshit..
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Yeah. I mean, it's not as if they've got 23 years of increasingly powerful hardware releases to point to...
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Yeah. I mean, it's not as if they've got 23 years of increasingly powerful hardware releases to point to...
And yet, nothing you've said matters beyond the next fiscal pump and dump scam coming out of marketing...
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I don't think you know what "pump and dump" means. Or at least you don't understand it well enough to know why you're wrong.
possibilities (Score:2)
Sure, they're "thinking about this" (Score:2)
These guys' jobs involve creating the next new XBox console - so of course they are thinking about it.
On the other hand, it was only a few days ago we were discussing whether or not Microsoft even intends to stay in the XBox business. It's not the XBox team that's going to make that call...
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it was only a few days ago we were discussing whether or not Microsoft even intends to stay in the XBox business.
There is no way they are planning to exit now while they've got Sony on the ropes. They can sell the same game twice on PC and Xbox, sometimes to the same person. Plus, they have total lockdown on the Xbox, there's years of legal battles that haven't even begun yet before they might be forced to allow competing app stores on consoles. And they could reasonably turn even that into a win by simply the console run a more full-fledged version of Windows at that point, where they can sell even more kinds of apps
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There is no way they are planning to exit now while they've got Sony on the ropes.
The PS5 sold about 3 times as often as the Xbox Series consoles. That Microsoft now plans on selling games through the competitors more successful console platform (and thus giving their competitor a share of the revenue made with those games) is pretty much an unconditional surrender.
Sure, they currently still act as if it never crossed their minds to abandon their Xbox hardware... but those "next generation" devices they speak of may very well be low-power mobile devices or pure streaming clients that do
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That Microsoft now plans on selling games through the competitors more successful console platform (and thus giving their competitor a share of the revenue made with those games) is pretty much an unconditional surrender.
Once they sell as many copies as they can for their console, why not do it for the competitor's nearly identical console?
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Exclusives are important in the console world.
The hardware is basically the same no matter what the outside label says. It doesn't matter if some has a 10% higher clock speed or this and that gpu or gddr6+ ram, blah blah blah.
Consoles sell on exclusive games and price.
Little Johnny is gunna beg his mom for the Xbox if it has a game all his friends are playing.
I have a ps4. It was my first console. Bought that because my gf had a bunch of p3 games. I bought a ps5 because I had a ps4. Then I visited at a
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Exclusives are important in the console world.
Exclusives sell consoles... for a while. Then they just represent lost sales opportunities. One the first phase is over, move into the second phase.
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Console cycles are roughly 5-6 years. By the time the console is old news the next one is almost ready. And they'll want exclusives for that new one. Since it takes at least 2-3 years minimum to make a high quality game those exclusives were locked in for the next one while the current one was still selling well.
I don't make the rules, I'm not even bought in that this is the best way to do things, but this is how it is.
Products need differentiation in a competitive market. Since the hardware and prices
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Preference for one controller over the other is probably more significant than which console has better hardware (though I agree fully that the games are what it's really about).
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Yeah the base ps5 controller is kinda meh. After my original broke, I looked around and went for the Edge. It's very expensive but so are all the others. Much better experience. Controller turned out to be much more important than I thought when I first got into consoles.
Had I known I would've popped the extra cash on day one for the better controller. Lesson learned.
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> Exclusives are important in the console world.
Artificially splitting your potential customers is myopic and idiotic.
Artificial FOMO is only important to the finance department and dumb fan boys who get into stupid debates over which console is better. (Hint: They are BOTH low-end PCs at this point.) Every one else just waits for the game to be available on Desktop and/or the other console.
There is a reason why simcades like Scam Turismo, I mean Gran Turismo 7, aren't available on desktop. Because Po
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PC vs console is a different story.
In console vs console, let's say:
Console A has exclusives
Console B has exclusives but in "phase 2" allows all their exclusives on to Console A but Console A retains their exclusives.
Both consoles cost about the same to make and buy.
Which console will sell better? Console A.
Which console will sell more accessories and other high profit items? Console A.
Which console will game devs make sure their games run well on? Console A.
Which console will get more of that easy exclu
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One advantage of a console is you know that if a game is compatible with that console at all, then it will work and run exactly as the designers intended. You will never get a game and then discover that you would need to spend hundreds of dollars on a hardware upgrade to make it work as it's supposed to.
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That Microsoft now plans on selling games through the competitors more successful console platform (and thus giving their competitor a share of the revenue made with those games) is pretty much an unconditional surrender.
Once they sell as many copies as they can for their console, why not do it for the competitor's nearly identical console?
From the console customer's perspective and from Microsoft's CFO perspective this may seem like a good idea, but it is only for a short while. Microsoft selling their games through Sony means they provide additional profits to Sony, while at the same time removing reasons for customers to buy anything else but a Playstation. The next obvious consequence is that game developers then have good reason to only target the Playstation, further reducing the reasons why one might buy an Xbox. Once the Xbox hardware
Re: Sure, they're "thinking about this" (Score:2)
Translation (Score:3, Insightful)
MORE LOCK-IN!
WOO!
xbox holding back pc games (Score:2)
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That sounds like a publisher's problem, not the the XBox's.
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It doesn't, though. Nothing is forcing publishers to not make their games use more resources on PC. And if they just permit modding in the PC version, someone will come along to provide model and texture upgrades for them eventually.
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The extra effort to have make and support different builds and then the Xbox versions will be seen as inferior if they don't have mods and other PC features. Cross play is also harder if the PC side has significant features the console lacks.
The multi platform stuff (Score:3)
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Game studios aren't important. They come and go with the wind. The developers, artists, and other creatives working as a team under someone with game experience and a great vision is all that matters. Those people move around a lot. They don't expect their current studio to be their last. It is merely the name currently on their paycheck until they do the same thing in a year or two under some other label.
Microsoft can buy up all the studios they want. They're buying empty shells. It's really dumb of
Idea (Score:2)
How about they make it in a standard 17" width so it fits in with the rest of my home theater equipment?
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Making it tall makes airflow easier, and most people don't have a bunch of stereo equipment any more, if any. That battle was lost over a decade ago. Sega and NEC were the last to really try to even approach that form factor; before that it was Commodore's consoles, and of course the CD-i and uh, I've lost the name of the other CD-based system available at the same time... oh yeah 3DO, but looking back I see/remember now that was narrow. And also, all of these were big flops (except that the CDTV and CD32 h
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Yeah I know, I was half joking. It's just annoying that these things are specifically designed to stick out like a sore thumb. At least the Xbox Series X is just a box, but the PS5 is just an obnoxious design. I guess it's important that it looks good on your metal-and-glass open shelving next to your bong and gundam models.
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https://www.amazon.com/Henn-Ha... [amazon.com]
Try that. See the left side with the tall vertical space? Fits ps5 with plenty of room to spare.
The rest is solid metal and thick glass. I've got AVR, large center speaker, WiFi and a bunch of other random shit on it with no strain.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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It feels like the last generation wasn't a huge upgrade over the previous one. Going from 8 to 16 bit, going from first generation 3D machines like the 3DO and Playstation to the Dreamcast and XBOX, those felt like big jumps.
Admittedly I don't play many games, but looking at say Gran Turismo Sport on the PS4 vs. Gran Turismo 7 on the PS5, both games that are renowned for their graphical quality... Okay, the trees look a bit better, it's got rain now, some nice reflections here and there, but it's not a mass
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Agreed. We're well past the point of diminishing returns when it comes to visual fidelity. I'm playing through GoW: Ragnarok right now, but as I'm playing it there isn't an appreciable fidelity difference from its predecessor. I'm sure it's better if you puts screenshots or videos side-by-side, but when you're in the moment, nothing pops out as vastly superior. I expect the same whenever I get around to playing Horizon: Forbidden West.
Perhaps there are gains to be made elsewhere? The biggest win with going
Unique Hardware! (Score:2)
It's the Kinect 2, now with "Co-pilot."
You've never seen anything like it!
Don't Care... Xbox Sucks Now (Score:2)
Early 2000's the OG Xbox was a great way to get an internet connected gaming system going. It had nice controllers (better than PC & other consoles at the time). It had Xbox Live. It had MechAssault, Crimson Skies, and Halo. It had Knights of the Old Republic and Jade empire. It DIDN'T have any ads.
Xbox 360 came out and KAPOW! Awesome Sause. All the best exclusives, refined wireless controllers, games 'installed' to the hard drive and were snappier, better HD support, backwards compatibility, and a
Lemme guess... (Score:3)
Can we have it do more than gaming? (Score:2)
One of the nice things of console gaming is that one can buy a console, and it "just works" until time to buy the next generation console in 5-6 years, so the cost amortization is pretty good.
What would be nice is to have consoles be able to do some PC functions. Even if it is hypervisored off into some Windows S variant, it would still be useful to a lot of people. Or, if it could run something like RDP well, you have yourself a thin/zero client for a reasonable price that could be used for an enterprise
Raytraced Minecraft (Score:2)
What I want in the next generation is something powerful enough to do raytraced Minecraft, with a good view distance...
Let me guess.... (Score:2)
It has to be AI (Score:2)
Some NPU that you can use for cheap neural upscaling. Pair that with the announcement that they're working on their DLSS-style upscaler [theverge.com] for Windows 11
Unless they throw a curve-ball and do a Nintendo style thing.
BTW, they should really work on their standard controllers, the PS5 haptic feedback is way better (I have all three systems, Sony's controller is the best by far).
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AI and more media hub capabilities, something that makes Xbox an always-on 24/7 appliance and not just a game console.
AI? (Score:1)
An example, which may still require cloud servers, is voice/text-to-world generation in Minecraft and the likes. You could even take a photo and generate your own 3D character based on it. AI has a lot of promise in video games.