Although I enjoy watching press conferences from various multimedia and gaming events such as E3 and GDC, I usually take any announcements made at them with more than a few grains of salt. Though I understand the need to keep people interested and playing, many of us can probably recall at least a few instances where the initial hype surrounding a hallowed gaming proclamation fizzled into nothing or became little more than a long-running tease. So when I decided to invest my time into watching the Gamescom 2015 press conferences of Microsoft, EA, and Blizzard, I was ready to be interested but, like any cautious optimist, also skeptical and underwhelmed. Though those facets held out for most of what I heard, I perked up  at Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 10 would be coming to the Xbox One this fall. Hmm…

I pondered the possibilities of this, especially as I was (and still am) waiting for my chance to download Windows 10 (while waving a very happy goodbye to Windows 8/8.1). I also started looking to what this could mean for our Xbox One and my little “gaming” laptop. The chance for improved communication between the two seemed quite exciting, as did the prospect of cross-playing, easily sharing gameplay videos, or, maybe and eventually, being able to play Xbox One games on the laptop and vice versa.

All of which may mean that I’ll probably need to become a player with online gaming friends (eek!) in order to partake in all the fun, but I digress…

Granted, the Xbox One is not a PC. During the discussion about the seeming Windows 10-Xbox One integration, no grand reports of the console’s demise were made. If anything, it sounded like the Xbox, long an outlier in Microsoft’s ranks, was finally getting its due. When I first got my “new” Windows laptop, and though I’m not much of a community-oriented player, I tried out the app Smartglass, which was supposed to allow for increased interactivity with some games. I didn’t find much use for what it offered and soon gave up on it. Not that I’m comparing the Smartglass app to what may (or, let’s be honest, may not) happen with Windows 10 and the Xbox One, but Smartglass could be seen as on step in the direction of the integration of the two systems, if on a much narrower scale

Earlier in the week, my follower UWGer Hatm0nster posted a great article about the question of console versus PC gaming, if there is a question to be, um…questioned at all. These days, so many of us who chose to invest in games are getting them from a wide variety of sources and for a variety of game-playing devices. Whether you prefer physical or digital copies, Steam or GOG, Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus, we are still all playing the same games, so why can’t we play them together, if we so choose, no matter the ways or means? If whatever comes of a merger of sorts between Windows 10 and the Xbox One points in that direction, then maybe gaming will someday become a community that’s no longer separated by master races and cartridge-keepers. We will simply play; all of us.

Got any thoughts on whatever may happen with Windows 10 or the Xbox One, or any of the announcements that came out of this year’s Gamescom? Share them below in the comments!