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[Thirty7ven]

It’s not about console sales for MS and it hasn't been for years.

While that’s great for them, it might not be great for you if you are primarily a console gamer. We are already seeing the risk of such a strategy, with what looks like a poor outlook for the lifetime sales of the Series. The consequence might and probably will be more console exclusives on PlayStation 5.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

They will never release TLOU/ God of War style games though. What gives anyone that idea?

They clearly have a very different idea of what makes a game good. Has Nintendo ever made anything like that?

Then you are missing the point.

Sony has their idea f what makes a game good. Nintendo has theirs. And as you suggest, so does MS.

tlou/GOW type games just simply mean AAA critically and commercially successful IPs that are system sellers.

Now if by whatever MS idea of what makes a game good, we end up not getting those kinda games, that's on them. Andis exactly the problem.

And you don't say stuff like that won't make a difference when you have not even tried. Especially when you are supposed to be a gaming platform... like, this whole conversation is ridiculous to me. If games are not what sells your gaming platform (be that the console or gamepass)... then what the fuck is?

 

[Topher]

It's not about console sales for MS and it hasn't been for years.

That's fiction. When Xbox outsells PlayStation, Microsoft is there to brag about it every single time.

"We’ve sold more consoles life-to-date than any previous generation of Xbox and have been the market leader in North America for 3 quarters in a row among next-gen consoles"
~Satya Nadella, July 2022

 

[Heisenberg007]

They will never release TLOU/ God of War style games though. What gives anyone that idea?

They clearly have a very different idea of what makes a game good. Has Nintendo ever made anything like that?

Not necessarily style. I said "God of War and TLOU level games."

 

[Klosshufvud]

It's harder to give creative directors a chance because budgets are so huge.
You can notice that big, known directors nowadays are old guys like Kojima but they all started doing this in their 20s

That is sadly true. The current climate of video game development doesn't really promote individual vision and ambitions.

 

[FunkMiller]

Nintendo basically had the same conclusion. Great games weren't enough on GC. They have to push into an adjacent market. For Nintendo it was blue ocean and new input devices. For MS it is cloud. Pretty similar honestly.

I’m pretty sure the Switch has been a huge success thanks to Mario Galaxy, Breath Of The Wild, Animal Crossing and Pokémon. It isn’t a massive success because of its form factor or input devices.

 

[BRZBlue]

What a lot of people are forgetting here, is it's a lot more complicated than "make great games stupid!". MS has a history of buying studios. Making bad management decisions with those studios, then shunting the studio off to make dlc of avatar pics or some crap like that. The utter and totally complete mismanagement of 343i over several generations shows that MS really can't get out of its own way in that regard.

I'm sure there are tons of talented individuals, but the degree of managerial idiocy seems to be what's sinking the ship.

 

[kevm3]

Games is exactly why Xbox is getting spanked. When Xbox had games like Gears of War and Halo as as prominent exclusives, they were very competitive with Sony during the 360 days.

Phil was the same guy in charge when PS3 was giving up ground to the Xbox and it was being turned into some weird social machine with PS home and that trivia game and other casual games they tried to push so hard. Sony didn't turn around until Kaz came in and really started getting the exclusive 'non-casual' games going.

Phil seems to want to turn these gaming machines into general purpose multi-media devices that can be used to trojan horse other MS products into. He doesn't really care about 'the gaming industry'. Sales show that gamers want games.

 

[Elios83]

I think he's in the process of being mattrick'd at the moment. He was clearly woefully unprepared for this interview, none of the responses were the usual PR pre-rehearsed highly polished answers that we've typically come to expect from him, it was raw and emotional. He was stuttering all over the place and there were huge spaces of silence between the questions and his answers.

I said it before but he was thrown to the wolves in this interview by Microsoft in the same way that mattrick was towards the end of his tenure and it's resulting in some similar soundbites. The objective is the same - make his position untenable so that when they replace him it will be met with a sense of relief by the Xbox fanbase. But make no mistake, it's going to be the same old shit repackaged with a new face. Phil even told us himself:

"I guess at some point I will have enough knocks against me that it's somebody else here" *nervous laughter*

21 minutes, 32 seconds:




The writing is on the wall.

I also think something like this is happening, this is not a CEO trying to be honest, it's more a person who is exhausted venting his thoughts.
One thing is admitting difficulties the other is killing hope for the future ("whatever we do we'll always be last place in consoles").
This only makes sense in two scenarios, either he knows the company doesn't care about that market anyway or he knows he can afford to talk like that because he's on his way out.

But quite frankly Spencer has lasted much more than he would have at any other company given the lack of results. Series hardware not selling well, Gamepass not taking off like they expected and the Activision debacle are all things a normal executive usually can't survive without being replaced. He lasted that much because of Microsoft's long term commitment to burn money.

 

[Die Namek Ability]

He’s not “admitting defeat”.

He’s saying Xbox is never going to overtake PlayStation.

You and others seemingly not grasping that Xbox’s goal is not to “beat” PlayStation. It couldn’t have been made more clear, but some are still stuck in this old-school Console War Fanboyism mindset, and

You truly dont understand the irony of calling out others comprehension while posting the above two quotes within the same post one sentence apart? LMAO Billion dollar corporations dont need you to defend them.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

A lot has changed since fallout and skyrim.. dont think they can pull it off with some 30 fps bug fest shit running game the same as before ... cyberpunk proved that ... wichter 3 massive huge success and than came cyberpunk

Both games didnt have the best launch in terms of performance. And even after Cyberpunk clusterfuck...it prove to be a massive succes for CDPR.

If bethesda can release a perfect bug free well oiled game lets go ... going to bet ? .. im surely won't

game dev is not magic. there is a certain identity, and track record for studios. Bethesda has never been able to release a Polish game. Chances for Starfield to do so are practically none existent.

BUT (and as I said) Bethesda has delivered Gaming-Culture-defining games, the chances for that with Starfield are higher.

Note: No one is expecting the best performance and graphics from Nintendo. Tears of the Kingdom can have an awful Image Quality and poor frame rate....and is going to review very well.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Not necessarily style. I said "God of War and TLOU level games."

Those "level" of games is very nebulous concept. How do you make TLOU level game but with MS sensibilities?

Would you consider Destiny 2 TLOU level? Sea of Thieves? They have immense amount of content and extremely polished. Will they sell systems?

 

[Poltz]

Not necessarily style. I said "God of War and TLOU level games."

Starfield is that, maybe Hellblade and Perfect Dark will be too.

 

[DrFigs]

Those "level" of games is very nebulous concept. How do you make TLOU level game but with MS sensibilities?

Would you consider Destiny 2 TLOU level? Sea of Thieves? They have immense amount of content and extremely polished. Will they sell systems?

i'm not the guy you responded to. but i think it probably just comes down to budget. starfield is probably on the level of a god of war game.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

i'm not the guy you responded to. but i think it probably just comes down to budget. starfield is probably on the level of a god of war game.

Starfield is an outlier in their line up. It has hype.

Other games, I don't think so. Only other game that will create a modicum of hype from MS is Quake reboot or next Doom.

Outside of these 2 I don't think anything else generates hype. That's not the sort of games MS makes. Their games fall with a whimper. Then over the course of time, create huge communities.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Starfield is that, maybe Hellblade and Perfect Dark will be too.

I don't want to shit on the game in this thread, but Starfield is cutting so many corners it does not seem to be at the level of Days Gone to me, very honestly. Let alone God of War, TLOU, RDR 2, etc.

Janky combat, poor visuals and animation, bugs, low-quality textures, low-quality facial models, no manual flight control when entering or exiting planets, no mo-cap, no voice acting: it just all feels not very AAA.

 

[TheGodfather07]

If xbox don't want to even try to compete, then why does it still exist at all? Either try to or pack it up! Why not invest 10b into actual games instead of acquisitions? Microsoft are obsessed with trying to monopolise and dominate, instead of just making a good product. They should have focused on great games all those years ago instead of deciding to try and force xbox into a service through gamepass. The situation would have been much better for them if they did that. Clearly launching everything into gamepass has been a failure for them. They're fucked now. How can they possibly go back to the old proven model?

 

[Alebrije]

Phil is playing dead.....once he gets Activision...he will have no mercy

 

[killatopak]

no voice acting

This is a plus for me. Especially on an RPG. NPC voice acting is okay but main character voice acting isn’t. That already happened in FO4 and it resulted in one liner choices that’s just a different flavor of yes or no.

Previous FO had a wealth of choices and topics to choose from that isn’t just mapped to your four face buttons or arrow keys.

 

[shaddam]

Colin nails it here, it is all about games.

that firts reply

 

[Rubik8]

Am I the only one that sees Valve making a SteamBox home console type thing running Linux that would pretty much show the world and MS exactly what the Xbox should always have been?

Peope talk about sony monopoly, but VAve is the company I think stands to pose the biggest threat to the current status quo.

Actually I would love this. I don’t care if MS gets out of the console market if someone like Valve stepped in to fill the void.

 

[ADiTAR]

I’m pretty sure the Switch has been a huge success thanks to Mario Galaxy, Breath Of The Wild, Animal Crossing and Pokémon. It isn’t a massive success because of its form factor or input devices.

It's a big part of it. Sure the amazing game in a stellar starting year helped propel it to what it is, but the unique ability to take it on the go was/is a huge selling point. The fact it can do multiplayer out of the box. The conept, like the Wii, is very simple to get and very appealing.

 

[Bernardougf]

Both games didnt have the best launch in terms of performance. And even after Cyberpunk clusterfuck...it prove to be a massive succes for CDPR.


game dev is not magic. there is a certain identity, and track record for studios. Bethesda has never been able to release a Polish game. Chances for Starfield to do so are practically none existent.

BUT (and as I said) Bethesda has delivered Gaming-Culture-defining games, the chances for that with Starfield are higher.

Note: No one is expecting the best performance and graphics from Nintendo. Tears of the Kingdom can have an awful Image Quality and poor frame rate....and is going to review very well.

As review goes Im quite sure that this time ( and after redfall) MS will work hard to get good reviews for this game independently of the quality... another thing that cyberpunk did as well with their heavy gift marketing campaign, I still remember the nice chairs

And as far as cyberpunk success goes I think that if preorders wasnt a thing and the first reviews were honest about the problems the game had we would see a very different picture ... but it is what it is

Anyway bethesda/Todd's games were never my cup of tea, hope the game is very good for the people that enjoy their games though

 

[Kokoloko85]

He’s just pretending for the regulators

 

[Dr. Claus]

Actually I would love this. I don’t care if MS gets out of the console market if someone like Valve stepped in to fill the void.

After buying a SteamDeck, I really would not be against this idea. I just wish they would make physical games.

 

[Bernardougf]

He’s just pretending for the regulators

Theres no fucking pretending enough to convince the CMA the appeal process there is just not based on anything he can "pretend", so no point.

People (moslty the usual shills) keep trying to read between lines ... but I think he said what he said ... no pretending or hidden meaning ... he basically said great games are not that important to win, they have other strategies (whetever the fuck they are as it should always be about games), he admitted the MS knows fuck all what their studios do, he showed to be completely disconnected about his avaliation what a good game is ( based on his assessment of redfall) and he simply admitted defeat in the console space (as hardware and classic gaming goes). He seems like a defeated man with a very different body language and assertiveness of speech that other interviews he did.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Hell no. Nintendo just released their best-selling and most profitable main console after their most disastrous one ever. Phil just sucks at his job. He has no idea WTF he's doing and is just throwing shit at the wall hoping it sticks. His management skills are piss-poor and Xbox is riddled with incompetent people in the wrong divisions.

PS and PS2 were runaway successes and Xbox had an even more anemic market share at the time but managed to compete with the PS3 because of the fuck-ups and Sony's overconfidence. It is absolutely possible to catch a significant portion of the market if you give people compelling reasons to choose your brand. Xbox has been a disaster for 10 years and counting and Phil hasn't righted the ship.

Kick this man out and bring in some fresh blood. If I owned an Xbox, I'd sell it immediately for a PS5. This is pathetic and embarrassing for the face of the brand.

Don't beat a man down for telling the cold hard truth, the Xbox can't even match the competition on home turf and oversea's they take one hell of a mauling. His honesty should be appreciated.

 

[Heisenberg007]

This is a plus for me. Especially on an RPG. NPC voice acting is okay but main character voice acting isn’t. That already happened in FO4 and it resulted in one liner choices that’s just a different flavor of yes or no.

Previous FO had a wealth of choices and topics to choose from that isn’t just mapped to your four face buttons or arrow keys.

But good main VO adds so much depth to the game - even if it is an RPG.

Geralt from The Witcher 3, Shepherd in Mass Effect, and (to a smaller extent) Arthur Morgan in RDR 2. Those games were elevated because of high-quality voice acting.

 

[caligula13]

It’s true. Great games make Xbox owners happy. Great games will not help them win the console wars.

 

[FunkMiller]

It’s true. Great games make Xbox owners happy. Great games will not help them win the console wars.

What is the thing that has enabled Sony to ‘win’ the console market in previous generations?

 

[killatopak]

But good main VO adds so much depth to the game - even if it is an RPG.

Geralt from The Witcher 3, Shepherd in Mass Effect, and (to a smaller extent) Arthur Morgan in RDR 2. Those games were elevated because of high-quality voice acting.

What do those 3 have in common? A defined personally and to a lesser extent with regards to Sheperd but it’s just evil and good dude/dudette. They have set abilities and skills they are proficient with that directly correlates to how they respond to the world. Even if you change up Sheperd’s backstory or class it hardly matters. Geralt is a Witcher while Arthur is essentially a bandit.

IF Starfield operates similarly to Fallout New Vegas, it’s a lot more complicated. You can be extremely gifted intellectually or dumb as a rocks and those have dialogue, quest, and gameplay implications. That’s just a single stat from seven with more than a dozen skills that also affect dialogue choices.

You can finish Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Fallout New Vegas‘ final boss with dialogue. In New Vegas, you just need a high barter skill. in Fallout 1 and 2 with low intelligence you just mumble random words. You can’t seriously expect to VO of a whole game just speaking

 

[FunkMiller]

Theres no fucking pretending enough to convince the CMA the appeal process there is just not based on anything he can "pretend", so no point.

This whole idea that the CMA will consider changing their minds needs to die. It’s not going to happen. It never happens. They have all the evidence they could ever be provided with. It’s done. It’s over. The deal is dead.

 

[MasterCornholio]

This whole idea that the CMA will consider changing their minds needs to die. It’s not going to happen. It never happens. They have all the evidence they could ever be provided with. It’s done. It’s over. The deal is dead.

What if Microsoft buys the CMA?

Pretty sure they can invest enough to obtain over 50% of the shares.

 

[semiconscious]

But quite frankly Spencer has lasted much more than he would have at any other company given the lack of results. Series hardware not selling well, Gamepass not taking off like they expected and the Activision debacle are all things a normal executive usually can't survive without being replaced. He lasted that much because of Microsoft's long term commitment to burn money...

well said. ms initially had a plan & a vision with the xbox, & it seemed to be working up to & through the 360 era until it hit the kinect/tv brick wall, the part of their initial plan/vision that proved to be a major miscalculation. at which point, they've basically been adrift, going awol last gen, then coming up with 'netflix of gaming + acquisitions' as 'plan/vision 2.0', a not really all that console-centric process still undergoing development for the foreseeable future...

where does it all end? i'm not really getting the impression, at this point, that ms really even cares anymore. the kinect/tv failure seems to've really derailed the 'xbox dream', & ms, after giving phil a 10 year opportunity to 'reimagine' that dream, & get it back on track, just doesn't really appear to be all that enthusiastic about it anymore, period...

 

[sachos]

Are there any mainstream games media article or figure that is questioning what Phil said and not taking it as a fact?

 

[gothmog]

Am I the only one that sees Valve making a SteamBox home console type thing running Linux that would pretty much show the world and MS exactly what the Xbox should always have been?

Peope talk about sony monopoly, but VAve is the company I think stands to pose the biggest threat to the current status quo.

Didn't they already do this at some point?

I would like to see Valve spec out a configuration that basically gives you a more powerful steam deck as a console or PC. One that lets you install windows and emulators but works well out of the box with games. So basically the steam deck as a platform with all of the valve goodies installed by default.

My deck right now is basically that in that I use it 1440p on a monitor with k/m and controller. Let me buy one with a better SoC without the screen and with a controller and I'd be happy.

Seems like a no brainer.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Didn't they already do this at some point?

I would like to see Valve spec out a configuration that basically gives you a more powerful steam deck as a console or PC. One that lets you install windows and emulators but works well out of the box with games. So basically the steam deck as a platform with all of the valve goodies installed by default.

My deck right now is basically that in that I use it 1440p on a monitor with k/m and controller. Let me buy one with a better SoC without the screen and with a controller and I'd be happy.

Seems like a no brainer.

They kinda did but half assed it. But look at what they have done with the steam deck. SteamOS V3, with proton, and the kinda builtin features they have done. Now imagine that in not just a console, but basically a series of motherboards and `supported CPUs and GPUs. A list that gets updated every year. If Valve does it right, it would pretty much make Windows-based PC gaming obsolete.

And why this is kinda sad,is that MS is in a by far better position to pull something like this off and do it in ways that Valve probably cant. Eg. MS can actually do deals with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia where they have specific variants of some PC hardware with specialized drivers that would only work on their own game centric PC. Which would allow them to be able to subsidize said hardware.

 

[Crayon]

They kinda did but half assed it. But look at what they have done with the steam deck. SteamOS V3, with proton, and the kinda builtin features they have done. Now imagine that in not just a console, but basically a series of motherboards and `supported CPUs and GPUs. A list that gets updated every year. If Valve does it right, it would pretty much make Windows-based PC gaming obsolete.

And why this is kinda sad,is that MS is in a by far better position to pull something like this off and do it in ways that Valve probably cant. Eg. MS can actually do deals with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia where they have specific variants of some PC hardware with specialized drivers that would only work on their own game centric PC. Which would allow them to be able to subsidize said hardware.

They're in a better position in those ways but worse in other ways. Valve is lean, focused, and private. And I think the thing that gets overlooked is that they are very particular about hiring. The difference that can make is massive. 5 "ideal" workers will do the work of 20 "good enough" employees in the end once you factor in the thermodynamic sluff of handling 20 people that are thinking of where they'd rather be. Then they have one smart guy with the final say. And he's got these multiple long cons in play without worrying about the quarter coming up.

Ms has all that money and pull, but if they could stick and move like that, they would have showed it with xbox. They did show it for a bit. But that was like a 3-5 year stretch out of 20 years. Meanwhile ms was considering xbox the center of gravity for gaming, and Valve managed to take one game and spin it into this integrated making/selling games framework. A framework, then a toolset, then a runtime, and now a whole fucking os. An os that doesn't have to win development support and is in this position already that seems like it will be robust in the face of the usual eee sabotage. If ms can't keep up with sony at their game, they sure as hell could not keep up with valve in theirs.

 

[PeteBull]

here solid reaction/takes, if u dont know the guy- he was halo fanatic back in the days but loves overall great games on all consoles, no pr from him, straight talk =P

 

[Punished Miku]

I’m pretty sure the Switch has been a huge success thanks to Mario Galaxy, Breath Of The Wild, Animal Crossing and Pokémon. It isn’t a massive success because of its form factor or input devices.

Its a portable system. You think that has zero relevance? You guys just sound stubborn. GameCube also had Mario, Pokemom and Animal Crossing.

We have almost a perfect scientific experiment with Wii U vs Switch. They have most of the same 1st party games even.

 

[gothmog]

They kinda did but half assed it. But look at what they have done with the steam deck. SteamOS V3, with proton, and the kinda builtin features they have done. Now imagine that in not just a console, but basically a series of motherboards and `supported CPUs and GPUs. A list that gets updated every year. If Valve does it right, it would pretty much make Windows-based PC gaming obsolete.

And why this is kinda sad,is that MS is in a by far better position to pull something like this off and do it in ways that Valve probably cant. Eg. MS can actually do deals with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia where they have specific variants of some PC hardware with specialized drivers that would only work on their own game centric PC. Which would allow them to be able to subsidize said hardware.

They're too obsessed with the hardware crown and have been for a while. Spin them off to create reference hardware for the third party publisher Xbox wants to become. I think the problem is mostly that the culture hasn't changed that much and people just want to control it all.

 

[sendit]

It’s true. Great games make Xbox owners happy. Great games will not help them win the console wars.

WTF.....this guy actually bought in to what Phil said.

 

[Bernardougf]

This whole idea that the CMA will consider changing their minds needs to die. It’s not going to happen. It never happens. They have all the evidence they could ever be provided with. It’s done. It’s over. The deal is dead.

Pretty sure CMAs heads are exchanging "small violins ever.gif" on their whatsapp accounts over phil/ms crying in their trillion dollar mountain

 

[Crayon]

here solid reaction/takes, if u dont know the guy- he was halo fanatic back in the days but loves overall great games on all consoles, no pr from him, straight talk =P

Just watched this guy and i won't lie, he is funny, but this is sorta masturbatory in the context of the forum here in this stage of the news settling. There's already a lot of legit pessimistic conversation going on without frankly vapid reaction videos that twist the knife. He said himself that you can start a channel rn and make a video raging at xbox and you would get "2000 views".



And now I'm going to post a roast video too, lol. I wish I had a cleaner example of hard, but substantive talk without the overreaction and verbal berating. This one also has an angry funny guy, but he made some insightful points.

This video is long and does contain a lot of shallow venting but I'll timestamp a couple places where he made me think. Actually after watching this I had the missing ideas to sort it out for myself. In terms of why this all looks so bad, that is. The parts where he's just pausing the video and ripping them are are not necessarily the views of crayon, associated entities, or subsidiaries thereof.

The fatal problem with phil saying "Failure is a part of success":



A caricature of striking balance between freedom of the studio and guidance of the company in clear english and not wishy-washy shit:

 

[BadBurger]

Am I the only one that sees Valve making a SteamBox home console type thing running Linux that would pretty much show the world and MS exactly what the Xbox should always have been?

Peope talk about sony monopoly, but VAve is the company I think stands to pose the biggest threat to the current status quo.

All Valve needs to do is bake FSR into SteamOS + their dock in a manner so that it "just works" for any game when docked and connected to a 4K TV, and the Steam Deck and any future version of it would instantly become a more powerful Switch with access to a ridiculously large and mostly cheaper library of games. But a dedicated home console with an even more streamlined experience than what they already have would definitely cause some waves.

Their old Steambox (edit: Steam Machines?) idea was just terrible - the OS wasn't ready, Steam itself wasn't ready, and of course leaving it up to hardware partners that were already working on razor thin margins was a recipe for failure. But having owned and played on a Steam Deck since launch, I'd say they're awfully close to being able to repackage that experience into a traditional console.

 

[thismeinteil]

I’m pretty sure the Switch has been a huge success thanks to Mario Galaxy, Breath Of The Wild, Animal Crossing and Pokémon. It isn’t a massive success because of its form factor or input devices.

It's actually both. To be successful you have to have 3 things.

1. Compelling HW. This includes the console itself and the peripherals for it. If the PS5 was really weak against the Series X, more like a PS4 Pro 1.5, it would have been disasterous for Sony.
2. Price that suits that HW. Even with as appealing as the Switch was for customers, they could not have sold it for $399+.
3. Library of good games and exclusives, whether they be 1st or 3rd party. If Sony was also struggling to churn out games like MS, the PS5 would still probably be ahead, but it would not be being picked up at nearly the same rate as it is, now.

These things are reasons why we have seen some Nintendo consoles fail. Maybe they had the games, but the HW wasn't as appealing as the competition. It's also why Xbox has struggled these past two gens. The HW (outside of the console's actual design, which also plays a part) and price weren't bad, but they were lacking on good games. Most, if not all, of their good games were on the competition, plus the competition had good/great exclusives.

 

[Exede]

I do. The thought of MS’s monopolistic, bland, creatively-bankrupt tendrils wrapping themselves around beautiful, joyful, passion-filled Nintendo makes me feel sick.

Mario Infinite when?

Hm? What has Mario Infinity to do with my thought. Mario Infinity would be software not hardware. Hm hm

 

[Crayon]

All Valve needs to do is bake FSR into SteamOS + their dock in a manner so that it "just works" for any game when docked and connected to a 4K TV, and the Steam Deck and any future version of it would instantly become a more powerful Switch with access to a ridiculously large and mostly cheaper library of games. But a dedicated home console with an even more streamlined experience than what they already have would definitely cause some waves.

Their old Steambox (edit: Steam Machines?) idea was just terrible - the OS wasn't ready, Steam itself wasn't ready, and of course leaving it up to hardware partners that were already working on razor thin margins was a recipe for failure. But having owned and played on a Steam Deck since launch, I'd say they're awfully close to being able to repackage that experience into a traditional console.

You can force fsr1, but I don't think they will need two. The next gen of amd apus is going to be a significant upgrade much less the gen after that. The adoption of modern upscaling techniques if becoming a requirement more than an option and those are getting better. I think they are already on the way to a deck that could upscale acceptably (within reason) to a tv.

Better to lead with the portable because it offers a less overlapping use case. But after that is established, a console like version makes sense. Not just a game console for the tv but a htpc and desktop, too. Linux goes through testing with hardware, it evens the playing field with windows as far as the experience goes. It's now proven acceptable for steamos to not play every game and not do every thing like gamepass, etc. This leaves the weakest part of linux like media creation. The desktop browsing/ office/ media/networking/performance/stability functionality has been very good for a long time now.

Anyway I'm more excited for linux getting a break than the deck itself.

 

[bender]

That's fiction. When Xbox outsells PlayStation, Microsoft is there to brag about it every single time.

"We’ve sold more consoles life-to-date than any previous generation of Xbox and have been the market leader in North America for 3 quarters in a row among next-gen consoles"
~Satya Nadella, July 2022

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

That's fiction. When Xbox outsells PlayStation, Microsoft is there to brag about it every single time.

"We’ve sold more consoles life-to-date than any previous generation of Xbox and have been the market leader in North America for 3 quarters in a row among next-gen consoles"
~Satya Nadella, July 2022

Imagine how disgusting Greenberg would be if Xbox was winning this generation?