Microsoft announces an Xbox TV app and xCloud streaming stick

[HEXUS]

All part of its mission to "bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet."

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[Tabbykatze]

They just have to do better than Stadia

[KultiVator]

It's taken them a while, but finally Microsoft are about to offer game-streaming to something other than Android handsets.

Cool that they're now also on the verge of deploying the next-gen server blades - these have chipsets based on the latest XBox consoles - and could be the closest many of us will get to any next-gen hardware for a while.

[tazzrats]

If Microsoft can actually use their position in the market to do what stadia for some reason didn't: create high resolution low latency game streaming, then they could be on to a real winner here.

Ngl, I love having my PC, but man, this is good for all of us that game, more money, more ISPs, more people in online servers, exciting times!

[jimbouk]

I wonder how the environmental impact of streaming vs downloading vs physical copy stacks up? I guess the last two aren't a good comparison for games due to the number of patches, but how many times do you have to listen to a CD/vinyl before it's better for the environment than streaming? And how does a little stick, data centre plus all the bandwidth compare to a console in your living room?

[Yoyoyo69]

Microsoft yet again moving forward, whilst Google goes backwards. Really putting the pressure on them.

This is also possibly the closest they have ever came to seriously challenging Valve/Steam.

[LSG501]

Well I wasn't expecting this quite so soon but after the announcement about stadia on the 8th I said I was expecting a tv with xcloud and controller support built in.

It makes sense imo because at the end of the day it's basically just a 'viewport' with all the hardware being hosted remotely and in all honesty Sony (lets be honest Stadia isn't a competitor to Xbox) doesn't have anything that can compete.

Curious about the cost of the streaming stick though....

[QuorTek]

But everyone with a little sense, would buy a Playstation 5 instead, just saying.

[KultiVator]

But everyone with a little sense, would buy a Playstation 5 instead, just saying.

This is no place to be bringing trash-talk that helps perpetuate the console wars... anyhow Call of Duty Black Ops 27 plays best on a beefy PC. Phahahah.

[Saracen999]

Hmmm.

Well, streaming? Not really for me.

Some music streaming? Okay. I use Amazon at the moment. But TBH, digitising my own owned media onto a media server and running it entirely in-house appeals more. I'm not really into much music later than about early 1980s, and a lot of what I listen to is pre-20th century (i.e. classical). And mostly, in both cases, if I want it I already have it. I'm happy to buy the occasional new disk, and Amazon streaming, until a media server was ready to go, appealed but it won't for much longer.

Video streaming? Not really. Again, I have a LOT on physical media already and for the odd new film/TV series, I'd rather just buy the discs. If I can't, oh well, I'll do wihout it then.

Game streaming? For me, just not going to happen. If I can't buy the game and use it when/where it suits me, without streaming or subscriptions (free or otherwise) I ain't doing it. Steam? It's no secret I never have, and never will, and there's zero chance of me using MS game streaming either. I'd rather not game at all.

[LSG501]

But everyone with a little sense, would buy a Playstation 5 instead, just saying.

Maybe it's me but in their current iterations I'd actually pick (I wouldn't actually but hypothetically) xbox series x over playstation 5 and the reason for that is games (more I like on xbox) and the actual console.

The sony is, relatively speaking, huge (wouldn't fit in my media unit) and also pretty ugly imo.