Current console sales prove consoles aren't doomed afterall *spawn

[London Geezer]

At the moment one of the only things holding onto the status quo is Sony/Nintendo exclusives. MS exclusives seem to be more open to PC, and God knows what will be MS's vision for a unification of Windows and Xbox in the future.

Whatever we will be plugging onto our TVs in the next few years, Sony/Nintendo games will only ever be on their hardware.

PC entering the console market - that's how I see it - will just be an extra player in the Attention of the Livingroom War. Probably with some exclusives from good ol' MS.

Or the War on the big TV. Where families battle for what to do with the living room TV. Kardashians/Videogames/Game of Thrones/Movie?

 

[goonergaz]

I can definitely see this being MSs last gen and as shifty says, windows running Xbox games in the future. I think we will always see 2 consoles too, I can't see Sony or Ninty going anywhere...I don't think they will ever merge or give up after the whole PSX episode.

 

[Gubbi]

There is nothing stopping MS bringing everything Xbox to PC.

Except the bazillion hardware configurations of PC hardware that would need to be supported. From lowend atoms to 12 core CPU+dual GPU monsters. A power envelope stretching from <5W to >500W.

IMO, there is a bigger chance of the reverse happening, with XB1 adding more and more PC functionality. Why not run a Windows 10 as a guest on the XB1?

Cheers

 

[goonergaz]

Except the bazillion hardware configurations of PC hardware that would need to be supported. From lowend atoms to 12 core CPU+dual GPU monsters. A power envelope stretching from <5W to >500W.

IMO, there is a bigger chance of the reverse happening, with XB1 adding more and more PC functionality. Why not run a Windows 10 as a guest on the XB1?

Cheers

I would have thought the min requirements for Win10 will cover those issues. As for the reverse, well we could already do most PC jobs on last gen but we don't want one box...folk will just by a tablet/laptop.

The thing people keep forgetting is one box for everything is no good for most of the gaming population!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Windows 8 including Windows software and games runs on Atom already.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...-review-the-sub-100-windows-tablet-experience

Has HDMI out and controller support and plays HL2 and Fez and Rayman, and Steam support of course, at a few watts for <£100 including a whole tablet with touch screen! Windows has no problem scaling. MS would just remove the low-level access, which they're doing anyway. DX12 etc. will get good performance, low overhead, and be perfectly servicable.

Incidentally, this article was an eye opener for me. I'm wanting a media box and was considering something Android based. But if I can go Windows and play my Steam games, that makes more sense if the cost of entry isn't far higher. And if I have one device that plays the same content, why not use a PC instead of a console? I had no idea Windows devices had become so affordable. It was inevitable because MS needs to compete, but I hadn't twigged we were pretty much there. So now I have many more choices in entertainment solutions, and one of the biggest pros for PC is that you won't get media that won't play. Instead of waiting in the hopes Sony/MS roll out some codec/container support in their consoles, you can play absolutely everything on the one box with Windows.

 

[Gubbi]

I would have thought the min requirements for Win10 will cover those issues.

Then Microsoft have to restrict Windows 10 to a fraction of all PCs.

Cheers

 

[goonergaz]

Then Microsoft have to restrict Windows 10 to a fraction of all PCs.

9/10 is a fraction (not that I'm suggesting 90% of PCs will be compatible) but I'm sure a fairly reasonable % of PC owners who are interested in playing games would have a PC near to the requirements and it will mean people will have a 'console like' guide when buying PCs (or indeed parts of a PC).

Imagine buying a gfx card with 'Win10 compatible' knowing it will be at least good enough - so much easier than GTX 666 then reading reviews and looking at benchmarks.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Then Microsoft have to restrict Windows 10 to a fraction of all PCs.

Cheers

Like any other software, they just have to advertise system requirements. And that should be fairly easy to do, because Xbox One hardware is not exactly powerful, and it matches up to PC parts incredibly well. Sounds like Xbox One is getting Windows 10 and Directx12, so all a Windows10 PC will need is Xbox Live services. And if you don't like the Xbox service, you can play on Steam, which includes a very console competitive feature set nowadays. It has friends and game invites and voice chat. It has game streaming, a massive store, etc.

Also, this:
https://twitter.com/soumow/status/552172420010749952/photo/1

 

[Deleted member 86764]

https://twitter.com/soumow/status/552172420010749952/photo/1

Oh wow, that's huge! Someone should post this over on the PC forum, I'd be interested to hear a PC gamer's perspective.

 

[deckard]

Like any other software, they just have to advertise system requirements. And that should be fairly easy to do, because Xbox One hardware is not exactly powerful, and it matches up to PC parts incredibly well. Sounds like Xbox One is getting Windows 10 and Directx12, so all a Windows10 PC will need is Xbox Live services. And if you don't like the Xbox service, you can play on Steam, which includes a very console competitive feature set nowadays. It has friends and game invites and voice chat. It has game streaming, a massive store, etc.

Also, this:
https://twitter.com/soumow/status/552172420010749952/photo/1

I see this new announcement from Microsoft with Windows 10 and XboxOne as them going after Steam more than anything else.

Xbox Marketplace on PC and console with all games sold through a single hub that allows you to cross own (like sony on PS4/3/Vita) if a game comes out on both. The single Captive audience of consoles gives MS more power than trying to bring console level VM clients to what would need to be a FAR more powerful PC than most own, the sheer amount of effort to make that run ignoring the fact the self damaging impact it will have on MS and X1 is beyond reason.

They are merging for sure (The most logical plan ever) but to offer a simple gaming centric process for PC gamers as console gamers. Cross-play could also be a simple option, log into your XBL account anywhere on any windows powered hardware..Unification!

 

[Deleted member 86764]

A t-shirt with W1nd0ws written across it (‘0’ being the Xbox logo). Anyone want to speculate on what it might mean? Some possibilities come to mind for me:

- A storefront that’s simply labelled “Xbox”, no other associations.
- Xbox games become playable on PC.
- The operating system of Xbox is/becomes Windows 10.
- Everyone with a hardware compatible PC instantly has an Xbox One / everyone with an Xbox One has a fully functioning PC.

I do wonder whether everyone will be happy with this. Could this end up pissing people off in the same way that U2’s latest album being forced into the pockets of iPhone users? I don’t know; I’m neither an Xbox One owner, nor a PC gamer. Maybe everyone will love the idea, I’ve no clue.

 

[Davros]

I think someone has some of those t shirt transfer sheets you put in a printer, who is this twitter user anyway ?
what association do they have with ms

 

[Deleted member 86764]

According to Twitter profile: "Program Manager @Microsoft"

 

[Scott_Arm]

I don't really understand how it could piss anyone off. If Microsoft said, you can have Xbox Live services on your Windows10 PC, if you want them, that's just another option for you. It's not like you wouldn't be able to continue to use Steam or Origin. I guess it could piss off Valve or EA

I'm pretty sure Xbox One is getting Windows 10 when it gets Directx12, but I don't know if that means it won't have restrictions. I'm sure it'll be the Windows 10 kernel under the hood, but it may have a totally custom interface and limitations on what you can run on it.

If games are made using Directx12 on Xbox One and on PC, then the only real difference between the architecture will be ESRAM. I could see cross-platform executables (they're x86 and AMD GPUs). But I'm not sure you'd ever be able to take an Xbox One BluRay and put it in your PC and install. Not sure how DRM works. They may keep them separate just to make things ... uncomplicated ... for lack of a better word. One things for sure, is porting games will be EASY (relatively).

Who knows. We'll find out January 21st. But it's obvious that consoles are becoming more like PCs and PCs software (like Steam) is becoming more like consoles. As the price of relatively similar hardware comes closer together, there will be competition that didn't exist before.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

I don't really understand how it could piss anyone off.

Some that come to mind:

- Pay for online play on a PC (Xbox games only?).
- Forced Xbox association for PC gamers that might not want it.
- Simplified Windows front-end for those that might want deeper control.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I expect any compatibility between XB1 and XB on PC would be via purchase, not executable. There's no reason to have a single unified executable and ESRAM complicates matters. But a future XB console can forego the ESRAM and just be a PC, and then we'll have one executable for all MS devices.

Discussion on the particulars of this Tweet really belong in the Rumours thread. It's of note here as an example of future conversion.

 

[goonergaz]

- Xbox games become playable on PC.

most already are (or will be at some point)

 

[London Geezer]

What might be a bit scary is a situation where MS becomes a PC/Console player next time around, with no specified Xbox hardware but simply a tighter support for PC gaming, and Sony is left all alone to monopolise the console market or whatever becomes of it.

We've all seen what happens when Sony (or anyone else) is given too much control over a market. Competition is paramount. If anything, the only thing that might 'kill' anything is a market that has become stagnant and boring resulting from lack of competition.

 

[goonergaz]

I can't see Ninty dropping out of the console race, especially if MS do

 

[tuna]

Actually, the focus in gamer circles on input lag HAS resulted in manufacturers beginning to pay some attention to it, and come up with some pretty decent gaming modes that actually work (in the past sometimes game mode would do nothing). Which is a positive change in TV landscape the last 3-4 years (of course given that we're working with an inherently laggy technology to begin with currently).

Do you have any actual data regarding this? No manufacturer (except Sony on one model) advertises the input lag. So all info we have is from places like displaylag.com