XBOX One without gaming coming - Paul Thurrott


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As I exclusively reported previously, Microsoft originally planned to ship a second Xbox One unit focused solely on entertainment, but temporarily killed this effort earlier this year. That device is still coming, will be much less expensive, and will dramatically outsell the Xbox One. Which of course is why they held off.

http://winsupersite.com/xbox/gamer-changers

 

 

One to rule them all. 

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Interesting. So many people aren't buying the xbone for gaming period.  Explains a lot of the backlash for the ps4 when it as revealed to not include dlna/streaming.

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Why not just drastically reduce the price of the 360 to be an entertainment device. It has all the same apps and services afterall.

 

Cost to maintain the older parts?   It's much cheaper to just make a stripped down XB1 that uses, say, 80% of the same parts as the main XB1 than to keep the different production line for the 360 going.  

 

Anyways, with the ability to go digital for even AAA games, MS selling a XB1 "lite" as a pure media box but with the ability to allow people to download a AAA game if they wanted to sounds good to me.   It's working the market from the other way, actually from both directions at once.  You have the main XB1 that works from core gamers towards casual+media and you have a XB1 lite that works from media+casual towards core gaming for those who choose to give it a try.

 

Sounds like a win win to me, specially if these are at the price point where they can be a set-top box option through a cable service provider.

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Sounds great ! I imagine mods and tweaks allowing games to be played on it. Microsoft should create something small , cheap and usable while keeping it updated and share the same platform. That would be great.

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Love it. We have 4 Xbox 360s in the house because it is our favorite 'media hub' as it were. Netflix, Hulu, Xbox Music, etc... but only play games on one or two of them.

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Cost to maintain the older parts?   It's much cheaper to just make a stripped down XB1 that uses, say, 80% of the same parts as the main XB1 than to keep the different production line for the 360 going.  

 

Anyways, with the ability to go digital for even AAA games, MS selling a XB1 "lite" as a pure media box but with the ability to allow people to download a AAA game if they wanted to sounds good to me.   It's working the market from the other way, actually from both directions at once.  You have the main XB1 that works from core gamers towards casual+media and you have a XB1 lite that works from media+casual towards core gaming for those who choose to give it a try.

 

Sounds like a win win to me, specially if these are at the price point where they can be a set-top box option through a cable service provider.

 

Without gaming the 360 wouldn't need many of the specific parts and thus there wouldn't be a need to maintain older parts. You switch them out to something cheaper and readily available. You're not constrained to the legacy hardware to maintain 100% compatibility anymore, so you can go nuts and build something as cheap as you like, as long as it runs the software for entertainment purposes. It was just a thought, it's easy enough to do both scenarios. Calling it an X1 certainly works better advertising wise.

 

I definitely see them releasing a console, be it 100% X1 or a Lite model, with a subscription for satelite/cable sometime in the future. Sony will probably experiment with it too. Nintendo don't have the partnerships and I'm not sure they're interested in going that direction either.

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Sounds like they want an appletv like device but with more functionality and perhaps leveraging Kinect for ease of use and some gaming/apps via the store.  Has potential but I cant help but think they'd be fragmenting their market pretty significantly.  Ah well im bias anyway, media wise the only thing I wish they would add is an xbmc.  Heres hoping for an xbmc app for the xb1 :)

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Why not just drastically reduce the price of the 360 to be an entertainment device. It has all the same apps and services afterall.

 

 Because the 360 is really slow, and wasn't designed to be a media device...it was turned into one after the fact. A game-less XB1 would be FAR superior. Not to mention the 360 is associated almost exclusively with gaming, people looking for JUST a media device would never buy it.

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Sounds like they want an appletv like device but with more functionality and perhaps leveraging Kinect for ease of use and some gaming/apps via the store.  Has potential but I cant help but think they'd be fragmenting their market pretty significantly.  Ah well im bias anyway, media wise the only thing I wish they would add is an xbmc.  Heres hoping for an xbmc app for the xb1 :)

 

It depends on how much different it would be.  How close to the XB1 are they going to take it?  I'm betting it won't have the BD drive for example so that's one big way to shrink the size down.  But are the CPU and GPU going to be the same?  or 90% the same?  Is this just going to allow for the digital download of arcade games and not be able to play full AAA games?    I think that they might have delayed it because they wanted to wait to be able to shrink the core SoC (CPU and GPU) down one more time so they have the full power of the  XB1 but in a smaller box and at a smaller cost.  

 

If that's the case then seeing this come to market 6 or so months after the XB1 wouldn't surprise me, that's one tech cycle more or less to tweak the process and reduce the size of the parts more.

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 Because the 360 is really slow, and wasn't designed to be a media device...it was turned into one after the fact. A game-less XB1 would be FAR superior. Not to mention the 360 is associated almost exclusively with gaming, people looking for JUST a media device would never buy it.

 

360 was definitely designed to be a media device. Microsoft all but copied many of the XBMC features people hacked onto the Xbox. Apps were an after thought, but I wouldn't say they load slowly? You should witness a PS3 loading an app :laugh:

 

Not denying an X1 wouldn't be superior, but I'll bet it's more expensive, especially in a crowded market where they have to compete with a $99 Apple TV. If you can't beat that price, there's no point. Then the matter of blocking people behind a paywall to use the same apps (N)

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Without gaming the 360 wouldn't need many of the specific parts and thus there wouldn't be a need to maintain older parts. You switch them out to something cheaper and readily available. 

 

You're still creating a new set of hardware then, not something that parts will work with the X1. Why over-complicate the situation. I'm sure MS knows what they are doing.

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You're still creating a new set of hardware then, not something that parts will work with the X1. Why over-complicate the situation. I'm sure MS knows what they are doing.

 

Sure, but it's not complicated or expensive. Almost certainly cheaper than a stripped down X1.

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Why not just drastically reduce the price of the 360 to be an entertainment device. It has all the same apps and services afterall.

Windows Store apps are not compiled for PPC :) not to mention the 360 GPU which is most likely not WDDM compliant.

And....not enough ram.

No HDMI in for TV

just some reasons I can think of now.

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If it comes with Kinect like functionality where you can control it with voice and gestures, the it's an instant buy for me.  I'm waiting for the actual XB1 and PS4 to drop in price before I get a console, but I would love an all media device based on the XB1 in the meantime.

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Windows Store apps are not compiled for PPC :) not to mention the 360 GPU which is most likely not WDDM compliant.

And....not enough ram.

No HDMI in for TV

just some reasons I can think of now.

 

Finally an answer with some meat :p

 

Windows store? Don't really need it, plenty of apps for the major services already on XBL. It'd be nice though for the smaller ones I guess.

Plenty of RAM. Apps on X360 are very responsive. With a stripped down OS you also free up resources,

No HDMI in, good point, but with the push towards online services, cable viewer numbers could be much smaller in a few years. Even Microsoft is pushing with original programming on Netflix.

 

Again, we're talking about competing with the already successful and established devices on the market. X1 provides more functionality at the expense of cost. So aren't you automatically creating a niche hole for yourself and pushing yourself out the market if you can't beat Apple and the rest?

 

Disclaimer: I should have probably said I don't expect them to pick 360 over X1. Just thought it was worth talking about :p

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Think of this as MS' VitaTV or Apple TV play. The idea is that they would release a $99 or less box that would be focused on the media side of things and perhaps also play arcade titles.

So then the X1 is merely the gaming console that also adds in all of those media features.

Interesting. So many people aren't buying the xbone for gaming period.  Explains a lot of the backlash for the ps4 when it as revealed to not include dlna/streaming.

Correction, a lot of people aren't buying the X1 or ps4 for gaming. I saw enough footage of the lines for the ps4 to see people comment that they weren't even gamers, but they just wanted the latest tech for media.

Early adopters are an interesting bunch.

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Finally an answer with some meat :p

 

Windows store? Don't really need it, plenty of apps for the major services already on XBL. It'd be nice though for the smaller ones I guess.

Plenty of RAM. Apps on X360 are very responsive. With a stripped down OS you also free up resources,

No HDMI in, good point, but with the push towards online services, cable viewer numbers could be much smaller in a few years. Even Microsoft is pushing with original programming on Netflix.

Don't need the windows store?

How in the world could they compete with say the Apple TV if they don't have a robust app market to support it? If you don't unify the stores across these devices, you lose a lot of potential and an advantage over the competition.

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Don't need the windows store?

How in the world could they compete with say the Apple TV if they don't have a robust app market to support it? If you don't unify the stores across these devices, you lose a lot of potential and an advantage over the competition.

 

What kind of apps do you need other than the media capabilities the console has and the apps already available on XBL?

 

Serious question, because I honestly don't see the need for apps on a Windows store for a device to play media. It's not a PC/tablet/laptop/phone. It sits in your media centre and plays movies/tv.

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What kind of apps do you need other than the media capabilities the console has and the apps already available on XBL?

 

Serious question, because I honestly don't see the need for apps on a Windows store for a device to play media. It's not a PC/tablet/laptop/phone. It sits in your media centre and plays movies/tv.

Its not as much about any one specific app, but more about the backend of the service. If its all unified, then its much easier for developers to support. Media apps of all kinds are more likely to come if your app store is robust and relatively easy to be a part of. It would means apps show up sooner and are updated more frequently.

Basically, I want to see something different. I want to see a more open app store model than the 360. That model is too restrictive and makes it impossible for anyone outside a select few companies to participate.

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If it comes with Kinect like functionality where you can control it with voice and gestures, the it's an instant buy for me.  I'm waiting for the actual XB1 and PS4 to drop in price before I get a console, but I would love an all media device based on the XB1 in the meantime.

Do you really want to yell at your device, instead of using the remote like we do for years now?

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Do you really want to yell at your device, instead of using the remote like we do for years now?

 

1. What's wrong with having additional functionality?  Apple is clearly headed the same way with their acquisition of PrimeSense.

2. The remote often gets lost in my house.... a lot.

3. Some things could be done faster by voice if implemented well.

4. I have a relative with really bad arthritis in her hands, she controls most her phone actions using voice.  She would love voice control on TV as well.

5. It will most likely include a remote for those who are more comfortable with that, or for those who feel the need to question others interest in a new product and its features.

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Well, can be good for some people with problems. But thinking about it in normal use, it's just going to be pain in the ass. Was at my friends house when he was testing his new PS4 and every time the word "playstation" was said, the voice commands menu would jump in and interrupt anything on the screen. We had to be careful while we talked. And we weren't even talking in English.

 

I can see that problem happening while watching TV, even more. And not just from you or people in the room. What would happen if a person in the tv show/movie would start to demonstrate their similar device and your device in the room picked up his commands and pause/stop/change channels for you in the middle of what ever you were watching?

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