{"id":2494,"date":"2025-05-10T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2025-05-12T02:55:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T02:55:18","slug":"xbox-is-crazy-if-it-thinks-it-can-compete-with-nintendo-switch-2-readers-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/10\/xbox-is-crazy-if-it-thinks-it-can-compete-with-nintendo-switch-2-readers-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"Xbox is crazy if it thinks it can compete with Nintendo Switch 2 \u2013 Reader\u2019s Feature"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Xbox\t<\/div>
Will Xbox\u2019s portable plans work out? (Nintendo\/Microsoft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Microsoft<\/a>\u2019s plans for new gaming portables comes under question from a reader who thinks they have little chance of competing with Nintendo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The conclusion that I have come to over the last decade or so is that nobody at Microsoft, or at least nobody high up, really understands video games. The Xbox 360<\/a> was one of the most important consoles of all time, that set the pace for the modern era of video games that we\u2019re still in today. But only a few years into its life Microsoft were messing up, with Kinect, and everything they\u2019ve done since then has been nothing short of a disaster.<\/p>\n

We found at this week that, after spending over $70 billion on Call Of Duty<\/a>, it sill made virtually no difference to Game Pass<\/a>, which means they\u2019re now committed, whether they want it or not (and with announcements like Gears Of War<\/a> they certainly don\u2019t seem all that enthusiastic about it), to being merely a third party publisher, no different from EA<\/a> or Ubisoft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s not really true though. They are different because a) they\u2019re the richest company in the world and b) they are still technically making consoles, even if nobody\u2019s buying them. What\u2019s more they\u2019ve promised to make more, including at least two portables. Somehow, I don\u2019t think Nintendo are quaking in their boots.<\/p>\n

The Xbox Series X\/S was dead on arrival but it\u2019s not clear to me whether Microsoft are going to make any more home consoles. There\u2019s probably a good chance they\u2019re not sure yet either, but they have said they\u2019re releasing a portable this year and that they have another coming out in a few years. Presumably that\u2019s their next gen console but I don\u2019t believe they\u2019ve ever confirmed that they are one and the same.<\/p>\n

Either way, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has made it very clear that he\u2019s a big fan of PC portables like Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally. That\u2019s fine but none of those sell very much, so I\u2019m not really sure what he\u2019s expecting to get out of any of this, especially the new Asus crossover that just got leaked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even the Steam Deck has only sold a few million, which is completely irrelevant when the Nintendo Switch just said it\u2019ll be at 156 million by the end of the year<\/a>. The ROG Ally is over \u00a3500, so unless Microsoft is prepared to take a massive loss on each one, I don\u2019t see it making any impact at all.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Nintendo\t<\/div>
The Switch 2 already seems destined for success (Nintendo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So what about the next gen portable? There\u2019s talk that it\u2019s going to be mostly for streaming and\/or AI. But broadband isn\u2019t going to get some massive boost in just a couple of years so I don\u2019t see how that\u2019s going to work. If streaming\u2019s the gimmick, then you\u2019re looking at a portable that you can only reliably play at home, because who knows what the Wi-Fi is like elsewhere.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know all the details yet, but I can\u2019t think of a single one that would make the idea work. I can, however, think of an endless parade of big ideas from Xbox that haven\u2019t worked out. So the idea that they know what they\u2019re doing and we should wait and see what they have in mind doesn\u2019t really cut it for me.<\/p>\n

You can see the Nintendo Switch 2 is clearly going to be a massive hit. When your biggest problem is that you can\u2019t make enough stock that\u2019s not really a problem at all.<\/p>\n

By comparison, Xbox\u2019s legacy in the games industry is such a mess, that gives me no confidence at all that they know what they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s something like 15 years since they were the trendsetters in the games industry and I don\u2019t see that ever changing. Not only are they late to the party in getting into portables but the things they\u2019re trying to copy are already just a niche.<\/p>\n

By reader Weasley<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Xbox's\t<\/div>
The Asus portable hasn\u2019t been officially unveiled yet (FCC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The reader\u2019s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a> or use our Submit Stuff page<\/a> and you won\u2019t need to send an email.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/10\/tried-beat-oblivion-remastered-without-ever-using-fast-travel-readers-feature-23060328\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Why I tried to beat Oblivion Remastered without ever using fast travel – Reader’s Feature<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/04\/gta-6-price-rises-going-destroy-gaming-forever-readers-feature-23020522\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">GTA 6 and price rises are going to destroy gaming forever \u2013 Reader\u2019s Feature<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/03\/game-pass-led-abandon-ps5-readers-feature-23019105\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">How Game Pass led me to abandon my PS5 \u2013 Reader\u2019s Feature<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Xbox\u2019s portable plans work out? (Nintendo\/Microsoft) Microsoft\u2019s plans for new gaming portables comes under question from a reader who thinks they have little chance of competing with Nintendo. The conclusion that I have come to over the last decade or so is that nobody at Microsoft, or at least nobody high up, really understands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions\/2497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}