Ask Slashdot: Should Microsoft Make an Xbox Phone? (onmsft.com) 69
dvda247 writes: Since there's the Nintendo Switch and previously there was the Sony PSP (Playstation Portable), should Microsoft make an Xbox Phone? There are already 'gaming phones' like the ASUS ROG Phone 2, but should Microsoft jump back into the smartphone game to make a phone running Android that is focused primarily on playing Xbox One games? Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere would be huge selling points to make an Xbox Phone. What are your thoughts?
No. (Score:5, Insightful)
Too many tries, too many failures for Microsoft phones.
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Exactly. Sony's already tried making a portable gaming device and failed, twice, despite having a ton of money behind it, and a ton of horsepower.
In fact, it's even more embarrassing how Sony basically abandoned the PSP and Vita until interest waned and was forced to put them out of their misery.
What Microsoft should do is take advantage of the NIntendo partnership they have. Nintendo is good at portable stuff, and with the partnership, will probably be more than ready to have Xbox on it. Cross pollinate wi
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Sony's already tried making a portable gaming device and failed, twice
I'd argue it's been more than twice. Before the PSP there was the PocketStation [wikipedia.org], which was Sony's first foray into a handheld gaming system. And more recently, there was the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play [wikipedia.org], an Android phone with a built-in slide out gamepad.
The Xperia Play would seem to be the lesson Microsoft should follow. It never gained that much traction in the market, amongst all the other Android smartphones out there. For the longest time the Xperia Play was the only (official) way to use PS4 Remote P
if they just made an android phone.. (Score:2)
it would be okay. just make a modern xperia play. thats what people actually want.
but microsoft as an organization can't do that, the project will balloon into a new design language, be delayed yet at the same time rushed and all xbox games need to be _ported_ to it(yet somehow require a xbox to sit at home) and wifi sharing will be a dlc.
also the controller part will be a banana.
If they made a phone that ran Android (Score:2)
No (Score:3)
In any case, a mobile console is one thing, and a phone is another one. I do not see many ASUS ROG Phones being sold, or even advertised. Also, Sony left mobile gaming for a reason. So there is only Nintendo having some success in the mobile space, and I fear it is because of Mario. Why would you try the Vita thing again, downgrade console games to fit the portable limitations?
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"Microsoft" and "phone" in the same sentence? (Score:3)
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Hilarious.
20+ years of delivering shitty bug-riddled OS solutions, and they're still the dominant OS on the planet.
Yeah, I still laugh, but it's more that insane maniacal laugh as I wrestle with consumer sanity.
Dominant in a tiny sub market. (Score:3)
Yes they are dominant. On the very specific sub-market of "workstations used on a desk at work" and "high range gaming rigs of people who don't buy prebuilt machines from Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo" (though you might argue that Xbox run a windows derivative). You might similarly gerrymander some definition regarding mail servers in mid-sized offices.
Absolutely everything else runs predominantly Unix variants, mostly either Linux or some BSD derivative (including OS X which is becoming widely popular on laptops
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Yes they are dominant. On the very specific sub-market of "workstations used on a desk at work" and "high range gaming rigs of people who don't buy prebuilt machines from Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo" (though you might argue that Xbox run a windows derivative)...Absolutely everything else runs predominantly Unix variants, mostly either Linux or some BSD derivative...
So that's why ransomware become a multi-billion dollar industry, crippling entire cities? Because absolutely everything else runs on *NIX, and that sub-market is defined as sub because it's so small and insignificant?
Life inside the Linux bubble can be deceiving, and the reality of the world is far from what you've painted here. What Windows is still running is far more relevant and concerning than how dominant *NIX has become in kitchen appliances and car stereos.
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20+ years of delivering shitty bug-riddled OS solutions, and they're still the dominant OS on the planet.
In the desktop. And nowhere else.
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20+ years of delivering shitty bug-riddled OS solutions, and they're still the dominant OS on the planet.
In the desktop. And nowhere else.
That "simple" desktop space you've tried to paint as limited, is called Corporate America on the smallest scale, or the majority of corporations globally on the largest scale. Ironically that's also known as the space that touches and affects damn near everything else.
It is already is one (Score:2)
Mod parent up [nt] (Score:1)
What would that look like... (Score:1)
Not Android (Score:2, Insightful)
We have plenty of phones with all sorts of hardware with Android but people aren't buying it for gaming. Android is a sh*tty interface for anything and has a poor ABI for optimizing games.
If you want a gaming platform go the way of Steam Box or nVidia Shield with good hardware and Linux or Windows. Apple's stuff is working for a lot of people due to Metal and conformity between TV and Mobile so games are easy to port and have usable, uniform experiences.
Trying to diversify both hardware and software for mob
Yes... but a Windows Phone (Score:3)
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It was funny that they quit right as Windows 10 was just making it to phones. I imagine that has to be the first usable version too.
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The missing piece was apps. Attracting devs is very hard, and it's a big barrier to entry in the phone market. If they* make nice with big G and figure out how to drop android apps on it it would be awesome.
* I work for Microsoft on an unrelated technology. Yes, I know this makes my opinion invalid.
Android Apps (Score:2)
and figure out how to drop android apps on it
except that, last time they tried (correct me with your insider knowledge if I'm wrong), they didn't manage successfully, decided to drop the ball, and WSL1 is what Microsoft managed to salvage out of this abandonned effort.
Except that one didn't get them that far neither, so they basically dropped the ball on WSL1 too and decided instead to use HyperV instead for WSL2, just slapping a "Light" moniker on it, so they could justify providing it on none-business Windows variant which aren't supposed to featur
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Insufficient data to answer. I assumed it was a consequence of our Kubernetes work, but that is a 100% guess.
Re: Yes... but a Windows Phone (Score:1)
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I think it's a great idea. (Score:2)
I've enjoyed watching all the previous Windows phones fail, especially the Motorola Q that went into some sort of freeze/overdrive thing where it tried to burn a hole in my leg, so yeah, I would love to watch it fail again.
Would probably not work (Score:2)
The XBox One has an order of a magnitude more powerful hardware than in a typical high-end smartphone --- and it is running x86 code whereas smartphones have ARM cores. In other words, they are two different types of hardware platforms.
Console games are typically optimised for a certain hardware configuration. To make a console game run adequately on another hardware configuration, the developer would have to tune it for that hardware, which would require some effort, time and money. Even if the API:s are t
Input is the difference (Score:2)
I don't think that many developers would find it worthwhile to port their existing XBox One titles to the new platform.
Most of the games you would see would probably be games that are already tuned for smartphones running Android - and then the gamer could just as well get a high-end Android phone in the first place.
I can think of two categories of game that might be worthwhile to port to a phone with buttons:
A. Games that run well on a midrange to high-end Android phone but require an external USB or Bluetooth gamepad in order to progress much past level 2. One example of this in my experience was the free version of Pixeline and the Jungle Treasure.
B. Games for Windows or Xbox One that can run at low settings and haven't already been ported to Android primarily because of the lack of a gamepad on the vast majority of
Now's not the time to be a follower (Score:2)
Seriously. There are a ton of mature phones on the market and Microsoft would have to play catch up in terms of bringing a phone that met people's expectations.
The best solution for Microsoft would be to look at the next generation and that is obviously implanting X-Box hardware into people's brains. Think of it, any time you think of games, you'd be directed by the chips in your head. Since those chips are Microsoft's you'd only be thinking about Licensed Microsoft games and as you thought about the gam
NOOOOOOO (Score:3)
"How about NOOOOOOOOOOOO?"
- Dr Evil in Goldmember
Another fucking Microsoft phone? No thanks, I'll pass.
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Re: NOOOOOOO (Score:1)
This seems low risk (Score:2)
Positive: The main limitation of mobile games is not the available mobile hardware, it's the inconsistency of mobile hardware: devs need to aim at the lowest common denominator. So the Xphone ex
Waiting for the Pine phone (Score:2)
I'm waiting for the Pine Phone:
https://www.pine64.org/pinepho... [pine64.org]
Sadly, it's not available yet but the laptops they have available look very nice, and they're getting ready to release a Pine Tablet, which also seems pretty good.
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Bad choice of name, especially if you read your email on your phone on a regular basis.
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It's a witch!
More competition is always good (Score:2)
Iphone sales are already dropping like a rock, because you can buy better spec'd android phones for less money. But no reason to stop there and "gaming phones" still suck. I want a 6.5" screened monster running like, a custom AMD dual core Zen Soc, should max out at 3.5 watt tdp on 7nm at low enough clockspeeds. Then a 6 CU Navi GPU should be able to power just about any particularly casual game on the PC you can name, and as long
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Iphones sucking has nothing to do with Android.
They are made by Apple. Thus they suck.
Apple is a closed corporation who sues anybody who does anything that risks them opening up anything.
Nerds have never liked Apple. At least not since the Apple II which under the influence of Woz was a fairly open platform.
XBox Play Anywhere? (Score:3)
Is that anything like Plays For Sure?
MIKKKRO$OFT? (Score:2)
IF M$ supports a thing, it's bad because it's EEE, if they don't support it, then it's also bad because vendor lock in!
First sign you're on the MS chopping block (Score:2)
A sure sign that you'll need to update your resume:
you have been selected to be part of the Xbox phone team
Yes, as long as... (Score:2)
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And they should really try to turn the market on its head by doing a a few key things:
1. Establishing a fully standardized phone that's open to hacking on it and maybe even base it on RISC V or something.
2. Do a regular refresh every two years that is forward compatible.
3. Sell it at cost.
Their competitors will howl in rage over #3, but there's nothing they can do about it if they do #1. Good luck bringing anti-trust charges against Microsoft if they release one of the only high quality phones that is damn near as open as a Librem 5.
Fair enough. But if past experience is any indication, they'd try to run the phone and the X-box on the same code base and neither will work satisfactorily. By the third iteration they'll have something that works but by then everyone will have lost interest.
Re: Yes, they should (Score:1)
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2. No notch so the ads can use more of the GUI all the time.
3. HDR. The free HDR. Not the expensive HDR.
4. Best mobile gaming refresh rate numbers. So the ads really look good.
5. Fast processor with more cooling. To better dissipate the DRM heat.
6. 5 lenses so the software can create any look to an image. Color accuracy. Bokeh software settings.
7. Full digital 6K video.
8. IP67 due to water.
9. Huge stereo speakers with 24-bit audio.
shrug (Score:2)
It's Microsoft's money. They can do what they want with it.
Why not just an app? (Score:2)
Only if it has side talking... (Score:1)
Obviously no. (Score:2)
Since there's the Nintendo Switch and previously there was the Sony PSP (Playstation Portable), should Microsoft make an Xbox Phone?
omfgwtfbbqnoob. You should obviously reference the SEMC Xperia Play, not the PSP.
There are already 'gaming phones' like the ASUS ROG Phone 2, but should Microsoft jump back into the smartphone game to make a phone running Android that is focused primarily on playing Xbox One games?
Yeah, and there was the N-GAGE way back when. And again, Sony tried that with Playstation games on the Xperia Play, and the market responded with a resounding "meh". Consequently they never bothered to bring very many games to the platform. IIRC they just barely got out of single digits in titles if you count all markets. There is a free tool which takes PSX ISOs and turns them into titles for the system. ISTR that the majority
A bit late don't you think ? (Score:2)
You really want to enter the smartphone marketplace NOW ?
It's saturated and dominated by Apple and Android.
New models no longer generate the excitement or hype that they used to.
This is a question Microsoft should have asked themselves back in 2007 . . . . . .
This train has come, gone and been replaced a few times over.
Make a Win32 phone (Score:3)
I was wondering the other day if it would be possible for MS to just say fuckit and make a win32 phone. My current laptop is about 7 years old and has 4GB of RAM and still works perfectly for tons of stuff - I feel like I see phones with better specs these days, and I was wondering how far away we are from something that can run win32 natively.
I am not a big MS person but I would be kinda interested in a portable phone (even if it was a bigger fatter phone, like a Samsung Note thing) if I could plug it into a monitor and keyboard and have my Windows desktop and core applications available.
I am sure there are tons of technical reasons why they can't do this (IIRC they kinda tried something this with Windows RT on ARM and that seemed to be useless?) but I'd love to see a 3rd serious player in the ecosystem & throwing in the decades of win32 software and knowledge out there would be a great way to boostrap it.
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The main issue is the CPU. x86 CPUs suck for battery powered devices with heavily constrained cooling. ARM sucks at running x86 code and if they port Windows to ARM again they will have the same problem as Windows RT: no apps.
Samsung Dex is a bit like what you want. It's not Windows but it does give you a full desktop that runs Android apps in windows. For stuff like browsing, document editing and media consumption the tablet versions of Android apps are fine. Given the machine you use as an example is 7 ye
Re: Make a Win32 phone (Score:1)
Yes (Score:2)
Microsoft Hardware (Score:1)
In the immortal words of Down Periscope: (Score:1)
Dodge: Jackson, you look like you could use some fresh air!
Jackson: Umm. No?
Alternative idea (Score:3)
Now, for this thing, Android could either be like a dual boot option alongside a native Microsoft OS that plays their special snowflake Xbox-branded games, or it could be the main option and Microsoft could just lock down their device-exclusive games with some kind of DRM or something. More importantly, Android already has support for tons of stuff baked in: video streaming services, e-books, a large game library, but most importantly RetroArch and Dolphin are both well-supported on it. Add some exclusives and you have a very compelling little device for a lot of people with a lot of the same functionality they always end up replicating in their consoles anyway.
I don't actually see this happening, even with Microsoft embracing Android lately, but it's an idea. I think it's more likely that Nvidia might start up the Shield Tablet line with some kind of dockable functionality and maybe an attachable controller addon.
Angry Windows Phone Developer Here (Score:1)
Then they dropped their platform.
Never again. Fool me once shame on you
Such a wonderful innovative idea never before seen (Score:1)
I think the phone should also run the x86 architecture.
I betcha running CISC processing will also be faster and produce better results.
Oooh maybe they can integrate some kind of Compact Edition of the Windows OS. We really need the Windows OS to have more features and be more all encompassing. I saw a Sonic Drive up order screen stuck in a windows 7 boot loop yesterday, it probably would have been okay if the system had more features.
More attack vectors are a good think for employing security researchers.