Xbox - Series S/X: Thread 01

[Team Andromeda]

So Sony would really have to drop the ball, like they did with the PS3, and piss off developers to lose ground to the Xbox.

I really don't think MS or SONY for that matter really care much about Japan these days, other parts of Asia who knows. MS is really hurting from losing its place with USA market share and also being 2nd or 3rd choice for developers.

MS can win back the USA mind but it needs to put on one hell of a show next month. MS also need to look build on what it did so well with the 360 like having FromSoftware, Mistwalker and other Japanese titles make exclusives. The fantastic job it did with LIVE features and Live Arcade. Instead of building on that, MS took them away and went backwards with the One even sending a message was more hard work on the One to the 360 LOL

[fishbowlhead]

Nintendo won’t even allow Netflix will they?

Nope.

Because, Nintendo.

[Digfox]

Nintendo won’t even allow Netflix will they?

Nope.

Because, Nintendo.

Technically we don't know that's strictly a Nintendo decision, do we?

Hulu is on Switch so there is a media streaming service (at least in the US). It could just as easily be exclusivity window (probably unlikely), issues with the APIs requiring platform specific versions or something else. Netflix a year or so ago pulled Apple and Google Pay in-app payment to increase margins so it's possible a strategic decision, or clash of contractual conditions.

[wakka]

My assumption: Nintendo would need to contribute to the development costs of Netflix for Switch for Netflix to bother, and they won't, so it doesn't happen.

It would be in line with previous Nintendo decisions in this kind of area, e.g. not building DVD playback software for the Wii so that they didn't need to pay license fees.

[fishbowlhead]

My assumption: Nintendo would need to contribute to the development costs of Netflix for Switch for Netflix to bother, and they won't, so it doesn't happen.

It would be in line with previous Nintendo decisions in this kind of area, e.g. not building DVD playback software for the Wii so that they didn't need to pay license fees.

Didn’t the Wii actually HAVE the software built in as standard but it was just disabled? I swear the wii home brew channel was a simple case of unlocking the block rather than anything they created software wise to play dvd’s?

[wakka]

Didn’t the Wii actually HAVE the software built in as standard but it was just disabled? I swear the wii home brew channel was a simple case of unlocking the block rather than anything they created software wise to play dvd’s?

Honestly, I don't know. But the reason the Wii didn't play DVDs out of the box was definitely because of the licensing fees. It wasn't anything technological.

On that basis I'd wager it's something similar with Netflix on the Switch. Nintendo know they wouldn't shift any more units if it had Netflix, so it's not something they're willing to invest in. Kinda like with the Wii. Everyone already had a DVD player by 2006, and they were £30 in supermarkets, so Nintendo probably didn't see it as a selling point.

[nonny]

I think project xCloud on switch makes a lot of sense unless Microsoft did get anywhere with all those development controllers they had in the works for mobile.

The switch is good because it's 16:9 ratio and a big enough screen to make it work. Right now I'm playing xCloud local streaming on my android phone (P30 Pro) with the Razer Kishi and honestly it's amazing how good that feels but an official Xbox controller variant with better analog sticks, triggers etc... Would make it even better.

If they brought anything like that out on Switch it would be almost perfect. Especially given the switch now has some decent grips (satisfye) and those Hori grips controllers for bigger hands.

[Leon Retro]

I really don't think MS or SONY for that matter really care much about Japan these days, other parts of Asia who knows. MS is really hurting from losing its place with USA market share and also being 2nd or 3rd choice for developers.

There's been a lot of Japanese games development for the PS4 and now the upcoming PS5, so I thought that had something to do with the PlayStation brand still being popular and relevant to Japanese gamers. Are Japanese devs very much focused on the West and wider global market?

I know MS dropped the ball with the XB1 early on, so the popularity of the 360 was somewhat squandered. The PS4 soon became the must-have machine this gen. I'm now getting the feeling that the PS5 will dominate, even if I think the Series X is a brilliant piece of kit that I'll have lots of fun with.

I think Sony have done a great job with the PS4, VR, and games development. So it's easy to appreciate why there's so much momentum for the PS5. MS are going to deliver a great console with the Series X, but it will surprise me if MS manage to attract a huge amount of gamers away from the PS5.

[randombs]

Didn’t the Wii actually HAVE the software built in as standard but it was just disabled? I swear the wii home brew channel was a simple case of unlocking the block rather than anything they created software wise to play dvd’s?

Many years ago when I modded my Wii, I installed something called DVDX to allow it to read regular DVD media. You're right about the homebrew channel - later versions included this DVDX functionality. Still, you needed to install media player software(MPlayer, WiiMC, etc) to actually watch DVD videos.

Nintendo could say "Hey you! Don't bother faffing around with Dr. Who boxsets! We're all about the games! Just the games! And browsing the web. And checking the weather."

It's different to the Xbox which was positioned as a media centre and did have the DVD playback software built-in but needed the dongle(i.e. DVD license) to allow playback. MS saved licensing fees on Xboxes that weren't used to watch DVDs on/passed on the licensing costs to the customer.

I think Sony didn't have to pay licensing because they were on the DVD consortium anyway. Or because DVD was a major driving force behind PS2 sales. But I digress...

Nintendo blocking regular DVD use must have been to prevent piracy. In doing so, DVD video playback would definitely be out. Or perhaps they decided not to bother with DVD video playback and then figured they may as well block anything that wasn't an actual Wii/GC disc. Two birds, one stone.

Nintendo also mention licensing fees in their reasoning, though.

It makes me wonder how much the fees are. I think there are even licensing fees for HDMI ports!

[nonny]

Another thing Xbox does which is cool is game sharing provided you trust one other person with your account.

Essentially you can nominate any console to be your home console in the settings and that is the console you can play any of your titles on offline with your account, or more importantly any other account on that machine can use it with full gold privileges.

You can however play any of your games on your account on any console not registered as your home console as long as it's connected to the internet to confirm you own the games.

This means you can share games with your mate by simply nominating each others consoles as your home consoles.

I've done this in the past to share titles for co-op play with a friend back in Australia. Works flawlessly and it's so simple once you understand how to do it.

[Neon Ignition]

PS4 does the same doesn't it? You share the account with one system set as the core system so a mate at another house can download and play on their system too. You can't play at the same time though, not much of an issue in 99% of cases though. I hope the current region free account systems for both exist on the next-gen machines

[Digfox]

I remember a conversation at work once, where we were talking about PS4 and XBO and they referenced that's how they bought games. So him and his friend went halves on all new releases buying digitally, obviously, on one account and then sharing them between the consoles. Which instantly made me think that kind of 'abuse' of the system (i.e. not what it was intended for) is more prevalent than I would have thought it was.

[teddymeow]

@digifox It's totally open to abuse.

One person is buying the games through their account so all they have to do is change the password and the other person is locked out.

Here's hoping they never fall out.

[Digfox]

@digifox It's totally open to abuse.

One person is buying the games through their account so all they have to do is change the password and the other person is locked out.

Here's hoping they never fall out.

Not 100% on this, but the sense I got was person A (not the 'home' console) was buying the games, person B (who pays A) has the home console so it doesn't matter if person A changes their password. Although if person B changes their console presumably they need to take some action.

Although as you say bit of a nightmare if their friendship moves on, but I assume by that point you won't care too much as you have already rinsed the games and even to re-purchase would be much, much cheaper. They were basically using it to get all the Ultimate/Gold editions at launch for £40-50 each.

[Neon Ignition]

Game Pass probably goes some way to undercutting it as an issue on Xbox though if you're fairly up to date on backlog then you still don't need to pay a penny for that either so in some ways it's probably neither here nor there for MS