Longer term, I love us building devices, and I think ourteam could do some real innovative work." The Xbox handheld is real — but it's at least "...

[Windows Central]

The Xbox handheld is seemingly real, but it's several years away according to a new interview with Phil Spencer.

Longer term, I love us building devices, and I think ourteam could do some real innovative work." The Xbox handheld is real — but it's at least "... : Read more

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Perhaps "several years" just aligns it with the next generation console? It would make sense to incorporate the portable architecture into the next gen platform.

 

[Jez Corden]

Perhaps "several years" just aligns it with the next generation console? It would make sense to incorporate the portable architecture into the next gen platform.

i honestly woulda thought that it would be smarter to launch the handheld first rather than ask people to buy two lumps of new hardware. that could be $1000+ of spend if they launch them together, they'll cannibalize and compete with each other.

 

[fjtorres5591]

Spencer implied they want to wait to see how the current wave of portable PC game boxes plays out. Plus, it takes 4-5 years to get a new console out. So unless they started before the Steam Deck came out it is doubtful they'll get it out before '26.

Also, there are hints the next xbox will be different enough that backwards compatibility is going to be tricky. (Hence Bond's comment about working on "forward compatibility".)

There has been speculation about XBOX going to ARM for at least the portable but gaming on ARM windows laptops is both expensive and marginal. They need better x86 emulators.

If they stick with x86 compatibility will be better but battery life will suffer. They may need to wait on newer tech like 1.8nm semiconductors and/or better batteries. Especially if they want to bring ML for more than simple upscaling to maintain compatibility with the next consoles.

It's not as simple as doing a die shrink on the Lockhart chip whip has a max TDP of 100w vs 15w MAX TDP for the Steam Deck.

 

[Lurking_Lurker_Lurks]

i honestly woulda thought that it would be smarter to launch the handheld first rather than ask people to buy two lumps of new hardware. that could be $1000+ of spend if they launch them together, they'll cannibalize and compete with each other.

I guess there'd also be development stuff to worry about there. Yeah we shouldn't expect generations to be prominent as in the past, but I don't imagine they'd want to unnecessarily confuse devs by releasing new hardware within a year or two running off a different architecture or baseline. Even on the consumer side a handheld right before the transition to the next hardware lineup (generation) would feel very strange. And then there'd be concerns about how long it could be developed for and how many games could hit it. I imagine that's already part of the concern as apparently this same interview said Xbox wants their users to access as many games across the Xbox ecosystem as possible, but in the grandscheme compared to its total library not that many Steam Deck games are Steam Deck verified. They could still separate their launches and give a handheld a couple years into next gen. That'd also be interesting as they could maybe compromise on power a little less. But I don't see a huge problem of launching them together. People will buy the console they want first and then the other down the line (probably on sale).

But it's all just speculation. I think as is Xbox's Play Anywhere and PC/Cloud efforts really help devices like the Legion Go fill the gap and perhaps that's what they mean. There's a lot they've already learned from the PC Handhelds for windows gaming. Heck, really the PC Handhelds have forced Microsoft to make changes that they should've a long time ago for gaming on windows. As they let that market grow, see how developers and consumers interact with it, and better yet let it evolve (as in the tech powering it), they can build a better handheld.

 

[fjtorres5591]

Play Anywhere is undervalued and likely to be more important next gen. One license for XBOX, PC, CLOUD? What's not to like?
Especially if the next xbox is PC compatible as it will minimize the back compatibility issues.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

i honestly woulda thought that it would be smarter to launch the handheld first rather than ask people to buy two lumps of new hardware. that could be $1000+ of spend if they launch them together, they'll cannibalize and compete with each other.

Interesting. I think that makes sense on the purchasing (customer) side, but that would make the product development challenging. When we built our first portable game system, there were so many architectural considerations that naturally drive certain compromises, starting with a new, portable architecture in mind would be cleaner. Doesn't mean they couldn't do it the other way around, just that it seems to increase risk of a flawed launch.

Also, to your point, I do think there will be natural cannibalization of Xbox sales by a handheld. Many who buy it probably won't ALSO buy the non-portable version. But that would also apply if they buy a portable that runs the current generation, they would be LESS LIKELY to then quickly buy the next 5th Gen Xbox, which could hurt next get game dev. If they wait to release on the next get platform, they can work with devs to take advantage of portable and next gen features to maximize success.

If I were running the product dev on that, I'd rather deal with the negatives you raised (entirely valid ones) in order to get the advantages of better game support at launch, better design around any next-gen controller features, better concept integration with the living room version. E.g., maybe it's a portable CPU, but only runs at 960p on the handheld and uses external graphics in a docking station for 4K+ on the big screen TV, or customers who don't want to spring for the "Pro" docking station, can just connect the portable piece to the TV for cheaper 960p gameplay.

 

[fjtorres5591]

All those, but also: decent differentiation from the generic Portable gaming PCs.
As much as Spencer may like the Lenovo line, he won't settle for a minor variation.

My money is on a clamshell design.