Xbox Portable

The Start of the Rumor

Author Dean Takahashi claimed in his book Xbox 360 Uncloaked that about half of the Xbox 360's original team was already at work on a portable console. Microsoft planned to release the handheld about halfway through the 360's life cycle, which would follow Sony's model for the PSP. Dean even went so far to call the Xbox Portable the Xboy and Xpod.

Xbox Portable Mockups

A lot of mockups have it open like the DS, but about twice the length. The top half contains the LCD widescreen and speakers on either side. On the bottom half is a full QWERTY keyboard and all the other buttons and joysticks similar to the Xbox 360 controller. Check out some of the Xbox portable mockups at the following sites:

• Joystiq.com—Fun little mockup that appears to combine the DS with the 360 controller.

• Joystiq part 2—another mockup that basically puts a screen on the Xbox 360 controller.

• Kotaku—a collection of Xbox portable mockups.

• Flickr—another artist's conception. He calls it the Xune.

Can Microsoft Do It?

First some questions need to be answered. Should Microsoft concentrate on gaming or continue with the multimedia experience it is gathering with the Xbox 360? Microsoft has a firm and long-lasting foothold in the wireless and mobile industry. Is it possible that an Xbox Portable can be 100% portable and wireless?

One guess about Microsoft is that they will use some sort of Windows Mobile to run the hardware. It would have to be a little more streamlined than the operating systems on some PDAs and smartphones. Using Windows will allow them to integrate the Xbox Portable with the 360, like the DS for the Wii.

There's a lot of power in the 360. It would be hard to get every last drop of computing power into a handheld. So speed and pixel pushing would have to be scaled, but possibly not dramatically. Microsoft will have to pick and choose how they want the Xbox Portable to go, but sticking the multimedia experience is definitely a good decision.

Microsoft can do it. They have the manpower, the expertise and the industry experience needed to follow that endeavor. The questions is: do they have the gall to enter the handheld market? They had the gall to enter the console market, so the answer is yes, they do have the gall.

Business Sense

Is the Xbox Portable viable? From a monetary standpoint, probably not, but hardware—no matter who makes it—just doesn't make money. The money is made from software sales. What makes a console successful is its third party support. The big three (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) have lots of third party support so for Microsoft, it's not a question of if. It's a question of when will Microsoft release a portable Xbox?

You'll Get it, Don't Fib

Microsoft is a solid second in the industry, when nobody thought they would dethrone Sony. Sony released the PSP when gamers were losing faith in the giant, which was about the time gamers saw such potential in the 360. Microsoft just needs to time the release right, like they did with Halo 3 versus the release of the Wii. Regardless, whatever hardware Microsoft releases, fanboys and skeptics alike will probably still purchase the Xboy or the Xpod.