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LTTP Phil Spencer is a cool guy after listening to his Podcast Unlocked interview
- Thread starter Vanillalite
- Start date
EmeraldSwords
Banned
Glad I'm not the only one here thinking the same thing.
Stare-Bear
Banned
I don't know why people see him as the second coming of Christ. Being head of Microsoft Studios he's responsible for the lack of Kinect games. He could've saved Kinect by making some fun launch games. Show people that Kinect is more then just a $150 tv remote
how he's still not banned is beyond me
blackseedboy
Neo Member
Fun fact, Phil Spencer WAS in the team that delevoped XBoxOne.
Maybe not the head of the project, but WAS heavily involved.
Maybe not the head of the project, but WAS heavily involved.
If you think MS (or Sony for that matter) are even vaguely interested in giving us "the best value for money" you've completely missed the economic model of the console industry.
MS have perfected the razor and razor blade model with their Xbox franchise and have made a shit load of money of NOT giving consumers the best value for money. Their actions, even with Spencer at the helm, has not convinced me otherwise, case in point - removing Kinect and still not beating the competitions price point, then selling the stand alone for 150% of the price reduction.
I'm not anti MS, but this Spencer infatuation is remarkable, you can like a person without drinking the Kool-Aid!! For instance, I like(d) Jack Tretton, but I didn't honestly believe he was actually looking out for my wallet.
The only real metric worth comparing in this regard is how each console manufacturer compares to each other, and in that race MS are still lagging on the 'bang for buck' scale. Any improvements they have made (removing things from behind paywalls for instance) are clearly concessions to the market share they have lost to Sony, rather than any altruistic motivation to be your friend.
To me he seems like a guy who never lets his guard down. He never came off as disarming or relatable to me, even when he says the right things. Maybe I just don't like his voice or something lol. Or maybe I have something against people who talk like they're bulletproof ("exec" tone). I've yet to see a crack in his confident veneer -- which is good on one hand because he's a charismatic face for the company, but on the other it can start sounding disingenuous after a while. But hey, that's his job. I might not like his tone or the way he speaks, but I respect his role and his efforts to make the console focus on games again.
statham
Member
He mentions this in the interview, you should listen to it if commenting in a thread about it.
Nightengale
Member
This.
He strikes me as insincere and quick to pander and offer platitudes to be honest.
His recent defense of that bullshit parity requirement on digital games kind of makes a mockery of his/Microsoft's 'listening to the fans' stance that they were happy to play into when they dropped DRM/Kinect etc.
I don't know him personally of course, so I can't speak to what kind of person he actually is, 'great' or otherwise... I can only call it on how he comes off.
Irony?
His recent defense of that bullshit parity requirement on digital games kind of makes a mockery of his/Microsoft's 'listening to the fans' stance that they were happy to play into when they dropped DRM/Kinect etc.
I don't know him personally of course, so I can't speak to what kind of person he actually is, 'great' or otherwise... I can only call it on how he comes off.
Irony?
FaintColt388301
Member
His breathing got on my nerves.
Forget Kinect games. No such thing as a good movement game that isn't dancing. I enjoy the Kinect for voice commands and think Kinect games would've been a waste. A true waste.
NO - the only real metric worth comparing is personal happiness and if I find value in the product. I know they are not my "friend" and I know there are business reasons for every decision, but right now I am very happy with the One. Everything else I don't give a shit about.
There is no need to take a super-cynical approach to everything in life. Spencer is doing a good job.
blackseedboy
Neo Member
I did, that's why I am underlining this fact to those not aware of this (like those seeing him like a saviour from those who made all those mistakes before... Well, bad news...)
Just to say, I don't think Spencer comes to neverland. Xbone was planned with him.
Ricky Ricardo
Member
Double Irony?
Every single time a Phil Spencer thread shows up, we get the "HE WAS IN THE BOARD ROOM TOO!" schtick. And to me, anyone who uses that line of reasoning, clearly has very little, if any idea what actually goes on in corporate business planning meetings. Like, literally. None.
Because if you did, you'd understand what it'd be like to disagree with leadership decisions but still continue to do your job because you hope that you can affect change in the future. Was Spencer supposed to quit? You think there were others at Xbox who might've have disagreed with the direction MS was originally going with the Xbox One? Should they have quit? I'm sure some did, but you don't just bail on something because you can't have your way with a project. They teach this stuff in basic leadership courses for crying out loud.
MS wasn't committing war crimes or human rights violations here, but you'd swear by some of the rhetoric some posters use that they were.
And you think that Sony's position with #4TheGamers isn't an "act"? Do you honestly believe businesses are your friends? Because corporations aren't real people, my "friend".
At the end of the day Don Mattrick had the last say.
What went in or not was on his desk not the helper no matter how involved Phil was.
The hardware war is sometimes about luck. If GDDR3 prices didn't drop significantly, Sony would have had 1/2 the memory of the X1. It's all a guessing game about what your competitor is using and what you need to chose. I really how AMD's role in this was. I am sure both sides had conversations with them like "we want to be faster than the next Xbox/ps4."
Source?
No but the Xbox wouldn't have sabotaged itself right from its announcement. A kinectless $400 Xbox at launch and I bet the console split right now is much, much closer to 50 / 50 instead of the PS4 trouncing the XB1.
But who at the end of the day made the decision and gave the go ahead for the console we have today?
thank you very much.
Why do you think Phil Spencer would not have done the exact same thing as Mattrick. It's very easy for him to say they would have done something different since they now see the results of their poor choices.
Microsoft has always had a 3 screen strategy - mobile, tv & computer. The current xbox one was designed around that strategy. It is the reason they had to have 8 gigs of ram, which resulted in DDR3, which necessitated the embedded ram, which had the consequence of using DIE space taking away from a better GPU.
Kinect was a mistake, one which most likely pushed by Mattrick, but the home living room, multiple OS xbox one is what Microsoft wanted and what you would have received with Phil Spencer.
His position.
Xenon
Member
Something tells me the guy who was in charge of games was not the one pushing to move the focus away from gaming.
How did you know Spencer is not involved at the beginning? He tries to change because customers want that, but not means he doesn't believe to the initial strategy at the time.
The Lamonster
Member
Phil Spencer is ntkrnl
believe
believe
Nightengale
Member
The guy in charge of games was also the one who masterminded the 400 million NFL deal that had nothing to do with games.
Our gut feelings aren't always right.
Dr_LucienSanchez
Banned
A bunch of people in addition to Spencer? Marc Whitten? Spencer was named chief bossman only this past March, so a lot of those xbox turnarounds had already been underway.
Everything xbox-related basically started to change in messaging drastically last summer before release and Spencer has just continued that trend.
I mean their original vision. Mattrick didn't care for the gamer.
Phill for the mean time does (looks like it anyway).
He looked like a "yes sir" guy back when Mattrick was around.
I'll wait another year if he's the best guy for the job.
Oh this again..
:vomits
I'll wait another year if he's the best guy for the job.
Oh this again..
:vomits
He was head of internal studios. Sure, he had input in the development of some aspects of the console but I sincerely doubt it extended beyond the actual content.
What do you mean source? He was head of the department.
All we can go by is what he said~
"Ryan asks Phil how he would have handled Xbox One if he was in charge from the beginning, Phil says that he would've wanted the fan's feedback more, would have made it more gaming focused"
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=917425&highlight=phil
ChosenPredator
Banned
Me to something he completely leads the way on and his team has complete faith in him, I want to see that
So you start out talking about the industry, and saying he is giving customers the best value for money, then when I challenge that view point you flip it and say it's only about your personal experience.
I know an indefensible position when I see one. Glad you're having fun, but if you don't give a shit about anything else but your personal experience, why did you post that original post?
You mean like people worship Shu?
Zxrophantom
Member
He seems like the right man for the job over at Microsoft. I don't know what they were smoking while Don was running things. Phil has turned the Xbox from a i'll never buy this system to i'll get it at some point when more exclusive hit. Right now my only worry with Microsoft is they make big pushes for exclusives out the gate but fall off hard down the road.
Like I said it is easy to look back - hindsight is 20/20.
The xbox one (minus kinect) is Microsoft's vision for TV.
Yeah because him says so, how he can lie? Such pure soul. He has nice talks, but he is in charge to change, he can't say otherwise.
If all he did was talk without actually making things happen I may have agreed with you. Fortunately that's not the case.
He actually does play games, he listens for feedback, actually corresponds with people on twitter, takes interviews and manages not to piss fans off, comes across as genuine, is bringing new IP to the table, and he's made good on repositioning the brand to be about games first. If it's all an act and part of it is actually delivering results then what else do we need?
He hasn't ever said otherwise. In fact, he's gone on record a few times since he took the job saying he was at those meetings and part of the decision making. In his most recent interview with IGN/Ryan he brought it up again.
To be clear, Don Mattrick was in charge of the Devices and Entertainment business, so it wasn't just the Xbox on his mind. His deal with the NFL included all Windows 8 devices.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
Ive never seen people wearing campaign buttons in their avatar saying we believe in Yosp.
cantona222
Member
I also listened to the podcast. I also agree with OP.
BeforeU
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
lol thanks for letting us know. You have truly opened everyone's eyes.
This is pretty much view also. Spencer, despite the fast talking used car salesman charisma, fits MS well and is potentially the best fit for them right now.
MS's console lifetime history is pretty much as you observe, but I'm not sure they can afford to take the pedal off the gas this generation - unlike the last. We'll see I guess.
Xenon
Member
I thought the NFL deal was broader and encompassed other MS products? It's weird that the head of the games division would be the person to champion such a deal. Where did you read that it was his idea?