Microsoft is coming up with new and inventive ways to confuse the hell out of the consumer base. Plans for two different XBoxes are being drawn up under the codename Scarlet; One being the XBox One type that most of us think of, and a slightly cheaper model that does nothing but stream games, known as Scarlett Cloud.
The cloud console will have a limited amount of compute locally for specific tasks like controller input, image processing, and importantly, collision detection. The downside of this is that it since more hardware is needed locally, it will raise the price of the streaming box but it will still cost significantly less than what we are accustomed to paying for a new-generation console which should help expand the platform’s reach.
As someone who is cursed to sell consoles and has to explain differences between platforms on a daily basis for people I can see this being a tad problematic. We already have people that buy games and automatically assume they can all be played without an internet connection. People are going to see the cheaper console, buy it, and then be pissed to find out it’s only used for their game streaming service which will also require a fee. I’m sure there are quite a few people that would have no problem going that route, but rainy days and internet outages are probably not something one would want to dwell on.
I even hate saying this, but NVidia’s streaming cloud platform makes slightly more sense because you can use it on pretty much any barebones laptop, plug it into HDMI and have your own console. But this in console form? I’m not so sure, then again I’m not the target audience. I like playing all of my games locally and being able to mod when applicable. :happy:
I would hate for there to be a future where everything has to be done through cloud computing. I can imagine certain game developers making games “Cloud Exclusive” just to either drum up business or as a means of anti-piracy. :zorak: