Today, The Game Developers Conference (GDC) released the results of the fifth annual State of the Industry Survey, revealing trends in the games industry ahead of GDC 2017 this February.
Windows Central writes: "CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, had previously been vocally opposed to the idea of a native Xbox headset, stating in 2019 that 'nobody's asking for VR' on Xbox. However, Microsoft's marketing strategy for the Xbox Series X|S generation has shifted with the rise of Xbox Cloud Gaming and the 'This is an Xbox' marketing."
Ah, a contributing factor to Meta dropping PSVR2 support for Beat sabre! Microsoft’s always stuck with the modus operandi of “if you want an original idea steal someone else’s” and try to destroy markets they cannot win in. They are doing to to console gaming and now trying VR!
It's like a rich kid who pays the smart kid to do his homework for him.
*Yea, such a shame about Beat Saber dropping Playstation support btw. :\
Why would this deal with Xbox cause meta to end beat Saber support for the psvr2 when the game isn't even available on Xbox?
It is more likely that psvr2 is under performing and they feel it is time to end support. The psvr2 headset only sells whenever there is a sale to make it competitive with the meta headset.
The XBox way. Hardware, even game development companies.... let them do the hard work of building things, throw them some money, then slap an XBox logo on it!
This is probably nothing more than a branding attempt to show Xbox really is on all platforms. The Quest already has the Xbox Cloud app that supposedly works great. Would be cool if Microsoft actually entered the VR space in a larger capacity but if they was doing that, I imagine they'd have showcased it at their summer showcase.
Yeah, it's basically the same idea as the ROG Ally Xbox. Just a regular device that gives you access to the Xbox library and carries the brand, but nothing really special or groundbreaking beyond that. It’s not some custom Xbox hardware, just a repackage of existing tech with a logo and some software perks.
Now, when it comes to VR, Microsoft actually made a pretty serious attempt with something called Windows Mixed Reality. It wasn’t just a headset, they were aiming for an open ecosystem. They had APIs for developers, support baked into Windows, and even tools to convert regular desktop content into VR environments. On paper, it was a solid play. But it never caught on, third part support was half-baked and basically only Samsung headsets were worth anything. After about five years of trying to push it, they gave up and shelved the whole thing.
The bigger issue here is that VR just isn't ready for the mainstream. People love to hype it up, but at the end of the day, it’s a hard sell unless it’s cheap enough to feel like an impulse buy and even when you can do that, you need to support it with software. Making it a extremelly expensive segment for any company, just look at Meta, bleeding literal billions every years trying to get this stuff off the ground, and they are the market leaders.
The PlayStation Mid-Year Deals promotion has a bunch of games worth checking out that are priced at $4.99 or below.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has proved to be a success the world over, however, one nation which is particularly keen on the Nintendo’s latest platform is naturally Japan. Recent sales data has shown that…
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yeah nothing is gonna dethrone nintendo in japan, especially if there's a handheld involved.
Wow… Nintendo is champ in Japan, but the speed of sale is remarkable.
Proves that console gaming isn’t dead yet not by a long shot.
Replies(2)I guess the resistance against always online and digital only consoles is BS. The people have voted with their wallets.
What are you talking about? Switch 2 is neither always online nor digital only.
Nintendo can literally block your Switch 2 console from accessing their online services at any time. When that happens, it becomes a brick. You won't even be able to play those games that use game key cards that are not installed on the console. Some users who have been blocked tried factory resetting their system, and when they tried to boot it up with a new account, they are stuck.
Speaking of game key cards, the majority of third party publishers have opted to use those instead of loading their full game on those cartridges. Imagine having a library of game key card games and going on a long trip but not being able to play a particular game because you need to connect to Nintendo servers to download the game first. It is not like the old days where you just plug in and play.
Game key cards make sense for large games like GTA, Red Dead, or COD, but I don't see why publishers who have games with sizes less than 32 GB need to use that option.
If you try to mod your system it could get banned from online play like every single system since the ps3 and xbox
I think mid gen upgrades are a bad idea personally. Why not just go full on new console instead of a .5 type of console for an extra 400 bux.
GDC isn't a good place to get statistics about the gaming industry,
They aren't surveying studios and developers around the world. Especially not from Japan.
The truth of the matter is we're getting these midgen refreshes for 3 reasons. 1, both conpanies delivered underpowered systems day one this gen, something that typically doesn't happen, and they delivered them later than anticipated. This forced developers into making their own target development kits for the new platforms and they overestimated the power forcing them to scale back after the systems were revealed. As a result, the systems were near maxed out in their first 18 months, where most systems arent at that point until years 3 and 4.
2, the entertainment industries extremely hard push of 4k. Think about the push to HD 15 years or so ago. We knew about the impending resolution increase for a decade before it ever reached a single consumer, and even then it was incredibly expensive, the content was barely existent, and blu ray was still a ways off. I bought my first HDTV, a 720p 32" vizio for $1,000 in the beginning of 2006. The push to 4k has been much faster. The UHD launch really took place in just under 3 years. And the tech has been pushed to mass market prices faster than any tv tech that came before it. I bought a 65" samsung 4k for $3,800 in 2015, and 2 days before this past christmas I bought a 55" samsung 4k hdr for $1,000. This rate of adoption forced Sony and microsoft to respond else risk losing market share to the dozens of streaming boxes with gaming functionality that are releasing everyday with 4k support.
3, and in my opinion most important, many gamers have transitioned to the cell phone and tablet market where statistics show people commonly upgrade/replace their devices every 2 to 3 years to stay on top of the curve. This showed gaming companies that most consumers are willing to spend console kind of money more frequently provided it doesnt mean they lose their existing content. Its very likely that whatever shape the ps5 and next gen xbox take(although realistically the scorpio is already the next gen xbox) they will follow this new pattern and be basically huge upgrades to current systems that run the same or slightly revised OS to ensure full compatibility.
I just traded my XB1 for an S yday and gotvca great trade deal. I'll swap my S for a Scorpio as well if that deal is good also. I can afford it and I think its worth it personally. I'll upgrade my switch in 2-3 years no problem