Xbox Games on Your PC?

MIG-31

June 30, 2005 - In the Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun, or Nikkei as it is more commonly known, Bill Gates was asked about the possibility of Xbox being manufactured by third parties. The head of Microsoft was quoted as saying that "nothing is concrete" and that the company is always looking to work with partners in the industry. The story appeared on CNN.com this morning with the subtext that Xbox software would be licensed out to third parties.

Microsoft's official statement from Molly O'Donnell the senior PR manager for Xbox is as follows: "To be clear, Xbox will continue to be manufactured exclusively by Microsoft. There's certainly a potential for other hardware companies to manufacture Xbox some day in the future, but that is not something we're focused on right now."

It's not surprising that Microsoft will remain the sole manufacturer of the Xbox console. However, the possibilities of licensing Xbox software for use in other entertainment hardware opens up a wide range of possibilities. For example, Microsoft could include the core Xbox software with Windows "Longhorn", the next major desktop Windows release. Giving every PC the ability to play Xbox titles immediately gives the Xbox a massive install base which segues nicely to other Microsoft gaming products.

If Microsoft chooses to work with Japanese electronics manufacturers like it has in the past, it could package in its Xbox software and its games would have an automatic presence in the Asian PC market. Bringing Xbox system software to other gadgets after the console is no longer in production could result in more Xbox software sales.

One of Microsoft's goals with XNA has been to smooth over the development process for multiple platforms. On the other side of the coin it would be interesting to see the ability to play original Xbox games on multiple platforms. In any event, it looks like MS is positioning to attack the home entertainment center from every direction.
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Source: IGN

snake

If true, that's a real great news
I mean a bunch of games are really dazzling on the XBOX(Halo 2, DOA3, and many more) and really different from usual games we play on PC
It would be a new border broken between PC and console worlds, once more after the online multi-platform games

Spookyy

The only thing released is sucky fps/action games. The gamepad was not designed for that type of gameplay.

If only there was proper mouse support on the XBOX.

rudedog

console = all game run, no system requirements and hand held controllers
PC = some games run on MY system some don't (compatibility issues you don't have to worry about with consoles), keyboard controller

To me this is what differentiates a PC from a console

KNIBBO

Kinda cool, but I would guess they would all look like crap matched up against games designed to make use of PC hardware.

crapman777

I know most games released on pc after the consoles are generally the same, but sometimes they are far, far better, since the games can be played almost hassle free on the net (with adsl obviously) and additional content can be added. Consider that games like battlefield and warcraft just cant make it on consoles.

Maybe the next gen consoles will be far better, but still, why would i want to buy a 100 dollar xbox game when i can get it for ten dollars less. quite frankly console games dont match up to most pc games.

look at pariah and halo, they were just plain crap, but on the xbox, well hehe, you can only play the shit thats dished out in my opinion.