I was browsing my news feed earlier, scanning for anything worth reading. I was disappointed to find the feed clogged up with Fallout 76 pre-beta critiques (and quite frankly, I’m a little curious how Paul Tassi still has a job, apart from cranking out more asinine crap writing than I can keep up with – and as a connoisseur of crap, I know it when I see it). Then I came across an article by Peter Rubin at Wired about Microsoft’s new pet project – Cloud-based gaming (Project xCloud – Wired). This topic is not exactly the most enticing yet, as no one at Microsoft or anywhere else has really figured out how to effectively reduce latency on non-AAA devices for streaming purposes (yet). But it certainly inspired me enough to sit down and get violent with my keyboard, because the discussion of cloud gaming, particularly with regard to AAA gaming on portable devices, stirred up the memory of an argument that I’ve literally been making for years: Sony and Nintendo both have created lesser versions of their AAA capable hardware which can be taken on the go, and yet Microsoft has consistently been focused more on cranking out the next Xbox home console with more bells and whistles. What I’m getting at here is why, with the success of the Nintendo Switch, has Microsoft not immediately jumped on the portable console bandwagon
For a long time, the technology just wasn’t there. The very notion of taking an OG Xbox game anywhere but your living room was laughable. But we have entered an unprecedented era of technological advancements in gaming hardware, and the Switch is tangible proof that AAA gaming can be done on the go. Nintendo was honestly pretty close to achieving this with its earlier handheld line, the DS. While games weren’t true to form AAA titles, they were more engaging and graphically advanced than their predecessors. The original DS line is still one of the top selling Nintendo handhelds of all time, and though sales for the New 2/3DS lines have dropped off substantially from the original, Nintendo has said that they will continue to produce new titles and maintain support for the 3DS at least through the end of this year, with minor rumblings of a newer version of the system potentially in the works as well (though given the tentative success of the Switch, it seems unlikely).
(The Switch’s portable AAA experience allows players to take some of their favorite titles on the go, and despite a ridiculously low battery life, has many players using a Nintendo device more than any of the other major console manufacturers. Working together with major developers like Bethesda, ActiVision, Square Enix, and Capcom, Nintendo is slowly building a massive catalog of readily available and future AAA titles on their new flagship product. And given that sales for the Switch for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2018 jumped to 15.5 million units, increasing their profit margin over 500% and helping to increase their total revenue for that period to $9.66 billion (Source – Investorplace.com).
This is the part of the story where I start to get confused about Microsoft’s plan to focus on streaming from ANY device, instead of one that is proprietary to Microsoft. Granted, that decision says something about their commitment to their customers and the freedom they wish to extend to them in direct contrast with their previous consoles; however, it goes without saying that from a strictly financial perspective, they stand to benefit much more from releasing a new device AND method of downloading or streaming games to that device, than they ever would releasing a cloud-based game streaming service on its own. One of the biggest issues I see with this is the matter of input, and how much this sort of venture would rely on simulated game pads like those we see in many current mobile game ports. The problem with utilizing a simulated input interface is that it necessarily dumbs down the control systems of every title that isn’t a driving sim, because between latency issues and the unreliable nature of haptic control systems, it would feel more like a chore than fun to play a majority of available titles. To say nothing of the fact that virtual controls detract from the experience, and make any gameplay feel more like you’re playing Candy Crush than Assassin’s Creed. And when the Switch offers both mobile and AAA experiences in one coherent package, it’s tough to even suggest a concept that would offer any less.
Of course, the other obvious option is utilizing Bluetooth-enabled Xbox controllers to play on multiple devices, which is functional, but also removes all convenience and portability from the concept. At that point, we might as well be talking about the viability of the Nvidia Shield, which is touted more as a useful tool for streaming video than it is for gaming at this point. Basically, the opportunity is there for Microsoft to utilize the advancements they have made in xCloud and apply them to a new handheld system, which would be sure to at the very least cause a considerable stir in the mobile gaming market. It seems to me that much of the hype for the Nintendo Switch was centered around making living room available away from your home; couple that with the fact that no other handheld console has allowed players such a wide pool of content to draw from, and it’s not at all difficult to understand why players were able to look past the not-so-subtle middle finger that was the Wii U.
We’ll just have to follow the progression of this new idea as it unfolds to get a better picture of where Microsoft is going with this, but the idea of moving away from static consoles to some form of mobile Xbox platform is definitely interesting.
-b1nx
UP NEXT: Maybe Destiny, maybe Binding of Isaac: Repentance, still no streams until further notice 😦
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