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Phil Spencer: We shouldn't have "sugar-coated" the Xbox One controversy
- Thread starter ElTorro
- Start date
Yup 100%. I don't like Phil Harrison either but at least he carries himself in a way where his intentions and attitudes are somewhat masked and presentable.
Neuromancer
Member
Just to put it in context, that Yusuf Mehdi quote was from around E3 2013. Not recent.
He's not wrong but saying it in puplic like that is pretty bold.
Chill Penguin
Member
I don't get what it is. They're both corporations out for their own best interests. But Sony's team come across as humble, down to earth, relatable. Whereas Microsoft's team gives off this smug, slimy, cutthroat business man vibe that is just abhorrent to the everyday consumer. They seriously need some lessons in PR.
Spottiettiedop
Member
MS can't dwell in the past even if some gamers do. Just keep improving the Xbox One and keep releasing good games and everything will take care of itself.
You know, in the very earliest of XB1 interviews, Phil Harrison was very 'matter of fact' about policy and what was happening.
That brewed up a sh-tstorm. He was then kind of shut up, MS kind of repudiated his comments, and we saw silence up to E3, when it became clear all of their policies were still intact, but now layered in spin.
And funnily, Medhi was actually just being honest about MS viewed the situation.
It's Reyn Time!
Member
Yet again the insinuation is that potential customers were 'confused' by their vision and just didn't fully understand what was being presented to them.
We understood perfectly, but then of course Microsoft knows that. It would do them so much good to just drop the PR one goddamned time and say 'yeah, what we offered was clearly horribly unpopular, our bad, won't happen again'. That's all they'd have to say to get a lot of people back onboard.
They'd rather just call people stupid instead though.
We understood perfectly, but then of course Microsoft knows that. It would do them so much good to just drop the PR one goddamned time and say 'yeah, what we offered was clearly horribly unpopular, our bad, won't happen again'. That's all they'd have to say to get a lot of people back onboard.
They'd rather just call people stupid instead though.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
I'll give them some credit. They talked alot and made some high quality mistakes but it's good to see them recognize it in full. They get it. Moving forward, they do two things. Don't talk about anything until they are ready, and when they do, make sure everyone is on the same page. I like when things are more "real" not, as he said "sugar coated".
not_so_special
Banned
and they still try to bs us with the power of the cloud
damn...why leave us if only to get his "addiction to posting news" fix set on twitter now.
come back to us. write to a mod. it gets better.
Appollowexx
Member
Probably should start being honest about resolution too instead of pushing - ''everything is 1080p on Xbox One due to the upscaler'' bullshit they keep peddling.
Yeah, I think thats what everyone figured. At the time I'm sure they thought they were going to trounce PS4.
rogue_nine82
Member
This.
Mattrick really screwed the X1, from its initial launch reveal, to the insistence on Kinect, to the always online. I understand that it wasn't all his decision and Phil and others where in the room when those decisions were made/discussed, but its funny that things on the X1 side got immensely better once Matrick got the boot. Mattrick left Phil and MS with a big mess that the X1 has yet to recover from.
but, arent they still sugar coating? As much as I know, their PR personalities still say how their DRM was better for the customer but of course, dont actually explain anything at all.
ultratruman
Banned
People who think Mattrick's ousting would be the end of arrogant MS are wrong. Phil Spencer is a good guy, but he's the vice president of their game studios. Yusuf 'tv tv tv' Mehdi, Penello and now Elop are behind the wheel at Xbox.
McHuj
Member
I'll never forgot the Mattrick comment "we have a product for those consumers, it's the xbox 360" referring to those who don't want to be always-online. That to me was the epitome of their arrogance and did more to turn me off the xbox than any other comment (outside of the policies ofcourse)
FeiRR
Banned
Corporate selection. You don't get to see good people because they never make it to the top in structures like Microsoft. It's like politics: honest, good people can't be successful.
Blak_Status
Member
The 24 hour check-in and used games thing absolutely killed it for me. Even though they took it back, it was too late. I had already lost faith.
And this^^^ was just disrespectful.
And this^^^ was just disrespectful.
Is Paul Spencer treating this job like a first year PR course at a community college? Of course you don't try to spin and obfuscate on a damn core feature of your product that is being obsessively analyzed by millions and will be released within a year. God.
I kinda get the impression that he's taking the fall for the last days of Mattrick instead. What a goon that guy was.
I kinda get the impression that he's taking the fall for the last days of Mattrick instead. What a goon that guy was.
bigbaldwolf86
Banned
No shit Spencer. You're shitty messaging was pretty clear but maybe you shouldn't have dodged every question and canceled meetings after E3. Everything MS did last year completely put me off buying and Xbone
Captain Tuttle
Member
Problem was that was 100% by design. Sugar coating is just another way to say spin, and spin is to provide cover for something that will not sit well with your audience / consumer / what have you.
What needs to be directly addressed are acknowledgments of the negatives, and non-spin examples of where value is being added. Only then can a consumer make a cost benefit choice on what's being offered.
Its not hard to see why they went that route instead. About 90% of the value was to be delivered to MS and publishers by capturing and monetizing consumer surplus and value that for every generation past was on our side. Its was a rotten deal for gamers, and even if they couldn't articulate why, they understood that.
graywolf323
Member
why do people act like Spencer was somehow an innocent bystander to all the problems the Xbox One has had?
Appollowexx
Member
It does at least seem as though now Mattrick is gone the Xbone will be headed in the right direction for 'gamers' going forward. Less focus on Kinect, a potential kinectless SKU down the line at a cheaper price, focus on getting indie developers back in the mix, and a focus back on the games themselves rather than TV.
He was present at the Titanfall launch.
SEGAvangelist
Member
They shut him up for sure. It seems MS is only letting Phil Spencer be the face of Xbox right now, and I think that's a good thing.
I know. Just because he wears gamer shirts under his blazers does not make him a good guy. He's the one writing the checks to lock down exclusivity of titles and DLC rather than actually trying to innovate with new IP. He's as bad as the rest of them.
I think a lot of peeps dont really understand what he's saying,
By "dont try to sugar coat something" he's saying be direct about whats controversial versus masking it with something else. A good example is going "TV TV TV, Skype, NFL!!1" and not mentioning DRM/24 hour checks or how Sony masked MP being behind PS+ at E3 with a nice powerpoint slide.
I dont think many are acting this way. What I think some are saying is that he should have been the mouth as he is now in place of peeps like Mattrick, Yusef, and Phil Harrison.
Sword Of Doom
Member
I can think of many words and "sugar coated" isn't one of them. More like "mislead"
Atleast Phil Spencer gets it.
Major Nelson was leading the charge with all the sugarcoating. I still remember his "It's the future, do you wanna live in the future or stay in the past? The future is awesome!" spiel regarding the DRM.
Major Nelson was leading the charge with all the sugarcoating. I still remember his "It's the future, do you wanna live in the future or stay in the past? The future is awesome!" spiel regarding the DRM.
SEGAvangelist
Member
He's been very active in social media responding honestly to questions asked by just about anyone, so I think he seems to be going out of his way to communicate with gamers. He also put together a great launch/launch window lineup with not much downtime from month to month. That's why people like him. Hopefully the trend continues and more good stuff shows up at E3.
I think that's been debunked over and over, and just more spin because its easy pickings for bad CEOs to point to a boogyman for their poor choices than talk about their fucking up. Steam sales and sales data proves it. Killing used games or piracy with DRM is to server a very few interests, mainly very large publishers and MS. NOT the health of the market and not to help developers or their costs.
Used games, economically speaking, grow the market and interest in gaming. That might not be good for every specific publisher, but its good for the industry and good for consumers. Piracy likewise is not a major problem, and mostly fueled by incorrect or sticky prices. Its also a very ingenious way to hook young people into a hobby that they'll spend disposable income on when they finally grow up.
Anticitizen One
Banned
Except that isn't true. You can't throw the blame on one person and use him as a scapegoat. There were a lot of people on board with the idea of xbox one chief among them that idiot Steve Balmer and many people even within the xbox division.
Now what does that have anything to do with what's being discussed? Lol you guys slay me man.
How about not doing stuff that is obviously not in the best interests of the consumer to begin with? You can sugarcoat your shit decisions with PR and then apologize for sugar coating, but not making shit decisions is better.
Sony Too!™
Just using an example for clarification based off memory. Sorry if it upset you :/
Whatever that is....
rokkerkory
Member
sounds like a tool
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