[Console Edition] Satya Nadella: "We are going to make some difficult decisions"

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Well, e3 just concluded, did it seem like MS isn't dedicated to the future of Xbox? I'd say they certainly seemed as committed as usual, with lots of long term future plans (for example, announcing Gears 4 in 2016), Hololens etc.

Oh there's also this in the statement

· Finally, we will build the best instantiation of this vision through our Windows device platform and our devices, which will serve to delight our customers, increase distribution of our services, drive gross margin, enable fundamentally new product categories, and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly. We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers. We will bring together Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play.
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Damn I hate corporate speak. Just bothers me :LOL:
 
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If they did anything with the console it'd probably be to dead end it like Sony is doing with Vita. That keeps the firestorm at bay.
 
Cyan said:
console yes, but Xbox One isn't referred to by name.
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He obviously is talking about Xbox Two which is a much improved Xbox One. Next Gen console model confirmed. :yup2:
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of Xbox gaming isn't tied to a closed spec box (game console)... but rather an open spec model similar to steam box's. When MS first launched the original Xbox, PCs really didn't fit (visually or economically) within the living room space as we know of it today. Now that HTPCs, Laptops, Compute Sticks, Tablets, smart TVs and media hubs... are pretty much viable options within the living room space.

In many ways it makes sense for MS to leave the physical console space after XB1... in favor of integrating their Operating Systems, Xbox Live and other services on the most devices they can reach, especially media room devices.

ACTUALLY, MS can force Sony and Nintendo to use their services by effectively being integrated into everything - similar to Netflix, Hulu and other media services. This day and age, consumers want the most options and services that their media devices are capable of handling.
 
upnorthsox said:
If they did anything with the console it'd probably be to dead end it like Sony is doing with Vita. That keeps the firestorm at bay.
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Agreed hard EOL are no PR friendly, it can be even smoother than what happened with the Vita. MSFT just have to promote PC gaming as it does with the XB1. Competition and newer hardware should do the rest (the XB1 won't be a competitive or a price effective solution for long).
I think it makes sense for MSFT to Focus on PC with Windows 10 an XB1 and a HTPC are going to be tough to tell apart.

Then there is the matter of Windows 10 mobile, MSFT has done the work they should give a last try, but they should branch of Android in a proper manner and non exclusive aka, the apps necessary to replace Google services by microsoft ones will be available on the play store, installing all MSFT product won't be a necessity.
NB branching off is not the priority, having the "bricks" available on the Play Store is, Nadella is playing well.
For example my Huawei is pretty opened, I can disable everything Google, for a while I did (mostly for the sake of trying) and installed the Amazon store with the BIng search app. Ultimately lots of services were missing to mimic the Google experience, but MSFT could provides those services.

For the new Windows Store (well... Android apps), on top of obvious, necessary apps, MSFT could work on wish list (a bit like for the 360 BC). A benefit is that it would keep the store pretty clean compared to Google one that crawl under its own success.
 
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I don't understand the confusion. First, it's just another continuation of what Spencer has been saying about cross-buy, cross-play and Xbox Live as a hardware agnostic gaming platform. Second, it's a stronger reinforcement than what Spencer said because this comes from the head of MS, not the head of Xbox, and he makes a point to state how important gaming is to MS as a company.

Anybody interpreting this to mean 'the end of Xbox' could only be correct if they mean the end of custom built hardware. Clearly, gaming is a huge part of MS's plans and they are building around the Xbox platform. That platform is far greater than the hardware sitting under the TV.

With W10 launching at the end of next month and with Gamescom in August, and with MS already stating that Gamescom will be focused more on PC gaming, it'll be very interesting to see what sort of gaming announcements they make for the PC.
 
fehu said:
I have a 532, excellent phone for 70€, but apart from the low variety of app in the store, it lacks basic phone functionalities like "i find a missed call and want to copy the number but can't".
I don't know if win10 will cover those basic tasks, but if they are fighting with blackberry for the third place in a two player game there's a reason, it's like they are still evaluating if winphone is worth the time and money
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Windows Phone 7 had some incredibly basic things missing, like separate ringer volume. I've really enjoyed using 8. I'm still getting the latest updates for my old Lumia while my friends' newer Droid phones are being pushed out to pasture. I don't see why a phone couldn't last as long as a laptop, and MS are perhaps the closest to seeing things in this way.

(Incidentally, you can click to the right on an un-stored number (on the contact profile icon) and from there copy the number. Would probably be better if they let you cut that step out, but it can at least be done!)

Hopefully the common ecosystem of Windows 10 will bring more life to Windows phone because at the moment you're right, MS are fighting for third place in a two player game.
 
NRP said:
Yeah this sounds like Cyan is going to lose his precious console hardware. He'll need to find thing else to covet.
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Band? :)

Shortbread said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of Xbox gaming isn't tied to a closed spec box (game console)... but rather an open spec model similar to steam box's.
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This was hinted at in that leaked document from 2010 or so. I'm not sure I would want to run after Valve with that idea. Will be interesting to see how successful they are with it. Seems like lots of potential for quality control issues & lots of testing of multiple configurations.

Tommy McClain
 
I think they'll continue to make their own hardware, but it might be even less custom like all parts off the shelf except enclosure and related parts.
 
If anything I think the xbox is going to become even more important with the changes they are making.

xbox one = low cost entry to windows ecosystem . IT will run windows 10 in a few months and a ton of xbox 360 titles should run all windows 10 apps

You can then transition to a windows 10 PC or include it side by side with your xbox one. You can stream games , play games against your windows tablets , pcs s, laptops and so on.

Xbox next = improved upon windows 10 system. Will run xbox 360 titles , xbox one , windows 10 games at higher quality than an xbox one or most tablets / pc/laptops .

Keep repeating the system and tie it all in with xbox live , movies , music and so on.



I think it would have been cleaner if they had their original vision of the xbox one which was all digital. But hey who knows
 
eastmen said:
xbox one = low cost entry to windows ecosystem . IT will run windows 10 in a few months and a ton of xbox 360 titles should run all windows 10 apps
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While the Xbox is an increasingly attractive system, I'm not sure it'll ever be low cost enough to be an entry level Win10 device. And it won't run all Win 10 apps - the platforms an app will run on is down to the developer. The common ecosystem makes it extremely easy to "build once, deploy anywhere", but the target device still has to be supported.

Don't get me wrong, what Win 10 will bring is really cool, but it won't allow the X1 to "do anything".

Xbox next = improved upon windows 10 system. Will run xbox 360 titles , xbox one , windows 10 games at higher quality than an xbox one or most tablets / pc/laptops .
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Windows 10 (native, not RT/metro/appstore) games will require access to hardware (and driver support) that you wouldn't want allowed on a console. The best we can hope for is improve support for "app store" games. And I think that will come.

I think it would have been cleaner if they had their original vision of the xbox one which was all digital. But hey who knows
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That will come, but the time was wrong. With a common lisence for software that can deploy to PC/laptop/tablet/phone/console MS actually have something pretty cool to offer in exchange for giving up physical ownership. This, plus changing attitudes mean that Xbox Next will be closer to MS's vision than was realistic this time.

The console itself will change though, and become more of a garden-walled PC than ever. I faster faster iteration of console cycles is inevitable, btw.
 
I disagree , the xbox one is already $350 or less and is an 8 core x86 with a strong gpu and 8 gigs of ram. That is a very low cost of entry and it will only drop in price

It should also be able to run any apps it wants to in a sandbox with a virtual os .
 
You're going to be able to get a tablet with Win 10, 4 x 86, a bluetooth keyboard (and Office for a year) for about $70 in a few months.

Crap for core-gamer-gaming on yes, but that is a low cost entry to the Windows ecosystem. There are even some pretty okay lightweight laptops for $250. Still cheaper and massively more practical than a games console.

None of this makes the X1 bad value - it's pretty cracking value as things stand post E3, and I think sales this Xmas will be good - but it's not the way the vast majority of people will enter into the Windows 10 ecosystem.

As for apps - if an app requires touch, MS aren't going to force that app to run on X1 against the developer's wishes. Windows 10 app are not necessarily going to be universally available across all Windows platforms. That would be suicide from a quality perspective, and also go against plans for a developer to chose which platforms they target and decide where a single license can be used.
 
McHuj said:
I think they'll continue to make their own hardware, but it might be even less custom like all parts off the shelf except enclosure and related parts.
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To be clear, MS's current position as stated by Spencer and now reinforced by Nadella is that all your games should be cross platform and that you should be able to play them on any W10 device. Nadella specifically speaks to first party games, because obviously, working out the cross platform rights with 3rd party publishers is a legal issue that requires negotiations that clearly haven't been completed at this time. But they've also made it clear, that just as the case with BC, MS has enabled the ability - if you can't take advantage of it, it's on the game publisher, not on MS.

Additionally, none of these statements from MS has actually said anything about moving away from manufacturing their own console hardware. It seems like the logical conclusion from what they say their goals are, but they've never stated or even hinted at the fact there won't be an "Xbox 4". In fact, what they've said so far is that in their opinion the "console" is the best way to play games on the TV.

This is true for the vast majority of people, because although most of us have PC's connected to our TV's, "normal" people do not. I expect them to still release an "Xbox 4". I also expect them not really to care to much about it, to sell it at a profit, and have the Xbox platform as such that it doesn't matter if you bought the "Xbox 4" or bought a fully functioning PC instead. Either you buy the "Xbox" hardware that is sole purposed and connect it to your TV, or you realize you can connect a fully functioning PC and connect that to your TV instead.

But getting the "common masses" to realize that you can actually connect a PC to your TV is something that will take time in order to get into the mainstream mindset. Until the common, every day folk, realize you can connect a PC to your TV, MS will continue to sell a "console" that is just essentially a locked down PC because its easier to market it that way.
 
Just to play devils advocate, what do you guys think about Microsoft ditching Winphone and just going with Android? Yeah they bought Nokia for a chunk of change but back then they thought they could be a major player selling Windows phones. Clearly that hasn't panned out so instead why not standardize on Android? They are fast becoming more of a services company anyways with their end game having people paying recurring fees to use Office, Onedrive, and all that so why not put out their own version of Android phones which are stock Lollipop (perhaps with a light skin like they all do) and have all Microsoft apps pre-installed on it. In the end they aren't a hardware company like Apple which makes the bulk of their money on profits from hardware sales, they are a software company to whom the hardware really is a means to an end. Maybe that's one of the 'touch decisions" they are contemplating.
 
I'm not really enamored with Android. It has worse performance rot than regular Windows does. I'd rather MS pursue their "universal platform" vision and keep their own phone OS, which I l kind of like. The only downer is the lack of app support and the slow pace of replacement phones with better hardware.
 
joker454 said:
Just to play devils advocate, what do you guys think about Microsoft ditching Winphone and just going with Android? Yeah they bought Nokia for a chunk of change but back then they thought they could be a major player selling Windows phones. Clearly that hasn't panned out so instead why not standardize on Android? They are fast becoming more of a services company anyways with their end game having people paying recurring fees to use Office, Onedrive, and all that so why not put out their own version of Android phones which are stock Lollipop (perhaps with a light skin like they all do) and have all Microsoft apps pre-installed on it. In the end they aren't a hardware company like Apple which makes the bulk of their money on profits from hardware sales, they are a software company to whom the hardware really is a means to an end. Maybe that's one of the 'touch decisions" they are contemplating.
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They'd be just another handset maker, and the competition for Android is brutal. I wouldn't intrinsically consider a MS handset as any more worthwhile than any other handset. If they want to go Android, just produce Android apps. But ultimately it's the stores/subs that make the money (unless you can sell premium hardware to boot) and tying everyone into the Windows ecosystem is the very best way for MS to secure that. Surface 3 has finally seen MS make money from Surface, and it's because S3 is a professional, Windows product running full-fat Windows.

Honestly, anything other than 100% Windows Everywhere is the Wrong Move.
 
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