So uhh... Xbox is going the way of Steam Machine, eh?

[KalessinDB]

How bout them apples?

It's both good and bad in a lot of ways I think. But in my eyes this announcement basically means the Xbone is the last true console from the Xbox line. Microsoft is moving to the pseudo-hardware/mostly software realm a la Valve/Steam and leaving the dedicated consoles to Sony and Nintendo.

What's all your take on it?

[darsparx]

I'm just surprised they didn't do it sooner. Though I'm more inclined to get say a steam box if I were to get back into pc gaming at all since last I checked that's cheaper and it looks nice

[samsonlonghair]

If you mean Phil Spencer's recent rant, I think it's too early to read much into it.

"We look at these other ecosystems out there like mobile, tablet and PC and we see that they have a very continuous evolution cycle in hardware, whereas between console generations most of the evolution is making it cheaper and potentially making it smaller.

Both are meaningful but don't make the games play any better. If you look at PC specifically and see the evolution that happens there, there's no reason why console can't ride that same curve.

I look at the ecosystem that a console sits in and I think that it should have the capability of more iteration on hardware capability. Sony is doing this with VR and adding VR capabilities mid-cycle to the PlayStation 4 and they are doing that by adding another box. I don't mean that as a negative. But it's not changing what the core console is about.

For consoles in general it's more important now than it's ever been, because you have so many of these other platforms that are around. It used to be that when you bought your console you were way ahead of the price performance curve by so much, relative to a PC. But now PCs are inexpensive and your phones are getting more and more capable.

I still think a console is the best price to performance deal that is out there but when you look at the evolution ... I'm not going to announce our road map for hardware ... but what I wanted to say on stage for people when they see this vision of ours and question our commitment to console I want to make sure that people see that what we are doing enables us to be more committed to what consoles are about than we've ever been and innovate more consistently than we ever have. That's the key for me."
http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/1/1112166 ... -microsoft

Seems like a bunch of corporate double-talk to me. Certainly, Microsoft is trying to push windows as a universal cross-platform software/service. Microsoft wants the end user to have a seamless experience across PCs, laptops, windows tablets, windows phones, and XBOX - irrespective of how feasible that may or may not be. That does not necessarily mean that XBOX is going to adopt a model similar to steam machine wherein third party manufacturers can make many iterations of the console.

More likely, we will see a revamped production cycle wherein there will be a new~ish xbox released every year or so with only minor improvements over last year's model. Think of it similar to how mobile devices (iphone, android, DS) offer incremental upgrades on a regular basis. Admittedly, this is mostly speculation on my part, but it seems more likely to me than steam machines catching on.

[KalessinDB]

True, they may or may not allow third parties to make hardware upgrades for the Xbox. But, he said that going forward they want everything to be a Windows Unified App, capable of running on anything that runs Windows - Xbox, PC, tablets, etc - as long as it has the proper horsepower. And that is in fact the rant I was referencing.

But what you're suggesting is essentially exactly what I meant. Incremental upgrades, cross compatibility for all software between various devices running Windows 10 (and beyond) - which they're trying to make be everything, and essentially making things be more PC-like: multiple versions and having to make sure that your "Xbox build" meets minimum system requirements. It just feels to me that they're trying to move more into the "Here's Xbox. It's a gaming platform and it can run on XXX hardware. If you would like to have a preconfigured XXX hardware box, we are happy to provide it. If you would like to make your own, feel free (this is what I'm reading from their "Everything's going to be a WUA" bit). PS, we also have a kinda kickass controller that we'd definitely recommend using whether you're using our box or your own" -- which has a lot of similarities to Steam Machines

Effectively, you're becoming far more PC-ish. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I said there's certainly upsides to this as well.

But I agree with you wholeheartedly: it's way too early to see how this is going to play out. Exciting though! (I don't have a horse in this race -- I'm only barely getting back into PC gaming after 6ish years, and even then it was only WoW since the era of DOS games, and while I do have an oXbox and a 360, they get next to no use compared to any other system I have)

[noiseredux]

it's interesting. And I like the embrace of 'old' games. Y'know, with PC gaming you can have a rig that (mostly) runs the games coming out tomorrow, AND it plays the DOS games you loved when you were a little kid. One platform that has a library that just keeps expanding. So it is interesting to see where these Unified Apps go and all that. And if you've noticed stuff like Gears Of War collection and Forza being brought over to PC, I think that MS is starting to get away from the concept of "console exclusives" and remembering that HEY! They're Microsoft! They own Windows! I'm totally just rambling here, but from the little we've heard about all this I think that - nevermind if I think it's a good thing or a bad thing - I think it's sort of an inevitable thing that the console as we knew it is kind of going away.

[ElkinFencer10]

Didn't buy a Steam Machine and won't buy a potential Xbox version. Honestly, I doubt I'd buy any system that was digital only (which I have a feeling the next Xbox would be).

[noiseredux]

Didn't buy a Steam Machine and won't buy a potential Xbox version. Honestly, I doubt I'd buy any system that was digital only (which I have a feeling the next Xbox would be).

there are Steam Machine models with optical drives. Those aren't "digital only."

[ElkinFencer10]

Didn't buy a Steam Machine and won't buy a potential Xbox version. Honestly, I doubt I'd buy any system that was digital only (which I have a feeling the next Xbox would be).

there are Steam Machine models with optical drives. Those aren't "digital only."

PC games my exception. Sorry, I was unclear; I meant I wouldn't buy a home console that's digital only. I didn't buy a Steam machine because it's a stupid waste of money; I can build a stronger PC for less.

[noiseredux]

well, yes. Steam Machines have their place as entry points for console gamers who want to play PC games without needing to assemble their own rig.

They also have their place as a cheap build for streaming from your main rig. (Cheap, if you were to just build your own barebones SteamOS box that is).

[Snatch1414]

A lot of people seem to be talking about this as if they were planning on flipping a switch some time in the future and now the Xbone is an upgradable unit all of a sudden. My question is how. My Xbone as it is now has 3 USB inputs and not much else. Are you telling me the current Xbone is somehow capable of transforming Optimus Prime-style into something you can add pieces on to? I don't see it. The other explanation is they come out with a new Xbone that hangs everyone out to dry that previously bought one. I don't see that either.