Microsoft Gaming Handheld Device 'Few Years' Away, Says Xbox Chief

Microsoft's gaming division is developing prototypes for a handheld gaming device that won't launch for "a few years," gaming chief Phil Spencer said Wednesday. In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer said that while Microsoft is actively working on prototypes, the company will first focus on improving its Xbox app performance on existing portable devices and establishing hardware partnerships.

The gaming unit wants to be "informed by learning and what's happening now" before introducing its own device, Spencer said. "Longer term, I love us building devices," Spencer said, adding that Microsoft's team "could do some real innovative work."

Free Crab Tomorrow

[TWX]

I'll believe it when it actually arrives and remains on the market for more than a few months.

Re:

[ffkom]

Especially since Microsoft basically performed an "unconditional surrender" in the console wars, and now games sold by Microsoft subsidiaries run best on PlayStation 5 Pro. The only "gaming devices" I expect to see from Microsoft in the future are haphazard attempts on selling "cloud game streaming clients". Plus the introduction of "pay per hour of gaming", as we have already seen from nVidia's "cloud gaming" service.

MS should just discontinue XBox

[dmay34]

MS should just discontinue XBox as a division and just make "XBox" their primary Windows gaming brand. Then open it up to OEMs to make whatever "XBox" system they want (which will really just be a Windows machine with specialty controls or form factors).

There already isn't hardly any functional difference anymore between consoles and desktops that use TV's as their monitors.

Re:

[nightflameauto]

MS should just discontinue XBox as a division and just make "XBox" their primary Windows gaming brand. Then open it up to OEMs to make whatever "XBox" system they want (which will really just be a Windows machine with specialty controls or form factors).

There already isn't hardly any functional difference anymore between consoles and desktops that use TV's as their monitors.

Or just, now hear me out here, license their OS to PC manufacturers. I know that's a weird idea, but it just might work for them.

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[alvian]

There's a huge difference in how the games run on Xbox console compared to PCs. As fixed hardware specs allow developers to optimize their games for that specific hardware. Even doing some low level optimizations that won't be done for PCs. It's clear to see when you build a PC with comparable hardware as consoles. You'll need a higher level PC build just to match the consoles. This is why I recommend people who don't have or need high end PCs just to get the consoles.

Re: MS should just discontinue XBox

[drinkypoo]

"There's a huge difference in how the games run on Xbox console compared to PCs"

True. For not that much more money you can build a PC that shits on the Xbox.

This whole idea that console games are carefully optimized is outdated. Some of them are, many of them aren't. I was just looking at some materials being produced for a Nintendo remake. I forget what game it was, something SMB related I think. The original had used a separate texture for different colored blocks that were otherwise identical. The remake

Re:

[thegarbz]

False. At least today. This really hasn't been true for a decade and ironically for your comment was less true for Xbox than it was for Playstation since the entire premise of the Xbox development was to commoditise hardware.

The PS3 / Xbox 360 were the last generation of consoles that really demonstrated a performance boost through optimisation. These days there's just nothing left. Even some killer performance features like the PS5's storage access method was unique to the console for all of about 3 months

They're watching the Steam Deck

[mackil]

I'm sure they're watching the popularity of the Steam Deck [steampowered.com] very carefully.

Prediction:

[thegarbz]

This will fail. Microsoft historically is very bad at entering existing markets with high competition, not without sinking in a lot of investment, losing a lot of money, and they historically fail unless they form the entire division as part of a central business strategy. The Xbox was a success. Surface was a success. But this ... this is just a single product.

Beyond just the Steamdeck there are plenty of deck clones out there. If MS releases *a product* it will be lost in the competition.

Re:

[Merk42]

How is this "just a single product", but "Xbox" is not?

Re:

[thegarbz]

How is this "just a single product", but "Xbox" is not?

Are you joking? The Xbox wasn't just a games console. It was a games console that ran a custom OS and was developed in parallel in conjunction with stimulating the games industry. It launched with a trove of exclusive titles and sank a fortune into developing an industry around the xbox, even as the original xbox was quite a miserable seller.

They didn't create a product, they created an entire gaming brand and stimulated the industry in an attempt to make it a success.

Incidentally this is what many success

Re:

[Merk42]

Wouldn't this just be an extension of said brand? The iPad, to use your iPhone analogy.

Kind of pointless....

[tlhIngan]

Given most Xbox releases are on PC already, the portable Xbox is already here - be it a Steam Deck, a ROG Ally, Legion Go, or one of the dozens of other portable PC gaming systems out there.

And they don't need any modification to run - if it can run Steam you have every game Microsoft has on PC.

Most other third party game publishers already publish on PC as well.

Licensing

[codebase7]

It's about licensing and pleasing shareholders.

Nintendo and Sony take a cut of the profits for every game published and sold on their platform. The reason they can is the same as Apple's App Store: Only they can release software that will work out of the box on the platform. (Locked bootloader, enforced code signing all the way from BIOS to App.) Microsoft cannot do this with Windows, yet. They've wanted to for decades with various initiatives, (Palladium, Trusted Computing, etc.) all in the name of "secu

Just a "few years" away?

[Gravis Zero]

It'll come out the same year as the year of the Linux desktop! What a great year!

Re:

[ffkom]

You do realize that there is already a Linux distribution for those who want to run their Windows games better on mobile Windows computers with their shitty stock windows? Have a look at Bazzite OS [youtube.com].

Re:

[bsdetector101]

Went to Best Buy and did a Linux desktop search. Showed a bunch of PC's w/o any OS listed......never saw any Linux OS listed as pre-installed ! Kinda think that was what was referred to !

Floundering just like Windows Mobile

[khchung]

It seems like the XBox has completely lost any direction and just floundering trying everything to see what sticks, it gave a deja vu feeling of the Windows Mobile.

The extremely bad decision to force game companies to cater for the cheaper Series S had greatly damaged the whole platform when new games became PC & PS5 only. Sony couldn't get a marketing campaign better than how MS is shooting themselves in the foot with XSS.

MS, with decades of experience with the Wintel upgrade cycle, show know better t

what about conqurency

[NateDonald]

That sounds really interesting, but there are already such devices on the market, and they are popular and successful. So, that new device needs to offer something unique to attract customers. Some time ago, I was playing a lot and often, but now it can be once a week or something, and my game preferences have changed, too. I like slots and card games the most, so I usually play them on my PC. There are so many different sites, but I know a few I like the most, and I don't want to change something. Here is