Microsoft Portable on the Way?

[bapenguin]

Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/08/takahashi-microsoft-portable-coming-halfway-through-360s-lifes/) brings word that Dean Takahashi's new book, The Xbox 360 Uncloaked, says a XBox portable is on the way coming somewhere in the middle of the 360's life cycle.

Although Joystiq claims an announcement is doubtful, I've got strong feeling we'll at least see it announced and possibly a prototype shown.

[Food Nipple]

This just seems like more baseless conjecture. Didn't we see all these Origami rumors disproven a month or two ago? I seriously don't think Microsoft has any desire to lose millions of dollars in both sectors of the gaming market at this point. Maybe once the xbox division is in the black they'll consider a portable, but I'm willing to bet that you won't be hearing a thing about one not because they're keeping it under wraps, but because it doesn't exist.

[fitbabits]

Oh, E3... Microsoft have the advantage this year with their presentation being the last of the three scheduled by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. I'm expecting some pretty major announcements. ;)

[bapenguin]

This just seems like more baseless conjecture. Didn't we see all these Origami rumors disproven a month or two ago? I seriously don't think Microsoft has any desire to lose millions of dollars in both sectors of the gaming market at this point. Maybe once the xbox division is in the black they'll consider a portable, but I'm willing to bet that you won't be hearing a thing about one not because they're keeping it under wraps, but because it doesn't exist.

Origami became the ultra portable platform.

This is something different. Like I said, I've got a strong feeling you'll see this tomorrow.

[CaptStu]

Oh, E3... Microsoft have the advantage this year with their presentation being the last of the three scheduled by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. I'm expecting some pretty major announcements. ;)
We went around this subject a few weeks ago, me thinks you already know what these announcements will be.

[Roc Ingersol]

For the love of baby jebus, make it play live arcade games.

EDIT: and if it's meant to drop around the middle of the 360s lifecycle, wouldn't this E3 be a bit early to unveil it?

(cue snarky comment about 360s lifespan with reference to original xbox)

[bapenguin]

For the love of baby jebus, make it play live arcade games.

EDIT: and if it's meant to drop around the middle of the 360s lifecycle, wouldn't this E3 be a bit early to unveil it?

(cue snarky comment about 360s lifespan with reference to original xbox)

My guess would be announced this E3. Shown off next E3. Out the following holiday. A little shy of the 7 year lifecycle but 3 years in is close enough.

[Serapth]

All I can say is, if it gets developer support by Bioware and Bethesda, im SOLD! God I want good western style RPGs in a handheld format.

Hell, I picked up a PSP in hopes of playing even Eastern Style RPGs on it, and its been sadly disapointing sofar. All the RPGs were pretty lame, unless somethings been released in the last month or so, I frankly stopped paying attention.

[Zurik]

All I can say is, if it gets developer support by Bioware and Bethesda, im SOLD! God I want good western style RPGs in a handheld format.

Hell, I picked up a PSP in hopes of playing even Eastern Style RPGs on it, and its been sadly disapointing sofar. All the RPGs were pretty lame, unless somethings been released in the last month or so, I frankly stopped paying attention.

Check a japanese import site like Play-asia.com or Lik-sang.com. We're getting shafted on RPGs. They have Suikoden I and II over there, although I heard that it might actually make it here. Portable Suikoden!!!

[AniAko]

I'd be curious to see what Microsoft came up with as a handheld platform. Mostly with the name... You have the "XBox", what will they call it? The "YFly" :rolleyes:

[Borys]

/ Black Eyed Peas

It's getting crowded in heeeeeeere!

Inevitable Summer:

"Xboy" of course.

[Furious Wang]

This is a horrible idea. With the PSP staggering in competition with the behemoth that is the DS, how can Microsoft hope to compete? The PSP is the complete package, all you could ask for in a portable, yet DS still outshines it thanks to a near unbeatable software package. Microsoft would have to be insane. How bout focusing on the home console market first guys.

[Zanzibar]

Personally, I think this thing should just freakin' play original xbox games. Screw this 'yet another format' bullshit, the Xbox is NOWHERE NEAR worth giving up on.

Have a HDD instead of a disc, plug the unit into an X360 (or, preferably, an original Xbox) and download the data from the disc to the unit.

[Serapth]

Im trying to decide if I would buy a portable game system that just played live arcade games. If I didnt have to rebuy them... god that would be tempting.

[UnderHero5]

This is a horrible idea. With the PSP staggering in competition with the behemoth that is the DS, how can Microsoft hope to compete? The PSP is the complete package, all you could ask for in a portable, yet DS still outshines it thanks to a near unbeatable software package. Microsoft would have to be insane. How bout focusing on the home console market first guys.
I was just about to reply to this thread and refreshed it... to my amazement you had replied for me.
I feel the same way. They would have to WANT to lose money to introduce a portable... even if it was three years down the road.

I own a PSP and a DS... Nintendo knows portable gaming. Period.

Unless MS goes with cartidges, I'll avoid their new portable like I SHOULD have avoided the PSP (assuming a MS portable will even exist). Load times and portable gaming simply do not mix. I also think it's been proven that graphics mean jack shit in the world of portables. They'll have to bring something very new and impressive to the table to even be considered.

[Zanzibar]

This is a horrible idea. With the PSP staggering in competition with the behemoth that is the DS, how can Microsoft hope to compete? The PSP is the complete package, all you could ask for in a portable, yet DS still outshines it thanks to a near unbeatable software package. Microsoft would have to be insane. How bout focusing on the home console market first guys.

PSP sucks because it does everything exactly wrong. It can't play PS2 games, it's difficult to program for, it has a terrible battery life, it runs on an expensive media format. DS has a library of games that is really impressive, particularly if you include all the GBA games etc.

If the Microsoft portable just carried a hard drive and you downloaded Xbox games onto it you'd make a pretty sweet system.

[UnderHero5]

PSP sucks because it does everything exactly wrong. It can't play PS2 games, it's difficult to program for, it has a terrible battery life, it runs on an expensive media format. DS has a library of games that is really impressive, particularly if you include all the GBA games etc.

If the Microsoft portable just carried a hard drive and you downloaded Xbox games onto it you'd make a pretty sweet system.
First, it would have to be pretty large for that... have a pretty damn powerful processor (for a portable) and a large enough screen to make sure all text that would normally be read on a tv can be read on the small screen... Not only would it be expensive, it would eat batteries faster than the Game Gear or Nomad did. It would be heavy... and quite frankly, I doubt it would be very "portable".
Not to mention that MS would never do that. One simple reason is piracy. There would be no way to control it...
Another reason is they would make no money off of software (or very little) since there won't be games being developed for the Xbox 3 years from now... and they aren't going to make much on the 3 year old Xbox games they would be selling... plus they would have to keep those old Xbox games in productions three years after the Xbox 1 was dead... etc etc...
Point is... that WON'T happen.

[Zanzibar]

First, it would have to be pretty large for that... have a pretty damn powerful processor (for a portable) and a large enough screen to make sure all text that would normally be read on a tv can be read on the small screen... Not only would it be expensive, it would eat batteries faster than the Game Gear or Nomad did. It would be heavy... and quite frankly, I doubt it would be very "portable".
Not to mention that MS would never do that. One simple reason is piracy. There would be no way to control it...
Another reason is they would make no money off of software (or very little) since there won't be games being developed for the Xbox 3 years from now... and they aren't going to make much on the 3 year old Xbox games they would be selling... plus they would have to keep those old Xbox games in productions three years after the Xbox 1 was dead... etc etc...
Point is... that WON'T happen.
Damn you and your logic!!!
Yeah, I'm just doing a bit of wishful thinking.

[Reanimated]

Hopefully they learn from the utter failure of PSP and make something worth owning.

[Loganrapp]

This is a horrible idea. With the PSP staggering in competition with the behemoth that is the DS, how can Microsoft hope to compete? The PSP is the complete package, all you could ask for in a portable, yet DS still outshines it thanks to a near unbeatable software package. Microsoft would have to be insane. How bout focusing on the home console market first guys.

They don't have to make a better portable.

They just have to convince you that they did.

[Roc Ingersol]

All it needs to do is run even a fraction of the XBLArcade library.

By this time next year it'd have a drool-worthy lineup and a built-in market of people who'd buy it because they already own a half-dozen titles and would dig on being able to play them on the go. (along with movies and music)

Nintendo was once unbeatable in the home market too.
Hell, if Sony hadn't hamstrung the PSP out of the gate, they could've already taken a serious bite of the market. It took a dumb media choice and a dearth of games to slow that thing down.

[rein]

You know... ...almost any ppc will run most of the xbox live arcade library.

[UnderHero5]

Damn you and your logic!!!
Yeah, I'm just doing a bit of wishful thinking.
Hehe, a little wishful thinking never hurt.

I've never been a huge portable gamer until pretty recently. I used to own a Gameboy Pocket, then a Gameboy Color, but I only had a few games for them (Pokemon, Pokemon Pinball, and Gameboy Camera... I think that's it).
Anyway, I got rid of my Gameboys a LONG time ago... and didn't own another portable until the launch of the PSP.
I looked at the DS before that and shrugged it off.
In my head the PSP was perfect because it was the console experience on a handheld. In my head that sounded awesome!
I bought one on launch... it was great. I got like 5 of the launch games within the first month of owning it and had a good time... tethered to a power cord... in my living room.

A few months later I purchased a DS on a whim pretty much. I got Wario Ware Touched, Yoshi's Touch and Go and Mario 64 DS with it.
Well after putting in some game time with my DS, a couple months went by, and I noticed my DS game collection was larger than my PSP collection...

It was then I realised why. Portable gaming is a completely different beast than console gaming. Console games on a handheld just don't work as well as a game specifically designed with portable gaming in mind. Nintendo knows this. The PSP was designed with console gaming on the go in mind, which sounds awesome, but in practice I just don't think it works good at all.
I have to admit, to some people the PSP is a great machine, I'm sure. People who travel all the time. Who are never home or in one place for very long. Say, some one who stays in hotels away from home for their jobs or something. The PSP would be GREAT for those people.
However, lets be honest, that's not most of us. That isn't the gaming crowd in general. Most of us own a home console or two and have access to it daily.
That said, eventually you have to ask yourself... "why am I playing this on my handheld when I could just play it on my tv?". The novelty of console gaming in the palm of your hand wears off after the first couple of months.
Why do we buy different consoles? Well, I personally buy them for the games that I can't get on the other consoles. Why should portables be any different?
The nice thing I've noticed about portable gaming in my recent experiences with it (GBA and DS games) is that it can offer games not found on home consoles. It has gameplay you just don't often find on a console, usually perfectly suited to quick gaming fixes. You can play a portable game for as little, or as long as you'd like.

The ability to have a quick burst of gaming is what portables are about to me. I can power on my DS, it loads instantly, I play a game for 10 or 15 minutes then shove it back in my pocket until I'm ready to play again. The PSP (and assumedly "Xbox Portable") just isn't made with that in mind. Whether it's the battery life, the size/weight, the loading times (and for PSP, the fragility of the machine itself) the PSP is just not suitable as a portable gaming device, even if that's what it technically is.
I don't know if I'm explaining this right, or if I even could. Before I owned both I thought the PSP was a great idea. It wasn't until I had experience with both machines that I realised the PSP isn't the next step in portable gaming.

I am not biased. I'm no Nintendo fanboy, I support all of the big three, but I just think Nintendo knows portable gaming. They know what people want better than certain people themselves do (now I sound brainwashed... but apparently it was true in my case).
When it comes to portable gaming Nintendo just has the experience, I think that's obvious by now.

I just don't see MS making good decisions with a portable. I think they would go for graphics and "features" like the PSP did. With a disc based format that would lead to long loading times, short battery lives, and just another portable media center than can also play games.

Hopefully I'm wrong. If they made something truly unique and portable, with PORTABLE gaming in mind (not console gaming on the go) then I would gladly purchase one (assuming it had good games).
And it would have to be more durable than the PSP, that's for sure.
Heck, my DS recently got an entire glass of juice spilled directly on top of it and it's clam shell design saved it! Most of the juice was simply deflected by the folded down top screen. All I had to do was wipe the thing off with a damp cloth and dry it.
Had that happened to my PSP it would have been completely ruined.
(It wasn't me who spilled that juice. I would never be so careless).

Wow, that was a bit of rambling.

[jBusy]

Wow, that was a bit of rambling.

Yes, but I think it hits some good points. Both Microsoft and the studios that make games for this system are going to have to learn that handhelds require games that play differently. I hope it's not through the hard way.

[Balthasar]

Hopefully they learn from the utter failure of PSP and make something worth owning.
How was the PSP an "utter failure?" I can see how one might say that about the UMD format for movies, but the device on a whole has sold very well.

[bapenguin]

My guess for what it contains:

* Hard drive based...no gaming media (discs, cartridges, etc). All purchases via the internet or XBox Live.

* Single Touch screen
* Camera as input device for things like movement, etc
* Some kind of cross platform functionality with XBox
* Some kind of cross platform functionality with MSN Games
* Wi-Fi, Live, etc

Release Date: November 2007

[Dracula-X]

It can't play PS2 gamesShould it? That's like bitching about the DS not being able to play Gamecube games. They shouldn't in either case.

it's difficult to program forThat couldn't be farther from the truth. It's a joke to program for.

it has a terrible battery lifeI find it isn't terrible.

it runs on an expensive media formatI would like to have seen a HDD in place of UMDs, myself. I don't think UMDs are expensive, however. One of the reasons Hollywood flooded the market with overpriced UMD movies is because licensing fees per UMD are quite low, and competitive with carts for publishers of games.


Now, about this Xboy news. Not sure what to think about it yet, I don't think the market can sustain a third handheld. The DS and it's back catalog of GBA games is unbeatable. The PSP, also with a great selection of games now and looking at the E3 lists with tons of nice stuff soon, will soon have a downloadable PS1 catalog of titles. Portable Halo isn't going to cut it if you ask me, so what's left?

[Kamalot]

How was the PSP an "utter failure?" I can see how one might say that about the UMD format for movies, but the device on a whole has sold very well.
Just read through the threrad and see how many people REGRET buying a PSP.

It may have had a lot of sales based on hype, but buyer's remorse isn't a way to sustain sales momentum. People unhappy with their PSPs also tend not to buy games for it, which makes developers less likely to create for the system and intensifies the downward spiral.

[kokyunage]

Microsoft XPortable: The first video game portable device that can substitute a 25lbs. dumbbell for your weight lifting needs. Got an urge to play Halo 1.5 and have 22 inch arm pythons comparable to Hulk Hogan? Well, the XPortable is the device for you! Only 499.99.

[motor]

Just so everyone knows, I do a fair amount of .net game programming, so I'm looking at the new directx sdk of .net pretty often lately and there has been a lot of movement toward bringing direct3d to windows mobile (the pocket pc platform). So that's one sign that they might be moving into a portable, it would be logical for windows to build in on the pocket pc platform.

As for my wish for a xboy: One solid chunk of silicon. NO moving parts (no disc, no harddrive) because that kills the battery life. I'd like to see something that wirelessly (or in a cradle) downloads games from the net through a microsoft portal that charges devs a minimal fee.

[Balthasar]

It may have had a lot of sales...
That's all I needed to hear.

[Balthasar]

My guess for what it contains:

* Hard drive based...no gaming media (discs, cartridges, etc). All purchases via the internet or XBox Live.

* Single Touch screen
* Camera as input device for things like movement, etc
* Some kind of cross platform functionality with XBox
* Some kind of cross platform functionality with MSN Games
* Wi-Fi, Live, etc

Release Date: November 2007
Wow, talk about dreaming high. So you think the market can sustain a $500 dollar portable that would be, what, 10 pounds? I mean, think about it for a moment. Think about how the battery life could possibly be sustained more than an hour, hour and a half with a constantly spinning hard drive. It's not even close to feasable right now. A flash drive would make more sense, but they're really not big enough for the sorts of games you're probably looking to see on such a system.

[Kamalot]

That's all I needed to hear.
Well, then you'd be closed-minded, only hearing what you want and ignoring the rest.

[automaton]

It took a dumb media choice and a dearth of games to slow that thing down.

I'm sorry, are you talking about the PSP or the Nintendo 64???

[UglyPimp]

I just sold my PSP and got a DS and haven't looked back. What everyone has said here hits the nail on the head, a portable console is not what makes a great portable system.

I'm 28 and am really addicted to Animal Crossing. I love Meteos. These games seem a little childish to me but still somehow draw me in, and the system does too. Probably because of zero load times and the ability to just play for a little bit and turn it off. In short, Sony needs to drastically rethink its plan with the PSP. Stop marketing it as a console to both consumers and developers and start marketing it as a portable.

[Kamalot]

I'm sorry, are you talking about the PSP or the Nintendo 64???
True. Good eye there. I hadn't equated to two before but you are spot-on. Too bad the PSP's media didn't reduce load times the way the N64 carts did. When you are on-the-go, longer battery life and shorter load times are more important than full-motion video.

It is more than just a little ironic that Sony's power in the home console market, the adoption of optical discs, is their biggest downfall in the portable arena.

[51|RandoM]

It is too late for the PSP, imho. The momentum is firmly in the DS camp at this point.

Kind of a shame, was a nifty piece of hardware.

I just don't see MS getting into the portable arena in a way they're not already in it(windows mobile). Sure, make your own windows mobile platform, integrate it heavily with Live, you might sell one for every 4 xbox360s you sell.

How evil is nintendo to deal with when publishing/developing for the DS? That was one of the big reasons the PS caught on I thought, people tired of Nintendo's stranglehold on the home market and their determination to go the cartridge route for another generation.

[shnastybiznastic]

there has been a lot of movement toward bringing direct3d to windows mobile (the pocket pc platform). So that's one sign that they might be moving into a portable, it would be logical for windows to build in on the pocket pc platform.
Or it could be an indicator that it's time for another pocket PC push to secure the market they stole from palm a few years ago.

I'm sorry, are you talking about the PSP or the Nintendo 64???
Oh, you're so clever!

As far as a portable, that's a market Microsoft is too smart to enter right now. It's one thing to say that Nintendo used to control the home market too, but they had real competition, even in the SNES days. Nothing that has gone up aganst them in the handheld space has gone anywhere. Seventeen years of dominating the market, and Microsoft is just going to waltz in like they did with the Xbox?

Depending on how the PSP does, they may decide to release a portable. Right now though, business sense dictates that they should let Sony smash themselves aganst Nintendo's established market. If there's anything Microsoft has, it's business sense.

[AversionFX]

I hope the think better of the idea. If SONY can't compete against in Nintendo in the handheld industry, what the hell makes MICROSOFT think they can?

This is only going to lose them even more money than they're currently losing.

If there's anything Microsoft has, it's business sense.

Like highly questionable business ethics and anti-trust lawsuits? Either I don't understand your logic, or you're crazy.

[TrackZero]

I guess this whole article should be corrected as FALSE. As was reported on Gamespot when they discussed the book:

http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3story.html?sid=6149296

"Most prominent among the speculation confirmed is the telling of Robbie Bach tasking J Allard with creating a gaming handheld to compliment the Xbox 360 home console. While the handheld initiative was later scuttled, Takahashi makes clear that the steps Microsoft took toward portable gaming were real."

There, it doesn't exist, it's not going to exist, you can stop speculating and caring now. Thank you, come again.

[bapenguin]

Wow, talk about dreaming high. So you think the market can sustain a $500 dollar portable that would be, what, 10 pounds? I mean, think about it for a moment. Think about how the battery life could possibly be sustained more than an hour, hour and a half with a constantly spinning hard drive. It's not even close to feasable right now. A flash drive would make more sense, but they're really not big enough for the sorts of games you're probably looking to see on such a system.

I don't think so. It would basically be a PocketPC with buttons. My guess is it would cost as much as a PSP. iPod's battery life are something like what? 3 hours with video? You figure in 2 years the advances in technology that could probably double. Especially if they use something like LCOS or other low power display technologies. Creative did that in one of their players.

[OrangePulp]

/ Black Eyed Peas

It's getting crowded in heeeeeeere!

Inevitable Summer:

"Xboy" of course.

Don't you mean, Lets get retarded in heeeeeeeere? Not only is that the actual lyric, it might be more applicable than the PC one they switched in for the radio and whatever.

[kid cabelgo]

I don't want to link the text because there's so damned much of it, but Underhero5 is absolutely right. That was the same problem I have with the PSP. The last thing we need is another cumbersome, feature-packed, overpowered portable system that features games with 15 minutes of intro movies before the gameplay starts.

[shnastybiznastic]

Like highly questionable business ethics and anti-trust lawsuits? Either I don't understand your logic, or you're crazy.
As if bad ethics has ever been bad for buisiness.

[Balthasar]

I don't think so. It would basically be a PocketPC with buttons.
Does the PocketPC require constant reading from it's harddrive to function? I'm sure you know what my answer to this question is.

My guess is it would cost as much as a PSP. iPod's battery life are something like what? 3 hours with video? You figure in 2 years the advances in technology that could probably double. Especially if they use something like LCOS or other low power display technologies. Creative did that in one of their players.
You're completely forgetting the fact that with video it's a lot easier for the player to cashe the data so it doesn't need to constantly access the harddrive. That's the reason why your iPod battery life is extended by encoding your mp3's at lower bitrates. The only reason the battery power is even where it's at is largely due to the fact that it does not spin throughout its useage. Same for when it plays video (and I think the battery life for video is lower than 3 hours, by the way).

Also, I would imagine any device that is going to try to output graphics on par with the XBox would need superior refresh rates to what the Zen and iPod have, which I'm assuming would mean more expensive screen technology. Added to that is the fact that you want this display to double as a touch screen. You don't think seeing something like this at a reasonable price isn't a bit unrealistic?

[Balthasar]

Well, then you'd be closed-minded, only hearing what you want and ignoring the rest.
You said it was an "utter failure." How does an utter failure have "a lot of sales?" Contradictory when we are talking about consumer products.

[Kamalot]

You said it was an "utter failure." How does an utter failure have "a lot of sales?" Contradictory when we are talking about consumer products.
I didn't say it was an utter failure. Someone else did.

I said it had a lot of sales based on hype...which you cut off. If a lot of the sales were based on hype, but it only sold 1/3 of its expected numbers, then that isn't a lot of overall sales.

You can go back and read the thread. It is only a few clicks away.

[Balthasar]

I didn't say it was an utter failure. Someone else did.
My mistake.

I said it had a lot of sales based on hype...which you cut off. If a lot of the sales were based on hype, but it only sold 1/3 of its expected numbers, then that isn't a lot of overall sales.
What difference does it make if the sales are generated from hype or from advertising? In fact, what is really the difference? Furthermore, sales have continued to be strong for the PSP, and had (or still are) going up since it's "launch window." Now that the system is actually getting some decent games, expect sales to get better. A lot of you guys seem to think because the DS is doing great that its competition must conversely be doing poorly. The sales numbers simply don't reflect that.