Ol No Bones
Banned
E3 2014 may have had a lot of leaks in the Xbox camp beforehand but either way they had a damn good E3.
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Phil Spencer on Major Nelson's Podcast
- Thread starter jbug617
- Start date
I think we all know he was apart of that last group. We also know he was following orders. I think it's undeniable he has a different focus for Xbox than the last group.
If I remember correctly, Joe is supposed to be helping on any Microsoft Studios project in regards to the story as he's the Senior Creative Director so there's a chance he's taken a look at Halo 5 as well as Scalebound and Crackdown.
As for Marty, I don't know if he would come back to Halo exclusively after working on it for so long. I could see him doing a song or two though as a guest appearance.
He did say it was packed. It's just wishful thinking on my part. But with all of those studios, there should be plenty coming.
As for Rare, in a previous interview he said they have been working on something for a while now, and the way it was worded was that they had some time on a project that is technically a pitch but also more than that as well. It's possible for them to have a 18 month window, if they started once Rivals was finished. Again, probably wishful thinking, but you never know!
slavesnyder
Member
so he was part of the top management and not responsible for/involved in the decisions made?
What a dream job....
No this is a thread about a Major Nelson podcast in which Phil is being interviewed. Also how dose one "come across like they're hiding something" anyway? To me he came across like he was giving an interview and promoting the brand, which is you know...his job.
Yeah right on his LinkedIn page lists that he had some involvement in SO and Scalebound.
El-Pistolero
Member
Well, Quantum Break, Halo 5, Forza 6, Scalebound (maybe?), Fable Legends...
Yep, he is right!
rokkerkory
Member
I totally trust Phil... I hope he brings Xbox back to glory days (ie Halo 2 and early 360 days zomg).
Right now they have a very tough battle and I think it is OK for them to come in a strong second place finish behind PS4... just keep the focus on games and driving down price and the gamers will come.
Right now they have a very tough battle and I think it is OK for them to come in a strong second place finish behind PS4... just keep the focus on games and driving down price and the gamers will come.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Yep. I'm done hoping that Microsoft ever treats PC gaming as anything serious ever again. It's been too long and too many "more coming soon" statements over the past decade. I'll only believe it when I actually see it now, not hear it.
Syphon Filter
Member
To be fair it wasn't Phil saying it all those times ; )
shinobi602
Member
Pretty much, Forza 6 is coming next year.
Triggerhappytel
Member
LOL, sure thing Phil.
I think the guy talks a very good talk, but I'm not sure about much beyond that. Will be an interesting couple of years, for sure.
Yeah, I can't see them breaking away from the "every two years" schedule. They seem pretty comfortable with it. Hoping for some big changes -- liked Forza 5 but thought it was disappointing too. Night and weather racing better be in there.
rokkerkory
Member
He's made some very important decisions in the last 7 months... it's more than just talk.
mohsinkhan
Member
I thought Forza 5 had its shortcomings but it was good for a launch title.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
No, it wasn't. But actions do speak louder than words, and do far there hasn't been any action at all to support any claim that MS takes PC gaming with any level of seriousness yet. Not any action at all.
slavesnyder
Member
The decisions where right, overdue and completely obvious to make.
no mistakes so far, but no miracles either....
Ol No Bones
Banned
Yeah but I also don't want it to get mixed up with the loads of games coming Holiday 2015. I mean Uncharted, Halo, tomb raider, COD, Battlefront, and more unannounced heavy hitters I'm sure.
The idea of a game like phantom dust flopping like it did originally almost makes me want to cry.
The game is just so damn good. It deserves a marketing push.
Also, to all the GAF people out there who here random people talking up this game please pay attention. Phantom Dust is really that good.
rokkerkory
Member
Not sure who is expecting a miracle within 7 months, I'd like to know.
Yeah i was under the impression that most are just expecting him to do his job, not work "miracles".
what the fuck kind of comment is this? You do know that their is a hierarchy of authority. You clearly have zero experience in a business or management setting. He would be responsible for what he was in charge of, namely securing content for MS. You just sound like a dolt claiming that he was secretly in power and could have done anything he wanted for a project the was Don's baby. The people who have the power to make the ultimate decisions are the ones who bear the ultimate responsibility. This is just basic level concepts.
Subordinate team members can voice their input, but cannot control projects. If you speak up too loudly against what the lead wants, you even risk losing your job sometimes. The person who bears all the responsibility for decisions is the head. In this case, Don Mattrick. If you listen to Phil in his recent interview on IGN, he explains that somethings he may have done different if he had the power, but because of the power of hindsight, it is difficult to say.
slavesnyder
Member
Exactly what I say. He did the obvious stuff, and nor even record-breakingly fast. He made the Xbox technically (no kinect) and philosophicly (gamesgamesgames) a me-too-product and let the already set-in-stone timeline of heavy-hitting games work for him.
that is all fine and in my opinion the 100% correct way to do it. but it is no masterpiece of insight or management quality.
Steverulez
Member
Whilst I'm not putting anything on anyone in particular, notice how Don and Marc Whitten (Chief Product Officer) have both left Microsoft - Whitten seemingly left quite abruptly too and then almost immediately after Phil was given the job as Head of Xbox.
New CEO comes in, the direction of the division changes and two personnel who were obviously very key in the Xbox One development of the product and its focus (design of the box, specs and its direction) are both gone.
Phil was obviously at the table, he's said he was no-one is denying it but his job was to get first party content on the console, I think he's done a great job of that and seemingly Satya does too, because he promoted him.
Some people are keen to put blame on him for whatever reason, when it seems obvious that yes he was part of that group, but I highly doubt he was given a specific amount of authority over anything outside of signing games because he presumably would be too busy doing his own job, not other peoples.
rokkerkory
Member
Correcting course for a division as big as Xbox within a few months is FAST especially within a company as big as MS with so many moving parts. Anyone who has worked in a large company can attest to this.
The road is long, he's off to a good start but it's just a start. He needs to keep on bringing the goods which are games. From what we've seen in 7 months, the focus has been on games which is a fundamental shift from X1's ideology.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Phil has been killing it lately. Shame Sony has has such crap support for the PS4 after release. The XBone has has consistent support every month and SO, D4, and Killer Instinct are great great games. I probably won't be getting neither of them but 2014 was definitely a huge turnaround for the Xbox brand.
slavesnyder
Member
Okay, you got me. I have never been on the top management level of a multinational billion-dollar-company. sorry to state my opinion. i am always grateful to get deep first-hand insights from experts. and to refresh my vocabulary. dolt. I have to remember that.
back to topic. always thought that those decisions were made using old school tool like meetings and discussions, consulting marketers shareholders, technicians and fortune tellers. but it seems that i was wrong and it was all the Don alone, sitting in his ivory tower, doors locked and not listening to spencer, who knew the truth and mourned and griefed.
what a blessing that the tyrant is gone now.
I'm just going to quote Aeqvitas because this response is nonsense.
It's nice to spew 20/20 bs. We've seen plenty of companies in gaming not make that so "obvious choice." We've also seen changes take allot longer to implement.
And now you're being an ass. Pretending you don't understand that no matter how much power Phil had under Mattric...he still had to operate under the guidelines set forth by his boss.
slavesnyder
Member
Okay, I got taken away by the fun of discussing things. did not want it to end in tears. apologise for any bad mood.
last things last:
I am sure that MS is not stupid. And I am sure that they already saw what was happening in the console race pretty soon after launch. The word of mouth, the sales numbers, the image problem - you name it. All problems condensed down to don mattricks sad face. he had to go, even if he saw the mistakes and took the right conclusions. people can learn of their faults. really. anyway, his name was burned.
But do you really think they throw out mattrick, install spencer and tell him: hey, surprise you are the new boss -- start thinking?
I am sure that all those decisions for the better were already made and prepared before spencer took over and were a pretty nice gift to get a good start. and it worked so far.
Kinect? we rip it off!
TVTV? From now on it's just games.
And, as we all know, the heavy focus on games and the classy line-up coming in must have been planned already a few years in advance, not just 7 months.
so it must have been mattricks success.
But, you say, spencer was head of this department.
Yeah, but he could not decide anything anyway (so I learned).
The thing that many are forgetting is that you can be great without being a top seller. I mean, just look at the Wii U. That's a console I absolutely love, and it's selling as if it were trash.
Popularity contests are never the one and only indicator of success.
I think you're right in that some of these decisions were being made before Mattrick left, but I think it was in the sense that they asked maybe Spencer, maybe someone else or a whole committee setting what the best choices moving forward were. They likely felt that the Kinect and TV thing, while they were good ideas, weren't what the brand was necessarily known for. Ever since the changeover, the realigning to games, games, games has started building up good graces again, and Spencer at the head is good faith.
Being in charge of games, which Phil was before his promotion and has allot to do with those games we're getting now, is far different from being charge of Xbox. You've seen the difference in Mattricks decisions and Phil's.
digoutyoursoul
Member
It was just so predictable, they all were. In terms of announcements it was a poor E3 all round imo
A FULL Halo collection, which is a tremendous undertaking versus a Halo 2 Anniversary alone, and Scalebound were not predictable.
Platinum doing an exclusive was widely predicted in advance.
I never saw anyone predicting what happened with Tomb Raider.
Doug Heffernan
Member
No one expected a dragon game with Kamiya at the helm.
Captain Tuttle
Member
Who are these shareholders? Honest question.
scytherage
Member
Dear Phil,
My shelf has too much backlog for Xbox One. Stop making good games please.
Slow it down!
Just kidding,
scytherage
My shelf has too much backlog for Xbox One. Stop making good games please.
Slow it down!
Just kidding,
scytherage
If by "predicted" you actually mean leaked then sure. Even then Kamiya directing was a surprise.
It would be downright glacial without it!
Miles Quaritch
Member
You can tell. Really glad they gave them the opportunity. A gaming landscape without Sunset is a poor, barren, lifeless one.
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
It's actually very likely that Spencer may have been in charge unofficially when everyone internally knew Mattrick was leaving -- just because Spencer was announced Head of Xbox publically doesn't necessarily mean that that's when he first started that role. There was likely, I presume, a transition process. Unless there's evidence to the contrary, I think Spencer was in charge of turning the Xbox brand around. I mean, I own both consoles, so I don't think it's an unfair statement to say that Sony obviously started off extremely strong but I think Microsoft has had by far the better post launch support. Obviously, Spencer is not doing his job out of the goodness of his heart -- he is still part of a business -- but it's also easy to see that he is still very much passionate about games and his leadership of the Xbox brand since he got the position definitely attests to that.
Steverulez
Member
When Phil Spencer took over as Head of Xbox, he essentially took Marc Whitten's job as the OS update team now reports to him which they didn't do before and also Marc Whitten was the face of that side, so I don't think he had as much control as he does now.
Have you worked somewhere where you were not in charge? It can be a real challenge to change things if everyone else is drinking the cool-aid. If he was a believer is some of the things they wanted to do you wouldn't guess that now, based on actions not words.
Very true. I was very much in the Sony camp for the start of this gen, but now I find myself on the Xbox One substantially more. The brand and the passion has landed me to play on there more, and things like the Rewards gets me to buy digitally when before I was all about physical (outside of Steam). I really like the direction that Xbox is heading,.
slavesnyder
Member
fair enough. I know this situation with incompetent leaders and cowardly devote management below. that's why i left for a better place.
for xbox, there is still work to do and rotten apples to sort out. will be interesting to watch if spencer is really as good as many here state already.
CharmingCharlie
Member
Phil Spencer said:
I feel confident enough to predict that he will carry on promising to talk about gaming on Windows in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 etc etc . Still it is another item to add to the bullet list of bullshit from Microsoft with regards to PC gaming.
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