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Mattrick and Spencer Talk Games in OXM

Neko Mimi Mode

Neko Mimi Mode

Member
Mattrick and Spencer talk Games in OXM

A few choice cuts;

Thankfully, a glance at the bigger picture reveals that this is more a question of presentation than strategy. Microsoft will invest no less than $1 billion into games next gen - an unprecedented sum for the firm - and Xbox One will see 15 exclusive titles in its first year at retail, including eight new IPs. All that's on top of a two-year period of bulking up, which has seen Microsoft Studios open new games studios in London, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia while snapping up talent for its existing operations.

Core gaming powerhouses 343 Studios, Lionhead and Turn 10 have all seen significant appointments - Lionhead, for instance, now runs under the supervision of MMO expert John Needham, in further evidence that the rumoured Fable 4 will be a cloud-centric affair. Microsoft has hired former Sony executive Phil Harrison - the man who oversaw the gestation of such noted PlayStation IPs as LittleBigPlanet - to manage internal projects and developer relations in Europe. Rare Ltd is poised to return to one of its cherished franchises in what Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer bills a "historic" revival.

Black Tusk Studios is working on a mysterious action title that's designed to compete with Halo and Gears of War. Microsoft has opened Lift London to create and incubate smaller scale cloud-based games. New projects are underway at Microsoft Studios Osaka, reflecting IEB president Don Mattrick's assertion that the company remains "committed" to Japan. Perhaps most hearteningly, Microsoft has acquired Press Play and Twisted Pixel to work on "weird, unique" titles for Xbox Live. In short, there's a lot more bubbling away under the surface than the Xbox One event suggests.
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Pushed to discuss Microsoft's attitude to first-party exclusives during a roundtable conversation with journalists, he offers a regrettably detail-free yet promising account of Xbox One's core release slate. "I think they're always important. We just ran through our script and counted the number of exclusives, and looked at the amount of money that we're spending and the deals that we have, exclusive windows and [things to create differentiation]. I think, candidly, people are way, way under-indexing how hard we're punching."

"We're going to come out with detail on things and people are going to go, 'oh my god'. Like, 'they were focused, they made this a core goal, core activity'. There are great hits, there's innovation, and there are world class creators plugged in. You know, I keep track of it all, and I hope everyone here does - we kind of look back at all the different years and at what we shipped, how many units have sold. There's a lot of hyperbole about things, but I think we're going to deliver."
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Naturally, Mattrick's immensely heartened by the feedback on all this from third parties. "What I've heard other people say, without breaking any of their non-disclosure agreements, is that we've got something pretty good, and they're excited to work with us and to see what the capabilities are, and what it could mean for their business. As creators and particularly as consumers, people are like 'how do I get one early?'"
Click to expand...
 
MMaRsu

MMaRsu

Banned
So yeah I can pretty much give a 90% guarantee that they are letting Rare make Killer Instinct, to help with winning over the hardcore crowd.

Is that shit even relevant these days? Fighters sell pretty badly right?
 
Neko Mimi Mode

Neko Mimi Mode

Member
MMaRsu said:
So yeah I can pretty much give a 90% guarantee that they are letting Rare make Killer Instinct, to help with winning over the hardcore crowd.

Is that shit even relevant these days? Fighters sell pretty badly right?
Click to expand...

I really hope it's not Killer Instinct, but it's Killer Instinct.

Sadly it'll probably be sent to die and be used as justification not to necromance any other Rare titles.
 
G

gkryhewy

Member
MMaRsu said:
So yeah I can pretty much give a 90% guarantee that they are letting Rare make Killer Instinct, to help with winning over the hardcore crowd.

Is that shit even relevant these days? Fighters sell pretty badly right?
Click to expand...

It's a hell of a lot more relevant than Bloody Roar.
 
M

madmackem

Member
I think we need to take these bold statements with a pinch of salt, it sounds good on paper but who knows how that number is being made up. I think we all remember the 500m dollars they said they were using towards kinect and its ad money. I think we need to wait till e3 to see what they bring to the table.
 
Neko Mimi Mode

Neko Mimi Mode

Member
rouken said:
I'm going with Conker, they need a platformer for the console.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd gladly eat crow if it's Conker.

Instead of Killer App, it's going to be Killer Instinct. I'm keeping my expectations tempered with that.

Actually it COULD be Banjo

madmackem said:
I think we need to take these bold statements with a pinch of salt, it sounds good on paper but who knows how that number is being made up. I think we all remember the 500m dollars they said they were using towards kinect and its ad money. I think we need to wait till e3 to see what they bring to the table.
Click to expand...

We know how the number is being made up. 15 exclusive titles, 8 of which are new IPs. They've also opened several new studios, as bolded above, which are working on localized content.

From what I've seen Microsoft are endeavoring to take a Nintendo stance, vis, shoring up their first party studios for a wide range of content to break reliance on third party exclusives.
 
W

Wolves Evolve

Member
Killer Instinct will be one of those "oh wow I just gotta have it moments" but you have to wonder who is left at Rare that even cares about the game. The series is really not that great anyway, it could do with a reboot and rethink.
 
A

abadguy

Banned
So MS has a studio in Osaka now? Interesting.

MMaRsu said:
So yeah I can pretty much give a 90% guarantee that they are letting Rare make Killer Instinct, to help with winning over the hardcore crowd.

Is that shit even relevant these days? Fighters sell pretty badly right?
Click to expand...

Not a fan of KI at all, but i think it would have a good chance of selling well as a launch title.

dreamcastmaster said:
Surely everyone that was involved in the original KI has left Rare now anyway.
Click to expand...

Maybe now it has a chance of being actually being good.
 
C

cryptic

Member
So has it been confirmed that this is all just going to spread over several iterations of Halo, Gears, Kinect games, etc. and of course bought exclusives of proven successful franchises with next to no new IP aside from the kinect games?
 
P

PsihoPerihelion

Member
cryptic said:
So has it been confirmed that this is all just going to spread over several iterations of Halo, Gears, Kinect games, etc. and of course bought exclusives of proven successful franchises with next to no new IP aside from the kinect games?
Click to expand...

15 big games coming and eight completely new ones.
Click to expand...

Once you learn how to read, the world becomes a completely magical place to live.
 
Neko Mimi Mode

Neko Mimi Mode

Member
Wolves Evolve said:
Killer Instinct will be one of those "oh wow I just gotta have it moments" but you have to wonder who is left at Rare that even cares about the game. The series is really not that great anyway, it could do with a reboot and rethink.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming Microsoft want to diversify their lineup, but the question is whether there actually is the fanbase who want it?

It certainly wouldn't have been my pick for a "cherished franchise" to return to, anyway.

abadguy said:
So MS has a studio in Osaka now? Interesting.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we don't know much about it, only;
1. They were hiring staff a while back.
2. They are exclusively making Japanese orientated games for the Xbox One.
3. They are working on at least one project currently, with a few sources stating possibly two.

I doubt we'll see or hear much more until TGS though.
 
K

Krilekk

Banned
Tylahedras said:
Gotta make that Billion back somehow. This isn't charity.
Click to expand...

They're making a billion each year with Gold fees alone. But of course since these are 1st party games they will only have to sell 2 million of each to make a profit. If you don't count the system seller effect it has as marketing.
 
P

PsihoPerihelion

Member
So they have an studio at Japan now? I would love to see some high-budget RPG from MS.

cryptic said:
Hmm? So possibly eight new kinect games that I'm not interested in? I'm more concerned with the type of games.
Click to expand...

Of course, sweety. Gotta love that Remedy time control via hand waving.
 
Neko Mimi Mode

Neko Mimi Mode

Member
Yogsam said:
So they have an studio at Japan now? I would love to see some high-budget RPG from MS.
Click to expand...

Yep, that takes their studios number up to 25 (20 if you remove the mobile, "family" aka Kinect and cloud developers)

There will be high budget RPGs from Osaka, though while I do believe Lost Odyssey 2 is coming, I hope they save that one for Mistwalker still.

Of course, sweety. Gotta love that Remedy time control via hand waving.
Click to expand...

Day one.

246kv21lzhg.gif


Beetleking11 said:
400m for sport games.
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It must be a worrying time for you.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
MMaRsu said:
So yeah I can pretty much give a 90% guarantee that they are letting Rare make Killer Instinct, to help with winning over the hardcore crowd.

Is that shit even relevant these days? Fighters sell pretty badly right?
Click to expand...

Bloodwake and Jet Force Gemini.

New projects are underway at Microsoft Studios Osaka, reflecting IEB president Don Mattrick's assertion that the company remains "committed" to Japan
Click to expand...

This is interesting, wonder if we'll see a new Phantom Dust or Lost Odyssey.
 
P

Psycho_Mantis

Banned
Courage said:
They're equally focusing on entertainment as well as games.
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This would make sense if equal amounts of people bought the 360 for games and entertainment. However the truth is the vast majority bought it for games. Therefore its more suitable if they focused on games a bit more unless they think they can broaden their audience with Xbone. Whether it does or does not is a vital question in the Xbone's success imo.
 
Alx

Alx

Member
BoboBrazil said:
Killer Instict is going to have Kinect controls.
Click to expand...

I would buy that. ^^ More certainly than a regular KI fighter.
But was Killer Instinct a "cherished franchise" for Rare ? That's not the picture I had in mind (they only made two of them after all, and none of the characters reached iconic status)
 
P

PsihoPerihelion

Member
Killer Instinct seems like a waste to me. They can easily bring Battletoads or Jet Force Gemini as a modern game. Bring back Conker, for fuck's sake.
 
C

Courage

Member
Yogsam said:
Killer Instinct seems like a waste to me. They can easily bring Battletoads or Jet Force Gemini as a modern game. Bring back Conker, for fuck's sake.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Out of all the new IPs they could revive, they're just going to revive the shittiest one and when it flops, they're going to get the idea that no one wants traditional IPs anymore.
 
R

Ravensmash

Member
Wow, first of all we had people almost begging for a Killer Instinct and now that it finally looks plausible not many want it.

I'm excited for E3 regardless, MS could easily turn this all round.

Edit: By 'we' I mean that it's always been a popular title for a reboot amongst gaming communities.
 
Stiflers Mom

Stiflers Mom

Banned
Alx said:
I would buy that. ^^ More certainly than a regular KI fighter.
But was Killer Instinct a "cherished franchise" for Rare ? That's not the picture I had in mind (they only made two of them after all, and none of the characters reached iconic status)
Click to expand...

But it was really big back in the day. Both, on home consoles and at arcades..
 
H

Hindle

Banned
Given that they've just won a legal battle over the KI name, I don't think it will be that they're making. Blood wake would make sense with all the racing devs they currently employ.
 
D

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
abadguy said:
Well seeing as how KI was never good, maybe the new guys can turn things around for it. Assuming it's being made.
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To hell with you

KI was and still is awesome... I will defend KI to the death

Essentially its either KI, JFG or battle toads

I will say right out it won't be battle toads, jet force gemini was kinda niche and not exactly cherished

Killer instinct has a lot of appeal and right now fighting game genre is in better shape than platformers or beat em ups
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
gkryhewy said:
It's a hell of a lot more relevant than Bloody Roar.
Click to expand...

Why? There hasn't been a Killer Instinct release since 1996. Bloody Roar had iterations on the Gamecube, Xbox, and PS2.

I thought Bloody Roar was actually somewhat popular back in the Fighting Games Aplenty era.
 
N

nbthedude

Member
Can we at least all agree that:

1) Killer Instinct is one of the worst "historic" Rare franchises

2) Killer Instinct is on the bottom of the "top tier" fighters (SF, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, MK etc all being better games).
 
D

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
Y2Kev said:
Why? There hasn't been a Killer Instinct release since 1996. Bloody Roar had iterations on the Gamecube, Xbox, and PS2.

I thought Bloody Roar was actually somewhat popular back in the Fighting Games Aplenty era.
Click to expand...

I loved the shit out of bloody roar, but it wasn't in the same league as KI
 
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