https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/22/18236210/xbox-game-pass-switch-microsoft

I own a Switch but no XBox.
And the XBox usually has no exclusives that I'm interested in (or that I can't play already on my Win10 PC), but it sure sounds interesting.

Edit: WTF? (attachement)

Huh. Sounds... interesting. Though the few times I've tried playing streaming games the downsides always made themselves known front and center: Usually not as crisp-looking than on actual hardware at home, occasional lag hiccup, and rather high data usage. Unless all three of those can be mostly solved, I won't be tempted by such. *shrug* Never underestimate console fanboys. *rolls eyes*

Sounds like it's about streaming (from servers), not porting. It's the ultimate DRM!

Yeah...streaming has certainly its downfalls. But the premise is interesting, nonetheless.
Especially with the possibility to play Microsoft/XBox games on a Nintendo console.
I mean, the last time something halfway comparable happened was when Sony and Nintendo wanted to develop a console together. Nah, I think it's a glitch on GOG's side - it's not downvoted, it just shows a negative number of responses. ;) Yes, of course it's about streaming...porting games from one system to another wouldn't be newsworthy (usually).

Ignore the votes, mate.


It's pretty smart if it happens on Microsoft's side given their failed attempts to crack Japan time and time again. This way they don't have to worry about vasts amount of marketing costs, dev costs and hardware costs

Oh, but I do. I just found it funny that my post showed a negative number of replies. :) Yeah, I agree. And they might bring some people to the conclusion that buying a XBox might be a good idea (if the streaming turns out to be not capable of playing stutterfree and in ultra high quality - which is kinda expectable).
Quasi as a bonus for their willingness to open their system to other consoles.

I don't see it changing Japan's views on the Xbox One to the point they'd buy the system. Microsoft have tried and failed to crack Japan multiple times, the only successes being Gears of War (which was a shock even to MS) and the odd JRPG, but they were made to directly target the market. As was Scalebound until it hit snags.

Japan is still very much a customer base who prefer to buy 'from their own' so to speak. It's a cool concept either way to see two big names working together

Microsoft and Nintendo are BFF's now. The Switch will become MS's preferred surrogate mobile option and in return, as shocking as this sounds- I believe we will soon see some Nintendo IP's come onto Game Pass as well. I know how unlikely it sounds, but Nintendo has changed. They've made a lot of management changes and are seeing it's not just about selling hardware.

Don't be surprised if in the future we even see some Switch games come to Game Pass as emulated downloads that can run at higher resolutions. If Microsoft can flawlessly do real time recompilation emulation for 360 games and run them at 4K on Xbox One X, they can do it for Switch games provided the big N wants it. The big problem for Switch is that 4K TV's are now the normal purchase for any new TV...and the Tegra in the Switch has no upgrade path and there are no sign that nVidia are working on one (and how would they manage the battery power needed anyway?). A future where Nintendo takes care of the portable side, plus their special exclusives, and MS take care power console/PC and network/streaming side would be a formidable force. Provided they stay BFF's, because that would be one hell of a lovers tiff if they decide they don't love each other anymore.

Xbox as a console never made any sense, it should have been called DRMBox instead, because that is what it always was; a custom built computer running Windows and games using DirectX that the user has no control of. The whole point was killing PC gaming and moving players to a DRM box, but they failed.