Xbox Has Reportedly Sidelined Its First-Party Handheld (For Now)

Nooooooooooo

I hope they don't and reconsider as Switch 2 isn't XBox. Having their own console will get more gamers into the market hand help consoles to keep it going.

I believe the CEO of Xbox Phil Spencer is actually a shell for the real CEO of Xbox, a copy of Shark Tale on DVD.

Lemme guess.
Their Xbox handhelds will be 100% Digital only, No physical games, Game Pass in steroid.
No thanks.
Awful ideas ever.
Xbox doesn't even have a lot of 1st party kids games I want to play.

It feels like the console market might change a lot, except for Nintendo who will never care, being the king of its niche with it's awesome IPs.

If Xbox goes full handheld/hybrid, Sony won't be alone for long, and Steam might build a home console.

Lol. Lmao even.

Again, they barely sell Xbox consoles as is. (And the recent price increase isn't going to help) How exactly was an Xbox handheld supposed to be successful? Purely through GamePass?

I seriously doubt new Xbox hardware will be successful. I’ve purchased every Xbox since the 360 and accumulated over 100,000 gamerscore (not bragging but that’s a lot of playtime and money spent on their ecosystem), but with their new business model I sold off my series X and i’m sticking to Nintendo and PC. I’m sure other Xbox fans will not purchase the next one knowing they can play Xbox games anywhere.

@Anti-Matter What Xbox "kids" first-party IPs can anyone even name off the top of their heads?
People everywhere know Mario and Sony had their PS1 rented mascots Crash and Spyro, but I don't know if the Xbox brand was ever quickly associated with "kids" brands. (I mean I know the OG was marketed towards the "20s FPS frat boys loaded with Mountain Dew and Doritos" image, and later gen they sure had a wider variety of third-party offerings for all ages.)

@KingMike Kinect stuff

Delaying the inevitable. The writing is on the wall with Microsoft fully embracing a third party publisher role. Hardware sales are abysmal and I seriously doubt shareholders will be okay with them releasing another first party console that will more than likely struggle against the competition.

I didn't even know they were going to make two handhelds. I thought they were just going to had ASUS make them another ROG Ally and just slapped the Xbox brand on it. That's what I heard would happen.

@KingMike
If you take a look XBOX 1st party games from XBOX Classic and XBOX 360, they have some 1st party kids games such as Kinect games on XBOX 360, Viva Pinata, Scream Ride, Amped, Carve, XBOX Music Maker, Fuzion Frenzy, etc.
There are some exclusive 3rd party on XBOX that I have interest such as DDR Ultramix 1 - 4 , DDR UNIVERSE 1 - 3, Dance Evolution, Cross Board 7, etc.

I won't buy an Xbox but I would buy a PlayStation if they made Halo available for it.

Absolutely the right decision the thing would have sold nothing and been a disaster.
Now let’s see if we get a real Xbox home console or not.
It seems the only thing Xbox are getting good at is publishing.

@Medic_alert Microsoft has one huge advantage with XBox and that is that they dominate the PC market with their Windows OS.

PC GamePass is doing well too and with GamePass Ultimate (which I have), you can play games on both XBOX and PC.

So Microsoft doesn't need to sell as many consoles like for example Sony with Playstation, to make a profit.

You also need to remember that both MS and Sony's strategy with consoles has changed a while back. They no longer sell consoles at a loss, like they did in the past. They sell now with a profit. They already stopped with that with the previous generation.
PS3 and XBOX360 were the last consoles that were sold cheap and at a loss.

@OldGamer999 What isn't home about XBOX Series S/X ?

It's as home console as the Sony Playstation 5 digital/5.

I have both XBOX Series X and Playstation 5. They are both traditional home consoles.

So it's up to Sony to release a Hybrid and then pretend like they invented the idea...

I’m starting to get a vision in my head of 2 people running two different sides of XBox, one approving every ridiculous idea, the other waiting until half way through development until they cancel it.

Sort of a corporate Chuckle Brothers.

@Medic_alert That is very suprising and maybe its in the US, as I don't know what its being sold for over there?

But here in Europe the XBox Series X costs the same as the PS5.
I paid 600 euro for my XBOX Series X at launch and the same again 3 years later for my PS5.
Before that I paid 450 euro for my XBOX One X Scorpio Edition.

So if the reported production cost of the XBox console was $500, which always goes down after 2-3 years. They must at the least break even (or at least a small profit) with sales in Europe, but definitely not at loss.

And now, because of global market situation and continuing inflation, the price of both Series X and PS5 have gone up to almost 700 euro.

But yeah, if they sell the XBOX Series X for under 500 bucks in US, then they would sell at a loss with the Series X.
Which surprises me, as after PS3/XBOX360 era, both Sony and MS wanted to stop selling their consoles at a loss and at minimum break even.

The information about Xbox working on their own handheld was confirmed by Phil Spencer long before anything was heard of their partnership with ROG. The rumours that have been bouncing around, for a long time, is that Xbox are considering Steam integration, in whatever their next hardware is, effectively making a console/pc hybrid device. Hybrid ... a popular word around here.
If true, this could be quite destabilising. Suddenly, any PlayStation Studios games that come to pc, would be playable on Xbox hardware. Would this make PlayStation pull back from the pc market? If they have any plans to increase day and date (which is already in place for live service titles) this could actually prevent or discourage Sony from doing that. I don't own a Series console, and have no interest in subscription models or empty discs, but anyone suggesting that Xbox intend to bow out of hardware is just spouting fanboy nonsense. They have no intention of doing that.

@KingMike viva pinata lol

please dont hate it.. i like seeing them happen coming to handheld console

What does OEM mean?

@Rhaoulos
Didn't Steam already try a home console?

@Alpha008
Original Equipment Manufacturer

If they get gamepass on switch 2, I have no reason to buy the next xbox or any xbox handheld. This will save me a lot of money and make me very happy.

I'm almost sure Xbox is leaving the hardware market and, thus, the console market. The next Xbox should be a PC with a Xbox compatible layer, thus capable of running third party stores, such as GOG or Steam. They increased the price of their consoles in Brazil to a point there aren't viable, a Series S is close to the price of a diskless PS5 whereas the Series X is midpoint between PS5 and PS5 Pro. I am waiting the Xbox presentation next month to place my series to sale.

@Jeronan
I was talking about the future possible next generation Xbox home console not the existing series x.

@Spider-Kev You're right, they did with the steam machine. It went pretty much unnoticed, unlike the steam deck.

I was thinking more of the recent rumours about a new home console. Now that they have a big success with portable console, people would probably trust them with a PS6/Xbox (random name) competitor. I'd probably go for a steam console and drop playstation.

@sethfranum yeah. The PC handheld isn’t the best way forward for the Xbox brand for its core. The less than 50 million Xbox crowd might not be PC fans. Same with you, I hope it isn’t true either.

@JohnnyMind starting to wonder if they’re going to turn Xbox into a brand and not a device. It’s a bummer if there won’t be a true portable Xbox instead of a handheld PC with the branding.

Really glad to hear that the Series X and its successor are still being considered and developed at full pace as I really enjoy the Series X. Best console I've ever had. Lots of features and the UI and experience are superb compared to the Switch (which is horrid, empty, and feels abandoned).

I think people who only have a Switch and downplay the Xbox have no idea what they're missing out on. Switch is only for Nintendo exclusive games, nothing else. It's a really poor machine. Switch 2 will be much better but the UI and feeling of emptiness remain, though the mouse feature of the Joy-Cons 2 will be really helpful.

Try a Series X for a few days and see the difference. You'll also love Quick Resume. No other console has it.

Eh, Nintendo channel, no??

@Anti-Matter No matter how negative this comment is, I still agree with it. Xbox’s whole plan is Game Pass. If they stop that, they’ll have to back out of the console wars. Plus, when they were talking about how last gen was the worst gen to lose because people were starting to build their online library, game pass encourages people to NOT build an online library, so it’s a lose/lose situation.

@Ramouz I would recommend the PS5 for everything but gamepass. Everything from XBX and some great exclusives like Spider man and Ghost of tsushima (Didn’t play much on my PS5 til recently, so these are the only PS5 games I have). But you also get access to ps4 games like God of War and Uncharted.

@pikachupikachup maybe one day. Maybe for PS6. I'd love to play Astro Bot. Though it needs quick resume like on Xbox. I really got used to that.
Xbox has backward compatibility all the way back to original Xbox games. Not all but many.

@Ramouz I love Nintendo, I mean, the games, not the company. Series X is the best console I've ever had and I also think that people would love it if they had it: enhanced and free backwards compatibility, Quick Resume, FPS Boost, Play Anywhere, Smart Delivery, the controller itself...

@Banjo- Same about Nintendo's games. I love them. Grew up with an NES and SNES.

My feelings too about the Xbox Series X. Not so much the controller haha. They get old and break quickly (though mine are okay but not as they were 2 years ago). I use a GameSir G7 HE, awesome controller with rear buttons, profiles, hall effect sticks and triggers, mouse-like ABXY buttons (possibly others too).

@KingMike They still have Banjo-Kazooie, but it would just make more sense to cater that third party to Nintendo at this point

@Ramouz Funny you say that when lots of Switch owners play third party games too (I personally would rather play my games on my Switch than my PS5 or 3080ti PC). You are underestimating the power of handheld appeal for any game, and the flexibility of Switch’s form factor in general.

@Antraxx777 I get it. I do. That's why I am excited for the Switch 2. But, I just couldn't enjoy the Switch 1 at all. I do play it undocked once every few months but the screen is too small, performance is slow and blurry, and it's sooo uncomfortable (I can't stand those Joy-Cons, what a mistake). The Wii U was way more comfortable. I just don't like the Switch (I do like the exclusive games).
I'm hoping S2 will be more comfortable to hold and use.

My daughter has the same remarks and only plays on Xbox Series X now (when we allow her), especially since it's very social. She tried to get into the Switch but couldn't and didn't care about portability (since we don't play games when we're out of the house).

On one hand I’m not going to gloat. Nintendo fans are above the console wars. On the other, Microsoft is actually making some semi-intelligent decisions nowadays. Good for them, Laura Fryer would be proud. I have a feeling the American console though illusive, may make a comeback, someday.

I purchased a Xbox One S partly because it was back was compatible with many of my purchases on the Xbox 360 marketplace that I had built up (and I was desperate to play Forza Horizon 3 amongst others). I have since purchased many games across Xbox 360 Xbox One and Series console. I currently have 774 games and I will be buying a the next generation Xbox because I want to continue to have access to my collection that I have built up.

I don’t just want to abandon my all digital games collection.

I have pre-ordered a Switch 2 but it will only be for Nintendo exclusives and third-party games that never make it to the Xbox like Pizza Tower, Into The Beach and others.

@Jeronan Sony also makes other electronic devices, but is also one of the major music publishing labels and owns one of the largest film studios, so they still have many other sources of revenue besides the PlayStation brand.

@Satans_Therapist I, too, started playing on Xbox because of backwards compatibility and then realised how great it is. I will also buy their next hardware and I'm looking forward to the reveal.

I was actually interested as to how it'd turn out. I thought it seemed a little over-ambitious for Microsoft. Giving it the big 'un

@KingMike and Microsoft does only XBOX?

XBOX looks just a pet project for Microsoft, compared to its main business and income stream lol.

It's one of the most valuable companies in the world, next to Apple.

But all this is completely beside the point. We are talking about Playstation and XBOX, not all the other businesses both Microsoft and Sony have.
I only mentioned GamePass and why Microsoft has a huge advantage there with it being both available on XBOX and PC and overall being much greater value for money, due to First party titles and many good third party titles being available on day one.
Unlike Sony PS Plus Premium, that is only available on Playstation, with no day one releases.

It would have been sidelined after the first year of launch anyways 😂

MS has decided to no longer compete and that isn't good at all.

Xbox is like a rudderless boat drifting about….with Sony’s lack of first party games, you can say the same thing…,

very good,Xbox is like

They probably realised cloud gaming does not attract as many people as they'd expect, especially with a direct competitor around that runs actual games.

I have also no interest in an Xbox handheld. But besides that, the Series X is my favorite console this generation.
I'm in for another Xbox.

Basically a GamePass machine. Nothing new here tbh.

@KingMike Minecraft

@Ramouz Eh, my PS5 has a feature a bit like quick resume. If you put the console in rest mode while in a game, the next time you boot up your console you get put right where you were in the game. I still save right before going into rest mode though. Old habits die hard.

@pikachupikachup - The Switch also has that, one game stays on even after restarting the Switch. The one on the Series X lets you shut it down, sleep, or even a power outage, and the games in quick resume stay there. Not just one, but whatever it can handle. I usually have 3-6 games in quick resume, some for many days, months and even for a year.
I really want to see all consoles have that.

@Ramouz It sounds like the Xbox has the quick resume data saved in the ssd, rather than however PS or Nintendo do it. That would allow for the game to be saved even when power to it is turned off. Just a question, how do you know it keeps the data in an outage?

@pikachupikachup - What I mean by outage is that whether you have it turned on or off, and you have games in quick resume (not playing those games), they'll still be there.

@Ramouz Like you can unplug it and it will keep the games in quick resume? Cause if you can’t, then it just uses electricity to keep the games slightly open. Best way to know is if it’s supported on Series S.
Also, saw your earlier comment on how you couldn’t get into the switch. I personally don’t use my switch outside of the house, and I only use it undocked. I also play on my PS5 so I can see the difference. The portability for me is mainly so I can use it when other people use the TV, and so that I can move around while using it. Quick question, have you tried using the pro controller. I have small hands, so the joycon/grip combo is fine for me, but I heard the pro controller is better for people with bigger hands, plus it seems a lot like an xbox controller.

@pikachupikachup
Yep, I can unplug it (which I have done) and games are still in quick resume. Power outage happens (it has happened) and still in quick resume. I love it! Not sure about Series S. (I do want to try a PS5 one day, especially for Astro Bot).

I didn't enjoy the Switch since I come from PC gaming. I only got an Xbox in May, 2022 but prior to that, it was all PC, mixed in with Nintendo. To be fair, I've been using Nintendo products since I was very young, NES, SNES, GameBoy, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, but performance in other consoles/PC improved a lot in ~2012 and Nintendo didn't catch up, until tomorrow.

I then wanted to play on a large screen and relax on a couch so I tried the Series X and loved it. But, I still struggle with not having mouse+keyboard in many games, though many do support them.

Much like you, I ended up using the Switch undocked at home while others were on TV (I did play docked at first), but I just couldn't play for more than 20 minutes or so. Performance too low and screen too small. I got a Switch a bit late in Feb, 2022, and before that, we played on occasion when my brother visited, so I decided to just wait for the next Nintendo console as I figured it couldn't be that far.

The Switch 2 looks like it solves most issues (except for missing some nice Wii U features ), so I am eager to own one, hopefully tomorrow. It looks like it will be great undocked too! But, we'll see, as the UI is lacking compared to Xbox.

I have the Pro Controller. It's actually a great controller. High quality and comfortable. The new Pro Controller 2 for the Switch 2 will be even better as I love rear buttons (have them on my Xbox controller).
I couldn't handle the Joy-Cons nor the grip even though I have them. I bought little adapters in 2022 to put individuals Joy-Cons inside so that they're more comfortable to hold, when separated.

@Ramouz Nice to know. I have been using nintendo products for a while, but my first was a GBA. Got out of gaming for a while, but the wii brought me back in. Skipped the 8th gen, until December 2018 when I got my switch. Now, I am a huge Nintendo fanboy, and have only been playing on my ps5 to play the ps exclusives I’ve been missing out on. Planning on plugging in my dad’s old ps3 (that can play ps2 disks, I checked) to play the old ones too, but I am going to stop once a worthwhile switch 2 game comes out (read: DKB)

@pikachupikachup Oh nice. I wonder what PS has as exclusives that PC/Xbox/Switch don't have apart from Astro Bot. I also got out of gaming at one point.
I went out to Costco and Best Buy today and got a Switch 2 at both places lol (and one Pro Controller). I'll be returning the Costco one since it costs a bit more as it includes a 1 year NSO expansion, which I don't need.

@Ramouz Man bro, I couldn’t go to costco and online orders didn’t open at midnight like I planned. I had to wake up early so I went to sleep at appx. 12:30, and when I checked next, it was sold out everywhere. The closest target to me that has a switch 2 is 25 miles away, so I have no chance of getting the switch 2 soon. Just gotta hope for the restock. Sorry to dump this on you, just kinda mad at scalpers and sad I can’t experience the switch 2 day 1.

@Ramouz PS has a few, like spider man 2 (just platinumed the first around an hour ago), and if you missed out on the ps4 generation, thats where most of the good games are like ghost of tsushima and spider man 1.

@pikachupikachup Strange. At Costco, it was mainly older people shopping about and lots of Switch 2s for sale. I only bought it there because I thought there'd be shortage at Best Buy. Then, I went to BB and we were only about 10 to 15 in line. After that purchase, there weren't many people and mostly older ones there. So, I guess being in a smaller city is much better (and quieter too) and also I'm in Canada (a lot less population than USA). I'm sure you'll get one very soon.

Pro Controller 2 is nice and quiet. Everything is so silent, even bumping the sticks (more than PS5 controller). But it's slippery, unlike the first one, and the D-Pad is the same! Strange.
Haven't opened the S2 yet.

@Ramouz Yeah, I can’t go in store to costco sadly. Combination of distance and work. Got one from yesterday’s best buy restock, cause I can stare at a screen and reload a page for as long as I need to. Sadly its gonna be ready to pick up NEXT friday

@pikachupikachup That is very far! So sorry.
You must be really excited though.

Yes, it's much better than Switch 1, but once you get used to it, that's all there is to it. Wi-Fi is really bad unless you're near a router or repeater, so it's not as portable as they make it seem unless you don't need Internet. That alone makes me want to return it since we paid so much for it. I tried my brother's Switch 2 and same thing. This indicates that they most likely used a cheap Wi-Fi module (for the price we paid). I've had it disconnect in our small apartment a few times when we're in a room about 10 meters away from the router.

Other than that, I'm enjoying it, but I am really worried that they won't be updating other older games, like Mario Tennis, Mario Golf Super Rush, Pokemon Snap, Xenoblade series, Peach Showtime, etc. etc.
I even loaded Clubhouse Games: 51 and it looked blurry and as if it's upscaled in a cheap way, not true 1080p nor 4k, and yet I think they updated that for the Switch 2 based on their page, so that's a bit concerning.

The games that are updated to support real 4k look great. Those that are properly upscaled without updates look good but lack anti-aliasing as usual. I really hope they resolve all of that because they made us wait years, enduring a weak Switch, and forcing developers to develop their games for a weak console, sacrificing graphics, and now all those devs are forced to update their games again.