Slightly Mad Studios is Working on Its Own Console

SMS-Madbox-860x645.jpg


it looks like my central heating
 
Yikes. I get the feeling this thing will one day find its greatest value sitting alongside someone's collection of the Apple Newton, Facebook Phone, Microsoft's Zune, lasting screengrabs of Google+, a cartridge of that ET Atari game dug up out of a New Mexico landfill, a can of Crystal Pepsi and a moldy serving of Satisfries. Assuming, of course, this even makes it that far ...
 
neema_t
I've been using my PC as a console since June - I remember it well because I got rid of my desk the day Wreckfest came out - and while it's definitely usable, it's a stretch to say they function the exact same way.

If you play the same game side-by-side on PS4 and PC you won't see a difference (if anything the PC version will run better, hardware permitting) and they'll be exactly the same gameplay-wise. While that is great, that's also why it's been that long since I played a game built for PC - they're hit-and-miss, mostly the latter. Meanwhile, any game you can buy on any console is guaranteed to work with the hardware and software, you can't say the same for PC, there will always be games that literally can't work with your combination of hardware, software, settings, etc. because there are infinite combinations thereof and thousands of games on Steam (and even more not on Steam).

Then there are the issues I had with Big Picture Mode that prompted me to give up and go back to desktop mode with a wireless keyboard, but those could be subjective and also the result of my own system not working properly, although I don't think so. For instance, I'm not sure if it's still the case but BPM wouldn't let me talk to my Steam friends for at least a month after the big chat update and instead told me to use desktop mode. I've also seen games fail to launch and instead show the BPM background and the web browser frequently inexplicably won't let me use the cursor until I do something specific, but I've forgotten what that is (maybe press the right stick in?).

I'll admit I mis-wrote what I meant and had intended to say that PCs were a properly awful console experience until Valve started working on improving it but they still can't compete with consoles. They may be usable, but they're not actually good compared to a true console, that's what I'm saying, and the thing is SMS's console likely won't be using Steam so they'll need to circumvent these issues all over again. That means either locking the console down to a single storefront with certified games that are guaranteed to work with their hardware (including whatever controller it'll come with), or letting people install whatever and somehow dealing with the fallout of that, as Valve has tried to do with BPM and their universal controller support.
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To each, his own. My console began gathering dust since I started gaming on PC. The 7th gen of consoles are the most PC like, that consoles have ever been. To me, they are gimped PCs. Why not just go PC instead of being Locked to Sony or Microsofts platforms? That is what I asked myself before making the jump. And since making the switch from consoles, I haven't looked back.
 
The Shadow Edge
Yikes. I get the feeling this thing will one day find its greatest value sitting alongside someone's collection of the Apple Newton, Facebook Phone, Microsoft's Zune, lasting screengrabs of Google+, a cartridge of that ET Atari game dug up out of a New Mexico landfill, a can of Crystal Pepsi and a moldy serving of Satisfries ...
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If it weren't for the I-Pod or smartphones the Zune was a great product, if you ask me. Now, if you'll excuse me I am going to dig out my Virtual Boy to play.

As for this Slightly Mad console thing, I won't hold my breath. The barrier to enter (and be successful in) the videogame console market is far too high. I can't see it being well received, but who knows at this stage.
 
Does anyone believe they can mass produce a console at anywhere near the price point consumers will pay? Rather yet, produce a console at the same spec for the same cost with the same studios backing them winth content... How in the world is this an intelligent business model?

Also, WTF is up with that design? Consoles need to sit in furniture, cabinets, shelves, etc.
 
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Jesup16
Does anyone believe they can mass produce a console at anywhere near the price point consumers will pay? Rather yet, produce a console at the same spec for the same cost with the same studios backing them content... How in the world is this an intelligent business model?
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The worst thing is that it's not a april fools joke.

CinnamonOD
Xbox 720
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Now there's a name i haven't heard in a long time.
 
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Seems to be that Ian Bell is trying to put himself in the mold of Peter Molyneaux: a huckster who increasingly digs his grave further with bold claims, while not being able to make good games (or at least, games that don't take six months to patch out problems that have been present in some form or another since 2009) to back up said claims.
 
It looks bloody awful, like something a kid in the early 2000s would dream up as an ultimate gaming machine with pointless lights everywhere. Imagine this neon glowing beacon sat beneath your TV, presumably in a custom made cabinet because of the footprint. You'd never be able to focus on the game when your console is busy warning nearby ships about rocks in foggy weather.

I still worry about how they're going to deal with heat too.
 
Moglet
It looks bloody awful, like something a kid in the early 2000s would dream up as an ultimate gaming machine with pointless lights everywhere. Imagine this neon glowing beacon sat beneath your TV, presumably in a custom made cabinet because of the footprint.

I still worry about how they're going to deal with heat too.
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Can't wait for the controller to be a wireless Xbox 360 controller bought on eBay with some LED's slapped on!
 
Silver Arrows
Can't wait for the controller to be a wireless Xbox 360 controller bought on eBay with some LED's slapped on!
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:lol: Don't get me wrong, I really hope they pull this off as it would be good to see a studio managing to branch out but I can't see it happening.
 
I don't want to sound cynical but history has proven time and again that software is much important than the hardware. You can say this console can do 4k or VR but if you don't have appealing exclusive games that will attract people then it will become irrelevant. If this mad box is main feature is about sim racing then it already lose its mass appeal, your average gamer won't spend money on new console when they can just play Forza or Gran turismo on their consoles.
 
Well ok. The design is too flashy (lightly speaking) but that can change. The real question is indeed "why ?".

What is the target market ?

How big that market is ?

How will they convince third parties to port games to console with zero mind share/install base. Switch/Nintendo is big and they need to work for ports.

With both MS and Sony surely releasing "PRO/X" versions of their next consoles why would I want Mad Box instead ? For how much ?

If it's just a pc why wouldn't I build/buy a PC for a living room and use that ?

If it's more expensive than PRO/X versions of MS and Sony machines the install base will be tiny thus third parties won't bother.

Will it have it's own online network with friends/invites etc?

Just don't see it having much impact but maybe that's not it's purpose ? If not then what is ? Would be cool to know where are they going with this.
 
Well, this made me log-in for a comment...

SMS, in terms of its size in the console market, would look like a start-up with backers just around the "red line", and backers that barely make one fill the goal usually get pissed easily.
However, is there a way to do it? Yeah. Somebody mentioned "Bandai", but even that wouldn't be enough. You'd need a backbone like Amazon, Tencent, Samsung, Google or Broadcom to jump in to this. You want experience and shortcuts on circuitry manufacturing, and on top of that, you want a well polished "Engine" parred to a well customised x86 CPU. Let's just say that all this gets accomplished, they strike a deal with AMD and they get a neat SoC solution with their Ryzens and Vegas, all what i just mentioned can be scratched off the moment you dont have a 10y heavily researched and developed BSD/Linux fork or an in-house OS.

All todays consoles are PC's more then they ever were. They literary have the same guts as the machine i am writing with right now. What sets a Console apart from a PC is its dedicated OS, Microsoft had a short-cut as it already owned a proprietary one (not sure wth they cramped on xbox), and Sony obviously had experimented with the Unix ecosystem for decades, what they had was already past experience. Nobody will invest on your hardware when they see no logical way of using it.

At the end of the day, they may release a Razer partnered Desktop PC called The Console, loaded with Windows 10, and just take the piss.

Im skeptical but curious. Steam tried, and let go on the last chance.
 
Corsa
Damn right they're worried, you think the establishment was worried about Donald Trump?
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Mmh. Sticking with that analogy, you think the Madbox will be worse than the other consoles but about 50% of potential buyers will get it anyway?
The Shadow Edge
Yikes. I get the feeling this thing will one day find its greatest value sitting alongside someone's collection of the Apple Newton, Facebook Phone, Microsoft's Zune, lasting screengrabs of Google+, a cartridge of that ET Atari game dug up out of a New Mexico landfill, a can of Crystal Pepsi and a moldy serving of Satisfries. Assuming, of course, this even makes it that far ...
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I had the Virtual Boy in my mind, but other than that similar thoughts. Assuming this console announcement will reach far enough. Haven't seen the news on many gaming websites so far.
 
I see the future as .games being streamed and consoles as we know them now a thing of the past .

Maybe this is ahead of the curve . I know some big players are heading that way now .

I know i will be interested in giving my money to someone other than the choices now.

I also look at epic games now starting their own launcher as part of the new .world of games.

more competators is always better for the customer .





Well for starters google is working on chrome as a game streaming platform and if they can get it working then the game has changed.

Microsoft is working on a streaming service also.

Both sony amd xbox will be shipping versions with no hardware drives.


So it could be sony and xbox will adapt to what madbox could be .

Epic games has already changed the landscape by starting their own gamelauncher as some companys have committed to using epic games based on money savings.so that proves that devs are willing to shop around .

What if madbox gave a platform for modders to run wild with racing games say .? Anyone that raced in 2003 knows there is a certain game still going with enough mods to make it probably one the best race sims ever made. What if madbox helps let that modding talent more mainstream..

Theres only one game on ps4 that i can think of top my head that allows mods . Even then the mods allowed are slim.so there is room just there to outshine sony and xbox .
 
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Novalee
more competators is always better for the customer .
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In case of video game consoles, I think 2-3 is the optimum for the customer. Imagine there were 7 great consoles on the market, each with 1-2 exclusive titles that you desperately want to play.
 
Corsa
Damn right they're worried, you think the establishment was worried about Donald Trump?

They all laughed when his name was thrown around.

What if this box is priced competitively and outperforms the other consoles?
Word of mouth will take off, youtube reviews will flood in and the thing will sell itself.

Or it could all go south no one knows until we have a price point and hardware specs.
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Even if it was priced competively, what’s it going to launch with? The project cars series? Unless it’s going to be able to somehow play other console exclusives, which it won’t, I’m not so sure how well this will go. Sure, maybe you can get a load of indie devs, but in terms of bigger projects, I’m not so sure AAA studios are going to be jumping at the chance to spend money on the unknown.

Novalee
I see the future as .games being streamed and consoles as we know them now a thing of the past .

Maybe this is ahead of the curve . I know some big players are heading that way now .

I know i will be interested in giving my money to someone other than the choices now.

I also look at epic games now starting their own launcher as part of the new .world of games.

more competators is always better for the customer .
Click to expand...
So it’ll essentially be streaming PC games, because I doubt Sony and Microsoft are going to allow that? So, again, why not just focus that to PC?
 
Corsa
Damn right they're worried, you think the establishment was worried about Donald Trump?

They all laughed when his name was thrown around.

What if this box is priced competitively and outperforms the other consoles?
Word of mouth will take off, youtube reviews will flood in and the thing will sell itself.

Or it could all go south no one knows until we have a price point and hardware specs.
Click to expand...

Is there sarcasm somewhere I'm not detecting? You can't be serious.

It's going to be a niche product, so they can't price it competitively because Sony and MS will be mass producing their products and can even sell at a loss.

They are showing the design for a product 3 years in advance without testing it.

That's like saying someone who made a small mobile game can create a phone to upset Apple or Huwaei.
 

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