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Xbox Keystone: Xbox Streaming Device Protoype Revealed

DaGwaphics

Member
Wait isnt this the thing that people were reporting like 2 weeks ago was about to be rolled out?, wtf.

Xbox tweeted it was an old prototype at that time.

People were just guessing that there was a new prototype (myself included), apparently there is not. Might be in their best interest to see if they can get the app supported on Roku devices (would require at least BT for a controller, not sure if Roku has that) and Fire Sticks (would be competing with Amazon's own service, but Amazon competes with Netflix and Hulu on its devices as well). If you can do that along with smart TVs, it basically just comes down to letting people know the feature is available.
 
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SLB1904

Banned
Wasn't this from like a month ago, how is this a new thread today?

Confused Dogs GIF by MOODMAN
It was a leak.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Wasn't this from like a month ago, how is this a new thread today?

Confused Dogs GIF by MOODMAN

The image was 'leaked' a month ago, a controlled leak, but I guess someone at WSJ asked Phil about it during the interview, hence he's giving out this new info.
 
The real obstacles is the technology needed to eliminate latency. Until that thing is fixed, and is functional like the hardware one, it won't be a hit.
Most of the popular games among casuals are online based. The latency issue will have to be addressed for this to work.

Also I think the audience for this is questionable. The type of person that has great internet and is remotely interested in games would probably prefer to just buy a console or PC.

The idea that someone would make cloud gaming their main way of playing video games is questionable. Stadia tried and failed, MS does have a better approach than Stadia did but idk we will see.
 
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feynoob

Banned
Most of the popular games among casuals are online based. The latency issue will have to be addressed for this to work.
This is the n1 issue, that is holding this tech now.

Also I think the audience for this is questionable. The type of person that has great internet and is remotely interested in games would probably prefer to just buy a console or PC.

The idea that someone would make cloud gaming their main way of playing video games is questionable. Stadia tried and failed, MS does have a better approach than Stadia did but idk we will see.
The public wont care, as long as they have a cheaper option, which works, and the ability to buy the games. Consumers want easy to use products.

Stadia failed due to low library, and bad marketing. It was the best tech for cloud gaming. Sadly, its parent company was none other than Google. If this was Sony/MS/Amazon, that tech would have more coverage, and fixes. Even Luna has games with sub money. Much better value than google one.
 

LordCBH

Member
It's going to be 99$ at least, since it will have to come with a controller.

They could probably do a SKU without a controller. Some people with Xboxes might be interested in a stick they can take with them when they travel. (Though you’re probably right in that they won’t give you a choice and you’ll have to buy with a controller.)
 

Rykan

Member
They could probably do a SKU without a controller. Some people with Xboxes might be interested in a stick they can take with them when they travel. (Though you’re probably right in that they won’t give you a choice and you’ll have to buy with a controller.)
Very doubtful, that audience almost doesn't exist. Most places that you stay at while you travel (Hotel, AirBNB, motel, etc) don't have internet that can support game streaming.
 

Pallas

Member
You know this was rumored all the way back in 2016, or at the very least the concept.

 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Not a good post dude. They didn't want to eliminate game ownership, that is an incredibly simplistic way of looking at digital ownership that already existed on PC for years. They even presented a way you could resell digital games, which isn't currently possible on PC for download only titles.

Forget digital, they were setup to maintain full control of your physical game purchases. That’s exactly how it was and they caught a shit ton of crap for it and they backed down.

You were only allowed to resell your physical games to Microsoft designated buyers - which was GameStop and I forget the other. So your buy back prices would be fully controlled by them.

Nobody would care if they offered a buyback program for digital games, but such a thing would never exist on any platform.

I’m not trying to bash Microsoft, because they’ve been better to their customers than Sony and Nintendo. But I also don’t fully trust these companies, and I can see where the industry would like to go in the future. Especially when looking at the push for subscriptions and cloud gaming. I’ve already seen people fine with doing away with game ownership.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Makes sense, those recent $300 streaming portables are kinda laughing stocks. This would not be viable unless it was priced very cheap.
 

skit_data

Member
How? If any crappy tablet or phone can stream how can this, with a fraction of the tech, have a high BOM?
Good question, I wouldn’t pay more than €50 for a device with such limited use. It’s essentially a brick if the internet or Xcloud goes down.

Edit: Ok, a bit more since there’s a controller included but not more than €80.
 
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I hated the super cheap chromecast. That thing was so fiddly.
I guess microsoft needed something that could stand alone setup onscreen using a controller and not cheap out and use your phone for most functions like the chromecast (That piece of crap)
 
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FeldMonster

Member
I hated the super cheap chromecast. That thing was so fiddly.
I guess microsoft needed something that could stand alone setup onscreen using a controller and not cheap out and use your phone for most functions like the chromecast (That piece of crap)
Agreed, I don't want to use my phone to watch streaming content or play a game on my TV. Just let the controller do everything. Casting has never made sense to me.

MS had to make sure that it had Gigabit ethernet, a strong wifi chip, and a fast enough processer and enough RAM to not seem sluggish during navigation.

Once the chip shortage turns into a chip glut, they can try again with an Xbox streaming stick.
 

Mowcno

Member
Very bizarre to me that they couldn't get the costs low enough to retail it at $130 with a controller.

The steam link retailed at $50 in 2015. Sure prices have gone up since then but also the relative power needed in this thing to decode video is even more toaster level than it was in 2015.

Especially as this device would be unusable without a subscription you'd think they could sell it at a loss regardless
 

old-parts

Member
Very bizarre to me that they couldn't get the costs low enough to retail it at $130 with a controller.

The steam link retailed at $50 in 2015. Sure prices have gone up since then but also the relative power needed in this thing to decode video is even more toaster level than it was in 2015.

Especially as this device would be unusable without a subscription you'd think they could sell it at a loss regardless
In all likelihood it had a lower end AMD x86 system on chip inside it so it could run the xbox os and it's media streaming apps without having to do any software porting.

The problem with that is such a chip is not cheap enough, then proton security which is bound to xbox and a GPU good enough to run xbox user interface, all costs that add up.

If it was a low end Arm SoC with no ties to xbox OS and only runs the gamepass streaming app then yeah it would be dirt cheap but MS wanted a cloud xbox that looks and behaves just like its bigger brothers.
 
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I think keystone is now a go.
Reasons being, Phils recent shelf photo showed it up on it. Dont sleep on Phils shelf.
Secondly, MS is still diverting XSX wafers to Xcloud. The reality of Xcloud is that it is pretty much at capacity. Depending the time and location, you can be put in a que.
If they then released keystone and drive millions of people to hit xcloud, it will crash.
They need the capacity built up before they release the box.
 
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