They tried to push w11-xbox compatibility to push all consoles aside, and I can’t say if it works and if it means stonks, but I can see the current lead not being enthusiastic about R&Ding and producing new hardware, exclusive games. OEM software is a stable bird feeder, and AI integration is their next big king, so they just fixed their position in gaming market by buying several big companies and seemingly quit plans on console market. They are too big and to diverse to fall, but I think ditching a brand equal to sweaty Halo parties of the past and all these long-going console holywars wouldn’t bring much in the perspective of years, not several quarter past today.
The merging of xbox and windows is actually a REALLY REALLY good idea.
But I think it is less about being enthusiastic about R&D and more about… consoles are increasingly just computers. And mostly the R&D boils down to asking AMD (because Jensen is too busy burning benjies to soften his latest jacket) what APU they have in the pipes. And I would be shocked if the PS7 generation isn’t basically “here is a NUC with egpu support and a nice plastic case”… assuming we still have home computing then (that is a different and much darker conversation).
So it really does make perfect sense for MS to try and merge their Windows and XBOX OSes and, were they in a better position, I could see basically “just” selling Steam Machine style HTPCs as early as 2027.
Whereas Sony and Nintendo kind of ARE stuck still making actual consoles. Maybe Sony could bundle “Playstation” streaming and even light local gaming into a Bravia TV but… why would they?
But yeah. I will be amazed if the XBOX Brand/division exists (meaningfully) by as early as 2029.
I’d say I’m not a fan of their main monopoly getting bigger. Hardware lock or not, I want MS competing on par with PS, Nintendo, even though I cringe at buying a console for a game. This field got a bit leveled due to Sony giving up on some past exclusives (with a tasty price, nonetheless), but I just don’t trust a personal PC monopolist to be the one to dismantle the current dumbness and taking the higher ground from the very start.
Btw, I now recall some future Rouge Alley handheld version on Windows got announced as xbox-branded, with a probable verification status. It’s not a bad decision at their part, but I feel like that’s not only sneaking into another niche-move, but also a move to bite Valve, still-irrelevant on general console market, before they take some ground with their, ugh, Leenix or something.
We obviously can only infer based on PR and past actions, but I don’t consider the ASUS whatever the fucks to be a threat to Valve.
Valve are not XBOX. They are Windows. They have their own branded hardware that sets a baseline but it is very much not in their interests to be the only source for that hardware. We have already see the Steam Deck take a very niche market (that was basically just Win GPD and Aya Neo) and turn it into one where you have a wide range of specs and very standardized interfaces and capabilities.
And, much like how Microsoft gets money from running Windows on a Surface or a Thinkpad, so too does Valve get money from buying Steam games on a Steam Deck or an Aya Neo or a MSI Claw or whatever.
But yes. As consumers, I am deeply worried about what happens when Sony has no actual competition other than “you can build your own PC but that is so very very hard so just give us money instead”. Especially since people can never stop glazing Nintendo and insisting they “aren’t competing with anyone” even as the exact same games run at significantly lower resolution and frame rate (and even their first party games run like trash).
To be clear. I am also increasingly queasy as more and more “normies” think “Linux is SteamOS” and am afraid we might have an Android or Mac level fork in a decade. But, at least short term, I love that I can actually be “a gamer” and still spend 100% of my personal PC time in Linux.
They tried to push w11-xbox compatibility to push all consoles aside, and I can’t say if it works and if it means stonks, but I can see the current lead not being enthusiastic about R&Ding and producing new hardware, exclusive games. OEM software is a stable bird feeder, and AI integration is their next big king, so they just fixed their position in gaming market by buying several big companies and seemingly quit plans on console market. They are too big and to diverse to fall, but I think ditching a brand equal to sweaty Halo parties of the past and all these long-going console holywars wouldn’t bring much in the perspective of years, not several quarter past today.
The merging of xbox and windows is actually a REALLY REALLY good idea.
But I think it is less about being enthusiastic about R&D and more about… consoles are increasingly just computers. And mostly the R&D boils down to asking AMD (because Jensen is too busy burning benjies to soften his latest jacket) what APU they have in the pipes. And I would be shocked if the PS7 generation isn’t basically “here is a NUC with egpu support and a nice plastic case”… assuming we still have home computing then (that is a different and much darker conversation).
So it really does make perfect sense for MS to try and merge their Windows and XBOX OSes and, were they in a better position, I could see basically “just” selling Steam Machine style HTPCs as early as 2027.
Whereas Sony and Nintendo kind of ARE stuck still making actual consoles. Maybe Sony could bundle “Playstation” streaming and even light local gaming into a Bravia TV but… why would they?
But yeah. I will be amazed if the XBOX Brand/division exists (meaningfully) by as early as 2029.
I’d say I’m not a fan of their main monopoly getting bigger. Hardware lock or not, I want MS competing on par with PS, Nintendo, even though I cringe at buying a console for a game. This field got a bit leveled due to Sony giving up on some past exclusives (with a tasty price, nonetheless), but I just don’t trust a personal PC monopolist to be the one to dismantle the current dumbness and taking the higher ground from the very start.
Btw, I now recall some future Rouge Alley handheld version on Windows got announced as xbox-branded, with a probable verification status. It’s not a bad decision at their part, but I feel like that’s not only sneaking into another niche-move, but also a move to bite Valve, still-irrelevant on general console market, before they take some ground with their, ugh, Leenix or something.
We obviously can only infer based on PR and past actions, but I don’t consider the ASUS whatever the fucks to be a threat to Valve.
Valve are not XBOX. They are Windows. They have their own branded hardware that sets a baseline but it is very much not in their interests to be the only source for that hardware. We have already see the Steam Deck take a very niche market (that was basically just Win GPD and Aya Neo) and turn it into one where you have a wide range of specs and very standardized interfaces and capabilities.
And, much like how Microsoft gets money from running Windows on a Surface or a Thinkpad, so too does Valve get money from buying Steam games on a Steam Deck or an Aya Neo or a MSI Claw or whatever.
But yes. As consumers, I am deeply worried about what happens when Sony has no actual competition other than “you can build your own PC but that is so very very hard so just give us money instead”. Especially since people can never stop glazing Nintendo and insisting they “aren’t competing with anyone” even as the exact same games run at significantly lower resolution and frame rate (and even their first party games run like trash).
To be clear. I am also increasingly queasy as more and more “normies” think “Linux is SteamOS” and am afraid we might have an Android or Mac level fork in a decade. But, at least short term, I love that I can actually be “a gamer” and still spend 100% of my personal PC time in Linux.