Microsoft handheld?

[The NZA]

WTF?

 

 

Microsoft Working on an Answer to the DS, PSP, iPhone?

 

Team Xbox is reporting that Microsoft is in the final design stages of a new digital entertainment handheld, one that would feature Live Anywhere and blur the lines between the Xbox 360 and Zune.

 

We've emailed Microsoft for comment and will update once they reply.

 

The device, codenamed xYz, is said to offer both gaming and media playback as well as internet connectivity, but no phone.

 

"Although the Microsoft handheld is definitely a converged device, this is not a Zune Phone." The source added: "Microsoft won't compete with its Windows Mobile customers."

 

Rumors of Microsoft expanding their Zune device to be more competitive with the iPhone and portable gaming devices have been circling for quite awhile. And Microsoft is certainly still working on Live Anywhere.

 

When I spoke with Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb during PAX last year he said it was still being worked on and Microsoft mentioned it at last year's Electronic Gaming Summit, very briefly.

 

Maybe this is the hold up? It would certainly give Microsoft something else to talk about at E3 later this month.

 

I dunno, this one's floated around forever. Im not saying it cant happen, or that any time is necessarily ideal for this, but...sony struggles to compete with nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld market sometimes, does MS really want in on this?

[Iambaytor]

I garuntee it will be over-priced and have no games on it that anyone will want to play, effectively making the PSP look that much better by comparison. (Kinda like what the Xbox did for the Gamecube and the PS3 did for the Wii)

[Jables]

Man, if this were to finally happen, I'd love to be able to play games off my 360 harddrive & then on the run. With Sony looking to go digital media only with the next iteration of the PSP, it'd make sense for MS to pre-empt em and maybe even do it right(not fanboy speak, but I guarantee the transition to digital-only for current PSP owners will be anything but smooth, and with MS digital purchases already quite successful, it'd make sense that they may just break into the market as a strong contender). Having said that, the design shown above is dook & needs serious revision to sell.

[MetalHeart]

Man, if this were to finally happen, I'd love to be able to play games off my 360 harddrive & then on the run. With Sony looking to go digital media only with the next iteration of the PSP, it'd make sense for MS to pre-empt em and maybe even do it right(not fanboy speak, but I guarantee the transition to digital-only for current PSP owners will be anything but smooth, and with MS digital purchases already quite successful, it'd make sense that they may just break into the market as a strong contender). Having said that, the design shown above is dook & needs serious revision to sell.

 

 

Agreed, and agreed.

[The NZA]

well yeah, MS does online type shit better, but Sony's already started - you seen Patapon 2? shits a download only. theyre clearly testing the waters but if the PSP2 is this year like some think, i think theyre gonna make their push for it there.

 

Id be curious to see what kind of prioprietary card an MS system'd use, but the hardware's what'd be pivotal here. Nintendo's been at handhelds so long, they do shit like releasing the new system, then next year, oh heres that headphone jack and backlighting you wanted, my bad and people dont seem to fuss as mcuh as id expect. The PSP's design, im a huge fan of, but the buttons were never great (i hear theyre better on the newer model) and the lack of 2nd analog breaks games like Katamari. If MS were to do this, you gotta wonder how they'd fare on their first iteration.

[Jables]

Probably about as well as the original Xbox broke the market- up against a name brand & a vet, hopefully it'll be a solid product but the dealbreaker(and I gotta assume this to be the case with most, even as MH echoed) will be XBLA integration. If you can't carry the same gamertag for both systems, it's gonna piss a lotta people off. I'm personally hoping connectivity can be achieved with a cable, 'cause based on Bish & others' feedback, the wifi connecter is dook & you can't help but figure MS is gonna work that into the purchasing somehow, especially with the peripherals cashback they're offering at the moment on all accesories they're clearly not doing well in that regard.

 

Here's the question though: MS will probably never make a sleek thing in their lives, and guaranteed for all the anticipated functionality this thing will have, it's gonna be a big chunky thing, so how big is too big for a handheld? The DS has gotten smaller with every iteration, I bought a gen 2 PSP thinking there wasn't a significant size difference, but tooling with an original in store demos just makes me appreciate the finer lines of mine. I remember the Atari Lynx being this god-awful monster of a thing, but then with the two player functionality on that it was pretty much a portable tabletop system. The Gamegear was pretty bulky too, but not noticeably bigger that anything going these days. I carry all my shit in a bag, so as long as it doesn't weigh a tonne I'm okay with a bit of bulk. What about you guys?

[The NZA]

the PSP clearly shows its not meant to be in your pocket, whereas ive carried a DS just that way before. ironically, seeing the game gear again at your place blew my mind: its fucking huge, and like 1/8 of that is actual screen. crazy!

i honestly dont think the fatty PSP is beyond acceptable for a handheld, just needs the 2nd analog, natch. but its mostly screen...im still not happy with the screen alotment of the DSi, if that tells you anything. its all about proportions.

 

XBLA integration'd only matter assuming theyre across the board with achievements (and why woudlnt they be?), but really, ive custom firmware on my PSP allowing PS3 synch and store access and to be honest with you, ive personally not used either of em yet. now, wifi on the DS for mario kart and such, yeah. totally depends on what games you wanna play (cant imagine portale ops Halo'd be anything but a wifi dream).

[Jables]

Something I emant to touch on before infact, regarding the PSP store & Patapon 2- sure there's games that can be bought digitally now, but when they're not competitively priced & can still be bought in physical form, well there's few people who value convenience over having an actual disc & game, not to mention having to repeatedly download as you change memory cards/systems. Also, PSP currently has no trophies, so they realistically have about as much work as MS for the PSP2 if they want to hang with what MS can hopefully do. Otherwise, Sony could simply do away with the UMD & tell loyalists 'tough tit', and MS could release a bulky & terrible monster of a portable. I should really stop getting my hopes up when it comes to shit like this. MS would be retarded to ignore achievements & cross-compat with the 360 though.

 

On a side note- if anyone wants a copy of the now discontinued original Patapon, hit me up. I spent a week searching across Brisbane just to find a pre-owned copy, then came across a shitty old retailer with like, 5 disty copies at $20 each. If I'd had the cash I'da bought them on the spot and stuck 'em on Ebay.

[The NZA]

$20 isnt competitively priced? i guess it coulda started at $15 for being digital, still not sure why there's a box, other than to hide your code.

 

sony's in a bit've a bind with the UMD thing, i think - they drop it, and boom, no BC right off the bat (which is shitty). but can you justify the expense of producing it onto the likely sleek-as-shit PSP2 and not use it for games, as many are thinking its gonna be ditched anyway? Im curious if they could justify producing a smaller-quantity, more expensive model that had it, and leave it off the regular launch ones.

 

thats the bitch of a proprietary medium: i mean, can anyone see the wii 2/HD years from now playing GC discs?

[Jables]

$20 isnt competitively priced? i guess it coulda started at $15 for being digital, still not sure why there's a box, other than to hide your code.

 

sony's in a bit've a bind with the UMD thing, i think - they drop it, and boom, no BC right off the bat (which is shitty). but can you justify the expense of producing it onto the likely sleek-as-shit PSP2 and not use it for games, as many are thinking its gonna be ditched anyway? Im curious if they could justify producing a smaller-quantity, more expensive model that had it, and leave it off the regular launch ones.

 

thats the bitch of a proprietary medium: i mean, can anyone see the wii 2/HD years from now playing GC discs?

 

Firstly, Patapon retails down under for $49.95, costs the same on the Sony store. Secondly- check the PSP/handhelds thread for the Kotaku article I posted related to a medi converter that theoretically would come with the PSP2 which would enable digital transfer of UMDs, but from that point on there being no more UMDs retail new. In that vein, I commented that it'd be nice to see that open up to PS1/2 games for emulation for us non-ISO abusing folk.

[The NZA]

ill iso abuse you

 

that's a rip. $20 for a digital game strikes me as fair, blame your morphine-hating overlords sir. gotta go read of your converter...could be promising, could be a mission for those with many UMD discs and not much memory stick space, eh? still, youre right, could be a solution.

 

dont hold your breath on a legit way to emulate ps1/2 games anytime soon, though - theyre trying to sell them again through the PSN store, at least PS1 games. Ive little doubt in my mind that after axing BC in newer PS3s, they gotta plan to use software emulation and sell people PS2 games again later on.

[Jables]

No doubt... Go read the article, speculation is that the new PSP would infact have a harddrive, so while no doubt it's gonna suck converting media, it's a shite's sight better than just saying 'fuck you' to BC once again.

 

And regarding PS1 games on the Sony store, I hold my breathe for some games that matter, and on that day I shall partake in the digital purchasing therein, cause at AU$7.45 you can't go too wrong.

[gunsmithx]

The question here too is what space would MS go after. The psp so far is the only system to do well against the Nintendo stranglehold and not die a flaming death in the process. I know people point to the Iphone but lets be honest, would it have done so well had it not been an mp3/phone first and only later turned into a gaming machine? This has always been an extremely competitive market and that was part of why MS stayed out for years, but now they might think they have a shot, but where do you go?

 

The zune isn't near the popularity of the ipod but I'd assume they end up making the handheld a sort of successor. at this point I think the DS and iphone have the causal market tied up pretty well so is there more room in the 'hardcore' market the psp as done well in? and are developers gonna want to port over to yet another platform before there's proof that it's gonna do well?(MS 1st party aside) I'm not completely sure they are served by making a complete handheld, maybe something like a zune phone that has gaming as an option would work better but they have said and shown by their actions in the cell phone world they don't really want to do that. Guess we'll know soon enough.

[Jables]

I'm seeing a lot of noise about the Iphone as a genuine gaming device, and can see how it lends itself to that, but I really couldn't take one seriously, as it's neither a dedicated phone(or at least a good one), mp3 player or handheld gaming device. Call me a purist, but I like to keep all that shit separate if for no other reason than for designers & whatnot to have a clearcut purpose in what they're making. Fuck playing a game where you get points for pranking your nanna or something... I'd be just as weary of a PSPhone. Also, What you're saying about the Zune makes sense only up to the point where I wanna see this thing in fucking Oz. I've never even seen a Zune

[gunsmithx]

do you get anything down there?

[Jables]

I... I once saw an Atari 7800. It was in a fibreglass case & escorted by the secret service. I assume it's the kind of supercomputer used in the curing of smallpox or polio.

 

I do so hope they find a cure soon, I'm so cold

[The NZA]

they dont even have bacon.

 

gun, i dont know anyone could feesibly argue that the iphone'd even be viable in the gaming market if it was pirmarily/originally a fancy phone that served as an ipod, too. i hope to soon know how well some made-for-it games like katamari etc are pulled off, as im not sold on the concept of an on-screen keyboard but would like to be proven wrong. still, if it was the apple gamepod or something, i dont know that itd have nearly enough market saturation to get these kinds of devs on board.

[gunsmithx]

it's ok as a gaming platform, I enjoy some of the games I have(wolf 3d is pretty decent and I'm waiting on the id rpgs to come out.) but it's not my ds or psp by any stretch but it's nice since I always have it on me.

[Jables]

Okay so, playing it safe & dispensing serious hopes for anything too adventurous, how's this for a suggestion?

 

an SD card input(this way they can hang with the DSi for crazy 32gig storage without bulking up in on-board storage) on the device, and either a usb data cable for transfer, or maybe a repackaged 360 memory card that acts as an SD caddy, to facilitate movement of profile & XBLA games. Card option'd prolly work better since you could just keep your profile on the card & take it wherever you go, pretty much what I do with my 256meg card now.

[The NZA]

it could work.

then again, if it had wifi like the DS/PSP, why would it need a memory card? theoretically, you could go online from a wifi hotspot and sign into your XBL account, then just store the data, no?

[Jables]

1) Have you ever tried to reload your profile from another unit? It's a pain in the arse to say the least. 2) I'm being more grounded than getting my hopes up. At the least we can hope they alolow syncing of data, profiles, games, saves etc between portable & 360. With the PSP/PS3 link up over Wifi, I can imagine MS would want to try and hang- the catch is because the 360 doesn't have built-in wifi, it means folks like me are, if they feel the need to go that way, gonna have to shell out for a wifi adaptor which Bish & others say are dook.

[gunsmithx]

why oh why did MS use custom memory cards... thats so last gen. still though even if they are working on this it would proabbly be what a year or 2 out? maybe set it up to be more closely connect to he xbox 720 depending on the time scale.

[Jables]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

 

 

Seriously, I fread to imagine the kinda of technomancery that will go into the making of the 720, given age & life situation(ie by the time the 720 rolls around I'll probabl;y be with young-scary thought), the 360 is probably the last console I'll buy within 1st-2nd year of release.

[The NZA]

...sure. cmon skeets, i say these things too, but after generations of black eyes, why kid ourselves? we adopt early, and then bitch at price-cuts and better games after the awkwardness that is year 1.