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Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

theverge.com

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Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#61

Post by enos_feedler »

"The gaming phone is neat idea and I’ve been actually thinking this is the way Microsoft gets back into phones. Leverage their XBox platform to build a phone meets Nintendo DS like device. Thats what I thought the Surface Duo was going to be."

- me 88 days ago on HN:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26258796

The shitty thing is, how does a nobody like me see this? Microsoft had once chance to take this narrative front and center. The surface duo product identity has now sailed. It will always be a failed product trying to be salvaged. Microsoft is a bad consumer company. Incredible enterprise company though.

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#63

Post by mafuyu »

Shadonototro wrote: post #56

Console Sales: - Switch: 85 millions - PS5: 8 millions - XBOX: 4 millions Looks like both Sony/Microsoft forgot something when they announced their new console.. A proper portable console with 1 (and not 2) home console would have been a killer I'm not sure what the target audience is with a virtual gamepad, smartphone users want games designed for their phones, and console users want games designed for a gamepad, an…

Competition in the portable market would be rough, although I would love to see Sony give portables another shot. Especially now that smartphone gaming is its own segment entirely.

Microsoft's strategy seems pretty solid, especially given their stumbles last gen. They're buying in heavily into Game Pass and making games subscription and cross platform across PC and Xbox. XCloud streaming ties into their subscription model and allows for continuity to mobile devices as well.

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#64

Post by adventured »

Shadonototro wrote: post #56

Console Sales: - Switch: 85 millions - PS5: 8 millions - XBOX: 4 millions Looks like both Sony/Microsoft forgot something when they announced their new console.. A proper portable console with 1 (and not 2) home console would have been a killer I'm not sure what the target audience is with a virtual gamepad, smartphone users want games designed for their phones, and console users want games designed for a gamepad, an…

PS4: 115 million units.

Looks like Sony didn't forget something when they announced their new console.

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#65

Post by Splendor »

Shadonototro wrote: post #56

Console Sales: - Switch: 85 millions - PS5: 8 millions - XBOX: 4 millions Looks like both Sony/Microsoft forgot something when they announced their new console.. A proper portable console with 1 (and not 2) home console would have been a killer I'm not sure what the target audience is with a virtual gamepad, smartphone users want games designed for their phones, and console users want games designed for a gamepad, an…

Days since launch (as of 2020-05-24):

- Nintendo Switch: 1,543

- PlayStation 5: 193

- Xbox Series S/X: 195

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#67

Post by handrous »

wklauss wrote: post #62

Xbox Cloud Gaming, unfortunately, it's far from ideal. For several games, lag kills the experience. And I'm not talking fast paced FPS. Even platformers can feel weird or unplayable when you add latency.

> Even platformers can feel weird or unplayable when you add latency.

Even? Super Mario Brothers lets me know very quickly if the lag on my set-up is anything other than quite low, because I'll fall down every damn bottomless pit on the map.

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#68

Post by LegitShady »

neogodless wrote: post #26
LegitShady wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's too much money, so it doesn't matter. They've priced themselves out of relevance.

For most people and use cases, I agree. If you get it as a combo tablet/gaming/tiny laptop, it's not a bad price. The OS allows you to do all those things, and the screen is acceptable for some of them. But personally, yeah, I want a 15"+ screen for laptop usage, and I don't really have interest in a tablet, so there's not enough value here for the money.

>If you get it as a combo tablet/gaming/tiny laptop, it's not a bad price.

It's an integrated graphics Ryzen 4500U machine - it's not a gaming device and shouldn't be called that. It doesn't have a keyboard, so it's not a laptop.

It's at best a ryzen 5 4500U powered tablet with integrated gaming controls. You can buy a $500-600 dell laptop and a $50 xbox controller and get the keyboard too.

I'm happy they found 2500 people to back their project but it looks like a major rip off to me.

It's not without some controversy either

https://www.reddit.com/r/ayaneo/comments/n6k0n0/breaking_lat...

https://www.reddit.com/r/ayaneo/comments/n7hgmd/guide_on_ref...

The company behind the device has been sold and it's a new team, new manufacturing, etc.

I would not back a $1000 crowdfund for any reason.

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#69

Post by wklauss »

handrous wrote: post #67
wklauss wrote: post #62

Xbox Cloud Gaming, unfortunately, it's far from ideal. For several games, lag kills the experience. And I'm not talking fast paced FPS. Even platformers can feel weird or unplayable when you add latency.

> Even platformers can feel weird or unplayable when you add latency. Even? Super Mario Brothers lets me know very quickly if the lag on my set-up is anything other than quite low, because I'll fall down every damn bottomless pit on the map.

I got caught by surprise trying to play Ori on Xbox Cloud after having no problem at all with Cyberpunk on Stadia.

Re: Microsoft has turned the Surface Duo into a handheld Xbox

#70

Post by nonbirithm »

mumblemumble wrote: post #25
neogodless wrote: post #9

What's pretty clear is that the small form-factor multi-screen device needs a compelling story to establish value and utility. The Surface Duo looks like a very cool device that I would probably never use over a phone with one good screen, more power and a great camera. Similar to tablets, I personally just reach for the phone or the laptop or my TV, and never a tablet. But a Duo released with some more power and som…

Every time I revisit the device, I'm just disappointed all over again that it doesn't run Windows 10. This seems like the device that might have justified Windows 8's ill-fated attempt to unify the mobile and desktop operating systems. I see it, and what I want it to be is a dual-function device that works like a tablet when I'm on the train or whatever, but switches into a more PC-style interface when I plug in a mo…

The picture in the article reminds me of the GPD Win 2, which has physical buttons and runs Windows 10. The Win 2 doesn't really give the impression of a laptop or a mobile phone, more like a portable game console that runs PC software. Maybe there are some form factors in between laptops and phones/tablets that are worth exploring further.

It would be nice if the GPD hardware had better dockability. All the available docks are 3D printed by enthusiasts.

Also, the GPD has made me realize that I don't really want a tablet-style input device for ultraportable use. Having the physical knobs and buttons works better if the environment is that of a desktop PC. Remember that weird trend that started in the 2010's where every laptop manufacturer felt the need to make their screens into touchscreens? There were plenty of people I saw who would switch between the touchscreen and mouse awkwardly, as if the touchscreen was beckoning them but they realized five seconds later that navigating Windows with touch regions that small was too cumbersome to bother with. And yet the cycle kept repeating, because the touchscreen wasn't going away.

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