Random: Phil Spencer Has Been 'Liking' Tweets About Xbox And Handhelds

An article on an exec liking tweets. That's certainly something.

@KlipKlop New here? Phil Spencer farts and it’s a headline article.

Hopefully it isn't a streaming device.

A handheld like Steam Deck and Asus Rog Ally made by Microsoft would be awesome. I think that their plan is making this besides the traditional home console. Xbox games are on Windows PCs and all these handhelds are PCs running Windows, so I can't see why would it be a problem, when Microsoft makes Windows and Direct X and optimise the hardware for it. That said, I'd like it to have an Xbox profile that makes everything simple as on home consoles.

I wonder if Xbox is getting something, anything from Nintendo if the rumoured collaboration is true. I just can't imagine Nintendo giving anything to anybody...

More division to the eco system xss is already heavily criticized by the concessions devs have to make. Can they make a portable xss ? Or is this going to be windows based and split the brand even more?

A portable Xbox would be sick. I want to believe in those speculations pointing that next Xbox iteration would be a high end TV console, and a low end portable device.

People are so obsessed with this man despite idiots on twitter screaming for him to be fired just last week.

I honestly don't see the benefits of an Xbox handheld whereas I do for Nintendo and PlayStation.

I'd be interested in how unified the approach there is between larger microsoft and the gaming division. Seems like there were lots of leaks, if they are true then thats not a coincidence. Liking comments about handhelds when you know your every move on twitter is scrutinised. It just has a whif of politics and factions briefing against each other. The Jason Schrier book about this in 5 years will be wild!

I bought a Steam Deck when the OLED came out and thought I would use it to play my Steam games. Instead, I hopped on the Cloud gaming service and have been playing games on the cloud. It doesn’t work that well at work, but when I am home it plays like it’s running natively on the system. I would love to have games running natively on an Xbox handheld so I can take it out of the house.

In anticipation of upcoming Thursday, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a mob of journalists in front of Xbox offices waiting for Phil's assistant to go out and get a sandwich.. so they can over-analyze the future of Xbox from the type of mustard Phil takes 2 days before a podcast.

I've been saying for the past few months that I believed Microsoft to be working on a true mobile gaming experience in the form of a handheld device. I also expect them to release a Game Pass streaming stick/controller bundle in the near future as well.

"Multiple devices" is going to be the game plan moving forward and I'm sure console, streaming stick, handheld, and more will all be a part of the strategy. Variety is the spice of life.

This rumour is from days ago. If they are to do it, then going for a hybrid model would make sense. Ditch the at home only model and go for a native, hybrid model at around £500.
It could work for Xbox.

I would hope they don't just follow the other handhelds with the ryzen z1x or the7840u. Wait and do it with zen 5 and rdna 4

Just can't wait for Thursdays news to come and go at this stage all the cloak and daggers from him load of you know what

Unless it plays "actual" Xbox games I don't see the point, Windows-based handheld PCs are common now, we don't really need another with an Xbox logo.

But one that natively plays your OG, 360, X1, XS Xbox library, that we don't have. I'd pay for that

I have a Switch, and tend to just play SHMUPS from time to time, the screen is just about the right size for them... but I just can't play for long periods on a small screen, so this just doesn't appeal to me at all.

A complete waste of resources imo, there's basically already a couple of portable devices like Steam Deck and ROG Ally that can play almost all Xbox games and you can use Gamepass on them so what would be the difference besides having an Xbox logo? Paying for online?

They could create a handheld based on the Series S architecture fairly easily. I guess the tricks would have to be limiting the device to 1080P while handheld, or something like that to conserve battery. Otherwise, I don't see that being really a negative in any way.

@Kaloudz My mate, I would buy one too! (If it's not crazy expensive, that is). And I have a Steam Deck, but my Xbox library is bigger, so it would be nice. It feels great to play the latest games on it, but it comes with some of the caveats of PC gaming.

Edit: in fact, the supposedly "mobile device" thing is the only rumor I'm interested in, to be honest. But I don't see it happening, at least not yet (much less on the Thursday podcast).

@Widey85 It would 100% be either the Series S SKU in handheld form (Asus Ally is already roughly similar in power) with less storage OR a next-gen SKU.

@PopularCorpse 800p like in the Steam Deck would be enough. IMO.

It would probably be some clunky system with a 1 hour battery life

@Widey85 Series S is almost as powerful as a handheld. So there's at least that.

@Gollum As long as Nadella is with Microsoft, expect everything and anything to be heavily or completely cloud influenced. He will cancel amazing, great products only to continue his incessant campaign for turning the company into a cloud. He's been doing this for almost a decade now.

@ShadowofTwilight31 Honestly I not see much benefit to handhelds at all. The battery life on them are like what, maybe 2 hours at most with brightness turned all way down.

Have a Switch and I NEVER EVER play it out of the dock. Terrible experience of squinting, sensation of hands too far apart, and praying it won't shutoff after an hour as battery clings to mediocre life.

I feel handhelds to be INSANELY overrated.

@RetroMan71 Exactly. This guy gets it. Handhelds are just overrated.

If you have the absolute desire and overwhelming need to play a game away from home for an hour, there are some other severe issues going on in that someone's life. Like really should consider talking to someone kind of level.

If Microsoft does a handheld it would get a day 1 buy for me… I have incredible faith in Phil green lightning this project and it being amazing… otherwise why do it?

@GuyinPA75

To each their own; my Switch is easily my most used system and I'd love my PS5 games on the go.

@ShadowofTwilight31 Am not directing this to you, but all this crazed mentality over handhelds is pretty much like those gambling messages on those commercials, if have a problem call. "OMG it's been twenty mins since I played Zelda! I'm driving! I don't care! I want to defeat Gannon now! I need complete the master sword! O... M... G!!!! "

@GuyinPA75

Oh I didn't take it as a personal attack, just giving my thoughts. I'm currently using my PS5 and I'm craving the option to play in my bed when lights are out.

@GuyinPA75 And do you have a wife and kids? That's where the true benefit of handheld comes in.

@NotoriousWhiz No wife, no kids. Close couple times. But thankfully dodged all those.

@GuyinPA75 In your situation, I also would never use handheld. But since someone is using the TV a lot, most of my gaming time is handheld. Additionally, there are a few indoor extracurricular activities that my sons do where parents are told to wait in their cars. So I wait in my car and play on my Steam deck/switch. I could doom scroll on my phone but I'd much rather game.

Maybe hybrid is the new thing (despite Sony’s recent almost literally hollow attempt).

Some say next Nintendo hybrid could be near power of XSX / PS5.

While how much more powerful can fixed consoles get? Especially since so much can be done via cloud now (possibly even with games fully installed locally otherwise).

For whatever worth, I had looked back on commentary from 2016 on the just revealed Switch. Much criticism. That tide has sure turned.

Definitely each to their own, but after the novelty wears off I just don't get the appeal of playing on a small screen. People already have to own a phone, a dedicated gaming device forces you to carry two devices. There is a reason the digital camera market segment sales fell off a cliff, people don't want to carry two devices if one device can do the job of two. I am sure Microsoft can sell some dedicated gaming handhelds just like you can buy a dedicated digital camera, but it feels so niche, better to expand cloud gaming and let me play on my phone when I'm on the go.

I am old enough to have owned a game boy, to me that made sense because we didn't have phones to game on back then, I already own a powerful handheld gaming device with a great screen & it's my phone.

If gaming on the go is really a big need I would rather have Microsoft go Nvidia GeForce Now, let me stream anything I own on my phone so I don't have to buy another device & also carry around a second device otherwise I'm going to have to also buy a purse 👜... My pockets are already bulging with keys, wallet, big phone, ear buds, & now I need to add a handheld gaming device & probably a charger as well? At this point I am definitely at purse stage, if that's the case I would rather bring a tablet instead & stream/game on a bigger screen.

Also if I'm at home a big screen wins hands down, sometimes the main TV/SeriesX is being used by someone else, but I would much rather stream game pass (narrower content, but still plenty to play) on my Samsung smart monitor than play anything I own on my phone or tablet connected to the basement Series S. A handheld gaming device I figure would replicate the phone/Series S experience and at least for me a bigger screen is a better experience.

So as I said beyond novelty, I just don't see the appeal in carrying a second device (largely redundant if streaming options expand) for on the go gaming & at home I would much rather have a smart monitor and game on that vs a small handheld device.

@Kaloudz Yes, you raised interesting points. New games require a crazy amount of storage space, so that would be a potential issue.

A dedicated handheld for Xbox One would be great, though! In my Christmas break, I played Ryse: Son of Rome on the Steam Deck (I bought it dirt cheap on a sale) and it looks great, even by today standards. So, I would welcome a dedicated Xbox handheld.

@ShadowofTwilight31 Right now there is no way to play Xbox games natively on a portable. XPlay only supports Game Pass titles, not titles you own. So, if you have a Steam Deck, Xbox support is hampered. Game Pass and ID@Xbox have a ton of games that work well on portable.

Price (for the console market) and memory would be major concerns, though.