the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, has revealed in a Bloomberg interview that Xbox handheld prototypes are currently being worked on. The caveat is that this hardware is still a few years out. So it would appear the rumors that Microsoft is working on an Xbox handheld are indeed true, but we sadly won’t see the results of this work for some time.

This isn’t technically Steam Deck news, but I think a major player like Microsoft making a Steam Deck competitor is pretty significant as far as the handheld PC market goes.

    • Fuzzy_Red_Panda@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Yep, this handheld will be all about subscriptions, ads, and data harvesting.

      The hardware will be good and the software will still be buggy like the xboxes because it’s windows and microsoft doesn’t care about making windows a good experience for users. I hope I’m wrong.

    • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      You know that when it’s actually accidentally good somehow the first thing people do with it is to load it with linux

    • nman90@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      They should add some kind of ring to it, maybe one that can turn red for some reason or another.

      • vinnymac@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        As long as we can never fully understand when or how it will turn red, and sometimes when you wrap it in towels it stops being red, I’m all for it.

  • cron@feddit.org
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    1 month ago

    If Microsoft really wants to get in the mobile gaming sector, why don’t they even have a working protoype to show? The article claims that it is still “a few years away” at this point.

    Doesn’t sound like they really have high ambitions.

    • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      I’m a few years away to build my own handheld too. I have half the parts already. This sounds like some bs. There are already 10 good to okay handhelds available, what are they smoking?

      • cron@feddit.org
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        1 month ago

        It would make more sense for microsoft to partner with some hardware vendor and release a modified version of windows 11. With a nice mobile-optimized GUI, integration for the most popular game stores and an optional desktop mode.

  • JoYo 🇺🇸@lemmy.ml
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    1 month ago

    maybe they’ll fix all the massive issues windows has on portables but im not holding my breath.

  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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    1 month ago

    Well I am planning to build a rocket and go to the moon but alas the hardware is still a couple years out :( no fear, it will be soon though!

    • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzOPM
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      1 month ago

      Switch has been around for awhile, and is definitely more of a handheld console than a PC. A lot of the talks around the Xbox handheld have actually been in comparison to the Steam Deck, but it’s not clear yet if the Xbox handheld will be a full PC capable of playing any windows games, or a more locked down Xbox only device.

      This is also pretty significant because it might mean that Windows will get increased support for handheld computers. That would both make it a better alternative OS for the Deck, and would significantly improve the user experience of competitor devices. But once again, it depends on if the device will be more of a handheld PC or handheld xbox.

      So yeah, Switch is a juggernaut as far as handheld gaming goes, but I don’t think the Switch 2 will significantly impact the Steam Deck. But the Xbox handheld could be much more disruptive/impactful to the smaller niche that the Deck currently dominates.

      • Joeffect@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        That makes sense… I could actually see them using gamepass streaming or something… Really push for that subscription model …

    • RobotZap10000@feddit.nl
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      1 month ago

      “We” probably did, but I don’t think that Nintendo would ever license their games to another handheld manufacturer.