Re: So uhh... Xbox is going the way of Steam Machine, eh?
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 1:04 pm
Snatch1414 wrote: My question is how. My Xbone as it is now has 3 USB inputs and not much else. Are you telling me the current Xbone is somehow capable of transforming Optimus Prime-style into something you can add pieces on to? I don't see it. The other explanation is they come out with a new Xbone that hangs everyone out to dry that previously bought one. I don't see that either.
While it doesn't have an expansion port or any other kind of expandable bus that I know of, there are likely ways they could make it work. For (speculative) example, in-home streaming is kind of a growing thing. Sony has been doing it with PS3/PSP streaming, to PS4/Vita, and soon PS4 to PC/Mac. Steam does it. You can already stream XBox One to Windows 10 as well. The Wii U isn't exactly the same, since it's not really streaming so much as using a wireless display...but the use model is similar.
Anyway, point being, maybe at some point a console will just be an appliance-like brick that you plug in, and it provides content to your various display-connected devices. Something working on that model would actually be feasible for the Xbox One even without a solid connection, since you could park it under the console with a crossover Ethernet cable or USB 3.0, HDMI pass through (which the console has), etc. However, it could also be a stepping stone, and maybe a way to sell "Window gaming" to Ultrabook users and the like too.
I think the more likely thing is just that we'll see new versions of the hardware that are more powerful, taking a page from the iOS/Android type model. In a way, MS already "upgraded" the Xbox One when they freed up the Kinect resources. Having games that bump up to 1080p with better textures if running on an Xbox 1.5 or something really isn't that far fetched.
You'd probably eventually see Xbox One support drop, and only newer versions work - again, same as with iPads (or PC hardware) and such.
That said, it's a model that works better for the kind of account-based sales that things have moved to. Kind of like was mentioned - you buy a game, and you have it, you can keep going back to it without needing to worry about a new port or whatnot. Likely, you don't need the new hardware every time they release it, but you just buy a new Xbox every so often to maintain/upgrade your access to your content in their marketplace.