Enthusiasm means nothing.
Philâs enthusiasm for Gamepass meant something. The rest of the org was against it.
1 Like
The thing is that Philâs idea was novel at that time.
Well if Phil loved the Steamdeck and really wants a Xbox portable, the team will make it happen.
This thing only needs to do 5-10% of Switch lifetime to be a success. Something like One X numbers.
It is not how it works though.
I just love this topic going main stream finally
It is not a niche dream anymore
2 Likes
I wonder how much would streaming handheld would cost. We assumed that they would release 99$ Xbox Series Puck, but I wonder if purely streaming handheld would go for 120-150$. Also one annoying thing for now is that not every game has cloud support. And also I guess they wonât release such device until they provide the streaming of the owned games.
On a different tech process it is possible I guess, because the current one requires the current form-factor. I do wonder if they make 1080p or 720p screen that would draw less power, it would require less cooling.
If the device is completely stream only then it should have these specs
-
720p 6-7 inch OLED screen ( 720 will help extend the battery life)
-
OS : the most interesting part is OS. Will xbox release custom windows OS for it or go for Android? Going with andriod and providing play store support would give secondary use to this device.
-
Controller : will they make joy con style controller for this device or simply use a strap on the controller holder? Joy con style is a must I guess
-
Connectivity options: Wifi and mobile data options are given for this device.
To make it more versatile, they should make local console streaming more accessible as well. Adding 60 mm wave tech to this device would make local console streaming native like an HDMI connection
The device would be $100-150 for sure
I think for OS it might be a custom Xbox OS running on ARM. For Controller - I think something not detachable.
Something not detachable would make it cheaper for sure but decrease its portability. Itâs give and take situation
My mind is running wild and making hybrid controller setup could be possible. Like shoulder and trigger buttons could be physical and attached to device while other buttons and joysticks could be virtual and on screen touch enabled
But whatâs the point of detachability for Xbox Portable? For Switch it made sense for their games. Like Steam Deck and other PC portables do not have detachable controllers. PSP did not have either.
Not about detachability but portability as in able to keep in oneâs pocket.
Not a deal breaker if itâs all in one solution
I dont think either a cloud option or a native option makes much sense for MS
In terms of a cloud only option, unless its super cheap, I dont see the point when thereâs endless amounts of phones and tablets out there for people who want to play that way, im sure it would have an audience but not sure if itâs one big enough to be worth it
As for native, while this would certainly be a much more popular device, im not sure the costs would once again be worth it! Unless it has Series S level specs, that is yet another sku developers would need to cater too and potentially cause more development issues and constraints for future games
Not to mention the cost, a series s is already ÂŁ250, putting that tech on a handheld with a screen isnât gonna be cheap, alongside other potential problems such as battery life and overheating
Plus you already have the Steamdeck out there so im not sure MS would want to do their own version of that and compete with it
The thing is that just mobile phone is not enough - not every game has touch controls and for example I keep my phone in the big phone and it is just inconvenient for me to use Kishi.
The thing with Steam Deck is that it uses Steam OS. With Xbox handheld, MS could use Xbox OS which would lead to 100% compatibility with Xbox games.
The thing that seems to be lost on most is that the base steam deck is $400 and has a whole 64GB of storage. It is $100 more than a Series S, yet It is less than half as powerful as a Series S. It has half the CPU cores, and less than half the GPU cores of a Series S. It has more RAM but its slower. With all that said, Valve is taking a bath on it cost wise.
The middle tier that has a bit of storage costs more than a Series X ($529) and has 256GB storage. To match the Series S storage you have to go up to the $650 model. And most people were upset that the S only had 512GB because that âisnt enoughâ.
Unless you want to pay $900 for a handheld, you arenât getting a Series S in a handheld. Even then it might be a stretch, at least for a few years.
I can only see this happening if it is a third tier of hardware with trimmed down specs.
1 Like
Itâs weird, do they make a xCloud only handheld, do they make one same specs as series s to make it easier for dev or do they make a weaker handheld that devs will then have 3 Xbox devices to dev for. Itâs very tough, though if MS keeps buying all these publishers then theyâll be forced to make games for 3 Xbox devices 
1 Like
I donât see Series S level handheld until at least the next iteration.Some smaller SKU is a possibility but whether it is worth it or not, is hard to say.
I do wonder what Steam Deck is that expensive for whatever it is offering.
The best way to do it would be xCloud only because they can focus on battery life, size, weight, screen and price so much easier than having dedicated HW to run the game. Then you run into the problem of what happens if you have bad internet or no internet, also server infrastructure around the world and you wonât always be able to play on things like planes.
Each method has massive pros and cons, in the ideal world they would have a xCloud only device with like an ARM chip, 5G, oled screen with a decent battery.
3 Likes
But thatâs the thing - I am not sure why a person with bad infrastructure would consider buying xCloud handheld (will it be even available in those markets?). It is basically the same logic with electric cars - why make electric cars if there are countries that do not infrastructure to charge them. I highly doubt that when OG Xbox launched, that many countries had fast internet - but thatâs how you made the progress.
In fact, a lot of emerging countries usually have better access to Internet than to the social services soâŚ
Regarding losing internet connection and whatever, I think the situation wonât be that different from what we have right now when we lose connection or Internet is lagging when watching youtube in the train for example - we just complain and make a grumpy face
The issue I have with this is that how would MS guarantee that every current gen game runs on this thing. If they go with a 720p display fine, at that size it makes sense. But then you give Developers a 3rd specification to optimize for which makes it even more complicated for game development. Release this thing too late in the gen and it wonât make any sense either.
Valve can get away with it as they donât need to support AAA gaming on their handheld for all the upcoming titles, but MS would have too.
In the end I think this will never happen, which is why they have xcloud.