Xbox Next to Include PC/Console Hybrid Option?

Pluvius writes "According to CNN/Money staffer Chris Morris, Microsoft's next-gen game console, XBox Next, could be PC- and XBox-compatible and retail for $599. This was one of many possibilities for the console which was explored by the B/R/S Group, a marketing firm which recently did focus testing for Microsoft. This theoretical console would also require a PC monitor or HDTV to display images and come with a full version of Windows as well as a CD burner and a keyboard and mouse. However, Morris notes that even if this hybrid becomes a reality, it would probably be an alternative to a standalone XBox Next console, much like the Sony PSX is to the PlayStation 2. Would you be willing to pay $600 for a console with all of the capabilities of a standard OEM PC?"

Comments

Emulator

[Anonymous Coward]

I would rather use an XBox(next) emulator on my PC!

Would I be willing?

[dgrgich]

Definitely - and I think that a great deal of the public would as well, especially if MS could market this well. Think of it this way - parents are going to buy their kids consoles as well as computers for school anyway. How can MS lose if they combine the two at a price point that beats the combined price?

XBox 2- Not "PC Compatible"

[cgenman]

Must I point out that the XBox 2 is confirmed to be shipping with IBM's Power PC chip line? That development machines have come on Apple G5's with a special version of Windows loaded?

You can't just swap out the iron and expect everything to work hunky-dorey. That's got to break a lot of drivers, high-end applications, etc, etc... I'd doubt many programs would run without a re-compile.

Probability: not bloody likely.

Next.

Yes!

[rjoseph]

My actual, vocalized reply upon reading the last line of the post: "yes, absof**kinglutley!"

As someone who uses a Mac as my desktop machine and only has Linux installed on my other hardware (all of which are incapable of running the games I actually want to play), I would be infinitely more stoked to pay 600 bucks for a console on which I could play games from two platforms, rather than paying $400 for the next XBox and then another couple thou to buy myself a decent gaming machine.

And yes, I understand that this console wouldn't actually be anywhere near equivalent to a $2000 PC, but that's exactly the point: the only time I ever use Windows or ever need a powerful machine is to play games, so craming both consoles into one sounds like a great idea to me.

This all coming from someone who has always had an extreme aversion to dropping 400 clams on a console because I thought they never did enough "stuff." I certainly hope this fantasy comes true, even if it is from Microsoft!

Re:No.

[drinkypoo]

Everyone likes the Xbox because it's so damned good. It's a shame we don't have stronger convictions about Microsoft, but apparently we don't. I say we because I have one, too. I have about five games for it (I didn't buy any of them new, except arguably the ones that came with the unit) and mostly I use it as a media player.

Face it, a PC with a P3 733, DVD-ROM, 10/100 TP ethernet, digital audio, a little hard drive and enough ram to get by, and high quality TV out is probably going to cost just as much as the Xbox, maybe more. For $190 brand new you can get the Xbox, the remote control, and the S-Video kit, perhaps even as little as $170 now. Software exists which makes it into a quite functional (if less than bug free) media player capable of handling nearly anything you'd want to play on it. The video output is fantastic unless you want full-HD, in which case you're going to have to go elsewhere, but this is less than two hundred bucks and has a not-unattractive (if imposing) case and it gets the job done.

Spending another $200 or so to upgrade it will give it a shitload of hard drive space and a DVD burner, and you can also use it to rip movies, store a meaningful amount of video, et cetera.

It's not hard to see why the Xbox is so popular, especially when buying the thing means taking money away from Microsoft, since they take a loss on the consoles. The more people who buy them and don't buy games, the better, in the short run. Of course, not buying games will lead Microsoft to make a console with less hack value, since they make up the loss in game licensing, but no plan is perfect.