Microsoft Should Make a TV, Origin Will Just Hurt PC Gaming

Two things I want to talk about, and I feel like right now is the perfect time to bring them up. First off, Microsoft needs to pull an Apple and take advantage of the tech they have right now and make a TV. And not just any TV, but one that will finally bring together all the devices hooked up to a TV in one. Details on that and why Origin is going to just make PC gaming more complicated after the jump (I promise these topics are related).

Microsoft is, as they often are, at a very important crossroads. And like every other situation they've been in, they are likely going to drop the ball and lose a chance at dominating a very important market: TV.

Now, Microsoft already has two PERFECT assets to enter this market: The XBox 360 (and especially the Kinect) and Windows 8. Now, let me explain. The Kinect has allowed for people to control their 360s using gestures, and Windows 8 is being built for touch interfaces. These two combined would make for a beautiful TV experience. On top of that, the the Media Center interface for Windows 8 is going to have integration with XBox Live (as seen here). Now, what I am getting at is, if XBox is going to stay relevant in a world where consoles are shifting away from mere gaming devices, they have to make the product nobody is expecting, but everyone will want when they see it. To me, that product is the XBOX TV.

The XBOX TV would be a TV with PC hardware (or something along those lines) built into it. Think along the lines of a large iMac, or a really powerful Google TV. But the advantage will be that it will be running Windows 8, with a very, very powerful Media Center interface that integrates with XBox Live. The TV will also have a Kinect built in, as well as a XBox 360 controller adapter (all internal, no hassle or hookups needed). So, out of the box you can turn it on and control it with the Kinect, or turn on a 360 controller and control it with that. This also allows for an extensive backlog of PC games that can be installed and played, and Microsoft should allow for games to be selected and played right from the media center menus. Special icons in the interface would indicate whether the games support 360 controller, kinect, or keyboard and mouse (as maintained on a database) and the service would allow games from Steam and other providers to be added to the Media Center interface.

The version of Windows 8 for the XBox TV will need to be built specifically for these purposes, so the user doesn't feel bogged down with setting things up and having to muck around with preferences. Things will need to be anticipated, but with the tools Microsoft already has, I don't think that is at all unreasonable. Add on top of that the ability to hook up the internal Kinect to an existing XBox 360, a special option to go to a classic Windows interface and install any Windows compatible software (but keep this mostly hidden from most users), keep it around the $1500 - $2000 price point, and I think they would have a formula for really bringing together several industries, reviving PC gaming, and allowing for some real PC hardware optimization.

I know this would come with some issues, such as not really being able to upgrade your hardware (though a panel you could open up to swap out a standard video card, RAM, or HDD would change this), and it would be a move away from a Desktop, but I think a change like this is necessary. Think of the potential of having all the entertainment devices you currently use in your living room, consolidated to one device, instead of the splintered mess that most of us deal with right now.

On the topic of splintering, though, part of the reason why this will never happen (at least with the gaming emphasis) is because of services like Steam or Origin. These things make it much harder for Microsoft to consolidate the user experience, because there are way too many places people can get their games, and way too many services that would need to be running to make sure those games are accessible. Perhaps allowing the user to choose which services they will want would alleviate this, all through a Media Center interface, but the problem remains.

Steam really put forth a standard for digital distribution for games, but unfortunately Valve is like an island in the world of Tech. It's a game developer that happened to make a good distribution platform for games. If they were to make an agreement with Microsoft, though, one that would allow their service to better integrate with Windows 8, they would have a real presence as the go-to company in digital distribution. But with services like Origin entering the game, with EA at its front, the whole situation has changed. Publisher specific distribution platforms are going to fragment the scene too much, and leave gamers with too much to have to setup. Blizzard has battle.net, EA has Origin, there are things like GoG and others, and that creates a HUGE issue for the XBox TV idea. Too much configuration makes for a very difficult user experience, and lack of control does as well. And the PC scene is hurting because it has no central point of control.

Ultimately, though, no one but Microsoft could take the wheel of the PC gaming scene and work to make it more unified. And they probably would have done it by now, had they not been sidetracked by the original XBox and the 360. That's why I think they need to bring those two ideas together and create a platform that finally marries their XBox branch to their PC gaming base. And when you think about how Windows already has the ability to support everything from Netflix to Hulu to Amazon on demand to iTunes to Amazon MP3 to... okay, so you get the point. The PC-powered XBox TV would be a great product.