Word from SkillUp is that you can still load the desktop experience the same way you can on Steam Deck, so that would make it neither locked down nor anti-mods.
Too bad there aren’t existing platforms where Microsoft and other devs could just make their games available to play on and not keep trying to monopolize everything through their service
Don’t get me wrong—I love SteamOS and Bazzite as much as anyone. But like it or not, Windows has been the backbone of PC gaming for decades. Most developers still build for Windows first. Even on Linux, you’re usually running Windows games through Proton, not true Linux ports.
And honestly, it’s not Microsoft that’s closest to monopolizing PC gaming. It’s Valve. They control 85% of the storefront market. If SteamOS takes off, I doubt most people will bother installing Heroic just to run GOG or Epic games. Sure, it’s possible—but for the average gamer, it’s more hassle than it’s worth.
What we really need is more competition. I want to see an Xbox handheld running Windows, but also a GOG Deck, an EGS Deck, maybe even an Itch.io Deck.
Hell, imagine if Apple finally woke up to gaming and made a Mac Deck. Now that would shake things up.
Hell, imagine if Apple finally woke up to gaming and made a Mac Deck. Now that would shake things up.
They have the hardware (any current gen iphone or ipad), they only need to release a version with console-like controller buttons, but they lack the willingness to really invest in games. Apple arcade is a joke compared to nearly everything else on offer.
Personally I think it’d be super cool to see some platform independent handhelds rather than something like a gog deck or an epic deck. I’ve fankensteined SteamOS to be that way but it def still prioritizes steam which ain’t great
consoles have mods these days, though they do need developer support
not everyone cares about mods, I’d go out on a limb and say most pc players don’t use mods
this new Xbox thing is not an OS, it’s an app. The device still has full windows in there and it is accessible. But when you’re using the Xbox app windows suspends many of its functions.
The next Xbox will simply be a prebuilt PC and it won’t be subsidized (or it will be subsidized less) so expect a $700-$900 price tag for the Series X, and a $500 for the Series S. It wouldn’t make sense any other way. Steam et all will be usable, as it is usable in the Xbox Ally as well.
Now tell me what would you rather buy? The PS5, which is absurdly locked down (even more so than the current Xbox when it comes to mods)? Deal with the gpu market shenanigans? Or buy the prebuilt Xbox PC that lets you play all your Steam games as well?
Mods on Xbox only exist for games where the game itself officially added mod support. I mean, sure it’s great when a game maker does that but usually it’s not as good as community-made mod support because community mods don’t require approval and can’t get censored/removed because the vendor doesn’t like it.
Remember: Microsoft’s vision of mods is what you get with the Bedrock version of Minecraft. Yet the mods available in the Java version are so vastly superior the difference is like night and day.
Console players—that are used to living without mods—don’t understand. Once mods become a regular thing that you expect in popular games going without them feels like going back into the dark ages.
I keep screaming about how the TPM 2.0 requirements of Windows 11 are insidious due to the ability to implement remote attestation now. I don’t think they’ll spring the trap immediately, but it’s locked and set and you’d be a fool to believe it won’t happen eventually.
Remote attestation allows changes to the user’s computer to be detected by authorized parties. For example, software companies can identify unauthorized changes to software, including users modifying their software to circumvent commercial digital rights restrictions. It works by having the hardware generate a certificate stating what software is currently running. The computer can then present this certificate to a remote party to show that unaltered software is currently executing.
They added mod support to MS Store/Game Pass games ages ago. If locking it down like that was their intention they would’ve never even done that to begin with.
Their ultimate play is to turn gaming into the same model as Spotify. You no longer own games, but subscribe to a service that allows you to play them.
We already no longer own games. It’s been that way since the DMCA robbed consumers of digital ownership. If your game includes DRM or a EULA, you don’t own it.
It’s somewhat odd that the two top-down Zelda games on Switch are getting free Switch 2 upgrades, while Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will require you to purchase the respective upgrades.
How is it odd that Nintendo wants every dollar they can reasonably make off of us?
I’ll be honest: as much as I love Xbox—I still have my OG and a 360—PC gaming has completely leapfrogged it in terms of value.
The whole appeal of the original Xbox was that it brought PC-style gaming to consoles. I never liked playing FPS games on console until Halo came along and proved it could actually work.
But over the last 15 years, Valve has basically turned PC gaming into a console experience. These days, instead of hooking up an Xbox to my TV, I just connect a PC tower. Honestly, it’s way easier than it used to be.
The last console that really offered something unique for me was the original Switch, mostly because it made going from handheld to TV effortless. But with the new wave of handhelds running SteamOS or Bazzite, that same seamless experience is now possible on PC hardware.
If Microsoft can make Windows as smooth and intuitive as SteamOS, then maybe they’ll be back in the game.
Been clean from this game for a few years now. It’s really not worth it; Niantic just uses it as a geospatial data harvesting tool rather than focusing on making an entertaining game, imo. There’s a reason all their other games have been failures, the Pokemon IP is the only thing keeping this game afloat.
I’m trying to get back into it for exercise reasons, but I’m keeping away from the gross and greedy take on Dynamax stuff. Feels better to ignore those.
That’s a decent reason to play. So long as you know what data they’re sucking up and selling and are ok with it, more power to you. What’s crazy to me is I live pretty close to a couple of gyms and I constantly see people drive up and play from their cars. Now that I think completely defeats the purpose.
I am back in for exercise reasons. I’m enjoying Dynamax as far as I can go being just one person—mostly because I live near two Dynamax spots and nothing else, and never played a mainline game with Dynamaxing so I do not know how different or how much of a betrayal it is from the mainline version of the mechanic. Curious to hear how it is greedy (honest question, not an aggressive “prove you’re right!!! because they are not!!11!1!”).
Okay? That wasn’t the central point of their message. It seems somewhat disrespectful to respond that way, ignoring everything else they said. They have a valid point.
I’m sorry as well. It’s just I’ve been treated poorly for having a Deck as it is. I was just recently gifted a PS5 and Series S after having One S for god knows how long now. So, yeah, forgive me for snapping, but I have no interest or motivation to upgrade. I just want to have fun.
Valve isn’t making their next Steam Deck anytime soon because the technology doesn’t exist yet. You can crank up the wattage and put in a bigger battery, but those things make the handheld larger, heavier, and hotter, so they’re not interested. This is a bottleneck from AMD and their R&D.
But especially due to live service anti cheat and Game Pass, I agree that there’s a potential market for this strategy. There’s certainly no way they compete with Sony by doing what consoles have always done.
“…we aren’t thinking about new hardware until next year at least” doesn’t mean that they aren’t working on it now. And they seem to have low confidence that said new hardware will even make it out next year. Yes, we are likely years out from a new Steam Deck, and you shouldn’t plan on one being imminent. That’s not the same thing as them no longer working on it.
Yes, I did. I also didn’t read between the lines and take that to mean that they’re not working on it, investing in it, etc. It just means that we can’t predict the future, and what makes sense now might not make sense in a few years when the technology does exist. The Outlook section was the author’s conjecture of what could come to pass, but he can’t predict the future either.
That was seven months ago, and it’s very clear. Successful gaming hardware usually starts prototyping the next one very quickly, even if it’s years away. If they didn’t, then they’d always lag far behind the latest technology. Valve don’t know the year. With tariffs alone, trying to set a release date for a new piece of hardware could be a nightmare.
Not one of my responses was intended to be hostile or patronizing, but tone can be hard to convey via text. I’m sorry if you took it that way. I was merely pointing out that you arrived at a conclusion that they didn’t state definitively in the article we both read.
Apple does have the technology though… imagine a steam deck with the m series chip? An m4 pro could run basically all modern games on a small screen at 60+ fps with the right software…
Way ahead of other ARM chips doesn’t mean that they’re ahead of the best that x64 has to offer, so that’s why games are still built for x64. The transition to ARM may happen someday, but Apple jumped the gun from a gaming perspective. Solving the software problem isn’t just getting SteamOS to run on it, but to get games built for x64 to run on it, and that’s not an easy problem to remedy. Even if it was solved, it likely would not result in better performance than we can get out of AMD’s x64 chips for x64 games on handhelds.
That’s not really how any of this works. Apples m4 are ARM CPUs. Games have to be built specifically for arm to run correctly. Most games in the PC ecosystem are built for amd64 or x86-64. If those same games were built specifically for arm then they’d probably run quite well but since most aren’t and game devs aren’t likely to go back and port an already finished and sold product to a new cpu architecture they’ll probably run worse. Apple did provide a compatibility layer for other archs to arm IIRC but that’s more overhead for the same games and I don’t know how that’ll impact performance. My point is really just it’s not a clear cut situation of “my games will run better on more efficient cpus”.
I own the original LCD Steam Deck. Still a fantastic device.
But after trying the newer handhelds, I have to admit: the upgrades are anything but minor. Visually, it’s a bigger leap than the jump from DS to DSi. The difference is immediately obvious.
They may very well be on to something (anyone who thought about this for a bit after the first announcement, could figure out this strategy, but it doesn’t include an important factor). Xbox is predominantly a console that lives in the living room. The most expensive Xbox series x is currently available is $729.99. The handheld they modeled this off is currently $899.99. The price increase when this handheld and it’s predecessor consoles have been popular in majority US markets, during a financially unstable time where there exist things like the switch 2 and the Lenovo Legion series of handhelds, not to mention ROG’s other handhelds may make this untenable to consumers. It’s a great idea for them to drop a handheld with an Xbox interface. It’s not a good time.
These Community Camps are special spots that have extra PokeStops and Gyms. But what’s the catch? Well, they are designed to bring local players together.
The feature is part of the Community Ambassador Program, which means there will only be certain players who can create these Campsites. You must apply and eventually get accepted as an Ambassador. There are perks for those who are accepted, you get stuff like free items and support from the game’s team. However, some of the players are saying that it’s hard to get approved, and they are still on the waiting list.
Some trainers seem to be happy with it, they think it would help in making the game more social. While some aren’t really excited for it, they think the developers are trying to “force them to be extroverts.”
Finally the uber-demanding Captain Toad will be unshackled from the pitiful Switch and be on a powerful enough platform that can properly run this epic isometric puzzle game /s
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