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Phil Spencer named Head of Xbox

I've been wanting and Xbox One for a few weeks now, but am holding out because of the rumored white models coming out later in the year. This announcement just makes me even more anxious to buy into the console. Phil's heart seems to be in the right place and I couldn't say that about some of those other guys.
 
alr1ght said:
Agreed.

I don't know why everyone is championing this choice. MS is thought by most to have the worst first party stable of the big 3, and Phil Spencer was in charge of them. Sure, he talks to you on twitter, but look at his past work to see if you really want him in charge of everything.
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He took over the job from Shane Kim iirc at a time when Bungie were already gone (or about to go) and they had put together some decent new franchises and the leader of Xbox (Mattrick) was moving focus towards to Kinect.

The first party studios and their partnerships were used to support Kinect and by all means, it was a huge financial success for them which sold a lot and as you can see from Microsofts side when they started thinking about games for Xbox One decided to focus on that rather than bringing the titles to 360.

He has done a great job on Xbox One of getting titles on the system (exclusively and of course in my opinion) and they have a line-up of announced but not released games from well known popular developers (Insomniac, Capy, Remedy + Lionhead/343i and obvious BT are on Gears).

I think he has done well, he seems to get what people want and is working towards making that happen.

I understand the comments about Microsofts first party but he did open new studios (Black Tusk, Team Dakota, Lift London) and hopefully they're planning to open more. Based on his work at the end of the 360s life? I can understand the concerns but based on how Xbox One first party line-up has gone so far I think he's the best person for the job.

alr1ght said:
It is kind of difficult to blame somebody not knowing budgets and whatnot, but that output seems worse than pre-2009.
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The list ignores their Xbox One line-up which is the current system for them. He got the job in 2009. Games take years to make and he focused the line-up on Xbox One
 
So where does Elop fit in related to this?
 
Oh, and Phil:

1385020595-white-xbox-one.jpg


forza-horizon-2.jpg


You know what to do.
 
DieH@rd said:
He still is.

Elop is tasked to oversee Windows Phone, Surface, and Xbox hardware, Spencer to oversee software.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/31/5566768/microsoft-appoints-new-xbox-and-cloud-leaders
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Regarding Xbox, it says this:

Phil will continue his close partnership with Yusuf Mehdi, who leads business strategy and marketing for Xbox, George Peckham, who heads up third-party partnerships and Mike Angiulo, who will continue leading Xbox hardware
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So, Mike Angiulo --> Phil Spencer --> Elop (Hardware)/Myerson (Software)

Seems a bit convoluted but it does specifically state Mike Angiulo is in charge of Xbox hardware
 
Gumball said:
Looks like he wants to change Games with Gold too.
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"We've heard your requests for Xbox One games on Games With Gold. As our holiday gift to you, we're pleased to announce that Lococycle will be free to Xbox Live Gold members in December."
 
This is great news. Phil seems to listen to the fans and knows what the core want. He also seems to be pretty honest about stuff, which always helps.
 
godelsmetric said:
I don't see any reason why they couldn't have both PS+-style rental system and the current free games system that they currently have. The free games would be older, and perhaps ticking over on a 3 month rollover with the newer rental titles on a 1 month rollover.
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This is also a great idea, but they'd have to introduce free games later on as there's really not enough at the moment to offer both.

Team Vernia said:
Add in tier 2 release dates being wrong + QB maybe not making 2014 (rumor going around) and his stuff may be starting to turn out false. Obviously, release schedules change, but his leaks aren't looking as rosy as before.
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If Crackdown 3 was a lie, I'm hunting ntkrnl down....
 
alr1ght said:
Proving my point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_published_by_Microsoft_Studios
Code: 
2009

    Forza Motorsport 3
    Halo 3: ODST
    Halo Wars
    Lips: Canta en Español (Spain Only)
    Lips: Number One Hits
    Ninja Blade
    Xbox Live Arcade Game Pack

2010

    Alan Wake
    Borderlands (Japan Only)
    Crackdown 2
    Fable III
    Halo: Reach
    Kinect Sports
    Kinectimals
    Kinect Adventures
    Kinect Joy Ride
    Lips: I Love the 80's (Europe Only)
    Lips: Party Classics

2011

    Dance Central 2[1]
    Forza Motorsport 4
    Gears of War 3
    The Gunstringer
    Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
    Kinect Disneyland Adventures
    Kinect Sports: Season Two
    Xbox 360 Triple Pack

2012

    Dance Central 3
    Fable: The Journey
    Forza Horizon
    Halo 4
    Kinect Nat Geo TV
    Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure
    Kinect Sesame Street TV
    Kinect Sports: Ultimate Collection
    Kinect Star Wars
    Nike+ Kinect Training

2013

    Gears of War: Judgment
    Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
    Zoo Tycoon

2014

    Fable Anniversary
    Project Spark

It is kind of difficult to blame somebody not knowing budgets and whatnot, but that output seems worse than pre-2009.
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This list is missing a lot of games published by Microsoft Studios, such as all their XBLA and xb1 games
 
This is VERY good news!

Mr. Spencer, PLEASE do everything in your new power to make the Xbox platform as kick ass as it can be.
 
M.Prashanth said:
Did people really boo at Mr. Spencer while he was on stage? Not the right attitude people!
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Not the right attitude, what? (Though yeah the boos were actually overexaggerated, and they were at different points in the conference anyway)
The X1 deserved all the backlash it got, you cen debate about the "rudeness" at booing in a conference (I wouldnt do it anyway), but can't really condemn them. If it was appalaus I'm sure they'd take it, why not booing?

As for Spencer... I think he probably is the right guy for the job...in MS currently that is.
Not sure I like him so much in general though..., though I havent seen him so much tbh, so I'm not outright condemning him., maybe its just him being behing a product that just seemed against me from the start that enforces this view, but hopefully I'll see his face behind positive moves in the future.
 
IchigoSharingan said:
As long as that Nokia guy is above Phil, the situation is still murky. I hope a great guy like Phil isn't set up as GOAT.
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He reports to Terry Myerson now, but will still work closely with the Devices team Elop is over.

Satya Nadella said:
Next, I have asked Phil Spencer to take on a new role leading Xbox, combining the Xbox and Xbox Live development teams with the Microsoft Studios team. Phil will report to Terry Myerson, allowing us to keep gaming close to the group developing operating systems across devices.
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Link
 
alr1ght said:
Proving my point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_published_by_Microsoft_Studios

It is kind of difficult to blame somebody not knowing budgets and whatnot, but that output seems worse than pre-2009.
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How can Phil be the blame for that? All of those games would already be in development when he took over. None of projects he set out to create would see the light of day until 2012 at the earliest and we know the 360 was being shelved for the Xbox One at that point. What Phil does with Xbox One is where the test begins.
 
Cooooool! I wish him well. Leading a huge company within a company like Xbox must be very hard and I wish him luck. He's been the most down-to-earth guy there I know and that is, in my eyes, good for them.
 
Was Phil really over just the first-pary MS Studios, or was he over MS Studios as a publisher? Didn't he announce things like the partnership with Undead Labs (third-party)? Wouldn't he have been over anything that carried the Microsoft Studios name?

He's also been saying stuff about Sunset Overdrive, made by Insomniac, and about Quantum Break, made by Remedy, both third-party studios.

I don't think he was only over the first-party output.
 
This is the best sounding news I've heard from MS in a long long time. Phil knows what's up and that right now they aren't in a good spot with gamers.
 
Good choice. Wasn't the biggest fan of Microsoft Game Studios' output by the end of the previous generation but looking forward to what Spencer can do as head of the whole thing.
 
This is good to hear! I don't plan on getting an XBO anytime soon but I hope his leadership makes it a must buy someday. I really like Spencer in interviews and the like, his presence comes off as smug (it still kind of bothers me, haha) but I think that's an unfair judgement.
 
Paco said:
Was Phil really over just the first-pary MS Studios, or was he over MS Studios as a publisher? Didn't he announce things like the partnership with Undead Labs (third-party)? Wouldn't he have been over anything that carried the Microsoft Studios name?

He's also been saying stuff about Sunset Overdrive, made by Insomniac, and about Quantum Break, made by Remedy, both third-party studios.

I don't think he was only over the first-party output.
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His job was head of Microsoft Studios. Quantum Break and Sunset Overdrive are published by Microsoft Studios and they are first party games.

Second party relationships is how I would consider Remedy/Insomniac/Undead Labs even if MS own QB/SoD - but not SO.

MS own State of Decay... I wouldn't consider Undead Labs a third party relationship.

Titanfall/Respawn/EA would be an example of third party
 
Nibiru said:
I get the feeling that most people saying how great this is don't actually know why it's so great lol.
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because hes a likable guy that seems to really understand what gamers want out of microsoft first party output?

great news for phil and the xbox as a whole. hope he does great things.
 
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