Microsoft Plans on Taking Xbox Live Multi-Platform

[Auditore]

It gives the console fans no reason to trumpet out their exclusives as something to push units. Which is asinine.

I don't think exclusives will go away especially if game streaming takes off,every streaming platform right now uses exclusives to entice people to buy a subscription,same thing with games

 

[doblocruiser]

It'll be for games that are already multi-platform.

I didn't think of that. Thanks for pointing that out 👍

Btw: I apologise since I don't want to start some fanboywar. That is my fault and I don't want to contribute to that. If the service is positive for thé gaming community in general than that is great. I simply don't want to be forced to use it.

 

[ClydeYellow]

Microsoft seems to be pulling moves in the background to put Sony in a rather uncomfortable position next-gen. They've learned well from the Xbox One launch fiasco. Well, the people involved in that didn't, but they were replaced by sharks with a keen smell for what consumers want, or so it seems.

 

[Terronium-12]

Microsoft seems to be pulling moves in the background to put Sony in a rather uncomfortable position next-gen. They've learned well from the Xbox One launch fiasco. Well, the people involved in that didn't, but they were replaced by sharks with a keen smell for what consumers want, or so it seems.

I still hold a grudge over the way Kinect was handled. It was such a promising aspect for the One but because it was presented the way it was, thus scaring damn near everyone into a frenzy despite having similar (if not) worse predatory services on their mobile phones, it was ditched.

Yes, some aspects of the original outlook for the Xbox One were questionable at best by themselves but the grand scheme of it seemed rather promising. Wrong place, wrong time and all that I suppose.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

What exactly would this mean on, say, the Switch? Besides signing in to XBL with its ancillaries when you play Minecraft? I don't quite get it.

Essentially, your gaming profile would be available across all your platforms, and you could interact with friends on all of them too. Developers could create XBL Achievement lists for games that aren't even on Xbox, technically (although that seems highly unlikely).

The closest parallel I can think of right now would be if your GTP profile were your internet profile.

@ImaRobot @Robin -- Thinking about it a bit more, I suppose this could be a way for some multiplatform games to not only offer cross-play, but voice chat and (XBL) friends list messaging on the Switch without a silly mobile app to gatekeep it to protect the children.

I've read that as a potential positive too, yes. Wait, is that really why the Switch has such limited social features? That's... unfortunate.

I don't want this! I don't like the idea of crossplay anyway and surely not in the hands of Microsoft.

What's bad about the idea of crossplay?

I like the Forza and Ori franchises but I simply don't want any of those live services on my PS.

I mean, nothing so far has suggested XBL would replace PSN, even if Sony were on-board with this. It'd be in addition to, not in place of. But even then — if you play those games now on an Xbox, what's the difference between being able to access that XBL Achievement list/players on just the XB1 versus on the XB1 and PS4?

I'll admit, I was thrown off by the initial news because it seems so unlike what we've always known in the console realm. The idea of exclusives and walled ecosystems made more sense before the age of mass connectivity though. Proprietary hardware is a hurdle nowadays: so many of my friends play the same mobile games across a huge variety of phones, and I can't imagine there'd be as much interest there if they all had to funnel into a single platform to do it.

Yeah, this move from Microsoft is undoubtedly one that will benefit the company at some level too, otherwise it wouldn't be considering it, but it benefits users as well, so that can't be all bad in my books.

 

[DR_MOJO91]

Cute PR ploy but as long it makes money and gathers attention thats all I care about I want my shares to climb. let alone my dividends. So for the consumers yes please buy please buy more MS products. Hehehe

 

[Auditore]

I still hold a grudge over the way Kinect was handled. It was such a promising aspect for the One but because it was presented the way it was, thus scaring damn near everyone into a frenzy despite having similar (if not) worse predatory services on their mobile phones, it was ditched.

Yes, some aspects of the original outlook for the Xbox One were questionable at best by themselves but the grand scheme of it seemed rather promising. Wrong place, wrong time and all that I suppose.

The Kinect always felt like a little rock in Xbox's shoe in the Xbox 360 era then it turned into a giant boulder in the Xbox One Launch,my god the whole fiasco was amazingly entertaining.

 

[Wolfe]

I've read that as a potential positive too, yes. Wait, is that really why the Switch has such limited social features? That's... unfortunate.

That's my take, anyway. Plus a lack of confidence in their fledgling infrastructure (or netcode) to support the additional bandwidth of voice chat through the same network path, I suppose?

 

[EngieDiesel]

Yeah, this move from Microsoft is undoubtedly one that will benefit the company at some level too, otherwise it wouldn't be considering it, but it benefits users as well, so that can't be all bad in my books.

It falls in line with Microsoft's current strategy of selling services rather than products; in other words, things that require a subscription rather than a one-time purchase and that they can retain direct control over. So in that respect it's not too surprising.

 

[Deadheadbill]

With Gamespass, backwards compatibility, cross play, Adaptive controller etc, Microsoft has undoubtedly become the most consumer oriented console. But they screwed the pooch so bad with the Xbox 1 release that they really had no choice.

 

[ShakesMcQueen]

I mean, nothing so far has suggested XBL would replace PSN, even if Sony were on-board with this. It'd be in addition to, not in place of. But even then — if you play those games now on an Xbox, what's the difference between being able to access that XBL Achievement list/players on just the XB1 versus on the XB1 and PS4?

I'll admit, I was thrown off by the initial news because it seems so unlike what we've always known in the console realm. The idea of exclusives and walled ecosystems made more sense before the age of mass connectivity though. Proprietary hardware is a hurdle nowadays: so many of my friends play the same mobile games across a huge variety of phones, and I can't imagine there'd be as much interest there if they all had to funnel into a single platform to do it.

Sony won't even allow Minecraft cross-play, because it would require an XBL sign-in on their console (within the game itself). Short of some paradigm shift within the company, there's no way they'd ever allow an actual XBL app on their box. It took months of outrage for them to even acquiesce to ordinary cross-play, and even then they are only allowing it on a case-by-case basis.

Putting XBL on Switch makes more sense, as Nintendo don't even really see themselves as direct competitors to Sony or Microsoft any more.

I suppose ultimately my excitement at this will depend on how deep it goes. If it's just an app that lets you check achievements and messages on a Switch, it'll be a bit of a shoulder shrug from me. If the integration goes a bit further, and actually allowed things like Switch ports having XBL achievements, and even being able to use XBL for voice chat and parties in Switch games? That would be rad. But I also think that's less likely.

Nonetheless, it's interesting to watch this relationship grow between Microsoft and Nintendo. Seeing that co-branded Minecraft ad a few months ago from both companies, was like something from an alternate universe.

 

[Terronium-12]

But they screwed the pooch so bad with the Xbox 1 release that they really had no choice.

On the one hand, I agree without question. On the other, I'm thinking yeah they did: stick to their plan but defer to the crowd reaction on what to change/alter, not just toss the entire plan out of the window. When Sony went on stage and more or less said "We're not changing anything! Clap for us!" and that's exactly what happened...I was taken aback because of the way Microsoft presented the ideas.

Can you imagine the kind of things Kinect would allow for by now? I can almost guarantee it's why Microsoft never introduced a VR headset because it would have relied on using Kinect, and was probably the intention from the get-go.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Can you imagine the kind of things Kinect would allow for by now?

I certainly can. Never understood why MS canned it, the technology in it is awesome. In combination with VR it's a killer. Even in the beginning there were already little touches I found awesome. My coworker did videoconferencing with it and the Kinect/camera followed his movements and his hand movements; small touches but it worked really well when he was giving presentations. I can certainly see how this would be absolutely epic when combined with VR. I hope they bring back the technology in some form or another.

 

[ShakesMcQueen]

I certainly can. Never understood why MS canned it, the technology in it is awesome. In combination with VR it's a killer. Even in the beginning there were already little touches I found awesome. My coworker did videoconferencing with it and the Kinect/camera followed his movements and his hand movements; small touches but it worked really well when he was giving presentations. I can certainly see how this would be absolutely epic when combined with VR. I hope they bring back the technology in some form or another.

The Xbox bundle WITH the Kinect, made the package too expensive, and helped surrender a big early sales lead to Sony - not to mention that easy PR slam dunk where Sony got to announce their console was $100 cheaper to rapturous applause. But WITHOUT the Kinect bundled, you don't get the wide install base necessary for more games to bother supporting it; particularly when the thing cost over $100 on it's own.

I agree that it's really cool tech though, and a big improvement over the original Kinect.

As for VR, Spencer has said they haven't really bothered with it yet, because he doesn't see playing VR in your living room with cables going from the headset to the console as something that will really hit with mainstream audiences. Of course, considering the Xbox OS is just a version of Windows, I see no reason why next gen they couldn't just say "hey, our console will support VR via Oculus and Vive - do what you want with it, VR developers and headset owners". Requires no investment in risky hardware on their end, has a solid initial installed base, and if it doesn't get traction, you're out nothing.

 

[CarGuru]

Microsoft knows what they're doing. Cross play will be the norm next gen, so much that Sony will be forced to follow along soon.