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Next-Gen Xbox Name Explained by Phil Spencer

Mista

Banned
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Executive vice-president of Gaming at Microsoft, Phil Spencer explains the name behind their next-generation console, the Xbox Series X, which was revealed at this month’s The Game Awards.

Phil recently spoke in the Xbox End of the Year podcast to try and clarify the reason behind the Xbox name and how it all ties in with past generation Xboxes
Could we make games run better that had been built for one spec of console on a new spec. Console games are written to a very specific console

So this was hey, we’re gonna go to try to make these games run better. We’re gonna try to make the 360 games run better, the original Xbox one games run better. We knew we wouldn’t get all of them, but I loved the fact that was part of the journey. Could we make games run better that were written for a different version of this console, and that continues today. One of the things we look at with Xbox Series X is that we want this to be the best place to play. And the reason we call it Xbox is because it’s going to be the best place to play your Xbox games. Your going to have amazing series games that take the full power of series X, but your also gonna have some games that were written generations before, and we want those to run incredibly well.

And that journey was a difficult one, that we said internally we were gonna do this. PC had done this for a long time, but for consoles this is new. We’re all part of this journey we are on to the point of where we are today where we can launch a console that we think will absolutely be the best Xbox that anybody has ever seen.
 
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Birdo

Banned
The sub-title doesn't really matter, outside of marketing. Everyone would still just call it an "Xbox".
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I still don't get it. The "Series X" par of the name indicates that there will be more sku's. that all.
They could just name it Xbox or Xbox Infinite and be done with it
 

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Jesus bloody dinkle berry Christ you people. If this was Sony you would understand it.

It’s like an iPhone. You have an iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone X... but you just call it an iPhone.

There’s really nothing more to it. It’s like a PS4 and a PS4 Pro. It’s still a PlayStation.

I swear some of you have such a hate boner for anything Phil says.
 

JordanN

Banned
Jesus bloody dinkle berry Christ you people. If this was Sony you would understand it.
Got anything else to get off your chest?

There will always be criticism. Do you really think MS is alone in this? May I point you to this before dropping conspiracy theories?


PUvNWRL.jpg


Wii and Wii U were a lot more simpler, that didn't stop people from thinking they were either the same or just a new add-on.
 
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kraspkibble

Permabanned.
oh, look, another topic about the new Xbox name.

BUT... i thought it was oh so simple?

Sony got it right by making no doubt about their next console. I mean, did anyone expect anything other than PS5? we've had PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4... lol. Microsoft = Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X....or is it just Xbox? Phil keeps waffling on and just keeps digging the hole.
 
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Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Got anything else to get off your chest?

There will always be criticism. Do you really think MS is alone in this? May I point you to this before dropping conspiracy theories?


PUvNWRL.jpg


Wii and Wii U were a lot more simpler, that didn't stop people from thinking they were either the same or just a new add-on.

Not one person who actually had more than two brain cells did that. Not one.

The confusion story comes from the fact when it was announced, Nintendo didn’t communicate what it was, whether it was an add on, a console or what.

If you honestly think MS haven’t been clear as day about what the series X is, then... I don’t know what to tell you.
 
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/phil...ming-first-party-projects-in-podcast.1516855/ isn’t this the same exact podcast posted on the previous page?
Sometimes it's hard to see if Phil is saying nothing of substance about one thing or another, even his most hardent fans get lost in his words!

Here is how it should have been:
Xbox
Xbox 2
Xbox 3
Xbox 3 S (imply 4K in the advertisement of that one)
Xbox 3 X (deliver a good portion of 4K gaming with high quality pixels)
Xbox 4 series if you are so inclined...

Or wasn't the Xbox One be the Xbox reboot? There is so much hubris at MS, every time they launch something they seem to believe it's the next coming.
If you honestly think MS haven’t been clear as day about what the series X is, then... I don’t know what to tell you.
So is the Xbox One X part of the series X?

There is a problem with how they name their consoles - I don't think it will impact sales one way or another - but I do think that whoever did the pitch for this naming "scheme" has way too much charisma and they could get away with murder.
 
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JordanN

Banned
Not one person who actually had more than two brain cells did that. Not one.
You don't think that, Nintendo having also released other similar Wii orientated products (i.e Wii Balance Board, Wii Motion Plus) might not have added to the confusion?
 

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Sometimes it's hard to see if Phil is saying nothing of substance about one thing or another, even his most hardent fans get lost in his words!

Here is how it should have been:
Xbox
Xbox 2
Xbox 3
Xbox 3 S (imply 4K in the advertisement of that one)
Xbox 3 X (deliver a good portion of 4K gaming with high quality pixels)
Xbox 4 series if you are so inclined...

Or wasn't the Xbox One be the Xbox reboot? There is so much hubris at MS, every time they launch something they seem to believe it's the next coming.

So is the Xbox One X part of the series X?

There is a problem with how they name their consoles - I don't think it will impact sales one way or another - but I do think that whoever did the pitch for this naming "scheme" has way too much charisma and they could get away with murder.

Don’t get me wrong, the name is daft to be sure, and I don’t agree with it. But I think anybody willing to drop £400-£600 on a piece of plastic will know the difference, and if they don’t, then it’s more bloody fool them to fair.
 
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Don’t get me wrong, the name is daft to be sure, and I don’t agree with it. But I think anybody willing to drop £400-£600 on a piece of plastic will know the difference, and if they don’t, then it’s more bloody fool them to fair.
But thats the problem with confusing product marketing..its easier to sell products for 400-600 dollars when the consumer is actually cognitive about what is being sold. Having too many xbox skus available for their planned ecosystem may make this a bit confusing.
 
Sometimes it's hard to see if Phil is saying nothing of substance about one thing or another, even his most hardent fans get lost in his words!

Here is how it should have been:
Xbox
Xbox 2
Xbox 3
Xbox 3 S (imply 4K in the advertisement of that one)
Xbox 3 X (deliver a good portion of 4K gaming with high quality pixels)
Xbox 4 series if you are so inclined...

Or wasn't the Xbox One be the Xbox reboot? There is so much hubris at MS, every time they launch something they seem to believe it's the next coming.

So is the Xbox One X part of the series X?

There is a problem with how they name their consoles - I don't think it will impact sales one way or another - but I do think that whoever did the pitch for this naming "scheme" has way too much charisma and they could get away with murder.

Who even gives a fuck, this is such a non issue
 

Isa

Member
But thats the problem with confusing product marketing..its easier to sell products for 400-600 dollars when the consumer is actually cognitive about what is being sold. Having too many xbox skus available for their planned ecosystem may make this a bit confusing.

I can kind of see that, but I think the TV market is far worse in that regards. I rarely have to research anything tech wise as I'm usually up to date and decently informed at worse. But I spent a good several weeks mulling it over before making a decision. I do think MS backed themselves into a corner on this one for sure, and iirc the whole jump to 360 was not wanting Xbox 2 since it would somehow seem inferior in consumer eyes. Maybe the phone thing will work out for them though.

What I got out of this though was his saying "Your going to have amazing series games that take the full power of series X, but your also gonna have some games that were written generations before, and we want those to run incredibly well." This makes it sound like the XSX is indeed a true next-gen system and their cross-system functionality will likely be minimal at best for cross-gen titles. Or it could be construed that only a few "series" games that are truly next-gen, and the rest will be multi-gen. Which makes me think it really is going to be a closed pc ecosystem with some titles utilizing the hardware the teams want or can afford. The lack of outspoken clarity is annoying, but I guess maybe they're trying to figure this all out as they go, like trying to find selling points with features before the killer apps are revealed.
 

Humdinger

Member
"And the reason we call it Xbox is because it’s going to be the best place to play your Xbox games."

Uh, okay, Phil. The first one was called Xbox. They're all called Xbox.

It reminds me of when an old band issues a self-titled CD/album. It's like they're trying to re-brand or something. It's weird because it seems like that's what they tried to do with the "Xbox One" name, too.
 
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Which is great when you're selling scented flowers.

A name in this case, is more than just a name. It's a message, a direction and a powerful statement. If Microsoft have chosen this naming convention to be more like Iphones, then it says a lot about their direction going forward. If they can't explain the name with concrete information, then that tells another story.

It's easy to label people as Sony fanboys who are shitting on the Xbox, but that would be falling in to the same trap that a lot of groups have done; which is to bury your head in the sand and listen to genuine constructive criticism. I'm a hardcore Microsoft fan, though that doesn't mean I can't criticise them for being stupid. Which they are in this case.

I want to know what the next 5-7 years holds at Camp Xbox and while there is another 12 months to launch, if they don't get their message straight, or appeal to me using games, then I will go exclusively Sony again, until they sort their shit out.
 
Amazing series games? Phil drunk.

I think he's trying and failing to say that you can play all the IPs/series from each Xbox on the Xbox Series X. As in all the hit Xbox game series can all be played on one box. Or at least that's the goal.

So they want to make it so that you don't have to go on Ebay and buy a 360 or original Xbox outside rarity value or historical reasons to play many of the hit and cult games.

I think that's a reasonable goal, they have a decent BC library now.
 

Vawn

Banned
Why no one is asking sony for information on the ps5 lets see what they would say

When it comes to games, Xbox continually promises the moon and delivers almost nothing. Sony promises nothing and delivers the freaking moon. Generation after generation.
 
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When it comes to games, Xbox continually promises the moon and delivers almost nothing. Sony promises nothing and delivers the freaking moon. Generation after generation.
That’s if you like what Sony delivers I like both companies but out of all games on both platforms Forza Horizon Series is the one I play the most
 

TLZ

Banned
And the reason we call it Xbox is because it’s going to be the best place to play your Xbox games. Your going to have amazing series games that take the full power of series X, but your also gonna have some games that were written generations before, and we want those to run incredibly well.

Well the stupid reason sounds as stupid as the name. Makes sense.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
I find it funny that people still think there will be mass confusion with naming conventions, like they are still selling products to Boomer parents for their kids.

The fact is most of the time it’s GenX/Millenial parents buying for themselves or their kids, and we have all been trained to see through the naming/marketing media shit, and are all tech savvy or tech knowledgeable at least.

We aren’t all walking around like Mr. Magoo, confused about what is happening around us.
 
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