Play flight simulator 2020 on pc. Meta quest 3 works very well for it. I will buy in the next 12 months.
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Xbox Series X (coming 10 Nov 2020)
- Thread starter gkarris
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I don't have a PC anymore, so unfortunately it's an expensive proposition to get back into it.
Yeah, I largely replaced the Xbox with the PS5.I finally sold my XBX this weekend.
I only had it for MSFS and the 2024 situation on XB continues to be a trainwreck.
Even if the handheld just emulated Xbox 360 games, it would be an indication that microdot is planning on emulating the entire Xbox line, and switching to pc based gaming only.
Right now they are pushing play anywhere, it’s almost like they are preparing for pc only games (running in windows) in the future.
We will know in a few years of microdot is transitioning completely out of consoles, or going to run both side by side.
Precisely this. They are merging windows and xbox. Xbox will essentially be a PC that runs a couch friendly version of windows without windows branding.
More cost effective with just a single OS and kernel to develop. It also reduces inventory risk as the hardware will mainly be developed and manufactured by third parties.
As far as I am aware Xbox has used the Windows kernel (ntoskrnl) it's entire existence.
I wish they'd hurry up.
I'd build a new PC for MSFS 2024 if I could also play the NHL, PGA & NCAA games on it.
Correct. What's different about the handheld is that is uses Windows 11 Home rather than a heavily modified version of the windows kernel.
Today, software engineering can be more expensive to build and maintain than hardware. This is why the development of big titles has balloned to hundreds of millions. For Microsoft, not having to operate a seperate Xbox OS will save them billions in building, debugging, maintaing and upgrading code/hardware.
For your average consumer, if the next Xbox is a PC with Xbox UI, they won't be able to tell with the exception of not having a physical disc drive. RIP bluray
3.5 million Switch sold in 4 days. Nuts! Handheld gaming is where MS needs to be. For Xbox handhelds to succeed we need the following:
-Entry level hardware: Priced like a switch.
-High-end version: Priced like a PS5 Pro.
-Physical buttons for Xbox and steam storefronts.
-Launcher for all store fronts.
-One button press for optimised settings. I don’t want to spend 1-2 hours toggling to find the balance between fps and eye candy.
-Entry level hardware: Priced like a switch.
-High-end version: Priced like a PS5 Pro.
-Physical buttons for Xbox and steam storefronts.
-Launcher for all store fronts.
-One button press for optimised settings. I don’t want to spend 1-2 hours toggling to find the balance between fps and eye candy.
The physical buttons for multiple storefronts is an interesting ask.
The optimized settings things is going to be down to the developer, sadly.
Rumors are that the base Xbox Ally is going to be ~500 and the Xbox Ally X is going to be ~800. Which is going to price the good handheld out of most folks hands.
The Base Ally is basically a Steam Deck in power.
Not sure how I feel about this "Xbox" branded hardware. You just know it won't be the same experience, in terms of hardware quality, software quality, MS support et.c.
A handheld Xbox from MS would have been a day one purchase. This ASUS-Box-whatever, not so much.
A handheld Xbox from MS would have been a day one purchase. This ASUS-Box-whatever, not so much.
I had two MS made Xbox wireless headsets fail the same way during warranty - the microphone plastic disintegrated around the mute switch at the base of the boom mic. I've had multiple Microsoft controllers suffer fatal stick drift.
Much as I like the console itself, MS' quality control for peripherals is a garbagefire. For all its connectivity glitches, the B&O Beoplay Portal hasn't literally fallen apart in my hands, and despite it's stupid double-square and three-line button placement and lack of wireless, the Gamesir controller is likewise avoiding self-destruction.
I'd almost prefer if MS made a portable, that it was just a brick with a screen, and you could add your own controllers like with the switch... and they could make it a cellphone as well...
...MS should just make a Surface cellphone and put the Xbox app on it.
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Remember netbooks? They were a disaster. Hardware specs and performance varied. Some were out right under powered junk. However as a user it wasn't easy to tell by the spec sheet.
Xbox branding need to be a certification program. E.g if a product bears th xbox logo, it should be capable of running the top 50 games.
On PC, the nvidia app has one press optimised settings for any games? Does nvidia have a good equivalent? This will be a must for the handheld. Basically any game you download gets optimised settings by default.
The Nvidia app does muck with config files for games that they have white listed so far. From what I can tell it is mostly newer games they have focused on. Left to it's own devices it seems to like to turn DLSS on and MFG on even in games where you (I mean me, lol) don't need it.
Buying a gaming PC requires countless hours of research. MS's biggest task will be giving consumers confidence in PC handhels. They should be marketed as 720p or 1080 devices. No one wants to spend $500-800 on a device that is under powered and will be junk in 12-18 months whilst a handheld like the Switch 2 will get highly optimised games for the next 10 years.
It would not be fair to expect the average console gamer to learn about cpu, gpu, ram speed, upscaling, frame gen, ray tracing and having to balance them against texture quality and resolution.
Even if a you are a desktop gamer, the specs of a handheld don't tell you much about the raw performance of the device.
That is fair. I wouldn't recommend folks get a Windows PC handheld because it is going to be a crap experience. I would not recommend a Steak Deck for the newer forward looking (tech wise) games either because it is really old hardware at this point. Generally speaking, you can't go wrong with an Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU (as long as it has more than 8 GB of RAM). The rest of the system specs matter, but not as much as one would think. And yes I remember the issues that Intel has with it's older CPU's.
It is why consoles are so popular, you get a fixed platform that has support for 4-8 years and you don't have to worry about about games not running (lets ignore CP2077 on PS4/XB1).
Handheld PCs has to adapt to games.
Games adapt to Switch 2 through ports.
Those a big differences. Hence why CP2077 runs and looks good on the Switch 2 which is an insamely compact device. The ideal would be if Nvidia made a newer version of the Switch 2 SoC available to handheld PCs. However given the amount that they are generating from enterprise sales of AI chips, there's little incentive to dilly dale with a new consumer hardware category.
For the Xbox handheld, I hope that MS can unify buying and updating games. On PC I have approximentally 5 different store fronts: Xbox, Steam, GoG, EA, Epic and Rockstar. It's a mess and it would be a ashame to deal with the same on on a handheld device.
However, no device is perfect. It's good that anyone with a PC catalogue will be able to play their game on the go in a way that's previously not been possible. This will clearly be a journey of iteration for MS, OEM and store fronts.
Next generation of Xbox hardware officially confirmed. Like for Sony, AMD will be the partner. No surprises given the opportunity cost for Nvidia to manufacture gaming console chips instead of AI chips for enterprise.
I'm glad that current Xbox only titles will be playable on the future consoles. However they don't mention disc drive in the video. My biggest question is why be excited about a future xbox console instead of PS6, given that Xbox exclusives are dead and Xbox titles are increasingly avaiable on PS?
www.theverge.com
I'm glad that current Xbox only titles will be playable on the future consoles. However they don't mention disc drive in the video. My biggest question is why be excited about a future xbox console instead of PS6, given that Xbox exclusives are dead and Xbox titles are increasingly avaiable on PS?
Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox has an AMD chip inside and is ‘not locked to a single store’
The next Xbox will be a lot different.
www.theverge.com
I feel like Microsoft is going to just license windows to whichever OEM is interesting in making a windows gaming handheld, and leave it to the market to sort itself out. You want the openness of Windows, you get the fragmentation that comes with it as well.
Bye bye Intel. This is good news, less fragmented hardware and confusing performance across handhelds, laptops and PC.
Having the same team working on OS, GPU, CPU, AI algorithms and driver optimisation will improve gaming. I hope that the new Xbox console, plays PC versions of titles rather than console versions. The launch of the current gen consoles was a disaster: Play previous gen titles, wait 2-3 years for lacklustre next gen updates, some of which were not free! Wieh PC, you can upgrade hardware and instantly unlock higher FPS and improved visuals.
Having the same team working on OS, GPU, CPU, AI algorithms and driver optimisation will improve gaming. I hope that the new Xbox console, plays PC versions of titles rather than console versions. The launch of the current gen consoles was a disaster: Play previous gen titles, wait 2-3 years for lacklustre next gen updates, some of which were not free! Wieh PC, you can upgrade hardware and instantly unlock higher FPS and improved visuals.
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I had to laugh at the way they sold this lol. Because Sony are actively helping to develop the replacement for FSR and AMD’s next chips. The battle will continue on.
Yeah it is some interesting marketing on AMD/MS part. IIRC The Series X and S have "ML" hardware blocks that have seemingly never been used, while Sony helps AMD with FSR4 (via PSSR hardware) and is actually using it in games now.
Either way AMD is getting some nice free help with developing its platforms from both sides. Will certainly be interesting to see what we get next gen.
This is good news. It would be a costly headache for developers to support, develop for, test and maintain 5-10 different upscaling technologies. When this happens, they simply don't bother implementing some of them. This results in consumers having games that don't take full advantage of hardware that's been paid for.
AMD, Sony and MS sharing algorithms, frameworks or software stacks for AI upscaling will have HUGE benefits across gaming - especially as AI upscaling is becoming more important than hardware for rasterisation.
I am fairly sure the bolded part isn't going to happen. Sony is going to customize whatever they work with AMD on and it will be separate from what MS is going to use. On the MS side they are going to push DirectSR which will just plug in whatever vendors upscaler is present on the system (as far as I am aware DirectSR doesn't actually handle upscaling itself).