Not an official announcement, but it’s probably safe to assume an Xbox handheld is in development.
No they shouldn’t
SteamOS is probably the biggest risk to the Windows monopoly right now, so that tracks.
And it’s absolutely Microsoft’s cycle. New game changer product comes on the market, they rush a half ass version out with the promise of a really good one later, half ass one flops, they scrap the whole idea because no one wants the half ass version, they fade into obscurity.
Tablets, VR, video chat, phones
Anyone remember this?
Is that the table?
The iphone
Microsoft’s new phone were supposed to spell the end for it.
Oh! This was an ad! Those cocky sons o bitches.
went about as well as the release of the zune
I loved windows phone, the UI was so clear (I still use square home on android to this day), the camera app was superb and it was a very efficient operating system for low end hardware.
It didn’t have a ton of apps but honestly I don’t know, sometimes that doesn’t feel like a bad thing for a thing I am always trying to make more into a tool than an addiction….
Sure windows phone wasn’t going to grow rapidly for years, but it was well situated to take advantage of an opportunity in the future when apple or google stumbled and created an opening. I think for a company as large as Microsoft just abandoning it entirely was a massively stupid move. Now Microsoft has a gigantic blind spot in mobile, and they are stuck in that position.
Can we also have a Windows Phone next? You can call it an Xbox Phone if you like.
I could only see this working if it came with 6 free months of GamePass, or if it was some kind of loss leader to sell games on their store.
Unless it’s as easy to install games from the other stores, why would you otherwise pay to live in a tiny, walled garden?
I would expect it to be a loss leader. The cheap price combined with brand recognition, advertising, and a streamlined experience could make it a successful product I think.
The SteamDeck itself is in loss leader territory.
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Their competition is the Deck and other handhelds that run full versions of Windows, there’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t give it the same kind of capacities (i.e. a real handheld PC) in which case it’s the Deck that will feel like a walled garden considering that not all games are compatible and not all launchers work on it.
I say that as a Deck owner that plays with it pretty much once a day.
I’ve heard from some others that there was a version of Windows (I’m blanking on which one) that worked great on tiny computers, so if they were to revive the project, it could be a really viable competitor.
The other handhelds that run Windows suffer from it being too much of a traditional PC first and not having enough “console” in them, from what I hear. Can’t say from first hand experience, though, since I also own a Deck.
Either way, time will tell what eventually comes out of that brief sentiment.
Yep, Windows 8 had a mobile/tablet version.
I also mentioned in another comment that they could simply do the same thing as with the Deck, have it start with a handheld/controller friendly UI (hmmm where could Microsoft’s Xbox division find that?) and give the option to switch to regular old Windows to do desktop stuff. It’s not as if playing on the desktop without a mouse and keyboard attached to the Deck is a fun experience either!
If they can’t pull this off as an ARM device and recompile all the games to run on it, then don’t bother.
There’s nothing they can really bring to this that the Steam Deck hasn’t already done better.
Do these other handhelds sell enough to justify all these different devices?
Must be, there were at least 3 new handheld PCs announced last week.
Sometimes its not just about selling enough to justify creation of new device. Sometimes its the potential that they have in mind. The prices are quite high, so they probably make some bucks out of it while it is hot. Soon the market on PC gaming handhelds will be saturated. Then they need to innovate and create something outstanding in whatever way. At least this is what the optimist in me thinks.
Then they need to innovate and create something outstanding…
There’s the snag. Anything they innovate or create that’s outstanding will 100% be anti-consumer. That, or their version of innovation will be forcing an update to your system that pretty much brick it to ensure you buy a newer model (at least for countries that don’t have strong pro-consumer laws). I can count the number of companies on a single hand that I would trust not to do that.
If Microsoft stuck with what it already does, it would be better. They already have cloud streaming technology which makes playing games on their ecosystem possible on any screen. Having a separate handheld console would complicate things. I just don’t see the appeal.
If they make a device that doesn’t suck, will people not just install Steam on it?
And all other launchers and any PC game that doesn’t run on Linux…
Called it months ago, they’ll develop a handheld version of Windows and have their own handheld!
If the controller feels as good as my Elite 2 then I’m sold
Windows is already the handheld version of Windows but it’s kind of terrible at it.
They haven’t done anything to adapt it to handheld controls and a small screen
Windows 8 was an attempt to do all that already, though I don’t know that it succeeded. My guess is that this sort of handheld will run a stripped down version of Windows running the Xbox app.
Well Windows 8 phones were considered to be awesome by those who had one, it’s the lack of support from third party that killed mass adoption.
Also, if we’re looking at the past to decide what is and isn’t possible then gaming on Linux is impossible.
Let’s not pretend that using the desktop on a Deck is a wonderful experience either, Steam’s big picture mode is just a front end that improves the experience and Microsoft could do the equivalent by reusing the Xbox UI with the option to fall back to Windows 11 proper and then people could launch another launcher from there if they wanted. Heck people could launch Steam in big picture mode from their Xbox handheld if they wanted!
Real Xbox Kinect vibes…
Always in favour of healthy competition.
This is microsoft, so I expect unhealthy competition.
I’ll expect unhealthy, if I’m wrong I’m pleasantly surprised. That probably won’t happen though
And if you’re wrong, the other shoe just probably hasn’t dropped yet.
Like trying to push the stupid recall AI that takes screen shots every few seconds.
Still healthier than Nintendo owning the handheld gaming market
Mind, a VERY low bar to clear
You absolutely aren’t wrong there.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Speaking on stage as part of an IGN Live interview, Spencer said directly that “I think we should have a handheld, too.”
The comment stops just short of an official announcement that Microsoft is actively working on portable gaming hardware for the first time.
“The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome,” Spencer continued during the IGN presentation.
Comments like these are a big change from internal Microsoft documents that leaked last September, which listed an Xbox portable as a “current gap in FY23” that is “not in scope for 1st party” (alongside potential products like a mobile controller, earbuds, and a media remote).
But Spencer was quick to call that leak “outdated” at the time, so it might not be the last word on Microsoft’s portable gaming plans.
That feels like ancient history, though, in a world where everyone and their corporate subsidiary is looking to draft off the market success of the Steam Deck.
The original article contains 386 words, the summary contains 157 words. Saved 59%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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I hope they call it XBox Zune
