Why doesn't Microsoft have a handheld games console yet?

CM30

CM30

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It's always seemed a bit strange this, given how every other company in the gaming world tried to take over the handheld market at one point. Nintendo has always had the Game Boy/DS/3DS, Sony the Playstation Portable and Vita, Sega had the Game Gear, SNK had the Neo Geo...

Yet we never saw a portable Xbox or anything else of the same type. And even on their phones, it seems like Microsoft doesn't really prioritise handheld or mobile gaming.

So what is with that anyway?
 
MicroSoft has stated numerous times that they don't want to make a handheld console because then they are officially competing with Sony and Nintendo. When they announced the original Xbox they stated they weren't making a gaming console to compete with the likes of Sony or Nintendo, but rather to make a console that was more PC-like in nature and game selection. This is why they made the Windows Phone as their handheld gaming apparatus.

However, I agree with the fact they SHOULD make one. I, personally, have wanted them to do so for many years now and keep saying "I hope they make one soon".
 
Venturing into console gaming was disastrous for them financially for quite a while. The new CEO isn't too fond of the gaming division iirc. I don't see them getting a green light to try out the handheld waters any time soon. Plus, they're already getting kicked around in the smart phone sector. I would like a handheld from them though, it would be interesting to see what they would do differently from Sony.
 
LOL! Worse they could do is make a handheld that ends up being a phone since the vita is pretty much a Smartphone (in the gaming sense) already and MS' WinPhone is a LosePhone for gaming (see what I did thar? XD ). It'd probably just end up being a portable skype device with indie games on it lol Kinda like a PSP when it first came out. Again, that's worse comes to worst.
 
Even if it flops I'd still like to see it because that would mean an increase in the amount of games made for both systems. Most devs don't touch the Vita because of the small install base (similar to Wii U_U) but I bet if there were 2 pseudo-HD handheld twins out there, more devs would jump in and at least make multiplatform titles.
 
I think it's good Microsoft has stayed out of the handheld gaming market. If they were to venture into it, the focus on the XBox would be compromised. Microsoft is a big company who has experienced great success in the gaming industry already. I think they are too late to join in the handheld game.
 
Coming as a Microsoft outsider (I don't have Xbox and use Playstation instead), when I think Xbox, I tend to think of Halo, and Call of Dity, and all the other FPS's. To me, and maybe it's just the way they advertise, but they don't seem like they'd really have anything that'd work well on a handheld, and they seem to cater towards the home console/PC gaming crowd more.

They don't really need to be in handhelds honestly. With them also making Windows, they could easily cater more towards big PC/Xbox exclusive releases- it seems silly that they don't do that more actually. With the handheld market being considered 'risky' right now because of smartphones and their game apps, I doubt they'd want to move in that direction anyway...
 
Aensland said:
MicroSoft has stated numerous times that they don't want to make a handheld console because then they are officially competing with Sony and Nintendo. When they announced the original Xbox they stated they weren't making a gaming console to compete with the likes of Sony or Nintendo, but rather to make a console that was more PC-like in nature and game selection. This is why they made the Windows Phone as their handheld gaming apparatus.

However, I agree with the fact they SHOULD make one. I, personally, have wanted them to do so for many years now and keep saying "I hope they make one soon".
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I've heard that the Windows Phone overheats fairly quickly.
 
Bonfyre said:
I've heard that the Windows Phone overheats fairly quickly.
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There are a lot of different Windows phones. I had an old Samsung one that could get warm, but honestly my HTC One M7 gets a whole heck of a lot hotter.
 
benoit489 said:
There are a lot of different Windows phones. I had an old Samsung one that could get warm, but honestly my HTC One M7 gets a whole heck of a lot hotter.
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my Huwawei was a GD bomb! I would literally drop the phone because it would get so hot it burned me if I tried to charge it.
 
Aensland said:
my Huwawei was a GD bomb! I would literally drop the phone because it would get so hot it burned me if I tried to charge it.
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o_O That's crazy! I've never had a phone that's gotten too hot to handle, the closest to it was the HTC Evo Shift- it got really toasty, but I also had one of those full plastic cases on it that contributed to it I think. My Galaxy Note 3 gets noticeably warmer when it's charging, but it's never gotten hot.
 
Brunn said:
o_O That's crazy! I've never had a phone that's gotten too hot to handle, the closest to it was the HTC Evo Shift- it got really toasty, but I also had one of those full plastic cases on it that contributed to it I think. My Galaxy Note 3 gets noticeably warmer when it's charging, but it's never gotten hot.
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Put my old Samsung Galaxy in a case once... the battery exploded it got so hot. I never did that again lol

Bonfyre said:
GD is a dick to its consumers. *ding*
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GD is an abbreviation for God-damned, not a company label.
 
Aensland said:
Put my old Samsung Galaxy in a case once... the battery exploded it got so hot. I never did that again lol
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I refuse to ever get one of those cases that completely encompasses the phone because the Shift I had got so hot. The new case I have for my Note just replaces the back, and puts a thing booklike cover that wraps to the front. I love it, best case I've ever bought!
 
Isn't Microsoft already competing with Sony and Nintendo anyway?

I have often wondering why Microsoft doesn't produce their own handheld console. Nintendo has always done it and Sony started doing it when they entered the market. Why doesn't Microsoft?
 
JennyorAlice said:
Isn't Microsoft already competing with Sony and Nintendo anyway?

I have often wondering why Microsoft doesn't produce their own handheld console. Nintendo has always done it and Sony started doing it when they entered the market. Why doesn't Microsoft?
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Like i said before, MicroSoft wants to keep their console targeting PC gamers. In their mind that makes them 'not competing with the likes of Sony or Nintendo". If they put out a handheld console they would officially be competing, hence why they have a phone instead.
 
Meh, Microsoft is fooling themselves. Just because they don't offer the same lineup of products doesn't mean they aren't in competition, and if they're trying to claim that it's just typical business BS that most large companies spew.

Not nearly as many of their Xbox games seem to be ported over to PC as they should be, which I've never understood why when they stand to make a lot of money off of that. I mean, isn't the whole point of the Xbox being similar to the PC to make for easy porting between it and PC systems? Wasn't that one of the original intentions behind the creation of the original Xbox?

Seems more likely to me they were just short sighted about it, and now don't want to get into the iffy market because of the mobile market's supposed dominance, or they frankly just didn't see the need to widen their product lines because they already have their entire PC lines and whatnots to work with. Why gamble with making a handheld when you're rolling in money anyway? The wider they splay their markets out, the more dangerous they become and the more likely to fail.
 
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