The Xbox conference at Summer Game Fest was undoubtedly the most comprehensive and successful. Microsoft achieved its goals on all fronts, whether in terms of gaming, service, but also hardware. The firm took advantage of its presentation to announce its mid-generation consoles, which will arrive by the end of the year. But it is possible that a fourth machine will join them soon.
At the microphone of IGN, Phil Spencer was asked about his feelings about portable consoles. He declared: “I think we should also have a portable console.” For the moment, there is no guarantee that such a device is being developed, but this is almost confirmation that the company is interested in this project.
A subject that comes back to the table
Some time ago, Phil Spencer deplored the lack of a console that would perfectly and natively integrate the Xbox ecosystem. Game Pass and cloud gaming are available on a few existing machines, but none are really calibrated for Xbox games, which seems logical. This is why things could speed up on the Xbox side from Microsoft.
These new statements provide the confirmation that has been expected about the company's desire to bring this kind of proposition to life. He continues to explain: “Our future in hardware is quite impressive. The work the team is doing on the different form factors and the different ways of playing has me very excited.”
For the businessman, the device would be more like a gaming PC in terms of performance, but with the user experience of an Xbox in a compact format. This power would then allow the machine to run games locally, and not through cloud gaming. To support this theory, Phil Spencer explains: “I love my ROG Ally, my Lenovo Legion Go, my Steam Deck. I think it's very important to be able to play locally.”
Local gaming, and cloud gaming?
For a few years now, cloud gaming has also been part of the Xbox landscape. Available with the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, it allows you to access all compatible titles in the catalog anywhere and anytime. In the case of a portable console, the use of this feature would be limited to a Wi-Fi connection for optimal conditions, but this would allow players to not have to download the desired game.
That said, we can hardly imagine Microsoft passing up such an opportunity to promote its service, under the pretext that the games will be playable locally. One thing is certain, Phil Spencer does not want to reproduce the models of the Logitech G Cloud or the PlayStation Portal, which only have limited uses.
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