Support NeoGAF

[feynoob]

only this year?.

Yes. This year is special, because of the long awaited AAA games drop from 2021/12-2023/05.
Next year wont have the same pressure as this year.

 

[Jigsaah]

Be sure to check your own mistakes before getting this defensive.

Yea that's my bad. I can admit when I goofed.

But come on, you think I seriously meant America?

I guess text and context clues don't really work that well with this.

The rest of my comment still stands, just doesn't apply specifically to you.

 

[GHG]

I dunno…

But a lot of superfans like this guy really love him…

 

[Jigsaah]

Ok, I haven't seen a Sony fan do that before. Noted LOL.

 

[Tg89]

His job is to get the consumers to drink the kool aid, and he did that for a bit. Lets not forget how many people he had hugging his nuts about gamepass.

Otherwise? Nothing.

 

[AngelMuffin]

 

[feynoob]

 

[fred420170]

Mattrick made a huge mess there was a lot to clean up.

Bring back J allard.

Some people are too young to have been around when Don Mattrick pretty much destroyed the brand going into XB1. It's taken about 10 years to fix most of it and still isn't there yet. Honestly, I don't know if Xbox will ever get back to the 360 days, I hope so but time will tell.

 

[feynoob]

GHG

 

[GHG]

GHG

 

[feynoob]

Guy is dedicated to his crazy charecter, unlike coltwood.
He is a parody of crazy arab guy.

 

[Barneyco]

Agreed. People are starting to really lose it. Snap, Crackle, Pop.

 

[diffusionx]

One thing I am surprised about is that Phil Spencer is gotten an almost total pass for letting Halo degrade on his watch, and let 343 completely destroy the franchise. In reality 343 should have been gutted after the Halo 5 disaster (right on the heels of the MCC catastrophe) yet he gave them another chance and hundreds of millions of dollars to fuck it up yet again.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

He's done a lot. Whether what he's done was good, that's another question.

 

[mansoor1980]

You guys lack patience.

 

[justiceiro]

Revived age of empires.
Revived flight simulator.
Killed window store games.

He's the best thing that happened to Microsoft PC gaming since the 2000's.

 

[Rykan]

This is the problem with this logic. Why does identity have to be synonymous with exclusive franchises? Yes that's how it's been since the dawn of gaming pretty much, but that doesn't have to be the cardinal rule. Microsoft has actually made it's identity clear. Play anywhere is their motto and it has been since just before Xbox Series consoles have released. They've largely succeeded in that motto, taking very few exclusives for themselves where they absolutely had the ability to. Most people say this hurts the Xbox brand, but that is only if you subscribe to the idea that exclusives are so important. I personally don't feel that way. I feel like the more people get to play a certain game, the better. It's why I cheered Xbox and Playstation's PC releases. It's why I wish Nintendo would follow suit. Yea it would mean me selling off consoles I currently own or whatever, but that's just my situation. What about people who can't afford a beefy PC or a second console. Should they be punished for their choice? Made to feel left out of game like God of War or Starfield? No. In a perfect world, I think all exclusives should be, at the most, timed.

I know this is a very unpopular opinion, but I don't care.

Because that's what a lot of people buy a system for.

 

[FullMetalx117]

This is the problem with this logic. Why does identity have to be synonymous with exclusive franchises? Yes that's how it's been since the dawn of gaming pretty much, but that doesn't have to be the cardinal rule. Microsoft has actually made it's identity clear. Play anywhere is their motto and it has been since just before Xbox Series consoles have released. They've largely succeeded in that motto, taking very few exclusives for themselves where they absolutely had the ability to. Most people say this hurts the Xbox brand, but that is only if you subscribe to the idea that exclusives are so important. I personally don't feel that way. I feel like the more people get to play a certain game, the better. It's why I cheered Xbox and Playstation's PC releases. It's why I wish Nintendo would follow suit. Yea it would mean me selling off consoles I currently own or whatever, but that's just my situation. What about people who can't afford a beefy PC or a second console. Should they be punished for their choice? Made to feel left out of game like God of War or Starfield? No. In a perfect world, I think all exclusives should be, at the most, timed.

I know this is a very unpopular opinion, but I don't care.

There have been 1.5 billion $700+ iPhones sold versus 500 million PlayStations sold since PS1. Consoles last 5+ years, versus 2-3 years of smartphones. Money is not the issue here, in fact consoles should get beefier and more expensive with the value proposition

Part of the problem is Xbox forces devs to make games compatible with Series S, basically a bottleneck. Would not be surprised if more 3rd party devs start skipping Xbox all together.

 

[reezoo]

What is the first party release schedule? The most important question Phil should be answerable to. Gen reset is far away, content is the only thing Phil can play around with.

 

[reezoo]

There have been 1.5 billion $700+ iPhones sold versus 500 million PlayStations sold since PS1. Consoles last 5+ years, versus 2-3 years of smartphones. Money is not the issue here, in fact consoles should get beefier and more expensive with the value proposition

Phones are one time purchase unlike consoles. Total cost of owning a console is way high the. Just upfront cost of console. I have already spent 2K on PS5 including games, ps+, controllers etc. but only 1K on phone including buds. Both 2 year old.

 

[reezoo]

Biggest hurdle Phil facing right now is speed of light . Take away latency and MS can crush competition with its AZURE + Xbox combo.

 

[FullMetalx117]

Phones are one time purchase unlike consoles. Total cost of owning a console is way high the. Just upfront cost of console. I have already spent 2K on PS5 including games, ps+, controllers etc. but only 1K on phone including buds. Both 2 year old.

Good point, but I maintain gaming/consoles in general provide undervalued entertainment. No entertainment provides the $/hr value games provide even at this point. You spend that much because we’re enthusiasts. Most people are not buying more than 3 games a year, probably for $30 each around holiday times. Not including the free to play game libraries consoles have nowadays

 

[solidus12]

Here’s Phil Spencer track record during the last 10 years:

2014

2015:

2016:

2017:

2018:

2019:

2020:

2021:

2022:

2023:

 

[Stare-Bear]

Some people are too young to have been around when Don Mattrick pretty much destroyed the brand going into XB1. It's taken about 10 years to fix most of it and still isn't there yet. Honestly, I don't know if Xbox will ever get back to the 360 days, I hope so but time will tell.

Phil was responsible for first party studios at that time. You could say, it’s his fault the Xbox One launched without a killer app that showed off the Kinect.

Or the Xbox One X…or the Series X…

 

[Dick Jones]

Phil Spencer was the most awarded personality in the industry in 2022​

Well deserved
https://www.levelup.com/en/news/718...t-awarded-personality-in-the-industry-in-2022


Imagine getting an award for spending ur dads money on something u didnt got in the end.

Does he hand it back now?

 

[Heisenberg007]

Some people are too young to have been around when Don Mattrick pretty much destroyed the brand going into XB1. It's taken about 10 years to fix most of it and still isn't there yet. Honestly, I don't know if Xbox will ever get back to the 360 days, I hope so but time will tell.

Unfair to Don. Don left Xbox before Xbox One launched. Most of the launch-related issues caused by Don were fixed within a year.

For the past ~8 years, whatever has happened, Don Mattrick had nothing to do with it.

 

[Fuz]

He's done things, seen people...

 

[StealthGoblin]

He’s gotten Microsoft to take gaming more seriously.

Outside of that, he talks a good game but if you follow what he says closely then you can see he speaks out both sides of his mouth.

He’s had plenty of time to get Microsoft studios fit for purpose and they are still lagging. The acquisitions will help.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Sony didn't start anything from scratch but at least they fostered Naughty Dog from the company that made Jax and Daxter to the company that made Uncharted and TLOU. That was 22 years ago.

At least they fostered Sucker Punch from the company that made Sly Cooper to the company that made Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima. That was over ten years ago.

At least Sony fostered Lost Boys Games into what would become Guerilla Games and make Killzone and Horizon. That was 20 years ago.

AFAIK all those IPs were started well after those studios became a part of Sony.
What exactly would count as Sony starting something from scratch? Buying babies from impoverished families in developing countries, put those babies in special schools owned by Sony, make them into game developers that create an IP from scratch?

Phil literally saved Xbox after Don basically doomed it.

LOL I just knew there would be someone calling out Don Mattrick unironically.

If I remember correctly, Spencer joined as there was discussion of selling the brand to Samsung, so in the very least he may have prevented that from happening.

Perhaps if Xbox was owned by Samsung they'd be in a much better competitive position.

Phil better give Bethesda any and everything they need to make Starfield succeed. His job is likely riding on its success.

His job is probably gone either way, after the ATVI acquisition failed, regardless of how Starfield performs.

 

[Arun1910]

Unifying PC and Console gaming is pretty cool for people who use both.

Game Pass either has super old games or a bunch of mid stuff that isn't worth my time now that I'm older.

Not sure what's going on with their exclusives either as nothing seems to have changed, just more mid stuff.

 

[fred420170]

Unfair to Don. Don left Xbox before Xbox One launched. Most of the launch-related issues caused by Don were fixed within a year.

For the past ~8 years, whatever has happened, Don Mattrick had nothing to do with it.

You do realize that the roadmap for the xbox one was Don Mattrick's doing right? Do you think those plans for laid when the xbox one rolled out? No, that plan was at least 5 years prior to the xb1 launch. Ultimately, he was asked to step down from the company because of it.

 

[JackMcGunns]

Great review!! well done!

 

[Heisenberg007]

You do realize that the roadmap for the xbox one was Don Mattrick's doing right? Do you think those plans for laid when the xbox one rolled out? No, that plan was at least 5 years prior to the xb1 launch. Ultimately, he was asked to step down from the company because of it.

Yes. And his roadmap plans -- Kinect, forced online connectivity, $499 price point, no used games, etc. -- were all abandoned very, very soon after launch.

 

[Captain Toad]

It's not Phil

He is accountable sure but he doesn't manage Xbox 1st Party day to day

That's Matt Booty. The guy who once ran Midway into bankruptcy and out of existence in 2010. Now running Xbox first party with no accountability for over a decade

Does Matt Booty have a boss?

 

[StueyDuck]

During what I call the positive xbox one era... Phil helped push Multiplatform cross play and cross save and for that I'll always be grateful...

But that was when he still pretended to be "cool guy Phil who just has a beer with his gamer buds".

 

[TLZ]

Why's it ok to easily always blame Don but not Phil?

 

[Captain Toad]

Other than HiFi Rush, Flight Simulator, and Forza Horizon 5 I haven't felt like I've truly gotten my money's worth with Gamepass. I told myself I'd give it a full year to prove itself and unless Starfield is launching in June I'll most likely be unsubscribing from thee service also.

People said all last year, that GP will feel like a steal when Starfield released. Well, Starfield got delayed, but those people already paid their $180.

Now, it's another year. With Redfall failing spectacularly, these people are still paying and waiting to get Starfield for "free".

Starfield needs to not only be good, but good enough to justify people paying $360 as they wait two years for it.

 

[legacy24]

It's not Phil

He is accountable sure but he doesn't manage Xbox 1st Party day to day

That's Matt Booty. The guy who once ran Midway into bankruptcy and out of existence in 2010. Now running Xbox first party with no accountability for over a decade

god I miss midway they made some of my childhood classics

 

[Topher]

Why's it ok to easily always blame Don but not Phil?

I think primarily because Don was the guy who trashed everything Microsoft accomplished with Xbox 360 with kinect, used games and TV TV TV bullshit. Xbox never recovered from that.

It looked to me like Phil had turned that around. I've said it before. I did not expect Xbox to be in the situation we find it in now. It should not be the case that we are still making excuses for the state of Xbox. No AAA games last year. The first AAA game in a year and a half is a rush-out mess. And that's after the last AAA game, Halo Infinite, started out strong but fell under the weight of its own massive expectations as a "live service" game. The best thing Microsoft has released in two years was a shadow dropped Hi Fi Rush that deserved a hell of a lot more hype than Redfall received.

So yeah, I'd say shit is bad and that's the fault of Xbox management. I feel like Phil Spencer is the guy that got Xbox half way to where they need to be, but I'm not sure he is the guy to get them the rest of the way. First party games are still a big problem. And that's still the case years after Phil Spencer admitted that it was a big problem. Just not sure he is the guy who can fix that problem. He's got all these studios now but it is almost as if he has no clue what to do with them. It is all very disappointing.

 

[fred420170]

Yes. And his roadmap plans -- Kinect, forced online connectivity, $499 price point, no used games, etc. -- were all abandoned very, very soon after launch.

Correct. However, those plans were laid years in advance. It takes a lot of time (years) to implement new ones and during his tenure he axed pretty much all 1st party games that weren't kinect based, and forced studios to work on kinect games. He let the COD contract go with Activision because he wanted to pivot to Kinect. He truly f'd the xbox brand.

 

[Topher]

Correct. However, those plans were laid years in advance. It takes a lot of time (years) to implement new ones and during his tenure he axed pretty much all 1st party games that weren't kinect based, and forced studios to work on kinect games. He let the COD contract go with Activision because he wanted to pivot to Kinect. He truly f'd the xbox brand.

Microsoft lost the COD marketing contract under Phil Spencer.

After five years of Xbox exclusivity, Call of Duty switches to PlayStation

It is the end of an era: on 3rd September, five years of Xbox timed exclusivity for Call of Duty comes to an end.In 201…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[Spitfire098]

He rearranged his back ground shelve a couple of times.

 

[DragonNCM]

NO, Phil Spencer didn't save the Xbox.
He's been in front of the Xbox division for 10 years, and during that time the Xbox has gotten worse, with less console sales, less exclusives, and from the few exclusives most of them are busts. He spent money on countless studios that still haven't delivered. He just threw away 3 billion on the failed Activision acquisition. The only positive was Gamepass.

You are wrong he was person who scavenged peace's what others with Xbox one fiasco left......he consolidate Xbox division. If you forgot timeline what happened you can watch here

 

[Kacho]

He tweeted for the first time in a few days and it was to hype the event on June 11. Completely ignoring Redfall. Not even a generic “congrats on the launch” mention. He mad lol.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

He tweeted for the first time in a few days and it was to hype the event on June 11. Completely ignoring Redfall. Not even a generic “congrats on the launch” mention. He mad lol.

Kinda hard to tweet out “congrats to the team of the 60 metacritic new IP from Arkane that is a universal embarrassment”

 

[FunkMiller]

He tweeted for the first time in a few days and it was to hype the event on June 11. Completely ignoring Redfall. Not even a generic “congrats on the launch” mention. He mad lol.

Not mad enough to actually stop the shitty fucking thing being released though.

 

[PropellerEar]

Face you make when ya dun goofed for 10 years...

 

[ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT]

With so many studios, we expect to see many games in the near future. Give it some time; the teams are working hard, and we will have a lot of games, just wait until the next E3.

 

[kruis]

With so many studios, we expect to see many games in the near future. Give it some time; the teams are working hard, and we will have a lot of games, just wait until the next E3.

Phil, is that you???

 

[Killer8]

This is how bad it is. Xbox one had better exclusives vs Xbox series during first 2 years, even though Xbox series has better studios.

I'll grant that Xbox 360 was much better. That 2006-7 period was one of the greatest runs in gaming. Many of those Xbox One games were rotten though, so i'm not sure what he was wanting to show by bringing that up in his tweets.

I mean let's break down the list:

Forza Motorsport 5 was completely average and rushed for launch.
Forza Horizon 2 was very good.
Halo: MCC was completely fucking broken. I cannot believe we are forgetting this. Matchmaking didn't work correctly for literally years.
Ori and the Blind Forest - very good.
Ryse - absolutely garbage.
Rise of the Tomb Raider - mediocre sequel, only got hyped because it was exclusive.
Dead Rising 3 was the worst in the series until Dead Rising 4 came out.
Powerstar Golf - huh?
LocoCycle - just lol
Forza Motorsport 6 was what FM5 should've been, so it's barely worth even counting FM5 on the list in that case.
Sunset Overdrive - excellent.
Titanfall had great MP but the lack of SP really hurt it. Also a 792p 'next-gen' game using the Source engine up against Killzone: Shadow Fall was a bad look.
Peggle 2 - lmao

I'll take that Series X list any day of the week over Xbox One's.