The problem with Xbox is that you don’t need an Xbox

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Published on February 26, 2024 1:43:09 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKv2X2NuTM

Game:

Starfield (2023)

Duration: 36:18

1,503 views

60

This week The Shiitake Show asks: what's the point of Xbox? That's not us being sarcastic or snide. It's a question that everyone in the industry, not least Microsoft themselves, needs to find an answer to.

That’s not to say the Series X and S aren’t fine machines. They absolutely are – yes, even the “underpowered” and much maligned Series S, which I’ve been a big advocate for in the past and will continue to be because, in a nutshell, it’s the most bang-per-buck deal in gaming. A lot of people pointed to the Baldur’s Gate 3 fiasco as a big indicator that the Series S was Bad Actually. As things stand right now, the plucky machine is by a considerable margin the cheapest place to play Baldur’s Gate 3. And Cyberpunk 2077. And Starfield. And every existing or future current-gen only game, excluding PS5 exclusives and the odd rarity that never makes it off PC. For a box that costs half as much as a decent low-mid range GPU, that’s incredible.

But if you already have a halfway decent GPU sitting inside a halfway decent PC, you simply don’t need an Xbox. Not even the cheap one, such is the business model of Xbox Everywhere. PC Game Pass essentially delivers the entire Xbox experience as a handy little Windows app. Hell, you don’t even need a proper PC: if you own a Steam Deck and have ten minutes of free time, you can get Game Pass running via Xcloud, and very nicely too. Microsoft provides an official guide for the procedure. It even includes bespoke artwork.

Android phones. Samsung TVs. Your mum’s crappy laptop with integrated graphics and duct tape over the webcam port. Any one of these devices technically negates the need for an Xbox, in as much as it’s a device for accessing Xbox games. And this is a problem, because Microsoft is still ostensibly in the business of selling Xboxes.

.....

If Xbox’s thing turns out to be that, a place where ideas can thrive, and where the democratising effect of popular subscription service like Game Pass gives the business a cushion of revenue that allows its creatives to constantly go off and make stuff like Pentiment alongside tentpole stuff like Starfield, it would be a good thing for everyone. A diverse and eclectic portfolio of studios making a steady stream of double-A event games and B-tier curiosities strikes me as far more sustainable than a slate full of GAAS slop and HBO bait.

Xbox is in a position to deliver this. They just need to, y’know, get on with it.


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#xbox #thirdparty #gamepass

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