Exactly.
Palworld is the best example of what game Xbox players want.
I believe there is no better time to remake Rare’s old games, especially Viva Piñata with a more bigger garden and more than 100 piñatas as residents. They can even take 1 or 2 feautures from Animal Crossing.
Releasing a hybrid-console with a new Halo, Crash, Viva Piñata and the remakes of Oblivion, Fallout 3, Prototype, Banjo, Conker and Grabbed by the ghoulies. That’s a line up that will sell millions day one.
Give me some idea of the specs you expect from a hybrid
Out of the handhelds that are currently on the market (Switch, ROG Ally, Logitech and SteamDeck), which one is the best spec wise? Is it the SteamDeck which sells for $650 if I remember correctly?
I just don’t see how Microsoft could do a hybrid unless they charge $800 or something like that which I believe would make it dead on arrival.
ROG and Logitech have the same APU, and it isn’t even as good as an XSS. And… we’re 4 years into the generation. So yeah, a hybrid can kick rocks lol.
Agreed. Hardware wise, the specs don’t make sense. Welcome OP! We have had a forum topic thread on this for a long time. @pg2g Anyone know how to add #Specs for Xbox portable
I think it is a reasonable ask, as well as a reasonable plan, to launch with two consoles the next generation akin to the Series S and Series X except for the fact that one is a handheld and the other is a console for the TV.
In the same way that they are extremely similar machines except for a resolution target difference. This may result in other cutbacks but I don’t see that bothering too many people. Like lesser quality ray tracing.
Now, it could be argued that in order to be a comparable machine, it would be expensive. But that’s ok. It would also be subsidized so it won’t be sky high.
That said, there’s a lot of unrealistic aspects about the plan without some changes to current technology. If they indeed go with low power processors then this is more possible. Secondly if there are some, even minor, breakthroughs in battery technology then it makes it a lot more feasible.
So the way I look at it is that it’s a good plan but it’s really hard to execute to the point where it is probably unrealistic and improbable.
All PC handhelds are not balanced properly. Most of them have over powered CPUs and all off them have extremely limited memory bandwidth for the GPU task.
Only Steam Deck is sensible from CPU prepesctive. It also have limited bandwidth for it’s GPU.
This is why Xbox handheld is important. To make a balanced system with gddr6 and above memory.
I would like the see the next series s console be a handheld like the Steamdeck or Ally that while powerful on its own, when connected to the dock, the dock has a gpu in it to boost the power to match the next Series X.
Both share the same basic cpu, ram, and ssd but the series S 2 is about half the gpu power until connected to the official dock. It could be sold together or separately and you could also connect it to a tv without the official Xboost dock.
The Series S2 should be 6-8 Tflops of the next gen AMD chips which if the improvement is the same should be about 8-10 Tflops on todays chips. The xboost dock which would help cool it offer usb ethernet and your other ports could have a gpu in it to boost the output to Series X2 levels which I am hoping are around 18-20 next gen chip which would be 20-22 on this gens chips.
Series S2 price 299 standalone with a 1TB ssd 499 with the Xboost dock. The dock alone is 200 and includes gpu. Non gpu dock 99
The series X2 at 499 with 2 TB ssd, controller, hdmi and headset. Both should support standard bluetooth earbuds going forward.
Both should support m.2 nvme ssd’s and maybe external ssds through usb-c for mass storage.
Just my kinda wishlist and how id try to do things if I were in charge.
Yes, I believe is worth for Xbox to try it.
It’d be real nice if console manufacturers waited till the tech caught up and made handheld versions of their last gen hardware - I mean imagine the range of games that could be played for a handheld Xbox One/PS4 even without new games actively being released.
Sadly, most consoles are made and priced competitively on the basis of bringing new customers into the ecosystem who will continue to buy games - gets a lot harder when they are relying on older titles often sold at reduced prices.
I’d be fine with them reviewing the Series S concept for next Gen and deciding to do a cheaper, less powerful, portable that docks.
But my Series X is a substitute for the gaming PC I don’t want to maintain. A portable won’t work in that role.
The switch is very successful, in large part because of Pokemon, Zelda and Mario. It’s hard to just transpose that success onto another console and say this is a great idea because of indies and portability. IMO that’s not the whole story.
You shouldn’t launch a portable as part of a new gen. You’ll need to hit a baseline level of performance for the new gen and having a hybrid / portable in your lineup complicates development. Series S in hindsight should have been a $399 device with 12GB of ram and 6-8 tfs of GPU power.
I believe since MS is removing the need to absolutely have an Xbox console due to games, since they’re on PC too and streaming devices. They should further differentiate their HW offerings to provide reasons for people to game on Xbox HW over PC.
Handheld makes a lot of sense, as do a extremely high end console. But the handheld should always be a mid gen type of thing since a handheld will always be weaker than a baseline new gen level of specs. Imagine if the series s had only 4 cpus cores and a 1tf GPU when it launched.
So what imo a roadmap for my vision of Xbox HW.
2024-2025: Xbox Legacy portable $399. BC up to xb1.
2025-2026: Xbox series Z $699-$799
2028: Xbox series S2 $399-$499 Xbox Series X2 $699
2030+: Xbox Legacy 2 portable $399. BC up to series s.
Your portables are always going be primarily BC, crossgen, indie and Cloud machines, otherwise the gap between your portable and your traditional machines will be too huge and we see how that complicates things.
Before people say why not forgo traditional machines altogether? My answer would be that MS’s software ecosystem is conducive for multiple hardware and there is no reason to limit HW options in favor of another, especially one that is likely to poise development challenges due to a power gap.
Your portable sells 10-15 million units. Your traditional PS alternative sells 30-40 million. Your high end PC alternative sells 10-15 million.
As others have said I definitely think the normal X and handheld S would be the best approach going forward.
The X would give you the power you need for the performance users and those that want to game but don’t want to maintain a PC.
The S would give you the portability and appeal to the eastern market. It would also likely result in second console sales where someone already has the X but wants something portable too.
I think it would also cause less confusion for their casual audience as it would be clearer what the difference is between the two.
I mentioned before a normal X and handheld s for a new generation would be problematic due to the power gap between the two SKUS. Your Series X would be at least 8x more powerful graphically and 2-4x times more powerful CPU wise than the hybrid
Imagine the discourse around the Series S if it launched with 4 CPU cores and 1tf of GPU power.
People really over-estimate what’s possible in a handheld. As of this year even the best handheld is not able to do 50% of the series s consistently.
I keep hearing this, but I’m completely happy with my Ally and use it daily. At this point I probably have more Starfield hours on the Ally than the Series X. Zero complaints. It runs great as far as I’m concerned.
And yeah, I’m sure people who care more about fidelity than gameplay will scoff at this notion. But I really think those people are in the minority.
Ally is a 2023 device and has like 45 min battery life.
Imagine what the specs of comparable gaming handheld would be in 2020 with at least 2 hours of battery life. It’ll probably be something a bit weaker than even the Steam Deck.
Based on some suggestions for Xbox to launch a hyprid / portable as part of a new generation, that would be equivalent to MS launching a weaker than Steam Deck device back in 2020 alongside the X. Even having Xb1 BC wouldn’t have been a guarantee.
Unless MS supports that device like Nintendo meaning they stop porting games to PC it would be DOA.
The only way a portable / hybrid fits into the MS ecosystem is a supplemental BC, cross-gen, indie, and cloud device in which developer support is NOT mandated.
Yours must be defective. I get 1.5 hours from mine.
But yeah, battery life is definitely a drawback. Personally I don’t care. There’s almost always a plug wherever I play it, but of course it would be nicer with a longer battery life.
I play MW3 using 25 watt mode and that’s 45 min.
Don’t have any experience with CoD, but try lowering the watt. I do Starfield at 12w and 1.5 is the norm for me.