Microsoft, I suspect, is seeing the end of the XBOX as a console and are preparing for the future. That means bringing the current XBOX gamers to the PC/tablets/devices and make XBOX a software platform.

Why merge Computers and Consoles? Did they merge C-64 computer and Atari 800 console? No, they didn`t! A console is a different thing than a PC. It`s like merging a dishwasher and a washing machine, it simply doesn`t make sense!!

Most likely for PC that entails no modding, no hacking, no plugins, no backups of the content, etc etc. If they are trying to merge the worst aspects of console gaming to PC, i certainly am against such merging.

What's their difference?

But they both use soap! :P

Unification sounds like an interesting idea on paper, or it does up to the point of having access to stuff that normally might only be on Xbox or getting stuff on both platforms. But it seems to me like it would ultimately just serve to damage their console market viability. (Don't know if that’s a bad thing or if they care)

If they blur the lines then they blur the lines. They blur it for users, developers, and the blur the ability to have separate opinions or even see them as separate platforms. If it was successful then I figure you would start to see Windows boxes existing in the same space as SteamOS boxes and the market being more like Playstation vs Windows with the Windows boxes inheriting a lot of PC's negative traits; primarily the lack of any performance guarantees.

MS might want to enforce some sort of standard for what constitutes a viable dedicated gaming unit or keep their own unit the exclusive console level unit, but they won't have any real right to do so, and they won't be able to maintain living room exclusivity without imposing arbitrary restrictions that undermine the unification initiative.

Not sure what to expect in the long run. I would like to give KI a run and I don't have or want an Xbox. But then my good PC doesn't have Win 10 and I don't really want that on there.

**edit. Post gremlins

I think consoles are largely pointless, but on the other hand, most of my games are from 199X and before. Sure, they were needed back in the days when PCs weren't affordable and were more work machines then available for general use, but these days?

What's the point of a machine running specialized software when it's not even that different than a PC?

Can you really blame them for trying...? Sony is giving them a run for their money:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/01/ea-lets-slip-lifetime-xbox-one-and-ps4-consoles-sales/

Even the PC is outperforming the console it seems:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-first-month-pc-sales-almos/1100-6435094/

We all hate the thought of maintaining another online account and prefer to have all our games in one place, but Steam basically has little direct competition at this point, and it shows like the Roman Empire at the height of its decadence. Microsoft are one of the few companies powerful enough to give them a run for their money.

It’s probably just lip-service anyway. “We are committed to this space…. We know we have a lot to prove” has been a line Microsoft representatives have trotted out for as long as I can remember. Every year, regular as clockwork. We must be coming up on a decade of it by now.

It drags the quality of PC down with it, as we have seen with shitty ports and direct input vs xinput.
I would go even further and say there shouldn't have been any cross platform games between the xbox and playstation.

One is better for the consumer.

This might be bad for Steam.

and not surprise the announcement about unfreezing the hardware. there was no way this console generation was going to last six years. they probably knew well it was going to be short when they first launched the machines.

Seeing as the consoles went for 2 years with piss-all for games, it's sorta a wonder how they sold so many. There's a lot of gamers and youtubers who have more than once said they haven't turned on the system for six months, and actually having a good game to make them turn on the system would be refreshing. TB played Fibbage on his PS4 more than anything else.

To say the latest consoles are a total disappointment is no small feat. A lot of companies would be better off making games that have the scope complexity and graphical fidelity of PS2 titles. Armored Core, Odin Sphere, Dark Cloud 1&2, long RPGs that are heavily sprite based like Ar tonelico, or Disgaea. Sure they wouldn't get anywhere near using the full hardware, but people would be having fun, and lots of games would be selling, especially if they were priced at $20 per instead of $60 per.

consoles have too many restrictions, more than steam, i want none of that