Microsoft's vision for the future of the Xbox brand and the future of the console space

[ratchetdude231]

As I am sure many of you know Project Scorpio is coming out this holiday season and with how much the Xbox brand has changed over the past 2 years I am starting to think a lot about the future of the Xbox brand. I personally believe that the release of Scorpio is going to change how we view the Xbox brand. I also think that Microsoft has made it pretty clear to at this point that Microsoft is not only trying to end the concept of console generations, but they are also trying to unify the Xbox brand with Windows 10.

 

It all started with the Xbox play anywhere program. As a result of this program Xbox exclusives have become practically irrelevant simply because if you are a PC gamer you have access to most of the first party games Microsoft is releasing. I am sure that at some point Halo will also come to PC. 

 

 

Then Microsoft announced their 6 teraflop monster with the initiative of "Gaming beyond generations" concept. Along with Project Scorpio there is also project helix which is supposed to unify gaming on Xbox and Windows.

 

Quote

The company’s struggles and strategy to bring together Xbox and Windows gaming are bundled together in a single strand, codenamed Project Helix. Originally publicized by Kotaku earlier this year, Project Helix involves creating one platform, that allows easy access and performant tools for developers to craft games, while giving varied choices and mobility to the player base to move around in the ecosystem.

 

If this sounds familiar to you, it’s because you might be thinking of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). That’s the runtime that Microsoft developed for all of its Windows ecosystems, which has largely the same mission statement as Project Helix. And that’s by no means an accident, seeing as the UWP is an integral part of the company’s gaming ambitions.

 

We’ve already seen how efforts on the part of the Xbox and Windows teams have come together to open up both platforms, and this collaboration will only deepen going forward. While originally relying on a naked Windows kernel to power the Xbox, the two platforms have grown much closer in recent years, culminating in the Universal Windows Platform now being supported by the Xbox One. We’ve seen how this move has unified the Windows and Xbox Stores, and is now bringing universal apps to the Xbox, since the launch of the Anniversary Edition update on the console.

 

We’re also seeing how UWP apps and support on Windows 10 are bringing Xbox titles over to the desktop platform. The doomed Fable Legends game was one of the first games to come to Windows and Xbox simultaneously and also to allow cross-play and support for the Xbox Play Anywhere platform. However, other titles are faring much better including Forza Apex, Gears of War 4, ReCoreand Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, have all launched on both platforms, through the now-Universal Windows Store, and running on the UWP platform.

Source

 

It seems that part of Microsoft's vision for windows is to fully integrate the Xbox brand into the windows ecosystem, and unify the PC gaming space with Xbox. What is fascinating about this is that thanks to the UWP tools developers can very easily release their games on multiple hardware configurations, and this is part of the reason why the Xbox One S will continue to be relevant after the release of Scorpio. Even though Scorpio is significantly more powerful than the Xbox One S it should be very easy for developers to make their games work on the Xbox One S. 

 

What I am really interested to see is how all of this changes the console space. If this is successful we could very well see Sony go in this direction as well. I know that Sony has said they plan on sticking with console generations, but I believe that the future of console hardware is to go in the direction of the smartphone business model. Such a business model would boost the sale of consoles significantly as Sony and Microsoft can have 2 or 3 different iterations of the same console on the market and consumers will be able to pick the console that fits their budget. Having different console iterations on the market that fit the budget of individual consumers will ultimately get more people into the Playstation and Xbox ecosystem as well. 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2017 by ratchetdude231

[SnowxSakura]

I would hope so, PC players have been waiting to finish the fight for 10 years now

It is appalling that Halo 2 was the last halo pc release

[ratchetdude231]

5 minutes ago, SnowxSakura said:

I would hope so, PC players have been waiting to finish the fight for 10 years now

It is appalling that Halo 2 was the last halo pc release

It's bound to happen at some point. My guess is that this E3 they will announce Halo 6 and they will also announce that the Master Chief collection and Halo 5 are coming to Windows 10.

Edited February 21, 2017 by ratchetdude231

[Super-Fly Spider-Guy]

I've been using a few UWP apps on the Xbox One and I can tell you first hand that they run perfectly. If this all pans out for Microsoft, it's gonna be pretty damn cool for consumers.

 

However, I will probably never have a gaming PC. I will always be a console peasant in all likelihood. Phones can come out now with 6GB of RAM and octa core processors and just insane specs. If this is the way Xbox wants to go, odds are I'll take the Nintendo route and have a portable that can plug into my tele at home.

 

This is great for Xbox, it really is, but until the day they stop making them, I'm happy shelling out 500 bucks every 5 years or so to get a shiny new console. And when phones inevitably take that place, I'm gonna be buying a shiny new phone every 5 years and sticking with that too.

 

I was kind of all over the place there. Anyway, good for Xbox, good for consumers, good for everyone!

[harsly]

No matter what Microsoft does, Sony has me by the balls because of these stupid fucking trophies.

[madbuk]

The thing is this approach will just limit games and their potential. Imagine if all PS4 games had to run on the PS1. We definitely wouldn't be getting Horizon next week...

[SnowxSakura]

I do find it funny that the first picture has scalebound in it though

[EternalChaos72]

1 hour ago, harsly said:

No matter what Microsoft does, Sony has me by the balls because of these stupid fucking trophies.

Haha completely agree. 

[Z1MZUM]

It makes no difference when the only exclusives are shooters or racing games.

[Eraezr]

3 hours ago, harsly said:

No matter what Microsoft does, Sony has me by the balls because of these stupid fucking trophies.

 

Same here lmao

 

3 hours ago, ratchetdude231 said:

 

 If this is successful we could very well see Sony go in this direction as well. I know that Sony has said they plan on sticking with console generations, but I believe that the future of console hardware is to go in the direction of the smartphone business model.

 

 

During the PS3 generation, I would have agreed with you, but right now, there's a triumvirate leadership at Sony Playstation that is very strongly believing in long console generations.

 

 

Two long videos, but after watching them, I realized Andrew House, Shuhei Yoshida and Mark Cerny will be embodying consistent principles in the Playstation generations to come. Scorpio is a reactive move, a knee-jerk move against the PS4's immense success. It was a project started a year after PS4 launched, while Pro was something the engineers were thinking about right after launch when Sony saw how successful the PS4 was and how its SKU could give the ecosystem a long tooth.

 

This is where PS4 Pro comes in. Its philosophy was to help extend the PS4 generation to give developers more time to bring out 2-3 AAA titles at least, per generation. The other was to offer something more to those who wanted it, but did not have the option because some of our souls are owned by trophy hunting.

 

The belief in mastering a console is strong. Horizon: Zero Dawn is a testament to that. Even Naughty Dog said that they did not master the PS4 with Uncharted 4 and that there was more juice to squeeze out for their next title. The biggest weakness I see with Xbox's Helix program, is that it won't have the care to detail optimization that long console gens enjoy, but instead be 'mildly optimized' like the way you see different tiers of PC rigs run games.

 

The way things are going, I doubt Sony will do 3 year hardware refreshes. Cerny's basically got the PS5 in his pocket and he strongly emphasized the importance of long console gens at around the PS4 Pro's unveiling. It would seem, that PS5 will launch with two models. The standard PS5 will have large boosts in RAM and new Ryzen CPUs and of course GPU, but there will be a companion +model, a high end version of the PS5, priced higher. This is where Andrew House's influence comes in, from his observation of the PS3 vs PC data that convinced him the need for a high end model like the way Apple does for its iPhones, except this time, it will be to keep the console gen strong into the years as hardware stagnates.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Eraezr

[RavenclawHobbit]

2 hours ago, harsly said:

No matter what Microsoft does, Sony has me by the balls because of these stupid fucking trophies.

Very blunt, and a bit graphic, but man this is exactly how I feel as well. I barely ever touch pc or any other console or portable just because of that glorious ding!!!

[fastflowdaman]

3 hours ago, harsly said:

No matter what Microsoft does, Sony has me by the balls because of these stupid fucking trophies.

 

Plus the best exclusives.

[BlazingCat83]

Sorry, MS, you're still not gonna make me come back.

[Undead Wolf]

I'm just glad I got out of there when I did. I played on Xbox 360 for the vast majority of the last generation, but I'm not a fan of this new direction Microsoft are going in. The way I see it, there's no reason to play on Xbox anymore. You may as well just upgrade your PC instead. It's not like Microsoft are giving anyone a reason to play on Xbox over PC what with the "exclusives" being on both platforms.

 

I think the console space has already changed. I mean I don't see Sony abandoning console generations like Microsoft seem to have done, but we already have "standard" and "premium" PS4's on the market. I could see them continuing this trend with the PS5 where the "Pro" versions of the console are relatively minor upgrades while the numbered consoles (PS5, PS6, etc) are the more substantial upgrades. I don't think we'll ever see the console business model become like smartphones where there's a new iteration every year, but I could see them coming out every three years or so.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Undead Wolf

[Satoshi Ookami]

There is 'console' in Microsoft's plan?

[Kubanga]

It'd be nice if Microsoft would get some decent exclusives. You know an exclusive not name Forza, Halo or Gears of War? Until that happens, I see no reason to get a xbox no matter what Microsoft does.

[ratchetdude231]

7 hours ago, Undead Wolf said:

I'm just glad I got out of there when I did. I played on Xbox 360 for the vast majority of the last generation, but I'm not a fan of this new direction Microsoft are going in. The way I see it, there's no reason to play on Xbox anymore. You may as well just upgrade your PC instead. It's not like Microsoft are giving anyone a reason to play on Xbox over PC what with the "exclusives" being on both platforms.

 

I think the console space has already changed. I mean I don't see Sony abandoning console generations like Microsoft seem to have done, but we already have "standard" and "premium" PS4's on the market. I could see them continuing this trend with the PS5 where the "Pro" versions of the console are relatively minor upgrades while the numbered consoles (PS5, PS6, etc) are the more substantial upgrades. I don't think we'll ever see the console business model become like smartphones where there's a new iteration every year, but I could see them coming out every three years or so.

What I think is really interesting is how all 3 console makers are doing something different. To me it seems Sony isn't trying to blur the lines between generations but rather redefine what a console generation is. 

 

I am kinda interested to see how long this generation lasts. When this console generation started I believed it would only last 6 years, but with the release of the Pro it could very well last longer than that. Perhaps Sony released the Pro for the purpose of extending the life of this generation. 

 

 

 

 

[Undead Wolf]

10 minutes ago, ratchetdude231 said:

What I think is really interesting is how all 3 console makers are doing something different. To me it seems Sony isn't trying to blur the lines between generations but rather redefine what a console generation is. 

 

I am kinda interested to see how long this generation lasts. When this console generation started I believed it would only last 6 years, but with the release of the Pro it could very well last longer than that. Perhaps Sony released the Pro for the purpose of extending the life of this generation. 

 

This is true. Nintendo have been doing their own thing for a while of course, but Sony and Microsoft have been following a very similar path up until now. Choosing between the consoles was basically just a matter of which exclusives you preferred more or where your friends were playing at. The consoles themselves were very similar in terms of power. Now the whole console generation thing is up in the air and the power gap between the two seems to be pretty huge. If anything, I imagine this will make it harder for developers as they need to account for the PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, and Scorpio now instead of just the PS3 and Xbox 360.

 

Personally, I still believe this console generation will only last six years for Sony. The PS4 came out in 2013 and the Pro felt like a kind of "mid-way point" in the generation which came out in 2016. If I had to guess, the PS5 will be out at the end of 2019. Considering how much more powerful the Scorpio seems to be in comparison to the PS4 Pro, I don't think Sony can afford to wait much longer.

[DaivRules]

21 hours ago, ratchetdude231 said:

how much the Xbox brand has changed over the past 2 years

 

Care to inform those of who don't see any difference to the Xbox brand over the last 2 years what those changes were?

 

I said it when this was first announced with pitchforks and torches, MS getting all their games to play on Xbox, PC and tablets is smart on their part. They control all three platforms and should do what they can to leverage all three at the same time.

[ratchetdude231]

6 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

This is true. Nintendo have been doing their own thing for a while of course, but Sony and Microsoft have been following a very similar path up until now. Choosing between the consoles was basically just a matter of which exclusives you preferred more or where your friends were playing at. The consoles themselves were very similar in terms of power. Now the whole console generation thing is up in the air and the power gap between the two seems to be pretty huge. If anything, I imagine this will make it harder for developers as they need to account for the PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, and Scorpio now instead of just the PS3 and Xbox 360.

 

Personally, I still believe this console generation will only last six years for Sony. The PS4 came out in 2013 and the Pro felt like a kind of "mid-way point" in the generation which came out in 2016. If I had to guess, the PS5 will be out at the end of 2019. Considering how much more powerful the Scorpio seems to be in comparison to the PS4 Pro, I don't think Sony can afford to wait much longer.

Yeah I think the PS5 will come in 2019 as well. At the latest I see it coming in 2020, but I think 2019 is more likely considering how Sony is lining up it's first party line up. I imagine TLOU 2 will be the PS4's swan song will Death Stranding will become a PS5 title.

4 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

 

Care to inform those of who don't see any difference to the Xbox brand over the last 2 years what those changes were?

 

I said it when this was first announced with pitchforks and torches, MS getting all their games to play on Xbox, PC and tablets is smart on their part. They control all three platforms and should do what they can to leverage all three at the same time.

Well I kinda did that in the OP. It feels like everything Microsoft has done in the past 2 years was done for their new vision of the Xbox brand. Backwards compatibility with the 360 in a way was Microsoft preparing for their whole initiative of "Gaming beyond generations." 

 

As time has gone on it feels that first party exclusives have become less and less relevant as they are now available on PC. That in itself is a very big change from last gen. 

 

Then of course Microsoft trying to unify gaming on PC and Xbox is also a big game changer. Earlier this generation as well as last gen Windows and Xbox felt like 2 separate things. Now it feels like they are one in the same especially with the UWP tools and project helix.

Edited February 22, 2017 by ratchetdude231

[DaivRules]

As I recall, this topic got a whole different perspective from some of our members not even two years ago: 

 

[Arkthur]

I really don't care what MS or Nintendo do. As long as SONY stays cute and shiny.

[TheAveryChu]

On 2/21/2017 at 5:28 PM, ratchetdude231 said:

It's bound to happen at some point. My guess is that this E3 they will announce Halo 6 and they will also announce that the Master Chief collection and Halo 5 are coming to Windows 10.

This is an old post, but eh whatever.

It was discovered that Microsoft had almost created a port of the Master Chief Collection, and were going to launch it shortly after the X1 release. Of course, Microsoft forced 343i to rush out an unfinished product, and MCC became the laughing stock of the gaming industry for a while. As a result Microsoft has no plans to release the PC version of MCC. 

Halo 6 will most likely come to Windows 10 however, and Halo 5's Forge Mode (Map Creation) is also playable on PC, although I don't think the entirety of H5 will get ported to PC (especially since no one actually likes the game).

[SnowxSakura]

1 minute ago, TheAveryChu said:

This is an old post, but eh whatever.

It was discovered that Microsoft had almost created a port of the Master Chief Collection, and were going to launch it shortly after the X1 release. Of course, Microsoft forced 343i to rush out an unfinished product, and MCC became the laughing stock of the gaming industry for a while. As a result Microsoft has no plans to release the PC version of MCC. 

Halo 6 will most likely come to Windows 10 however, and Halo 5's Forge Mode (Map Creation) is also playable on PC, although I don't think the entirety of H5 will get ported to PC (especially since no one actually likes the game).

I don't think any of the 343 developed halo titles are especially liked. Nothing against the forerunners, but I enjoyed fighting the flood more

[TheAveryChu]

Just now, SnowxSakura said:

I don't think any of the 343 developed halo titles are especially liked. Nothing against the forerunners, but I enjoyed fighting the flood more

 

I have something against the Prometheans, and I enjoyed fighting the Flood a hell of a lot more. lol.