Support NeoGAF

[DrFigs]

Yeah like some ppl said now MS will be competing with Valve and Nintendo.....along with still competing with Sony...... and Nintendo.

Jesus Christ this better work. And Sony better not be making a handheld.

I will give MS this, when they said they no longer viewed Playstation as a competitor because of Activision/Blizzard, I thought for sure they were lying.

Edit: i don't believe this rumor btw. Xbox making another 2 sku console in their current state?

 

[ResilientBanana]

A portable Xbox would be kind of nice as long as the games are enticing enough. But they keep going the route of least powerful AAA hardware and that’s not why I bought Xbox games in the past. We shall see what comes of this.

 

[twilo99]

Hopefully there's a market for powerful gaming handhelds, I can see them doing it for this generation with the Series S becoming a portable system with the next die shrink.

Portable makes a lot of sense but it needs to be done right.

 

[dorkimoe]

Good luck selling any of these after going third party....

LOL

Some of us prefer our controllers to last more than an hour

 

[Astray]

But the XBOX branded steamdeck would already have a library of thousands of games, instantly being the better purchase.

Nothing that matches Nintendo quality or Steam quantity tho.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Some of us prefer our controllers to last more than an hour

Well maybe MS can sell controllers alone... It's better business

They are not selling consoles for sure...

LOL

 

[Little Chicken]

Shorter hardware generations sounds fantastic! Bring on DemocracyBox, MS!

 

[Unknown?]

By jump starting next gen early to avoid head to head with PS6 and venturing into a true Xbox branded handheld not tethered by WiFi is not trying their own thing?

Jump starting early isn't anything new and what about "Switch-like dockable handheld" sounds unique to you?

 

[arkhamguy123]

Xbox and Microsoft are such an anathema on gaming. The sooner they go third party and/or exit the business the better

 

[YOU PC BRO?!]

A new Xbox generation of devices starting in 2026 signifies a complete and utter defeat. I wonder if Phil has learned anything from his numerous missteps?

 

[VitoNotVito]

My cat has the better "insights". What a complete BS...

 

[Negotiator101]

Ok, so what console will offer Game Pass if not the new console? 25 millions subs. Why would they quit making a platform to use it on? I highly doubt Sony or Nintendo will allow Game Pass.

Just because Xbox is adding another revenue stream(Blue $nakes) doesn't mean an Xbox console/or handheld is useless.

This is what I was thinking, with a streaming only box years off (that would offer a comparable experience) Microsoft have only really one option to continue supplying Gamepass to its subscribers and that's a new console in whatever form that takes.

As it stands we are waiting on the official confirmation of what their strategy is going forward and until we get that info it's all just a guessing game.

 

[Ronin_7]

This sounds even worse than Series S/X pair.

This is bullshit lol

 

[lughnasadh123]

I have zero faith that there's a unified consensus at the Xbox leadership that they have any idea on what path to even take right now. It basically sounds like a Tiamat fighting with itself.

 

[lefty1117]

Xbox and Microsoft are such an anathema on gaming. The sooner they go third party and/or exit the business the better

Weird take

 

[Porticus]

Xbox and Microsoft are such an anathema on gaming. The sooner they go third party and/or exit the business the better

Completely agree with you, they are basically playing like kids now with the father money, quite embarassing, how it is possible that the higher up are still there is simply mind blowing.

Spencer has a photo of Nutella somewhere, there's no other explanation.

 

[mckmas8808]

This sounds even worse than Series S/X pair.

It's 3 times as worse as the Series S/X pairing. There's little upside like Nintendo is doing......and HUGE downsides. The price for what you get will be so huge, that I'm shocked MS would be this stupid to do it.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Just buy Valve and finally integrate Windows and Steam.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Why would you buy an Xbox handheld when you can get a Steam Deck or an ASUS Rog or whatever it's called?

Why would you buy a Honda or BMW when you can get a Ford or a Hyundai?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Why would you buy a Honda or BMW when you can get a Ford or a Hyundai?

well, people ain't buying xboxes

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Shorter hardware generations sounds fantastic! Bring on DemocracyBox, MS!

Yeah. that ain't gonna work either chief

 

[El Muerto]

This makes sense. Microsoft has been working with AMD to create an ARM chip for the next Xbox. Windows has x86/x64 translation support to ARM already.

 

[Trogdor1123]

A portable Xbox sounds pretty great actually imo. Depends on how they do it I suppose.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

It's already a bunch of windows handhelds, what would be the difference between them and what this is suppose to be? If has windows, it's going to suffer for the same reason all other windows handles do. If it has an Xbox os, then you don't get access to Steam, and have to rely on just Xbox games.


That's before we even get to the fact that outside of game pass, there doesn't seem like it's anything that makes the Xbox ecosystem attractive. As a non Xbox owner and person who prefers to buy games, I can't think of a reason to want an Xbox.

Xbox has a million and one studios and it's nothing from any of them that peeks my interest. I think maybe Xbox should work on that before trying to sell more hardware that's as likely going to be as successful as their current consoles, if not less.

 

[Ammogeddon]

I can’t keep up with all this.

 

[Pelta88]

False rumour. The R&D cost alone coupled with a shrinking audience makes this pure fantasy.

Nadella is asking for a return on investment and by "investment" he's not talking about profit. Not revenue.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Weird take

Aw man I was so convicted in my stance but then lefty1117 said it was a weird take so now it’s dogshit

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I would be into this - except I'm sure both systems will be digital only.

They're about to quit selling physical games, so yeah.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Completely agree with you, they are basically playing like kids now with the father money, quite embarassing, how it is possible that the higher up are still there is simply mind blowing.

Spencer has a photo of Nutella somewhere, there's no other explanation.

Completely agree

 

[BlackTron]

Yeah your right it's not realistic for Microsoft to spend money on top of the line hardware that came out that same year more then likely it would be something similar to a 7840U

Or maybe they won't spend any money on hardware and will just license whatever other third party hardware. I don't even think they know internally at MS right now, they're all arguing over it

 

[mckmas8808]

A new Xbox generation of devices starting in 2026 signifies a complete and utter defeat. I wonder if Phil has learned anything from his numerous missteps?

Plus will they be willing to sell this "handheld" device at a loss at launch?

 

[Negotiator101]

Plus will they be willing to sell this "handheld" device at a loss at launch?

They all sell at a loss at launch.

 

[BlackTron]

Just buy Valve and finally integrate Windows and Steam.

Epic will finally have their chance to defeat Steam

 

[RoadHazard]

The handheld would be a streaming device I guess? Otherwise it will be worse than the X/S situation.

 

[SteadyEvo]

Good luck selling any of these after going third party....

LOL

What if they went 3rd until launch 2026. Wisely using this time to build Gamepass and their studios as viable options going forward. Maybe they’ll have enough momentum to successfully launch a new console while making Gamepass exclusive to Xbox.

That’s just me thinking positive

They’re no longer competitive this gen and nothing will change that. Cut your losses and focus on the next console. Hopefully learning and improving.

 

[dem]

I do not understand that chunky ass 2 hour battery life pc handheld market...

But I thought the Steamdeck would sell like 200 devices... so what do I know.

 

[Zheph]

What if they went 3rd until launch 2026. Wisely using this time to build Gamepass and their studios as viable options going forward. Maybe they’ll have enough momentum to successfully launch a new console while making Gamepass exclusive to Xbox.

That’s just me thinking positive

Gamepass is never gonna reach what they need it to be due to the nature of the media

 

[MisterXDTV]

What if they went 3rd until launch 2026. Wisely using this time to build Gamepass and their studios as viable options going forward. Maybe they’ll have enough momentum to successfully launch a new console while making Gamepass exclusive to Xbox.

That’s just me thinking positive

They’re no longer competitive this gen and nothing will change that. Cut your losses and focus on the next console. Hopefully learning and improving.

Sony won't allow any of this... They will require a commitment from MS to allow their games on Playstation Store

Once they go third party, they can't go back to first party exclusive after 2 years...

LOL

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

If you don't have a chance against Sony, try against Nintendo. In reality, MS has no chance there either.

 

[scarlet0pimp]

portable xbox would be cool, but in 2026 it will only be approaching series s sort of power levels, when i would expect a new series x to be around 20-30TF.

 

[00_Zer0]

With the rumor of Sony doing something similar with PS6 I wouldn't be surprised if MS is considering something like this. By the time Sony and MS do something like this Switch 2 will have been on the market 2-3 years, and maybe Valve will have released a Steam Deck 2 by then. It will be interesting to see what Nintendo and Valve come up with after the market is saturated with handheld PC's, and ones released by Sony and MS.

 

[twilo99]

Shorter hardware generations sounds fantastic! Bring on DemocracyBox, MS!

4-5 years should be sufficient to keep the console hardware a bit more current because the cycle we are in now is simply too long and you end up with really old
Hardware towards the end of the cycle

 

[SecretAgentHam]

Do they have any original ideas?

 

[Zheph]

Do they have any original ideas?

Paying for online

 

[MisterXDTV]

4-5 years should be sufficient to keep the console hardware a bit more current because the cycle we are in now is simply too long and you end up with really old
Hardware towards the end of the cycle

That's why they introduced mid-gen hardware... For people that don't want to wait 8 years

 

[twilo99]

That's why they introduced mid-gen hardware... For people that don't want to wait 8 years

Yes but the mid gen hardware is never a big enough upgrade, just a slight bump.. not good enough imo.

 

[Pancakes and Sausage]

Because of the third party decision, Xbox will sell fewer consoles next generation and even fewer the following generation.

Then Microsoft will announce that they are exiting the console market because they are a software company after all.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Yes but the mid gen hardware is never a big enough upgrade, just a slight bump.. not good enough imo.

And you really think BIG hardware upgrades are possible every 4 years in this day and age??? Considering AAA games take many years of development??

We are not in 1999 anymore

 

[twilo99]

And you really think BIG hardware upgrades are possible every 4 years in this day and age??? Considering AAA games take many years of development??

We are not in 1999 anymore

I don’t know if they are possible, but they are definitely the better option if you don’t want to be stuck with CPUs that are 4-5 generations behind for years..

 

[MisterXDTV]

I don’t know if they are possible, but they are definitely the better option if you don’t want to be stuck with CPUs that are 4-5 generations behind for years..

Then there's a solution for your problem: it's called PC