| EricHiggin said: [...] It depends a lot on cloud gaming and how that goes. Game Pass as well. The better they do, cloud more so, the less reason to upgrade your hardware. Unless MS makes a change like Win 11 and forces you to get more recent hardware to use the service. Maybe, maybe not. Even then you'll have a cheaper option and I wouldn't doubt you'd eventually have the choice of a new Xcloud SKU for much cheaper than the XBSS. |
I agree with you that AI-enhanced upscaling tech, and cloud streaming, will keep the Series S relevant. And I also agree that an inexpensive streaming-only box would be a winner.
Actually, I'd love an inexpensive cloud-streaming box stylized like an OG Xbox Mini, that has some OG Xbox games out of the box (perhaps even some not in the current backwards compatible collection, and perhaps some running with resolution or frame-rate enhancements), but is also an xCloud streaming box. It'd be the only retro mini console that ALSO plays current-gen games! :D
Hmmmm... back on topic, if a game runs great on Series S and can be made to run well on the One X, they could release an Xbox One version of a game that gives you access to streaming the game if you have a One S (or an OG One) but a native version if you have a One X. This would be potentially of interest to people who have an OG One or a One S, but aren't Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. You'd have to be REALLY clear on the box and/or in the description in the store what you are or are not getting, though!
The OG One/One S version could also be a hybrid release, with some elements of the game running natively and others being streamed. So the game would run entirely natively on the One X, but could be a hybrid approach for One S with the sections of the game that are too challenging for the hardware being streamed.
I'm probably more interested in these options for their technical novelty than any business case that could be made for them. :)
