| shikamaru317 said: Now that I've had some time to think about it, I think that the next-gen Xbox basically just being a gaming PC running a special stripped down version of Windows, might be a good thing. As long as these Xbox consoles can run Steam as well as Microsoft's own PC store client, this Xbox hardware will have access to every game imaginable just about (save for Nintendo exclusives, and even then you may be able to install a Switch 2 emulator if you feel like breaking piracy laws), because Sony is putting everything on Steam, and I doubt they will pull their games from Steam when some of them are making alot of money there. Maybe Sony would try and pressure Valve to not allow Steam running on this stripped down version of Windows to run Sony games, but I doubt Valve would agree to that, and I doubt Sony would have a legal leg to stand on. They'd be forced to either allow these Xbox PC consoles to run their games, or go against making more profit on PC releases by going fully exclusive on PS6 again, possibly angering shareholders. |
Funnily enough back in 2012 or so when Steam announced they were attempting Steam Machine I thought it would have been an incredible opportunity to partner with Xbox.
For a new stripped-down Windows OS, I think they can simply open up the Xbox OS as it is already a strip-down Windows OS with a focus on gaming.
Imagine if MS just did that, then Asus, MSI, Lenovo, and even Valve can offer Xbox OS to be installed on their PC Handheld.
In this strategy, original Xbox Hardware is still warranted if only to set the minimal standard to which the dev can target and make it easy to market without making things confusing for consumers for compatibility with games.
