Support NeoGAF

[JaggedSac]

They are not going to have a console you have to open and put in new parts. He said what makes a console special is that you plug it in and it works. Mentions about how digital content works now where the music or books you have carry from the old device to the new device.He said that hardware innovations happen he wants them to come sooner instead of waiting 7-8yrs to release new hardware. Has nothing to announce

For me sounds sort something like what happens with iPads.

Cool, sounds good, thanks.

 

[rakkadakka]

For me sounds sort something like what happens with iPads.

Or iPhones for that matter.

To me it sounds like he's signaling that come E3 they will be announcing an Xbox One+.

 

[Zedox]

Or iPhones for that matter.

To me it sounds like he's signaling that come E3 they will be announcing an Xbox One+.

Exactly what some of us here thought.

 

[On Demand]

They are not going to have a console you have to open and put in new parts. He said what makes a console special is that you plug it in and it works. Mentions about how digital content works now where the music or books you have carry from the old device to the new device.He said that hardware innovations happen he wants them to come sooner instead of waiting 7-8yrs to release new hardware. Has nothing to announce

For me sounds sort something like what happens with iPads.

Also from what he said it doesn't sound like it would come this generation, if at all. He was more thinking of the future possibility and what he prefers. Says he's Happy with XB1 and the games it has.

Can't say i'm bothered. I like my 5 year cycles thank you.

 

[jbug617]

I think we see the upgraded Xbox One that will be able to run VR. Don't think Microsoft would be able to wait if VR takes off and Sony is the only console to be able to run it.

 

[brennok]

They are not going to have a console you have to open and put in new parts. He said what makes a console special is that you plug it in and it works. Mentions about how digital content works now where the music or books you have carry from the old device to the new device.He said that hardware innovations happen he wants them to come sooner instead of waiting 7-8yrs to release new hardware. Has nothing to announce

For me sounds sort something like what happens with iPads.

I could see it more like phones with two year contracts.

Say the Xbox One launches at $399. Two years or so later the update comes out at $399 and the old model now sells for $249. You now have a new refresh every two-three years along with a lower entry model guaranteeing that games will always easily support the last two versions of the console. This would also leave people free to choose only to upgrade every 4 years or so while allowing those who have to be on the cutting edge upgrade every 2 to 3 years.

 

[Ninja Sharingan]

Do we think this holiday for the first upgrade? I bought my halo 5 console last year. Hope they have a upgrade program coz I know I wouldn't be able to pass up that new hardware hnnng

 

[General Lee]

Spencer specifically said they should take advantage of new hardware innovations. Launching a minor upgrade Xbox+ this holiday wouldn't make any sense. I'm thinking they're waiting until they can get a Zen+HBM APU which should be a considerable jump.

 

[LostDonkey]

If they do move to incremental upgrades and a base model, + model, etc then I think I will seriously consider selling my Xbox.

Don't get me wrong, I like the console. Great games, great social, have a lot of fun on it, but I only have room for one platform in my life to worry about upgrades and fragmentation etc, and I already have a gaming PC.

 

[gamz]

I could see it more like phones with two year contracts.

Say the Xbox One launches at $399. Two years or so later the update comes out at $399 and the old model now sells for $249. You now have a new refresh every two-three years along with a lower entry model guaranteeing that games will always easily support the last two versions of the console. This would also leave people free to choose only to upgrade every 4 years or so while allowing those who have to be on the cutting edge upgrade every 2 to 3 years.

No. Never going to happen like that.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

In his Major Nelson interview, Phil said he is happy with the Xbox One for now, so I doubt anything will happen this year. He did say that they wont be waiting 7 years like the 'standard' timing. Next year is a possibility, it would line up better with the availability of 14nm APU's too. I would say holiday 2018 at the very latest.

They wont do some incremental upgrade of the Xbox One. It will be an entirely new next gen console. They've got owned by Sony this gen, largely by owning themselves, so I think they will be going all out to correct the mistakes.

He said upgradeable hardware is definitely not happening, which seemed obvious to me. I'm not sure why people were speculating that. Neither do I expect them to start launching regular hardware in a similar fashion to phones or tablets. I just don't see it working in the console market, unless they could get everyone on monthly contracts. Which I doubt.

His main point was that we wont be waiting long for an Xbox One successor. So they will likely want to pip Sony to the post like they did with the Xbox 360.

Microsoft are not exiting the console business any time soon. Basically.

 

[Quazar]

I think we see the upgraded Xbox One that will be able to run VR. Don't think Microsoft would be able to wait if VR takes off and Sony is the only console to be able to run it.

VR and will help speed up Hololens adoption when AR is ready.

 

[jaypah]

I just don't understand why even start talking about this if they aren't going to push the button any time soon? Now if someone asks me about getting an XB1 instead of just laying out the differences between XB1 and PS4 I also have to tell them that a stronger XB1 may be coming. For people on the fence it could mean a lost sale unless they actually have something to show.

 

[Insane Metal]

They are not going to have a console you have to open and put in new parts. He said what makes a console special is that you plug it in and it works. Mentions about how digital content works now where the music or books you have carry from the old device to the new device.He said that hardware innovations happen he wants them to come sooner instead of waiting 7-8yrs to release new hardware. Has nothing to announce

For me sounds sort something like what happens with iPads.

I like the idea, but I'm not willing to spend money in shorter periods of time. Sorry, Phil.

But there will be an audience, pretty sure.

 

[ATOMICJORGE]

Do we have any confirmation about the Surface team working on the next Xbox
or is it only speculation?

 

[Proelite]

They're going to time the hardware launches with hardware breakthroughs, which can allow them release a new hardware and a slim version of the current hardware.

 

[gamz]

Do we have any confirmation about the Surface team working on the next Xbox
or is it only speculation?

They work on all hardware now.

 

[gamz]

I just don't understand why even start talking about this if they aren't going to push the button any time soon? Now if someone asks me about getting an XB1 instead of just laying out the differences between XB1 and PS4 I also have to tell them that a stronger XB1 may be coming. For people on the fence it could mean a lost sale unless they actually have something to show.

E3 is coming.

 

[ATOMICJORGE]

They work on all hardware now.

Thanks!

 

[Garrett 2U]

I found Tim Sweeney's comments on the UWP very interesting.
It sounds like, outside of the concern over openness, he is excited for the UWP.

He mentions a couple benefits.
Seems like he is looking forward to the portability, even though it requires a bit more work.

https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/705854028710858752

The iOS-inspired sandbox and permissions ideas in UWP are a good step forward. I just want it to be open.

https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/705856125246296064

We all want more malware-resistance, usability, and portability, which are positive aspects of UWP.

https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/705885502424141824

Epic would fully support UWP if its openness were on par with present-day win32!

 

[Bsigg12]

I found Tim Sweeney's comments on the UWP very interesting.
It sounds like, outside of the concern over openness, he is excited for the UWP.

He mentions a couple benefits.
Seems like he is looking forward to the portability, even though it requires a bit more work.

https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/705854028710858752


https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/705856125246296064


https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/705885502424141824

It just comes down to Microsoft needing to absolutely nail the implementation of UWP and the apps built on it. Take all the feedback they can from devs and build something that meets their needs before attempting to really drive this. Hopefully GDC and build\ have some good info on what's on the way.

 

[Hockeymac18]

In his Major Nelson interview, Phil said he is happy with the Xbox One for now, so I doubt anything will happen this year. He did say that they wont be waiting 7 years like the 'standard' timing. Next year is a possibility, it would line up better with the availability of 14nm APU's too. I would say holiday 2018 at the very latest.

They wont do some incremental upgrade of the Xbox One. It will be an entirely new next gen console. They've got owned by Sony this gen, largely by owning themselves, so I think they will be going all out to correct the mistakes.

He said upgradeable hardware is definitely not happening, which seemed obvious to me. I'm not sure why people were speculating that. Neither do I expect them to start launching regular hardware in a similar fashion to phones or tablets. I just don't see it working in the console market, unless they could get everyone on monthly contracts. Which I doubt.

His main point was that we wont be waiting long for an Xbox One successor. So they will likely want to pip Sony to the post like they did with the Xbox 360.

Microsoft are not exiting the console business any time soon. Basically.

If I had to guess, I would suspect their plans are something along the lines of new models every 3-4 years, with cross compatibility at least one model back (that'd mean on a 3 year cycle, your console would get support for 6 years, while on a 4 year cycle, your model would get support for 8 years).


Obviously, we'll eventually see how this plays out, but I like the idea of incremental console cycles, especially if you can keep your gaming library through the various versions.

And there are legitimate issues that some people (including devs) raised earlier in this thread about how support would actually run between the consoles, and I have no idea if those hurdles could be overcome...would like to see them try, though. I am totally in favor of more hardware innovation in the console space.

 

[Yoday]

Exactly what some of us here thought.

He has been talking way too much about this for it not to be happening this year. At this point I fully expect a slim revision of the current hardware that allows them to hit $300 standard price and $250 for the holidays, as well as a new model at $400 or $450. We could see a pretty huge performance bump if MS gets a custom AMD Zen APU into a new system with a memory setup that doesn't waste die space on ESRAM.

 

[RedSwirl]

In his Major Nelson interview, Phil said he is happy with the Xbox One for now, so I doubt anything will happen this year. He did say that they wont be waiting 7 years like the 'standard' timing. Next year is a possibility, it would line up better with the availability of 14nm APU's too. I would say holiday 2018 at the very latest.

They wont do some incremental upgrade of the Xbox One. It will be an entirely new next gen console. They've got owned by Sony this gen, largely by owning themselves, so I think they will be going all out to correct the mistakes.

He said upgradeable hardware is definitely not happening, which seemed obvious to me. I'm not sure why people were speculating that. Neither do I expect them to start launching regular hardware in a similar fashion to phones or tablets. I just don't see it working in the console market, unless they could get everyone on monthly contracts. Which I doubt.

His main point was that we wont be waiting long for an Xbox One successor. So they will likely want to pip Sony to the post like they did with the Xbox 360.

Microsoft are not exiting the console business any time soon. Basically.

At 2017 or 2018, you're looking at four or five years since launch, which feels more like a traditional console generation. The 360 came out four years after the original Xbox.

This feels more like a traditional console generation transition, except instead of wiping the slate clean, the next Xbox retains the same architecture and OS to get 100% backwards compatibility. Like I said before -- like the difference between an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 6, just an upgraded version of the same internal guts. If nothing else, this is actually the logical thing I see both Sony and Microsoft doing for the next transition. They went to x86 to make things easier for developers, and I don't see why they wouldn't stay on x86.

The core of what people are worried about is the length of forwards compatibility. Essentially, it's like asking how long developers are gonna make cross-gen games to support the previous console generation. It's a bigger worry if you're doing a hardware upgrade at a two-year interval, but at a four or five-year interval people probably just look at it as a different "generation." The only major difference is that cross-gen games might be sold as one SKU instead of two.

He has been talking way too much about this for it not to be happening this year. At this point I fully expect a slim revision of the current hardware that allows them to hit $300 standard price and $250 for the holidays, as well as a new model at $400 or $450. We could see a pretty huge performance bump if MS gets a custom AMD Zen APU into a new system with a memory setup that doesn't waste die space on ESRAM.

Maybe do it this year, and then do it again in 2018 or 2019? It would be interesting if Sony followed suit but on the off years compared to Microsoft and they ended up in a tick-tock pattern.

 

[Chill Penguin]

Holiday season 2017 would be my guess. At the rate tech moves these days four years is plenty. Unless you guys want to be playing on consoles that are less powerful than phones in 2018.

 

[tiredheadcrab]

I am going to say Holiday 2017 as well. It will probably be a Polaris and Zen APU. Maybe a 2tb hd. A redesign will be there as well. However they will still sell the regular xbox one model at a lower price.

 

[MogCakes]

I found Tim Sweeney's comments on the UWP very interesting.
It sounds like, outside of the concern over openness, he is excited for the UWP.

I see it more as him attempting not to completely burn a bridge with MS. His OP-ED has put them on the spot and the public is now eyeing this service with skepticism. The effects of that will result in a lot of money lost.

 

[kungfuian]

He has been talking way too much about this for it not to be happening this year. At this point I fully expect a slim revision of the current hardware that allows them to hit $300 standard price and $250 for the holidays, as well as a new model at $400 or $450. We could see a pretty huge performance bump if MS gets a custom AMD Zen APU into a new system with a memory setup that doesn't waste die space on ESRAM.

Wouldn't surprise me one bit to see an X-box One slim rolled out right along side an X-Box One Elite this E3.

 

[Cynn]

I wonder if the extra horsepower of the X1+ will make the 360 emulator run flawlessly. That would be sublime.

 

[unapersson]

Couldn't this have a bit of an Osborne affect on the XBox One when it comes to people who are looking to buy one soon? Surely this new version can't be all that far off if they're announcing this now.

 

[Ushay]

I'm not seeing evidence of female habitation...
Which is why we have to have a console...

This made me laugh way more than it should have.

OT - I can't see how they can allow upgrades of the existing Xbox One, makes no sense (then again I'm no hardware engineer) how and where an 'add-on' slot would go. Unless they planned this from the get go, which is highly doubtful.

I'm thinking whatever new slim model they release, will be upgrade ready for the next 4-9 years. Which seems a little unfair to early adopters, feel like they're in for an uphill fight this E3, we'll need to see real benefits and a lot of 3rd party support to get behind it. If they announced Slim Xbox One+ with the ability to upgrade with addons, they'd need big publishers behind them eg Witcher 3 implementing day 1 patches to take advantage of the more powerful hardware.

It's just a thought, but I get the feeling MS need flawless execution to pull this, on the plus side there are very few companies with the clout to pull this off, MS is one of them despite their bumblings earlier in the generation.

 

[STEaMkb]

I just don't understand why even start talking about this if they aren't going to push the button any time soon?

Phil Spencer received a lot of criticism recently about not being open and honest with their release plan regarding Quantum Break and other PC titles. He accepted feedback on the timing - so perhaps this is his way of giving advanced notice.

He has been talking way too much about this for it not to be happening this year.

Rumours surfaced several months ago that Microsoft had been in talks with AMD. People assumed it was a proposed takeover, but it looks increasingly like they were seeing what new tech they had to offer.

 

[El_Chino]

He has been talking way too much about this for it not to be happening this year. At this point I fully expect a slim revision of the current hardware that allows them to hit $300 standard price and $250 for the holidays, as well as a new model at $400 or $450. We could see a pretty huge performance bump if MS gets a custom AMD Zen APU into a new system with a memory setup that doesn't waste die space on ESRAM.

It won't happen this year, we would've at least heard AMD developing or preparing factories for mass production.

This made me laugh way more than it should have.

OT - I can't see how they can allow upgrades of the existing Xbox One, makes no sense (then again I'm no hardware engineer) how and where an 'add-on' slot would go. Unless they planned this from the get go, which is highly doubtful.

I'm thinking whatever new slim model they release, will be upgrade ready for the next 4-9 years. Which seems a little unfair to early adopters, feel like they're in for an uphill fight this E3, we'll need to see real benefits and a lot of 3rd party support to get behind it. If they announced Slim Xbox One+ with the ability to upgrade with addons, they'd need big publishers behind them eg Witcher 3 implementing day 1 patches to take advantage of the more powerful hardware.

It's just a thought, but I get the feeling MS need flawless execution to pull this, on the plus side there are very few companies with the clout to pull this off, MS is one of them despite their bumblings earlier in the generation.

No "upgradable" Xbox, just a new box pure and simple.

 

[c0de]

I wonder if the extra horsepower of the X1+ will make the 360 emulator run flawlessly. That would be sublime.

Perhaps not flawless but situations where the bone doesn't have enough power would of course run better.

 

[GRaider81]

I'm predominantly a PC player so I'm well used to (end enjoy) upgrading but isn't one of the "good" points of owning a console the fact you don't need to do anything for 5 or so years while knowing exactly what you have

Or has that rhetoric changed now?

 

[Hawk269]

Spencer specifically said they should take advantage of new hardware innovations. Launching a minor upgrade Xbox+ this holiday wouldn't make any sense. I'm thinking they're waiting until they can get a Zen+HBM APU which should be a considerable jump.

This November it will be 3 years since the Xbox One came out. I would venture the GPU/CPU is about 4 years comes November since they would of had to have things locked down far in advance...I would think in that time span of 3-4 years there has been enough innovation to release a console that is a lot more powerful than what we have now.

I hope we get something this holiday. I would definitely jump in without hesitation.

 

[Matthew23]

4 years seems too long of a cycle to be talking about forward compatibility and upgrades. Why use the word upgrade at all? Perhaps there will be a nice console trade in deal? The FC I don't really understand unless we are talking about multiple graphic settings for a game, or a shorter console cycle.

 

[Bananajama]

This seems bizarre to me.

Have to wait and see how it pans out but right now I'm not a fan

 

[dose]

Pretty much what we thought. I can't Fucking wait!

No thanks. I don't want a situation where a game is not optimised for my particular model and so I don't know how it's going to run before I buy it, as review sites will likely check it on the latest/fastest hardware.
Right now if I check out a video of a game I'm interested in, or read a review, I know that is what I'll see if I buy it. This crazy idea just screws all that up and fragments the market, as well as being a total pain for devs.

 

[eksy]

I'm predominantly a PC player so I'm well used to (end enjoy) upgrading but isn't one of the "good" points of owning a console the fact you don't need to do anything for 5 or so years while knowing exactly what you have

Or has that rhetoric changed now?

Seems so.
MS wants to end this generation as fast as possible.

PC peeps are the ones okay upgrading more often keeping up with the tech, while console owners IMO are fine with tech for a decent time, not having to worry about being on the bleeding edge. Console gamers want a cheap alternative to PC to play games with no fuss; its a different market but now MS wants to change the game for them to be more like PC gamers with more constant upgrades.

I don't care for the rat race on consoles; that is what my PC is for.

 

[MilkyJoe]

Interesting article about the incremental upgrade speculation

http://www.techradar.com/news/gamin...ade-plan-could-win-it-the-console-war-1316190

 

[RadarScope1]

This kind of approach to console upgrades and back/forward compatibility makes perfect sense and is pretty much what I've expected both MS and Sony to do ever since they announced the move to x86. Consumers are too trained on the iPhone model. It's how everything will be going.

 

[garyizraw]

I would love to upgrade my Xbox One as long as i can trade in this Day One Edition and get 200+ dollars off the new XB1.5

 

[wumster3000]

They are not going to have a console you have to open and put in new parts. He said what makes a console special is that you plug it in and it works. Mentions about how digital content works now where the music or books you have carry from the old device to the new device.He said that hardware innovations happen he wants them to come sooner instead of waiting 7-8yrs to release new hardware. Has nothing to announce

For me sounds sort something like what happens with iPads.

Drool...I can't wait.

 

[DeepEnigma]

This kind of approach to console upgrades and back/forward compatibility makes perfect sense and is pretty much what I've expected both MS and Sony to do ever since they announced the move to x86. Consumers are too trained on the iPhone model. It's how everything will be going.

Agreed. However to take off like we are conditioned with phones, there has to be the same benefits. Trade-ins, subsidizing, etc. Otherwise, it will not even be as successful as the declining tablet market, and only the power users will jump on it.

I would love to upgrade my Xbox One as long as i can trade in this Day One Edition and get 200+ dollars off the new XB1.5

This would be ideal, and everyone would get behind it, sadly it will never happen, at least not long term.

 

[garyizraw]

Any chance this new one plays games at 4K?

 

[Cthulhu_Steev]

Interesting article about the incremental upgrade speculation

http://www.techradar.com/news/gamin...ade-plan-could-win-it-the-console-war-1316190

As we know now, Microsoft lost this battle by some distance. This was perhaps due to the conservative attitude of 'core' gamers (who want things to remain as they are) - but also the structure of the industry that was working against Microsoft. Because of the "big bang" upgrade cycle, both console companies were hostage to the whims of these core gamers, who would make or break any new device.

Faster GPU, more memory, faster CPU and UWA is as conservative as it gets. It's a PC. No more new console hype train. Ugh.

 

[MilkyJoe]

This would be ideal, and everyone would get behind it, sadly it will never happen, at least not long term.

This is why I'd be very surprised if this was any more frequent than every 2.5 to 3 years.

 

[bigboss370]

sounds like a bad idea for developers. all of a sudden they have to account for multiple SKUs

 

[DeepEnigma]

This is why I'd be very surprised if this was any more frequent than every 2.5 to 3 years.

Agreed. Sony hinted at it as well. So they are both prepared to act if the market is right for it. The only one who is prompted to act harder is the one who lost a massive amount of marketshare at the moment. Thus why we are hearing about it now, with more speculation from what was said.