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Phil Harrison is now the head of Microsoft Game Studios Europe.

Actually who was/were responsible for SCEE´s success ? Or was that due more to Microsoft just being too focused on the US to the detriment of Europe?
 
Holy shit he is going to steal the Wipepout and Little Big Planet franchises from Sony.

"Introducing Microsoft Xbox 720 Mega Tiny Bots!"
 
Marco1 said:
MS have now gained Sonys previous arrogance so let them fall and Sony become thje new MS.
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He isn't that high up the food chain, only a lunatic would make him like VP of basically everything, however those studios that he's over seeing, whatever creative vision, talent, innovation they had planned, scrap them. Its pretty much over for them.

I give it a one year before everything collapses.
 
I really liked phil in interviews and on stage at events and stuff, even if he was a bit arrogant.


But if you look at SCEE's output, it was great before him, terrible with him, and has been returning to form since he left.


Likable guy, glad he is still working, and it's certainly not a terrible hire by MS. By default he will be better than PM. But... MS fanboys, I wouldn't get too excited. This guy didn't have the golden touch at SCEE or Atari. In fact you could probably argue the opposite.


He also was a huge, huge fan of casual games. I already kinda feel like Microsoft is breaking up with me with their sole focus being the kinect. This hire only bolsters that.
 
So what exactly did he do with his position at Atari?

You guys seem to be a bevy of information of what he did while at Sony, and I'm really curious.
 
ChryZ said:
What games were made by Microsoft Game Studios Europe?
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is_such_a_thing_even_possible.jpg
 
famousmortimer said:
I really liked phil in interviews and on stage at events and stuff, even if he was a bit arrogant.


But if you look at SCEE's output, it was great before him, terrible with him, and has been returning to form since he left.


Likable guy, glad he is still working, and it's certainly not a terrible hire by MS. By default he will be better than PM. But... MS fanboys, I wouldn't get too excited. This guy didn't have the golden touch at SCEE or Atari. In fact you could probably argue the opposite.


He also was a huge, huge fan of casual games. I already kinda feel like Microsoft is breaking up with me with their sole focus being the kinect. This hire only bolsters that.
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This!
 
Risk Breaker said:
How much did he have to do with Lair, Haze, Heavenly Sword and other early PS3 "big hits"? By big hits I mean big turds.
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Heavenly Sword was rushed and Lair was ruined with the SIXAXIS treatment. But at least they were offering something different to the FPS-dominated landscape at the time.

Still, I'm sure everyone was still singing his praises and missing him right up until this announcement. If he had returned to Sony today I wonder what the thread would have been like.
 
PrinceOfApathy said:
He isn't that high up the food chain, only a lunatic would make him like VP of basically everything, however those studios that he's over seeing, whatever creative vision, talent, innovation they had planned, scrap them. Its pretty much over for them.

I give it a one year before everything collapses.
Click to expand...

Well actually ...

The experienced industry executive, with a history steeped in PlayStation development, has been appointed corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB).
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http://www.develop-online.net/news/40182/Harrison-confirms-new-Microsoft-role

Also of note is that Mattrick is the President of the Interactive Entertainment Business so Phil will be reporting directly to him, guess Phil Spencer is going to be the YES man to Phil.
 
Makes you wonder if Microsoft was wanting him all along once he left Sony, but may have signed a non compete for so long. Thus going to smaller companies until that expired.
 
Hiro_Kunimi_80 said:
Dear God... so Xbox 4 will still use Xbox360 tech, even in 2020 ?
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Why do you need all that power when your living room now belongs to the kids when they are playing downloadable cartoon series they can act out and participate in powered by Kinect 2.0 ( that now lights up the entire room like a carnival tent )at $9.99 for each episode?
 
i always thought this guy was kind of a dick while he was at sony

although i guess he had to spin the slow motion traincrash that was the ps3 announcement and launch into a positive for sony, and anyone doing that is going to seem arrogant and completely disconnected from reality
 
acksman said:
Makes you wonder if Microsoft was wanting him all along once he left Sony, but may have signed a non compete for so long. Thus going to smaller companies until that expired.
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Well he officially left Sony 29th February 2008, so it's been just over four years. Not sure a non-compete could last that long though, maybe two years.
 
Since leaving Sony, he's gone from company to company with barely a whimper (well, when he joined Atari- they nearly went under).
I wouldn't be too enthusiastic.
 
He was one of the few industry execs to foresee the rise of the casual market. Hence EyeToy. I think Kinect will be a focus for him.

I seem to remember Xbox fans really hated this guy. LOL.
 
Hi,
Phil Harrison here. Thanks for your support and well wishes.
If you liked Kinect before, you will love what we have in store for the future...
Cheers.
 
Sony has long had that "mistique" for making world class game. Among game enthusiasts, I believe Phil was an important element in the credibility of sony. So much more than just the head of Sony Worldwide Studios, I feel Phil was "The Voice of Reason" within sony and was one of the biggest assets they let slip through their fingers.

You only need to scan the reactions in this thread to understand how well Phil connected with gamers......so much more than some of the other foot-in-the-mouth jackasses @ Sony.

In their eleven year history' Microsofts Xbox group could only DREAM of having such a gamer friendly, public speaker within their ranks.....

Well this time it seems dreams do come true for MS

I would give anything to see Phil be the one to introduce the third generation XBOX @ E3 2012 ;)
 
Withnail said:
He was one of the few industry execs to foresee the rise of the casual market. Hence EyeToy. I think Kinect will be a focus for him.

I seem to remember Xbox fans really hated this guy. LOL.
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Yeah, Phil was one of the driving forces behind most of SCEE's casual pushes I believe (EyeToy, Singstar, Buzz!, Home, etc).

I always enjoyed UKR's stuff about poor old Phil. He really seemed to unravel at the end.
 
iceatcs said:
Well it worked. it's love/hate thing, like you hate him because you have been annoyed, that's why some love him.
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I disliked the campaign because I felt like they were advertising toward people who probably already owned playstations instead of broadening the market. The videos themselves were pretty funny.
 
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