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[TheRealTalker]

the white theme seems to be down for GAF

lol thought it was this thread but this is just a suggestion of approving a CEO decision making not an actual spin off

 

[oxidax]

Welp shit! How much is Xbox worth?

 

[KissVibes]

Gates, the founder and former CEO of Microsoft, said he’s been helping new CEO Satya Nadella transition into his new leadership role and that he would support Nadella if the new CEO proposed a spinoff of one of Microsoft’s units. But Gates said he didn’t foresee either Bing, the company’s search engine division, or Xbox, its gaming division, as potential stand-alone companies because they are part of Microsoft’s long-term strategy.

How does that translate to: Bill Gates: "If MSFT CEO Nadella wants 2 spin off @XBox biz I'm absolutely for it."?

 

[clav]

 

[vagabondarts]

The problem with xbox right now is that it is part of some big overarching corporate strategy, just google One Microsoft. So the focus is on that and not giving consumers maximum value. Getting spun off would fix that.

It is similar to what PS went through when the rest of sony was pushing the cell and blu ray etc. With the PS4 the only objective was maximum value.


So, it would be a good thing for xbox fans.

I agree. I think it would definitely help Xbox if they were free from Microsofts corporate strategy and able to focus on being a great game platform.

Hope it happens actually, because gamers and Xbox win being a separate entity focused on games only

 

[BRocknRolla]

How does that translate to: Bill Gates: "If MSFT CEO Nadella wants 2 spin off @XBox biz I'm absolutely for it."?

Sigh... It's in the interview. It's a quote from the interview.

This thread is proving that regardless of whether or not you want to downplay something interesting to oblivion or blow it up into something sensational, lots of posters have zero interest in reading/listening to anything of substance.

the white theme seems to be down for GAF

Seriously? The white theme is all I can get right now. I usually run dark.

Welp shit! How much is Xbox worth?

Quite a lot I'd bet. I highly doubt you're going to see any movement in that direction though until well after this year (If you ever see it). It's still pretty early despite the rocky start.

 

[jbug617]

@fxshaw: Context: Bill’s comments re Xbox reflected support of Satya as CEO. Also said committed to gaming x-plat with Xbox as key to gaming strategy

@fxshaw: 2/2 (should have started numbering earlier) Microsoft remains committed to Xbox and the millions of Xbox fans around the world.

He is the lead communicator at MS.

 

[LNBL]

 

[BruiserBear]

This sounds to me like Gates basically just saying "I support whatever the new CEO wants to do". The general kind of support a former CEO usually offers.

 

[Guevara]

More context from the generally realiable Seattle Times:

Gates made his remarks in an interview, alongside Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, with FOX Business Network’s Liz Claman.

Microsoft has done some spinoffs historically, Gates said, citing Expedia and Slate, both of which started off at Microsoft.

“We’re thinking about: Are there pieces that are separable,” Gates said. “But our basic research, including the stuff that goes into Bing, I can’t see that making sense to break it off.”

Claman then asked if it made sense to break off Xbox.

Gates said Microsoft is working to bring PC and Xbox gaming closer together, saying: “The power of the PC chip, the graphics chip which means you can do great games there, so I’m sure Satya and the team will look at that and you know it’s up to them. … We’re going to have an overall gaming strategy. So it’s not as obvious as you might think.”

When Claman asked if Gates would support Nadella if Nadella wanted to spin off Xbox, Gates replied: “Absolutely.”​

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/micro...s-he-would-support-xbox-but-not-bing-spinoff/

 

[Nibel]

Gates said Microsoft is working to bring PC and Xbox gaming closer together, saying: “The power of the PC chip, the graphics chip which means you can do great games there, so I’m sure Satya and the team will look at that and you know it’s up to them. … We’re going to have an overall gaming strategy. So it’s not as obvious as you might think.”

This will never happen and we both know it Bill

 

[Shinta]

This sounds to me like Gates basically just saying "I support whatever the new CEO wants to do". The general kind of support a former CEO usually offers.

It does but, honestly, you don't talk about selling Xbox publicly on a whim. He knows what it means to say that publicly and is not stupid. The fact that its even in the conversation is telling in my opinion.

 

[Guevara]

This will never happen and we both know it Bill

I think MS will absolutely have an overall gaming strategy, it just might not look very """hardcore""". MS might have a gaming strategy that is 90% mobile one day, that wouldn't be as "obvious" as people think.

 

[Prologue]

Why is there always talk about selling the division? Theres money on the table, the 360 period showed that. They are the ones that burned potential buyers on the first day of the reveal and kept on with their practices long afterwards, thats not our fault.

You sell something because its not working, not because the people in charge are incompetent.

 

[Saint Gregory]

This will never happen and we both know it Bill

Wasn't that essentially what Games for Windows Live was supposed to be?

Does he actually believe that people are going to be willing to give that another chance?

 

[Zoned]

More context from the generally realiable Seattle Times:

Gates said Microsoft is working to bring PC and Xbox gaming closer together, saying: “The power of the PC chip, the graphics chip which means you can do great games there, so I’m sure Satya and the team will look at that and you know it’s up to them. … We’re going to have an overall gaming strategy. So it’s not as obvious as you might think.”

​

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/micro...s-he-would-support-xbox-but-not-bing-spinoff/

No thanks. Please stay out of PC gaming territory.

 

[BRocknRolla]

Why is there always talk about selling the division? Theres money on the table, the 360 period showed that. They are the ones that burned potential buyers on the first day of the reveal, thats not our fault.

You sell something because its not working, not because the people in charge are incompetent.

Business is absolutely not that simple.

MS is a large corporation with large goals and expectations from investors. That there's "money on the table" is largely irrelevant. The real question is "how much money" is on the table, and "how fast" can you get it? The 360 made money, but it took a lot of time and effort, and in the end, was that time and effort worth the investment? Could more money have been made elsewhere, say in the Enterprise division, if those funds and efforts have been directed there instead? That's a pretty common argument from some MS investors (Some believe hardware is something that should be wholly avoided at this point, not just the Xbox division). Whether or not that diversion would in fact make MS more money is up for debate, and no doubt, it's a debate those various divisions are having right now.

It's the same reason you don't see some large game publishers publishing a bunch of niche or indie games. The development costs and fanbase might assure a profit, but if that profit is ultimately small, what's better; investing in time consuming ventures with smaller payoffs or investing in fewer, but larger enterprises that stand to make much more money and hold a much broader appeal if they succeed? Once again, it's a debate that I'm sure goes on all the time.

But "money on the table" is only one part of a much larger equation.

 

[Malyse]

sell it to Nintendo and bring the troops home after their 12 year long war.

 

[jj70]

Dunno, but wasn't Dreamcast a separate/different company from Sega? Isn't it a bad omen ?...

 

[Rookwood]

It does but, honestly, you don't talk about selling Xbox publicly on a whim. He knows what it means to say that publicly and is not stupid. The fact that its even in the conversation is telling in my opinion.

I think you're reading too much into this. Have you seen the actual interview, cause I did, and in it, it's clear that Gates was put into a yes or no answer position, as in "yes, I would support the new CEO's decision" or "no, I would not support the new CEO's decision" - in the eye of the public, saying anything less than a firm yes would make Microsoft look disharmonious, which is certainly something they don't need right now with Nadella being newly minted. Gates isn't ignorant of that fact, so he said yes, which was the right thing to do.

Nadella supports Xbox. He called Phil Spencer to the mat, had a chat and then appointed him to Head of Xbox. Clearly that is more telling insofar as Microsoft supporting Xbox rather than it being open to abandoning it?

 

[scsa]

He said spin off not sell and get out.
Or maybe I am not understanding this correctly.
Time to brush up on corporate terminology.

 

[Guevara]

I think you're reading too much into this. Have you seen the actual interview, cause I did, and in it, it's clear that Gates was put into a yes or no answer position, as in "yes, I would support the new CEO's decision" or "no, I would not support the new CEO's decision" - in the eye of the public, saying anything less than a firm yes would make Microsoft look disharmonious, which is certainly something they don't need right now with Nadella being newly minted. Gates isn't ignorant of that fact, so he said yes, which was the right thing to do.

Nadella supports Xbox. He called Phil Spencer to the mat, had a chat and then appointed him to Head of Xbox. Clearly that is more telling insofar as Microsoft supporting Xbox rather than it being open to abandoning it?

The situation is a reporter asked him if Microsoft should consider spinning off Bing and Xbox.

Gates immediately defended the value of Bing
But he waffled about Xbox: well, maybe, it if makes sense, i support Nadella whatever his decision

Pretty clear how he feels, in my opinion.

 

[Cipherr]

Amazon Xbox would be a great thing.
I'd jump in.

Yeah I think it's about time. Hoping Samsung gets them.

What if Facebook buys it.

All of this shit would be awful. The last thing we need is some fucking company that doesn't really care about gaming to grab the Xbox brand. Its bad enough they fucked around with the one Stuffing tiles and Kinect and shit in there instead of building a spec equal machine with the PS4. We don't need Amazon or Samsung or Facebook buying it and pushing Gaming onto the back burner in exchange for trying to sell you Amazon Prime, or the latest fucking smartphone or whatever.

Fuck that, if they are gonna spin it off, let it be its own company but still owned by MS. Remove the bullshit influence from within MS that wants to shove MS Office to you through the fucking box and get rid of whoever thought Kinect in box was a good idea.

 

[jelly]

Wasn't that essentially what Games for Windows Live was supposed to be?

Does he actually believe that people are going to be willing to give that another chance?

The backbone of Xbox, the Microsoft account offers up the same store currency, achievements, gamertag, Xbox Music and Videos, OneDrive etc.. Going forward it will just be ever more seamless.

What they do with core PC games and not just tablet, mobile games remains to be seen. They are quite happy to chuck stuff on Steam at the moment. I think they don't have a plan in place to sell Xbox as a platform to developers who already use their own methods or Steam etc. Microsoft may be demanding integration like GFWL which could just be more hassle than it's worth rather than putting devs at ease like Steamworks. Microsoft need a dev/publisher friendly Xboxworks.

Another problem that may arise is how do you integrate Xbox Live features on PC games and not bring the comparison of console players paying for the same thing because they won't try charging PC users again. Rock and a hard place.

 

[rokkerkory]

Amazon buys Xbox and refuses to sell PlayStation and Nintendo brands?

That would be crazy.

 

[Penguins&PolarBears]

Very clever click bait headline by Fox Business.


AppleTV, Chromecast, FireTV means no chance of this happening. Xbox is clearly not a distraction since Microsoft's main competitors are going after the living room.

Before and after Xbox, Microsoft made many attempts for the living room and tried webTV, UltimateTV, Media Center, MediaRoom. Xbox is the only success story they've ever had in the living room. When Microsoft sold off MediaRoom and all of their IPTV technology to Ericsson last year that was their declaration that they were all in with Xbox as their living room play.

Xbox with universal apps, bing, skype, onedrive, Xbox games, movies, TV, music is a platform for Microsoft software and services. Take away Xbox and the draw of the Microsoft ecosystem of services is only further diminished. If Microsoft doesn't mind giving 30% of their software revenue to Apple then I guess Microsoft doesn't need their own platforms and they might as well kill Windows too.

A spinoff of Xbox is an option for a company in dire straits, not for a company making $6B profit every quarter.

 

[Sean*O]

if you read the full content, that's exactly whats hes doing.

Typically you'd see someone in Gate's position would pledge 100% support without giving specific hypotheticals. Just maybe he is suggesting something in the best interest of his company.. Or he wants to see how the market reacts to speculation on his words.

 

[pants]

All of this shit would be awful. The last thing we need is some fucking company that doesn't really care about gaming to grab the Xbox brand.

Let's not pretend microsoft has the best record in this regard, I for one think Samsung would be way more game focused.

 

[Ominym]

Isn't that essentially him supporting the CEO? Probably doesn't want to undermine him.

This is exactly what it is. People on the board of Microsoft have said for years they felt like Gates had too much power and influence over Ballmer and have been actively pushing for years to get him out entirely. This very much seems like Gates saying, "Hey man, I trust you to make the right call. It's your decision, not mine." Not, "Dude you should sell the Xbox shit sux" like some people are going to make it out to be.

 

[twobear]

Amazon buys Xbox and refuses to sell PlayStation and Nintendo brands?

That would be crazy.

Yes, it would be crazy, as in, a crazy bad idea for Amazon.

 

[Rookwood]

The situation is a reporter asked him if Microsoft should consider spinning off Bing and Xbox.

Gates immediately defended the value of Bing
But he waffled about Xbox: well, maybe, it if makes sense, i support Nadella whatever his decision

Pretty clear how he feels, in my opinion.

His response was ambiguous at best, and that's being generous. Bing is tied to much bigger things than Xbox. There is nothing to suggest Gates would be in favour of spinning Xbox off. Could they? Of course. Should they? If it made sense to Nadella, he'd support it. That's all you could reasonably take from this. There's nothing made "pretty clear" in anything he said in regards to Xbox. What we do know, however, is that Gates has supported Xbox historically, and we also know that Nadella supports Xbox. The odds of it being spun off/sold are infinitesimal compared to the odds of it staying, imo.

 

[ElFly]

Very clever click bait headline by Fox Business.


AppleTV, Chromecast, FireTV means no chance of this happening. Xbox is clearly not a distraction since Microsoft's main competitors are going after the living room.

Before and after Xbox, Microsoft made many attempts for the living room and tried webTV, UltimateTV, Media Center, MediaRoom. Xbox is the only success story they've ever had in the living room. When Microsoft sold off MediaRoom and all of their IPTV technology to Ericsson last year that was their declaration that they were all in with Xbox as their living room play.

Xbox with universal apps, bing, skype, onedrive, Xbox games, movies, TV, music, not to mention Azure usage in games is a platform for Microsoft software and services. Take away Xbox and the draw of the Microsoft ecosystem of services is only further diminished. If Microsoft doesn't mind giving 30% of their software revenue to Apple then I guess Microsoft doesn't need their own platforms and they might as well kill Windows too.

A spinoff of Xbox is an option for a company in dire straits, not for a company making $6B profit every quarter.

That's kind of a dangerous vision, cause it may mean the next xbox will be a $100 or something box mainly for streaming.

 

[Guevara]

Here's the video by the way, so we can stop interpreting a tweet:

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3538...fett-ever-had/?intcmp=obnetwork#sp=show-clips

 

[Penguins&PolarBears]

That's kind of a dangerous vision, cause it may mean the next xbox will be a $100 or something box mainly for streaming.

Well so far the $400 and $500 boxes are outselling the $100 boxes. Right now the lesson seems to be that Apple/Amazon/Google/Roku are doing it wrong and MS/Sony are doing something right.

That being said assuming infrastructure improves over time OnLive and Playstation Now type of services could eventually be good enough for many people as a $100 replacement for expensive game machines. The near future (3-10 years) is probably going to be a mix of both expensive and cheap devices due to the inconsistencies network infrastructure and data center proximity. The long term future (10+ years) I can't see expensive dedicated game machines surviving, but what it will shift to is Azure cloud supported devices. So both in the near term and long term Microsoft has strong ties to the video game/set top box market.

 

[ElFly]

Well so far the $400 and $500 boxes are outselling the $100 boxes. Right now the lesson seems to be that Apple/Amazon/Google are doing it wrong and MS/Sony are doing something right.

That's only true for the $400 box.

99% sure the $500 Xbox One is being outsold by the Apple TV alone.

 

[Saint Gregory]

The backbone of Xbox, the Microsoft account offers up the same store currency, achievements, gamertag, Xbox Music and Videos, OneDrive etc.. Going forward it will just be ever more seamless.

What they do with core PC games and not just tablet, mobile games remains to be seen. They are quite happy to chuck stuff on Steam at the moment. I think they don't have a plan in place to sell Xbox as a platform to developers who already use their own methods or Steam etc. Microsoft may be demanding integration like GFWL which could just be more hassle than it's worth rather than putting devs at ease like Steamworks. Microsoft need a dev/publisher friendly Xboxworks.

Another problem that may arise is how do you integrate Xbox Live features on PC games and not bring the comparison of console players paying for the same thing because they won't try charging PC users again. Rock and a hard place.

I actually enjoy the integration of Xbox services in Windows 8 but they need to do a much better job making their PC platform a seamless experience if they want me to buy PC games from them again.

One thing about GFWL that always drove me crazy though was that the moment I'd log in to play something on PC like SFIV I'd start getting game requests from my friends because they assumed I was on 360 (I'm pretty sure that the friends notification has a PC tag but whatever). So if they're really serious about this they need to incorporate cross platform play to make it worthwhile to people who have both console and PC friends.

Amazon buys Xbox and refuses to sell PlayStation and Nintendo brands?

That would be crazy.

Well Amazon US is already halfway there on the Nintendo front so it won't take much.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Well that is one major obstacle out of the way for this to actually happen.

Some were saying a sale of Xbox was impossible because Xbox was Gates' baby and he would never countenance such a move, being a member of the board. Now it turns out that is not the case at all.

 

[Manic Mouse]

Yeah I think it's about time. Hoping Samsung gets them.

Since when did Samsung get such a slavish following? They're awful. You want a console based around touchwhiz, with a million half-baked s-garbage things added onto it?

If you think Xbone lacks a focus on gaming, just wait until Samsung produce their version.

The Samsung approach is to throw as much faecal matter at the wall in the hopes that something sticks. Or just copy the leader of whatever industry they're trying to dominate. Motorola Razor is popular, rip it off in the Samsung Blade (real product), Blackberry is popular, rip it off with the Samsung Blackjack (real product). Rip off Dyson's hoover designs and get sued. Whatever, they have no shame. They're also run basically by Korean mobsters (type "Samsung corruption" into google and have a look).

So please guys, stop pretending Samsung is something good in the consumer products world, they are not.

 

[Zoned]

Samsung would be the best option. They can bring some very powerful machines considering the fact that they really care about numbers and performance.

 

[Omakone]

Didn't Nadella just recently and explicitly state that he was in favor of focusing on it rather than spinning it off?

Hopefully this is not the vote of confience that an NFL owner give the coach, right before he fires him.

 

[Delusibeta]

Spoiler alert: itsfuckingnothing.gif

It's a bit of a trap question, since the responses would result in either "OMG MICROSOFT GONNA SPIN OFF THE XBOX" or "OMG GATES HAS ZERO CONFIDENCE IN NADELLA". Either way, Gates has responded the former, and really the only thing that should be taken from it is that Gates supports Nadella.

Although, it's fairly indicative of how bad the Xbone launch was that "Microsoft spinning off the Xbox brand" is even a thing, and I'm surprised Gates didn't say "I would support whatever Nadella decides to do", which would probably not fall into the trap.

[Edit] Ah, Fox Business. That would explain that.

 

[vertibird]

Here's the video by the way, so we can stop interpreting a tweet:

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3538...fett-ever-had/?intcmp=obnetwork#sp=show-clips

So what was Bill supposed to say? She asked if he would support him. He wasn't going to undermine Satya and say no

 

[Kysen]

Since when did Samsung get such a slavish following? They're awful. You want a console based around touchwhiz, with a million half-baked s-garbage things added onto it?

So true, just look at their smart watch attempts. Dumping garbage onto the market and hoping it sells just so they can get there first.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

Since when did Samsung get such a slavish following? They're awful. You want a console based around touchwhiz, with a million half-baked s-garbage things added onto it?

If you think Xbone lacks a focus on gaming, just wait until Samsung produce their version.

The Samsung approach is to throw as much faecal matter at the wall in the hopes that something sticks. Or just copy the leader of whatever industry they're trying to dominate. Motorola Razor is popular, rip it off in the Samsung Blade (real product), Blackberry is popular, rip it off with the Samsung Blackjack (real product). Rip off Dyson's hoover designs and get sued. Whatever, they have no shame. They're also run basically by Korean mobsters (type "Samsung corruption" into google and have a look).

So please guys, stop pretending Samsung is something good in the consumer products world, they are not.

So true, just look at their smart watch attempts. Dumping garbage onto the market and hoping it sells just so they can get there first.

Samsung is only good at one thing: TV's and that's it.


Gates had to say it - he had to say he supports Nadella no matter what. Some replies here make it sound people really want it to happen.

 

[Daniel Jackson]

Apple has 150+ billion dollar in cash. iBox here we go.

 

[Aquamarine]

Samsung is only good at one thing: TV's and that's it.


Gates had to say it - he had to say he supports Nadella no matter what. Some replies here make it sound people really want it to happen.

It would be alarming if someone like Mr. Gates didn't support Mr. Nadella wholeheartedly.

 

[cpp_is_king]

I'm a little confused about what Gates means. He said he would support Nadella "spinning it off", but at the same time he says he doesn't see it as a standalone company, because it's important to Microsoft's long term goals. How do these two statements not contradict each other?

 

[Manic Mouse]

With Sony in such bad shape financially, and Xbox potentially for sale... What is going to happen to home console gaming?

Here's my controversial opinion:

This is why competition isn't always a good thing.

These companies are spending so much time and effort in trying to out-compete each other in a niche market that neither is being successful.

It's the tragedy of the commons. There are only so many pieces of the pie to go around, and with too many mouths to feed everyone will starve.

 

[spwolf]

Selling isn't the same as spinning-off. In the latter, they'd still control it and reap the profits (and suffer the losses), but they'd be given more autonomy within the company.

But the real point here is that Bill Gates isn't going to publicly say "Man, fuck what Nadella wants, I have my own ideas."

spinning off is the last chance before they sell it.... just like what Sony is doing with their TVs.

They give them autonomy and lower costs when they spin them off, and if it doesnt work out as intended, it is easy to sell it since the unit is autonomous.

 

[BlastProcessing]

So what was Bill supposed to say? She asked if he would support him. He wasn't going to undermine Satya and say no

It's more the fact that he explicitly defended Bing and didn't put up much of a defense for Xbox. There is definitely no hard news here, but from a Kremlinology standpoint it gives us a little view into how the Board is thinking.