Ol No Bones
Banned
Yeah I don't know why people are comparing this to silly add on devices.
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Microsoft unifying PC/XB1 platforms, Phil implies Xbox moving to incremental upgrades
- Thread starter dancrane212
- Start date
I don't see why people are surprised about PC and consoles merging, at least with Xbox. Have you noticed that MS releases a new surface every 1-2 years? Xbox one is already essentially running Windows 10, with these developments it's hard not to see the next Xbox iteration running a full version of Windows.
Every console generation has gotten closer to just being a living room PC, I don't see why it's such a surprise that we've essentially gotten to that point.
Every console generation has gotten closer to just being a living room PC, I don't see why it's such a surprise that we've essentially gotten to that point.
justsomeguy
Member
There are no more "generations" for Xbox in this model. At least not in the current 5-7 year meaning.
That tag is savage
They might not be comfortable waiting out the remaining years of the generation (which would presumably be at least three) to have another shot at selling well.
I'd imagine they'd view the regular Xbox One as the baseline and then release something that plays games at least on par with the PS4 (if not aiming for better to try and pry at the higher end market).
I'd imagine they'd view the regular Xbox One as the baseline and then release something that plays games at least on par with the PS4 (if not aiming for better to try and pry at the higher end market).
outunderthestars
Banned
Those people must spend their entire lives being annoyed that someone out there has a nicer car, bigger house, larger TV etc.
To me it just sounds incredibly childish
Rushersauce
Banned
Xbox 1 plus 1
We don't know what changes as of right now. But the writing has been on the wall for many years. It's basically the it's happening gif but without proper context or details. Of course some people are freaking out lol.
It think it's exciting.
I hope people aren't that petty...but you may be right
cireza
Member
So developers will not have to make any effort to optimize their game for the console, since a more powerful version is available.
This is going to lead to poor quality experiences on old revisions of the hardware, exactly what I always wanted to avoid and why I play on consoles and not on PC.
This is going to lead to poor quality experiences on old revisions of the hardware, exactly what I always wanted to avoid and why I play on consoles and not on PC.
I'm doubtful on this. If the games are there the gamers will follow. There may be a lot of belly aching, but I don't think it would be a deal breaker for most people. Using some last gen games as an example, but if Red Dead Redemption, Bayonetta, Vanquish, etc. had been released through their store on PC a lot of people would have bought in.
justsomeguy
Member
So this is good news for you - you save some money by only needing one platform to play the games you want to play.
wumster3000
Member
I'll take the wait and see approach but from what I read, I like it. Just make sure when you deliver the full message, it's delivered correctly and not like E3 2013.
outunderthestars
Banned
You're getting poor quality experiences now in relation to PC ports. How is adding an additional SKU or two going to make that any worse?
I think this would be great, it should have been done earlier.
Because:
Buying a console is still the best price/value option;
You get a cheap, small and nice-looking living room box - PCs are bigger or much uglier, all attempts at Steam boxes still look terrible;
No need to worry about picking parts for PC, compatibility or drivers/software;
You get a hardware+software mix that has excellent support, unlike on PC where you must go to individual manufacturers for help;
And for some reason people here think that previous versions of XB1 would get somehow less powerful. The games would be released and would run the same regardless whether more powerful version exists or not. No way would Microsoft make older XB1s obsolete, at least not until they are actually very old.
Because:
Buying a console is still the best price/value option;
You get a cheap, small and nice-looking living room box - PCs are bigger or much uglier, all attempts at Steam boxes still look terrible;
No need to worry about picking parts for PC, compatibility or drivers/software;
You get a hardware+software mix that has excellent support, unlike on PC where you must go to individual manufacturers for help;
And for some reason people here think that previous versions of XB1 would get somehow less powerful. The games would be released and would run the same regardless whether more powerful version exists or not. No way would Microsoft make older XB1s obsolete, at least not until they are actually very old.
This is a great move. For those worried about "oh, but this game needs to run on my old xbox", MS has a great track record for backwards compatibility. In fact, this will make it easier. The publisher of games just have to support X number of SKUs backward, with a rendering / config for each SKU. This is already being done on PC for years, so the model is known.
Typically MS supports things for 10 years after release, and they could do the same with the consoles.
This is a win / win / win / win.
I'm excited.
Typically MS supports things for 10 years after release, and they could do the same with the consoles.
This is a win / win / win / win.
I'm excited.
NullPointer
Member
So in any given 5-7 year period how many consoles or add-ons will I have to buy to make sure my new gaming apps work as well as advertised?
This sounds like a PC, not a console. If I wanted this I'd jut game on PC.
outunderthestars
Banned
For me it is the ease of using a platform that is designed to be used with a controller and has software that has been certified to run on that specific hardware.
Vincent Grayson
Member
There'd still need to be a line drawn every so often where your XBO 2013 is no longer supported because the XBO 2019 is coming and developers want to target the newer, much better hardware.
I have a hard time not picturing this idea just being even more confusing to the average consumer, along the lines of the confusion that happened when Wii U came out and many people didn't understand that it was a new system entirely.
If that were the case, no PC games would come out because if it does not work amazingly on a Titan X, then "fuck it!" PC gives players options but the opening box from MS should run everything perfectly well, not some budget ass system where you have to drop to low to get 30fps.
Shin-Ra
Junior Member
When you have a six years old REAL console, you know games are going to perform adequately because everyone else in the same situation will complain very loudly. With this new vision, if you're still on six years old hardware you'll probably get a mixture of mockery and sympathy from fellow gamers for not upgrading to a newer spec for so long.
Samurai G0SU
Member
to those who are weighing their concerns over different skus for devs to code for:
Legit questions.
Don't they already do this when making a PC game? Aren't they providing options to the user for graphic settings already?
This makes me think all they would have to do now is build on dx12, then have a recommended graphics settings for whichever xbox sku the user is playing. If devs can do wizardry with dynamic resolution, im sure they can have some perameter to ensure it plays the best on whichever xbox sku the game is on.
This seems kind of like business as usual to me for devs but a lot less headaches?? this means they can code once and release it on two platforms with a good reason to right? (xbox/win10)
idk, maybe i need more examples of how this would make dev lives worse to really understand.
Legit questions.
Don't they already do this when making a PC game? Aren't they providing options to the user for graphic settings already?
This makes me think all they would have to do now is build on dx12, then have a recommended graphics settings for whichever xbox sku the user is playing. If devs can do wizardry with dynamic resolution, im sure they can have some perameter to ensure it plays the best on whichever xbox sku the game is on.
This seems kind of like business as usual to me for devs but a lot less headaches?? this means they can code once and release it on two platforms with a good reason to right? (xbox/win10)
idk, maybe i need more examples of how this would make dev lives worse to really understand.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Nintendo has been doing this with the 3DS. Every iteration of the handheld is more faster than the last.
This path ensures Backwards Compatibility. All games run under one software infrastructure. As Win10 has been touted as MS's last OS, just doing upgrades here on out, Console Win10 will be the same. Eventually game makers will stop supporting older console models (when the user base is low enough) but that could be 10+ years away. When your on your Xbox One (#5), you can still play your Titanfall2 if you want, its running on the same software platform, and MS will ensure the newer (and older) hardware is supported in the platform.
When spelled out it may seem petty, but well... this is a very common psychology
It's a very typical human aversion to status disparity within their own groupings.People don't mind so much when they can draw a boundary between themselves and someone else - e.g. people don't care that the queen is richer than them. But within one's own tribe, people are typically more comfortable with equality. Which I guess can lead to all kinds of other questions about platform tribalism etc. but I don't know how far I want to go with that analysis!
Welcome to the life of a PC gamer without loads of cash to upgrade everything few months.
Interfectum
Member
Xbox Surface next year?
TharpDaddy
Member
That would take a massive hardware revision that definitely won't happen for this console cycle. I'm also not sure that's viable. Instead of having (random number) 4 configurations of the Xbox One, they now have to make sure their games are compatible with a bunch of different modular configurations. Person X upgraded their GPU but not their CPU, or such. At that point they're literally just selling you a fancy looking computer, I don't see it happening.
Because instead of focusing on one SKU they have to focus on 2, potentially making the experience worse (more bugs as QA time is spent now on 2 SKUs).
However, more likely devs will focus on the most popular SKU (so the original xbone) and just put in some minor extra work into the newer SKU version (like many PC ports).
The potential for less effort on optimisation for the 1st model meaning you actually get a barely playable game rather then a playable game that's just "unplayable" to a PC gamer with high standards like you have now.
I doubt it will be as ugly and cumbersome as yearly revisions of hardware, but rest assured that the days of the Xbox as an independent ecosystem with traditional fixed hardware are over. I think Xbox will go more down the games-as-a-service path across all Microsoft devices, honestly, with some set-top offerings which are more like Windows 10 PCs ideal for Xbox "experiences".
This writing has been on the wall for quite some time.
This writing has been on the wall for quite some time.
It's hard to believe that this is the straw that breaks the camel's back for so many people. Not the subscription for online, not the PC style forced installations and memory management, not the PC style constant updates, not the PC style reliance on networking, and not the wholesale redesigns of the OS and store fronts during the generation.
Console style set it and forget it gaming has been dead for years. It's a benefit that hardware can evolve along with the software as long as Microsoft can respect the people that don't want to participate.
Console style set it and forget it gaming has been dead for years. It's a benefit that hardware can evolve along with the software as long as Microsoft can respect the people that don't want to participate.
It was pretty obvious they are going in this direction as a company the minute they gave away Win10 for free to over 100 million people.
I applaud them for doing it. Its risky but its very necessary because console gaming has been stuck in the 90s for way too long. Evolution is needed and gamers are more aware of computing today than they've ever been in the past. Its kind of funny but these silly console wars have made a lot of gamers much smarter when it comes to things like resolution/framerate/terraflops etc.
I applaud them for doing it. Its risky but its very necessary because console gaming has been stuck in the 90s for way too long. Evolution is needed and gamers are more aware of computing today than they've ever been in the past. Its kind of funny but these silly console wars have made a lot of gamers much smarter when it comes to things like resolution/framerate/terraflops etc.
Dhruv_hanom
Member
pretty much this. When I buy a game for a console I'd like it to work out of the box, I don't want to make sure that it's compatible with my version of the console or not. I just want to download it press start and play.
Modular hardware or yearly refreshes really take out the ease of console gaming
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
This is what I'm hoping, but I fear it might be the way forward unfortunately. :'(
lol at people thinking this is the same. Because game devs are going to squeeze everything out of Xbone Lite now right?
There is only one New-3DS/New3DSXL with a single game that is exclusive to the new platform.
Apart from that, was the 3DSXL faster than the original Fugly 3DS? or was the 2DS faster than the original hardware?
You can't compare houses and cars to a game console. These are entertainment experiences tuned to run on a specific platform today. We're potentially talking about asking people to continually upgrade in order to experience a game the way it was intended. Of course there is the potential for developers to simply target the lowest common denominator. That's certainly a possibility, but so is the opposite. I've been gaming on PCs off and on since they were on floppy disks. The best thing about consoles is the simplicity and consistency. I outgrew frequent video card and CPU upgrades years ago.