Wednesday, March 27th 2024
Phil Spencer Imagines His Ideal Xbox Handheld Experience
Phil Spencer has professed that he is a proud owner of a Lenovo Legion Go handheld gaming PC, but has experimented with other mainstream portable devices in recent times. Polygon conducted an "extensive" interview with the CEO of Microsoft Gaming—headlines have been generated from this tête-à-tête, mostly focusing on his wishlist of additional digital storefronts appearing on Xbox platforms. Ecosystem familiarity seem to be a very important aspect (in Spencer's opinion)—something that the current crop of handhelds lack: "I want my Lenovo Legion Go to feel like an Xbox. I brought (the Legion Go) with me to GDC. I'm on the airplane and I have this list of everything that makes it not feel like an Xbox. Forget about the brand. More like: Are all of my games there? Do all my games show up with the save (files) that I want? I'll tell you one (game) that doesn't right now—it's driving me crazy—is Fallout 76. It doesn't have cross-save."
He continued: "I want to be able to boot into the Xbox app in a full screen, but in a compact mode. And all of my social (experience) is there. Like I want it to feel like the dash of my Xbox when I turn on the television. (Except I want it) on those devices." Industry rumors have swirled around the possible existence of an in-development Xbox handheld—Spencer confirmed that his hardware design team, headed up by Roanne Sones, has weighed up: "different hardware form factors and things that (they) could go do...What should we build that will find new players? That will allow people to play at times when they couldn't go play (in the past)?"Polygon's article outlines two different handheld approaches—as proposed by Spencer: "the hardware versus the software approach. As he said, he has strong feelings about what a handheld Xbox device should feel like. But he also recognizes—having learned from the console business—that players may choose brands other than Xbox. For those players, Spencer wants to improve the Xbox handheld gaming software experience, too—particularly for people who have devices running Windows, like the Legion Go and the Ally."
The chief of Xbox elaborated further: "I like the fact that Valve, Lenovo, and Asus went out and innovated in a new form factor. And I will say that when I'm playing on those devices, it almost feels more like a console than a PC—nine times out of 10. The things that usually frustrate me are more Windows-based than device-based. Which is an area I feel some ownership of. Like, I want to be able to log in with a controller. I've got my list of things we should go do...From a game creator standpoint...I can then go build a single version of my game that spans more hardware and reaches more customers. And I would say for players, it reduces the friction. Like, if I want to go play my console games on the go with a handheld, I don't want to only be able to buy one brand of handheld. Right? I want everything that we're doing in the hardware space to be great. But if somebody chooses to go play today (somewhere else), I don't want them to feel like a lesser Xbox (player/user)."
The Nintendo Wii was cited as major industry milestone/inflection point—with its hardware synergizing with software in a very creative way. Spencer clarified that he was not outright confirming the existence of an Xbox handheld (at the end of Polygon's interview session), but he stated that his hardware team is working hard on solutions that will match recent first-party-developed software innovations. Industry watchdogs reckon that Microsoft and Sony should circle back and dedicate more resources to core hardware and software experiences, rather than waste efforts on niche offshoots.
He continued: "I want to be able to boot into the Xbox app in a full screen, but in a compact mode. And all of my social (experience) is there. Like I want it to feel like the dash of my Xbox when I turn on the television. (Except I want it) on those devices." Industry rumors have swirled around the possible existence of an in-development Xbox handheld—Spencer confirmed that his hardware design team, headed up by Roanne Sones, has weighed up: "different hardware form factors and things that (they) could go do...What should we build that will find new players? That will allow people to play at times when they couldn't go play (in the past)?"Polygon's article outlines two different handheld approaches—as proposed by Spencer: "the hardware versus the software approach. As he said, he has strong feelings about what a handheld Xbox device should feel like. But he also recognizes—having learned from the console business—that players may choose brands other than Xbox. For those players, Spencer wants to improve the Xbox handheld gaming software experience, too—particularly for people who have devices running Windows, like the Legion Go and the Ally."
The chief of Xbox elaborated further: "I like the fact that Valve, Lenovo, and Asus went out and innovated in a new form factor. And I will say that when I'm playing on those devices, it almost feels more like a console than a PC—nine times out of 10. The things that usually frustrate me are more Windows-based than device-based. Which is an area I feel some ownership of. Like, I want to be able to log in with a controller. I've got my list of things we should go do...From a game creator standpoint...I can then go build a single version of my game that spans more hardware and reaches more customers. And I would say for players, it reduces the friction. Like, if I want to go play my console games on the go with a handheld, I don't want to only be able to buy one brand of handheld. Right? I want everything that we're doing in the hardware space to be great. But if somebody chooses to go play today (somewhere else), I don't want them to feel like a lesser Xbox (player/user)."
The Nintendo Wii was cited as major industry milestone/inflection point—with its hardware synergizing with software in a very creative way. Spencer clarified that he was not outright confirming the existence of an Xbox handheld (at the end of Polygon's interview session), but he stated that his hardware team is working hard on solutions that will match recent first-party-developed software innovations. Industry watchdogs reckon that Microsoft and Sony should circle back and dedicate more resources to core hardware and software experiences, rather than waste efforts on niche offshoots.