Series S/X The good and bad of the Next step for Xbox (Big Ramble)

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As of lately if you've been keeping up to speed, Xbox is officially out of the Console-only space. The next Xbox is the PC-Hybrid like what the Steam Machine tried to be. The current rumor is that the hybrid system is going to be $1200.

Naturally I have a few opinions still remembering what I needed to do to transition from Console to PC around 2014.

To me, $1200 actually makes sense for a few reasons. The entry level PC scene is right around that ballpark with a decent CPU (usually an i7) and the 60 series RTX cards of whatever generation. But past the price to performance we need to really look at who this product is for. I believe that this Hybrid system is for the console player looking to move into the PC scene, while looking to get a more streamlined experience. Imagine that being on a PC Out of box you aren't immediately playing, you have to download your launcher, download your drivers for your PC internals and your peripherals then update your Windows OS. Then after all that is said and done you have to wait another good chunk of hours downloading a game you want to play. This on average would normally take out a good 3-4 hours for someone doing this first time. With the ROG Xbox Ally release and the redo of Game Bar/Full Screen Experience. This is almost like a sneak peak at what the next Xbox "Experience" is going to be.

This is arguably the better move Xbox could make for themselves. This will however have a negative ripple in the console space. Xbox has its eyes elsewhere and it's not strictly the console market anymore. Lack of competition is essentially going to cause Sony and Nintendo to have no competition in their respective spaces at this point and both of those companies are in a state of "Fuck you, you'll buy it anyway." (Although current rumor is that Playstation is making a portable to fight against Nintendo Next Gen). But the statement still is the same. Now we're hitting the next era of console gaming is going and it's going to not be what you are playing, it's going to be how you're playing.

In the focus of Xbox I think that what will happen is that Xbox is going to be in the ballpark of the prebuilt PC market. It has the opportunity and potential for people looking to transition to PC with as little risk as possible to start. I've always been on the opinion that Windows is the worst out of box experience period, but Full Screen Experience is a step in the right direction. I would also hope with this direction that games should be more optimized for the lower end with a proper standard and Xbox would set that standard. We also know that Xbox as a brand is in the market to try and work on proper preservation of their previous library so it would not surprise me if Xbox decided to work on an in house emulation setup to play Xbox - Xbox Series Physical games on PC. I also believe that with the whole quote of Xbox saying their competitor is more TikTok and social media, they want people on their hardware as their main entertainment so it would make sense that if you feel you have maximized your customer base that your main thing should be to keep people on your systems.

In terms of peripherals I believe that there would be no reason to make a new controller outside an update in parts. There should be no rush to make a new controller when you can buy a 3rd party everything to get it running. It is a PC at it's heart after all. A lot of people are discrediting this move that they can just buy a prebuilt or build your own for $1200 and you're right, you can, you always could have and that's not a new talking point. People have been doing that for years.

I will say that my core belief is that this is the end of Xbox as a Console and the beginning of Xbox as a PC. Personally, I'd say it's about time.
 
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Frankly, I think this is the only move that Microsoft can make. Trying to go toe-to-toe with Sony and Nintendo in the console space is not going to work any longer. They lost the goodwill of gamers with the Xbox One, and to paraphrase Phil Spencer: That was the worst generation for them to lose.

People want continuity between systems so they can easily transfer things from one device to the next. Why did people buy a PS5? Because they could move their PS4 stuff onto it. Why buy an Xbox Series X after buying a PS4? All of that content you bought on the PS4 would be stuck on your PS4, AND you'd have to start paying TWO companies to use their online services (assuming you still wanted to jump back to your PS4 games sometimes).

Exclusives are also an issue. Microsoft bought studios left, right and centre to build up their portfolio and they have little to show for it. If the game isn't cancelled, then it's released on PC as well. If you're already a PC gamer then you have no reason to buy an Xbox. If you're already a Nintendo or Sony person, then you're probably not that interested in the Xbox exclusives anyways because you're too busy playing Donkey Kong or Astro Bot.

But making the next Xbox a PC? It sounds weird at first, but Windows is the number one platform for gaming on PC (despite some people's gripes about the OS). Imagine if they just said "fuck it" and gave us a Windows PC with an Xbox home screen. Imagine being able to install Windows programs through the Xbox home screen... Or heck, let's just go crazy and imagine being able to go into "Windows Desktop Mode", where you can install whatever Windows programs you want like it was a typical Windows PC.

Imagine having an option to have those programs you installed appear as easily clickable tiles on the Xbox home screen.

Imagine one of those tiles being Steam.

Imagine moving your Steam library over to your Xbox PC and being able to play any Steam game in addition to any Xbox game on one platform.

"Hi gamers! You like God of War Ragnarok? You like the Spider-Man game? Well now you can play them not only on Playstation, but also on our Xbox branded PC through Steam!"

And they could entice people to the platform with promotion deals so easily, too.

"Sure, you CAN buy our Xbox Published games on Steam on your home PC... but if you buy them on Steam through our Xbox branded PC during the first week of the game's release, we'll sweeten the deal and mark off 10% off the price."

"Make you pay for online? No, no, no. This is a PC, you don't pay extra for that here."

Seriously, if Microsoft does this right they could pull the rug out from under their competition. But this is all probably wishful thinking on my part.
 
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Frankly, I think this is the only move that Microsoft can make. Trying to go toe-to-toe with Sony and Nintendo in the console space is not going to work any longer. They lost the goodwill of gamers with the Xbox One, and to paraphrase Phil Spencer: That was the worst generation for them to lose.

People want continuity between systems so they can easily transfer things from one device to the next. Why did people buy a PS5? Because they could move their PS4 stuff onto it. Why buy an Xbox Series X after buying a PS4? All of that content you bought on the PS4 would be stuck on your PS4, AND you'd have to start paying TWO companies to use their online services (assuming you still wanted to jump back to your PS4 games sometimes).

Exclusives are also an issue. Microsoft bought studios left, right and centre to build up their portfolio and they have little to show for it. If the game isn't cancelled, then it's released on PC as well. If you're already a PC gamer then you have no reason to buy an Xbox. If you're already a Nintendo or Sony person, then you're probably not that interested in the Xbox exclusives anyways because you're too busy playing Donkey Kong or Astro Bot.

But making the next Xbox a PC? It sounds weird at first, but Windows is the number one platform for gaming on PC (despite some people's gripes about the OS). Imagine if they just said "fuck it" and gave us a Windows PC with an Xbox home screen. Imagine being able to install Windows programs through the Xbox home screen... Or heck, let's just go crazy and imagine being able to go into "Windows Desktop Mode", where you can install whatever Windows programs you want like it was a typical Windows PC.

Imagine having an option to have those programs you installed appear as easily clickable tiles on the Xbox home screen.

Imagine one of those tiles being Steam.

Imagine moving your Steam library over to your Xbox PC and being able to play any Steam game in addition to any Xbox game on one platform.

"Hi gamers! You like God of War Ragnarok? You like the Spider-Man game? Well now you can play them not only on Playstation, but also on our Xbox branded PC through Steam!"

And they could entice people to the platform with promotion deals so easily, too.

"Sure, you CAN buy our Xbox Published games on Steam on your home PC... but if you buy them on Steam through our Xbox branded PC during the first week of the game's release, we'll sweeten the deal and mark off 10% off the price."

"Make you pay for online? No, no, no. This is a PC, you don't pay extra for that here."

Seriously, if Microsoft does this right they could pull the rug out from under their competition. But this is all probably wishful thinking on my part.
So funny thing your describing of the Windows OS for the "Xbox PC" is literally how it works on the Xbox Ally X
 
So funny thing your describing of the Windows OS for the "Xbox PC" is literally how it works on the Xbox Ally X
Exactly!

But the issue with the Xbox Ally X is that you can't play previous gen Xbox games on it unless they were already put on PC. So if you already have a good gaming PC or a Steam Deck then there isn't much incentive to upgrade unless you just want a more powerful handheld.

If they can bridge that gap by coming up with emulators to play previous generation Xbox games on the Windows platform as well (like you were saying in your first post), then I think you have a much more appealing product. I would actually consider buying an Xbox Ally X if they did that. I actually bought an Xbox One S for dirt cheap off ebay just to play Ninja Gaiden Black and the Xbox 360 version of Ninja Gaiden II. Being able to have a Windows device where I can log into my Microsoft account and play both of those games would be pretty sick.
 
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