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[ShaiKhulud1989]

While dissecting all this apologetic PR bull, bear in mind that Xbox is only 1 generation behind the PlayStation. They had more than 20 years to pull ahead with infinite money cheat available for the Xbox.

Sony somehow salvaged PSN hack and initial PS3 disaster. How? With games, all thanks to great first and second party games. Phil’s attitude on contrast with Hirai’s PS3 tenure (and remember that overall Sony was in hot water financially back then) is simply laughable at this point.

 

[Gudji]

Must be a severe shortage of games on PlayStation. Y’all making threads about Phil instead

Unfortunately playstation gamers can't enjoy the wonderful Redfall.

 

[GigaBowser]

 

[Salty Pickle]

"There's no world where Starfield is 11/10 and people start selling their PS5s"

I don’t get this. It doesn’t have to be Xbox or ps, you could have a ps5 and a series S for instance.

I have a ps5 but I’m going to get a series S as well for starfield and other Xbox exclusives.

 

[Forth]

If people aren't going to sell their PS5 for Starfield then why not release it on PS5?

 

[Joho79]

Unfortunately playstation gamers can't enjoy the wonderful Redfall.

Too bad, it really is better than you think

 

[kyussman]

Yesterday was a lot to take in,crazy interview.What he said about people being locked into their ecosystems from last gen was true......but what about new customers.What about people entering gaming for the first time,they are people you can pull in with great software......does he think everyone that plays video games has been doing it for ten years or more.Doesn't he want people to look at what's out there and pick Xbox as their place to play games.....the more I think about this interview the more confused I get,lol.

 

[GHG]

Things change. He mentioned the importance of digital library and he is right. Last gen was the one were people shifted from physical to digital so if you have a bunch of digital games on PS4 it makes sense to buy a ps5 with retrocompatibility to keep having access to these games. Then later you're going to buy a PS6,a PS7,etc...

What do you think a digital library is?

It's just a collection of content. Nobody is forced to purchase said content at gunpoint.

Never seen so many excuses for blatant defeatist nonsense.

 

[Heisenberg007]

If people aren't going to sell their PS5 for Starfield then why not release it on PS5?

Phil Spencer:

 

[Majukun]

it's a baffling honest depiction of MS situation right now...the activision deal could have put them back on the map if they kept the games exclusive but that also is dusted.

this being said, what they should do is admitting the mismanagement of their studios...they have an impressive portfolio of devs but they can't seem to be able to direct them as good as sony or nintendo do.

i remember back in the 360 era sony had an huge restructuring of their first party teams , that ended up in a lot of games being canceled and teams fusing, but it paid off huge given the status of first party sony titles right now (regardless if the usual "sony game" is your cup of tea or not

also they should stop with gaas, they are profitable but there's too many fishes in the sea and you need to be on the top of the game for it, you can't half ass it.

 

[kyussman]

what if all this doom and gloom is all a PR stunt to facilitate the CMA appeal?

I don't know man,if an idiot like me on a message board can see through something like that......I doubt the CMA would be swayed,lol.

 

[Reallink]

Yesterday was a lot to take in,crazy interview.What he said about people being locked into their ecosystems from last gen was true......but what about new customers.What about people entering gaming for the first time,they are people you can pull in with great software......does he think everyone that plays video games has been doing it for ten years or more.Doesn't he want people to look at what's out there and pick Xbox as their place to play games.....the more I think about this interview the more confused I get,lol.

There aren't any new customers, the market of people wiling to buy dedicated $500 boxes is already saturated. Even kids are buying their dad's console of choice to game share, or just taking over his console. The top console been moving 100-150 million units since the late 90's, there's no new customers outside of that.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Things change. He mentioned the importance of digital library and he is right. Last gen was the one were people shifted from physical to digital so if you have a bunch of digital games on PS4 it makes sense to buy a ps5 with retrocompatibility to keep having access to these games. Then later you're going to buy a PS6,a PS7,etc...

People who are locked on playstation ecosystem won't dump it to buy an xbox,the most likely scenario is they will buy MS exclusives on PC.

As depressing as it is to listen to the guy say that,he is right.

It is an issue, but it's not something that cannot be overcome.

Xbox can easily create an "Xbox collection" just like "PS+ collection" for new Xbox Series X|S buyers and put 100-something best third-party and first-party games from the last generation to be claimed and kept forever in Xbox accounts.

Boom. "I'll leave my digital library behind" is no longer an issue for PlayStation gamers now.

 

[KungFucius]

Heisenberg007 typed up a summary for those that can't watch



Link: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/head...-xcast-tomorrow.1656174/page-4#post-267905453

So the OP snips this in the middle and ignores what it is leading into. FFS the bias here is nuts and selectively omitting adjacent text because it doesn't support your statement is pretty pathetic. All Phil is saying is that their strategy is more than just the console. Not we give up.

 

[GHG]

There is if they are trying to get the Acti/Blizz buyout by making themselves look like complete failures.

But that is more a conspiracy theory than a real justification.

I thought this too, and even went as far as to think that Redfall might have been the sacrificial lamb in this situation.

• But then I remembered Bleeding Edge.
• And their fumbling of Halo Infinite.
• And Crackdown 3.
• And the state that Sea of Thieves launched in.
• And all the countless 3rd party timed exclusives/gamepass day one games that they've partnered with that have also ended up in the 60's and 70's.
• And the fact that the situation they found themselves in for 2022 in terms of exclusive games wasn't the first time that's happened, far from it.

All of the above with the exception of Redfall happened prior to the Activision/Blizzard acquisition situation.

The only constant is Phil Spencer, and when you read/listen to his comments across the interview yesterday it all makes sense now. All of it. From a process point of view, from a competence point of view, and most importantly, from a desire/passion point of view.

It is an issue, but it's not something that cannot be overcome.

Xbox can easily create an "Xbox collection" just like "PS+ collection" for new Xbox Series X|S buyers and put 100-something best third-party and first-party games from the last generation to be claimed and kept forever in Xbox accounts.

Boom. "I'll leave my digital library behind" is no longer an issue for PlayStation gamers now.

They don't even need to do that. They have gamepass for goodness sake. It's one of the most stupid excuses I've read.

 

[Drizzlehell]

He's on fucking drugs or just utterly defeated after the failed ABK deal. How can you even say to your customer base that you won't make the platform they've invested in better by producing great exclusives for it, when your competition is knocking it out of the park with games like that and it's what makes them the most attractive options on the market right now?

Fucking ridiculous. This guy needs to go and someone else needs to step in who will refocus Xbox's efforts into producing some great exclusives.

Also, I recently said in my own thread that Phil Spencer would never say anything that would piss off shareholders...? I stand corrected, lol.

 

[Spank_Magnet]

I wonder if there’ll be a swift series of patches that miraculously clear up the issues with Redfall.

 

[BbMajor7th]

What do you think a digital library is?

It's just a collection of content. Nobody is forced to purchase said content at gunpoint.

Never seen so many excuses for blatant defeatist nonsense.

The either/or implication is so erroneous. Most people have a whole roster of 'digital libraries' these days and will maintain multiple subscriptions if there's something they want on each of them. That digital library question only becomes a real issue if you force the binary choice, by - say - releasing your new console at the same time as the competition's. In that scenario, people probably will pick the one where the continuity is at, but if you do what Nintendo have done and uncouple yourself from those kinds of starting-line shenanigans, you massively reduce the influence of continuity. Switch dropped in three and a half years after PS4 and XBOX, and nobody was forced to decide 'do I want to buy a Switch or PlayStation?', they just had to decide, 'do I want to play Breath of the Wild on the old Wii U or the new Switch?'

It was that easy for Nintendo - they beat the competition by not competing. XBOX could easily do that if they stopped seeing everything as a battle with Sony and just focused on being the absolute best at what they do. No one wants them to run off and make cinematic, third-person action games - XBOX has always had it's own kinda flavour - people just want them to create products, services and - yes - games that have their own appeal separate from the competition. Go a step further and release those new games and consoles at different times to the competition and most people will buy all three in the end.

 

[FunkMiller]

So the OP snips this in the middle and ignores what it is leading into. FFS the bias here is nuts and selectively omitting adjacent text because it doesn't support your statement is pretty pathetic. All Phil is saying is that their strategy is more than just the console. Not we give up.

See, now this is what call this is 'deflection' ...wherein it's easier to criticise the messenger, than it is to confront the actual problem.

And your comment suggesting that Phil and Microsoft just don't care that much about the console, and whether it sells well or not, is rather undermined by Nadella's comments on the last MS earnings call, when he crowed about how Xbox was outselling Playstation.

Console sales are important to MS when they are winning.

The main thrust of Phil's comments are defeatist nonsense, and we are right - as Xbox owners and gamers in general - to call him out on that shit.

 

[Mahavastu]

When I got my PS5 digital last year I was surprised to see that the PS+ catalogue is actually pretty decent. You don't get day one first party games but there's still a lot of great games that make up a little backlog of sorts right off the bat.

Sony does not add many day 1 games.
Games have the largest revenue in the first weeks after launch (many units, high price), so when Sony adds them the largest part of the revenue for the game is already cashed in and licensing it for the service should be MUCH cheaper. This means, for the same budget they could get more and better, larger games...
And they could add their own games without losing too much in sales, while I guess the number of 1st party game sales on XBox is pretty low because of Gamepass...

 

[GHG]

The either/or implication is so erroneous. Most people have a whole roster of 'digital libraries' these days and will maintain multiple subscriptions if there's something they want on each of them. That digital library question only becomes a real issue if you force the binary choice, by - say - releasing your new console at the same time as the competition's. In that scenario, people probably will pick the one where the continuity is at, but if you do what Nintendo have done and uncouple yourself from those kinds of starting-line shenanigans, you massively reduce the influence of continuity. Switch dropped in three and a half years after PS4 and XBOX, and nobody was forced to decide 'do I want to buy a Switch or PlayStation?', they just had to decide, 'do I want to play Breath of the Wild on the old Wii U or the new Switch?'

It was that easy for Nintendo - they beat the competition by not competing. XBOX could easily do that if they stopped seeing everything as a battle with Sony and just focused on being the absolute best at what they do. No one wants them to run off and make cinematic, third-person action games - XBOX has always had it's own kinda flavour - people just want them to create products, services and - yes - games that have their own appeal separate from the competition. Go a step further and release those new games and consoles at different times to the competition and most people will buy all three in the end.

Thats the thing, it's such a tribalistic mindset that he's displaying, it's baffling.

What he's saying is that the only way he envisages people joining the Xbox ecosystem is if they abandon any other gaming ecosystem they might have games on and make a complete switch? It can't be in addition to anything else? It can't be supplementary (or even begin as being supplementary)?

Firstly that's a ridiculous notion and secondly I think that's possibly a peek behind the curtain in terms of their mindset. Clearly they will never be satisfied being a participant in what is an overall thriving industry, making their fair share of money by providing top tier and memorable experiences to gamers and by creating games that will be seen as benchmarks that will be remembered forever. No no no. They must have all the money, it is their right after-all.

Get fucked.

 

[rofif]

Who let Gary Whitta in that room. Stfu guy. When he brings up Jedi survivors game lollllll what a fool

 

[H-I-M]

If people aren't going to sell their PS5 for Starfield then why not release it on PS5?

Because good guy Phil says that Xbox's focus this generation is to reach as many players as possible, which somehow means excluding the 50 millions (by September) PS5 owners.
Microsoft don't care about hardware sales anymore, that's why they're making Starfield an exclusive, which again will boost hardware sales.

Does it make sense ? No, but why would good guy Phil lie ?

 

[TLZ]

You either die a hero... or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Imo, he was an Xbox hero being in charge for the One X and Series X. But after that....?

 

[Pedro Motta]

If people aren't going to sell their PS5 for Starfield then why not release it on PS5?

Phil Spencer, the business genius.

 

[Liamario]

If people aren't going to sell their PS5 for Starfield then why not release it on PS5?

 

[GrayFoxPL]

Jaffe said this: "If I had Phil Spencer I would want to know about is his mental health. [...] But this is almost like watching a hostage video. This is not a happy man."

This is true.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

That’s a relief , I was worried

 

[Thirty7ven]

People are mostly missing the point of what he said. He readjusted expectations and said that no matter what they won’t be able to out console PlayStation or Nintendo.

It doesnt mean they won’t make great games. But it does mean that if you are looking for a console that will bring you exclusives, a very focused experience, or if you are expecting to be on the number one console ecosystem then Xbox isn’t it.

Xbox is a part of their strategy but people have to accept their strategy is not making a better console than PlayStation or Nintendo. But if you like gamepass there it is.

 

[Nihilum]

Great games wouldn't help Xbox's market share? What the fuck is this guy doing as head of gaming?

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Jaffe said this: "If I had Phil Spencer I would want to know about is his mental health. [...] But this is almost like watching a hostage video. This is not a happy man."

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Contrary to what Phil says, releasing great games actually does make you competitive as one of the big players. They can do it again if they so want to. The original Xbox and 360 were very successful and not trailing other consoles by much at all, and why was that? Because of great games!

Agreed, it will take years to a decade to fix what Phil has done to the brand in the last decade, but if they would want to, they can start releasing a constant stream of great games again and once more become a big player.

Problem seems to be, no one has the ambition or drive at MS to do so, and the problem is not that they make more money than ever before, because maybe they do, but would you buy the next Xbox with this reputation for MS? Probably not, and that is why this console is a failure. You can make a lot of money now, but next gen no one will buy your console anymore.

You can actually see it already now, with console sales going down more than 30% already. It seems that the patience and good will of people is finally finished. Even MS shills admit that the situation is dire now and MS has to fix things. Then you know the brand is in serious trouble.

It wasn’t just the games, they were ahead of the times with features and the overall experience of the console. To me that’s what made Xbox brilliant , the experience complimented the games

OG: Xbox Live, custom soundtracks with automatically faded music for cutscenes etc. Hard drive.

360: Progressed the experience further with better dashboards, achievements, in game guide button/menu, party chat

Now they are being praised for constantly “hearing feedback “ and resizing/rearranging a home page that’s being pushed as a new dashboard when it isn’t.

 

[GHG]

People are mostly missing the point of what he said. He readjusted expectations and said that no matter what they won’t be able to out console PlayStation or Nintendo.

It doesnt mean they won’t make great games. But it does mean that if you are looking for a console that will bring you exclusives, a very focused experience, or if you are expecting to be on the number one console ecosystem then Xbox isn’t it.

Xbox is a part of their strategy but people have to accept their strategy is not making a better console than PlayStation or Nintendo. But if you like gamepass there it is.

Well the kicker is that the Xbox console isn't even the best way to experience their ecosystem/gamepass and hasn't been for a long time now.

And that's not even the worst of it, they are even willing to let games from their own studios release in worse quality on Xbox than they have/do on PS5 despite the Xbox being the "most powerful console". It's like they don't even give a shit anymore.

 

[Hunnybun]

Thats the thing, it's such a tribalistic mindset that he's displaying, it's baffling.

What he's saying is that the only way he envisages people joining the Xbox ecosystem is if they abandon any other gaming ecosystem they might have games on and make a complete switch? It can't be in addition to anything else? It can't be supplementary (or even begin as being supplementary)?

Firstly that's a ridiculous notion and secondly I think that's possibly a peek behind the curtain in terms of their mindset. Clearly they will never be satisfied being a participant in what is an overall thriving industry, making their fair share of money by providing top tier and memorable experiences to gamers and by creating games that will be seen as benchmarks that will be remembered forever. No no no. They must have all the money, it is their right after-all.

Get fucked.

That's an excellent point. The whole point for them is monopoly. Well, I mean that should be the aim for every company, really, but the problem with Microsoft is they've got the money to actually achieve it. So long as that's the case, then they can get fucked as far as I'm concerned. The current state of the market is about right. A dominant player against a challenger with like 10x(?) the resources. It's a reasonable balance right now.

 

[rofif]

It's crazy. They literally proved that good games and exclusives sell consoles. Look at xbox 360. It was LEADING SALES before they introduced kinect. Xbox 360 with blades was fucking INCREDIBLE console.
This is shocking. Phil kills physical games for the sake of some weird digital future nobody wants. He admits xbox is 3rd place and they are not going to focus on games... holy shit.
He just says "but people want to play last gen games, fortnite and roblox". they want continuity.
The guy totally lost it. He got no idea what a console is and what are good games. Good single player games CREATED THIS INDUSTRY. These games are the reason why this industry is so huge. if the game got split screen? I might just be a boomer but I see no appeal with this gaas games and fortnites and other crap. I just want single player and split screen couch coop games. I had so much fun few years ago when we plugged 360 back in and played a ton of couch coop games.

Fucker makes fun "I see a lot of people out there who want clean slate with cartridges and discs each gen". Dude this is exactly what we fucking want. This is exactly what you are not doing and you are loosing. ITS CRAZYYYYYY/
You can do backwards compatibility. If not you can rerelease remasters on new gen. It's a proven formula.
"if starfield is 11 out of 10, people will not move to xbox".... dude. They will. That's why people moved to xbox 360!!!!!!!!!!

I was watching MBG podcast and I don't think I've ever seen him so shocked lol. This is the moment phil admits 3rd place, defeat, killing physical and so on.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

It's crazy. They literally proved that good games and exclusives sell consoles. Look at xbox 360. It was LEADING SALES before they introduced kinect. Xbox 360 with blades was fucking INCREDIBLE console.
This is shocking. Phil kills physical games for the sake of some weird digital future nobody wants. He admits xbox is 3rd place and they are not going to focus on games... holy shit.
He just says "but people want to play last gen games, fortnite and roblox". they want continuity.
The guy totally lost it. He got no idea what a console is and what are good games. Good single player games CREATED THIS INDUSTRY. These games are the reason why this industry is so huge. if the game got split screen? I might just be a boomer but I see no appeal with this gaas games and fortnites and other crap. I just want single player and split screen couch coop games. I had so much fun few years ago when we plugged 360 back in and played a ton of couch coop games.

Fucker makes fun "I see a lot of people out there who want clean slate with cartridges and discs each gen". Dude this is exactly what we fucking want. This is exactly what you are not doing and you are loosing. ITS CRAZYYYYYY/
You can do backwards compatibility. If not you can rerelease remasters on new gen. It's a proven formula.
"if starfield is 11 out of 10, people will not move to xbox".... dude. They will. That's why people moved to xbox 360!!!!!!!!!!

I was watching MBG podcast and I don't think I've ever seen him so shocked lol. This is the moment phil admits 3rd place, defeat, killing physical and so on.

And MBG was an xbox guy.

 

[Shane89]

Makes sense... that's why they are spending all money in buying SH that don't develop good quality games anymore

 

[Hunnybun]

While dissecting all this apologetic PR bull, bear in mind that Xbox is only 1 generation behind the PlayStation. They had more than 20 years to pull ahead with infinite money cheat available for the Xbox.

Sony somehow salvaged PSN hack and initial PS3 disaster. How? With games, all thanks to great first and second party games. Phil’s attitude on contrast with Hirai’s PS3 tenure (and remember that overall Sony was in hot water financially back then) is simply laughable at this point.

This is the thing, it's just crazy how badly they've done considering all their advantages.

Yo Phil, you know what helps sell games consoles?

Making some actual fucking GAAAAMES. Idiot. It's literally THAT simple.

 

[Bernardougf]

Phil is taking the Disney approach.. who needs good movies/series ? They dont matter

 

[Heisenberg007]

They don't even need to do that. They have gamepass for goodness sake. It's one of the most stupid excuses I've read.

Yes, but with Game Pass, there could be an excuse that third-party games will leave but my PS library - which I have now abandoned in favor of Xbox - wouldn't have.

So this solution also fixes that and leaves absolutely 0 excuse.

 

[rofif]

And MBG was an xbox guy.

yes exactly! I WAS TOO !!! I still have a 360 on the shelf. Now I kinda wish I had a ps3 lol. The aftertaste is so bad

 

[dendro]

The message I got from the interview was that xbox is focusing on creative freedom for the developers, and bringing those creations to as wide audience as possible (through gamepass, xbox, pc, xcloud).
By just delivering great games is not enough to gain a meaningful marketshare (because Sony and nintendo also produces great games, buys exclusivity etc.), so they have chosen an alternative strategy, widening the user base by other means other than just console sales.

This seems a bit overblown, right?

 

[Heisenberg007]

Thats the thing, it's such a tribalistic mindset that he's displaying, it's baffling.

What he's saying is that the only way he envisages people joining the Xbox ecosystem is if they abandon any other gaming ecosystem they might have games on and make a complete switch? It can't be in addition to anything else? It can't be supplementary (or even begin as being supplementary)?

Firstly that's a ridiculous notion and secondly I think that's possibly a peek behind the curtain in terms of their mindset. Clearly they will never be satisfied being a participant in what is an overall thriving industry, making their fair share of money by providing top tier and memorable experiences to gamers and by creating games that will be seen as benchmarks that will be remembered forever. No no no. They must have all the money, it is their right after-all.

Get fucked.

And it's doubly baffling because that's why they created Series S in the first place -- to serve as an accompanying console for PS5 users to buy.

Now it's like that strategy, which they implemented 2.5 years ago, is now not even relevant anymore, lol.

 

[GHG]

I think this was most people's faces at several points throughout that interview.

 

[rofif]

I think this was most people's faces at several points throughout that interview.

There is absolutely no reason any xbox player or xbox wannable who is still waiting for turn around, shouldn't just get a ps5.
What's the reason to wait forever for games that Phil said they dont give a shit about.
Everything is right there, on other consoles and pc.
Xbox Players have Ferrari and ford escort in the garage and they will not touch that ferrari lol... stupid comparison but so am I!

 

[Heisenberg007]

yes exactly! I WAS TOO !!! I still have a 360 on the shelf.

Same lol. Here is mine:

People call us Sony fanboys or what, but we just followed the games. PS4 and PS5 offer better games, so we went there. 360 offered better games at one point, so I had that. If Xbox offers me better games again, I'll buy that.

Brand loyalty is stupid if you're not getting the very thing you need from it.

 

[Thirty7ven]

And it's doubly baffling because that's why they created Series S in the first place -- to serve as an accompanying console for PS5 users to buy.

Now it's like that strategy, which they implemented 2.5 years ago, is now not even relevant anymore, lol.

The Series S is a budget console just like Gamepass is a budget option and I doubt in its inception there was any conversation about being a side piece to the PS5. If anything I would bet there were talks about marketing it for kids who just want to play Minecraft but it was at odds with the aesthetics of the brand.

They shot their shot with gamepass and Series XS. People have to accept the whole concept of console wars is over. And if ABK is definitely blocked then the concept of Xbox becoming the biggest gaming brand is on the rocks.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Asking my fellow Xbox fans, if this guy is so great, why does he have to do so many videos apologising or talking about learning to do better? He’s been in the role a decade.

Look at his IGN video a couple of months ago, again he’s apologising and even acknowledged some feelings of frustration from fans at his constant talking by calling it “community fatigue”

If the platform and content is so great overall why does he feel obliged to say these things? These things should speak for themselves not executives constantly having to.

I don’t buy Xbox to sign up to some subservient culture where substantially paid executives are beyond reproach.

What gets me with some of you is the more critical fans like me you have a attitude with for wanting them to knock it out of the park and if they did you would more than likely be straight in there praising and saying how great it is.

 

[Hunnybun]

yes exactly! I WAS TOO !!! I still have a 360 on the shelf. Now I kinda wish I had a ps3 lol. The aftertaste is so bad

Yeah my first console of the PS2 generation was the Xbox, basically because of Halo. Then I got the 360 a couple of years ahead of the PS3.

I don't like Microsoft really but I definitely would get an Xbox if they produced one worth buying. They've just completely and utterly failed to do that for two generations now.

 

[FunkMiller]

If people aren't going to sell their PS5 for Starfield then why not release it on PS5?

This is such a good point!

It almost feels like Phil has absolutely no interest in selling Xbox consoles... even though he's the head of Xbox.

Then just... STOP.

Go third party like Sega. Lean into the PC space even more, and just let the console that you so clearly don't seem to give a fuck about die, and cede the whole console space to Sony and Nintendo.