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[Freelance Yakuza]

This was actually Phil's redemption after the announcement of the Xbox One price

 

[poppabk]

Bro, this is a common occurrence, not tinfoilery.

Think he was referring to the the implication in the OP that they were slipping people money to start clapping when the closure question was answered.
Not the more obvious answer that they were told to applaud anything like morons coupled with

"blah, blah, blah, put on a great show like we did today"

 

[knguyen]

wonder what was going on in Phil's head during the interview. he was probably thinking "ohhh...fucking nerdy moron, you think I like sitting here talking to morons like you? you think you're my friend because I make a joke with you?, yeah, keep on dreaming...Jesus, I hate these idiots"

 

[nemiroff]

I don't this normally, so I'll make this one-time exception:

 

[Three]

Might not be real but if it is thats what i think

It's real. The guy who was there posted a video of the crowd managers chucking prizes to those cheering. They were told to cheer the loudest so that they'd chuck swag their way. Some probably weren't even paying attention to what was said at that point because they were conditioned to cheer for it like rats whenever they started chucking prizes out.

Not sure what benefit this behaviour serves IGN though. I doubt the viewer cares if there is a cheering crowd to some interview questions. In a sitcom at least its based on the principle of laughter being contagious so you laugh at things that might not even be that funny to you without it. It's still kind of slimey and fake but it's to make the show seem funnier than it really is. why fake cheers to interview questions being answered though? I don't really see the purpose of things like that . What do the cheers accomplish in this setting?

 

[Venom Snake]

 

[DAHGAMING]

I was there, in full support of Phil, there was alot of booing but what you can hear is just me cheering, my passion allowed me to add a positive vibe to the situation, the mans just trying to run a bussiness.

 

[Quantum253]

This was actually Phil's redemption after the announcement of the Xbox One price

That bitting of the lip and being told "quiet"
I watched the IGN version of that and Phil just bites his lip and then everyone starts clapping and cheering for the price.

 

[mitch1971]

I don't even clap at events that don't force me to. If they tried to force me I'd chop off my hands to spite them.

 

[cireza]

Fake drama thread.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Not sure what benefit this behaviour serves IGN though. I doubt the viewer cares if there is a cheering crowd to some interview questions. In a sitcom at least its based on the principle of laughter being contagious so you laugh at things that might not even be that funny to you without it. It's still kind of slimey and fake but it's to make the show seem funnier than it really is. why fake cheers to interview questions being answered though? I don't really see the purpose of things like that . What do the cheers accomplish in this setting?

I guess in this siutation, cheers from a crowd would make what the interview say seem more supported by the “fans” and boo the opposite. Swaying crowd/fans.
A sitcom is fiction. WWE is fiction. I thought this was a interview, but Im not sure what the setting is.

Depends what IGN is getting out of this. I mean are they getting paid to this job? To sway a crowd to be more supportive of certain answers. Its just slimey. TBH I dont know the the setting or what this is

 

[hybrid_birth]

My girlfriends ass is staged ever since we started doing live webcam sex shows .

 

[Loope]

 

[DeepEnigma]

Think he was referring to the the implication in the OP that they were slipping people money to start clapping when the closure question was answered.
Not the more obvious answer that they were told to applaud anything like morons coupled with

"blah, blah, blah, put on a great show like we did today"

It's not unheard of for these companies to hand out gaming gifts at these events either. That too is also common.

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

What do you think GAF?
Edit:
Yeah, I should have written the title differently, now I'm going to be mocked for asking this . It's not that I doubt they do that, it's just that so far there's only this tweet with the video, so there may be more information (or not) about why the audience was excited and applauding when Phil talked about the studio closures.

Thats not a surprice for me, Phil is still a second hands caresalesman...

 

[Panajev2001a]

What do you think GAF?
Edit:
Yeah, I should have written the title differently, now I'm going to be mocked for asking this . It's not that I doubt they do that, it's just that so far there's only this tweet with the video, so there may be more information (or not) about why the audience was excited and applauding when Phil talked about the studio closures.

Well, either they paid people or they put employees to cheer and ensure there was no obvious dead silence.

He BS’ed his way through the answer, a bit slimier than usual, and a segment of the crowd loudly cheered. Yeah, sure comrade Spencer, sure . Totes organic, whatever makes you feel good at night bro…

 

[Panajev2001a]

Given the way the audience claps at Apple events and even at the Xbox One reveal, I totally believe that they pay people to sound excited for whatever the f is happening on stage.

As far as Apple events are concerned there is a mix of loyalist and toxic positivity that is almost unreal…

Paraphrasing this, you will realise that people at Apple events are likely not prepped nor paid. They are just Apple fanatics.

 

[Chukhopops]

IGN depends on the goodwill from publishers for literally everything: ad money, exclusive content, interviews etc.

They are not investigation journalists and will never do anything to anger them - you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

At least they asked the question and Phil gave them the truth, it’s about money and any studio that doesn’t bring money will be restructured or killed eventually.

 

[Panajev2001a]

IGN depends on the goodwill from publishers for literally everything: ad money, exclusive content, interviews etc.

They are not investigation journalists and will never do anything to anger them - you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

At least they asked the question and Phil gave them the truth, it’s about money and any studio that doesn’t bring money will be restructured or killed eventually.

“Wait was it me that killed game sales and the money for those studios betting their farm on GamePass and spending tons of money on other publishers making these cuts necessary and showing all the post launch praise and reassurances by my exec team and I and the ‘GamePass enables small game devs to experiment safely’ obvious BS I cannot even keep for my own studios? Poor ol’ me” *applause* *interviewer swiftly moves on*…

 

[Chukhopops]

“Wait was it me that killed game sales and the money for those studios betting their farm on GamePass and spending tons of money on other publishers making these cuts necessary and showing all the post launch praise and reassurances by my exec team and I and the ‘GamePass enables small game devs to experiment safely’ obvious BS I cannot even keep for my own studios? Poor ol’ me” *applause* *interviewer swiftly moves on*…

Redfall would have flopped with or without the GP model, and Arkane Austin would have been impacted one way or another even if Bethesda was independent.

Hi-fi Rush was ported to other platforms and it’s not like it set the world on fire either.

They also closed Alpha Dog (a mobile dev) since their mobile game flopped, nothing to do with GP.

And I don’t see where Phil played the victim in all of that.

 

[DJ12]

What do you think GAF?
Edit:
Yeah, I should have written the title differently, now I'm going to be mocked for asking this . It's not that I doubt they do that, it's just that so far there's only this tweet with the video, so there may be more information (or not) about why the audience was excited and applauding when Phil talked about the studio closures.

They used this tactic every e3, which is why no matter how shit their show was it was always full of whooping and hollaing.

I think the rumour was they'd have MS employees planted in the room to be cheerleaders.

 

[DarkBatman]

Redfall would have flopped with or without the GP model, and Arkane Austin would have been impacted one way or another even if Bethesda was independent.

Hi-fi Rush was ported to other platforms and it’s not like it set the world on fire either.

They also closed Alpha Dog (a mobile dev) since their mobile game flopped, nothing to do with GP.

And I don’t see where Phil played the victim in all of that.

The biggest problem for me remains that Aaron Greenberg personally wrote that MS is satisfied with Hi-Fi RUSH in every respect and that the game has met all expectations. The fact that the studio is subsequently closed and they don't even have the balls to stand up for it and can only come up with a ridiculous money argument is just stupid.

 

[MH3M3D]

I also noticed a fat chick that works for IGN making gestures to the crowd to cheer. But thats showbiz, I've been to studio's before, they always train the crowd in advance.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

I also noticed a fat chick that works for IGN making gestures to the crowd to cheer. But thats showbiz, I've been to studio's before, they always train the crowd in advance.

It’s a shame the crowd didn’t tell her to fuck off

 

[MH3M3D]

It’s a shame the crowd didn’t tell her to fuck off

They were the nerdiest bunch of people I have ever seen. Of course not like your average gaffer XD

 

[Perrott]

This gif reminds me of Burger Time

That gif reminded me of Nuts & Milk for the NES.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Exactly this, which makes the excuses that this is commonplace weird to me. Yes, sure, a company hyping its own event is commonplace, but for a media outlet, whose supposed role is to inform the consumer, to be shilling for a company in this way just doesn't seem right.

I guess it depends how they see It.
People seem to like to compare it to a late night live show or sitcom lol.

You dont normally see the BBC do this for 2 sport team managers or towards a political party while still hosting interviews for another political party etc. Well not officially. They would get called out on it/

Its not common place. Well depends on the field and situation.

Its highly suspect if a media company is telling the crowd how to react to a political interview.
Its not just a gameshow, Phil was in court a year ago trying to prove he’s not monopolising the industry lol. With IGN scrubs constantly tweeting and agreeing with everything pro Xbox…
He has power over thousands of employees and if you’re gonna ask questions about that and control the fans to cheer… thats not the same as sitcom or a late night host show lol.

We all know MS has an influence and shilling. Its pretty obvious IGN has a few employees that are pure Xbox “fans”. People trust these guys to give an honest review or opinion?

 

[Kokoloko85]

Ryan isn’t a journalist, he’s an unofficial extension of Microsoft PR. Part of the problem basically.as are the others

Hellblade 2 isn’t a 10/10 game.

Frankly I would like others in the media to call this blatant shit out but there’s more chance of a Kill the Justice League sequel.

Too many simpletons in here comparing it to a sitcom lol

 

[Kokoloko85]

Are you okay, the same IGN who hosts unaltered trailers and post verbatim press releases from these same companies?
The whole point of IGN LIve is to have game devs up on stage feel like their game is being promoted by IGN, if the audience is fucking silent when I get on stage, you best believe im not coming back next year.
So IGN hypes everyone, literally the whole show had random devs youve never heard of get crowd reactions......gamers are the only ones who will pick out one specific spot that fits their narrative to bitch about.
This event is a marketing event.

The same IGN that has employees tweeting positive stuff for Phil Spender while he’s being questioned in court if his company is trying to monopolise the industry.

Its not so simple when your interviewing someone who has so much potential influence over the industry. Phil isnt a game developer, he’s a guy that just spent 70billion, fired thousands of people and makes comments like exclusives are bad while having his own 3rd party exclusives… Where many of the IGN staff agree with it and write articles about what he says.

 

[Black_Stride]

The same IGN that has employees tweeting positive stuff for Phil Spender while he’s being questioned in court if his company is trying to monopolise the industry.

Its not so simple when your interviewing someone who has so much potential influence over the industry. Phil isnt a game developer, he’s a guy that just spent 70billion, fired thousands of people and makes comments like exclusives are bad while having his own 3rd party exclusives… Where many of the IGN staff agree with it and write articles about what he says.

Wait so you want them to be biased when interviewing Phil Spencer?

 

[Chukhopops]

The biggest problem for me remains that Aaron Greenberg personally wrote that MS is satisfied with Hi-Fi RUSH in every respect and that the game has met all expectations. The fact that the studio is subsequently closed and they don't even have the balls to stand up for it and can only come up with a ridiculous money argument is just stupid.

That’s fair, I also think it was a fuck-up to shadow drop a game like that instead of building a little bit of hype. I think they saw it as a small catalog filler when it had more potential than that.

Still, a different business model wouldn’t have saved Arkane Austin. Bethesda had no problem closing Human Head studios before the MS acquisition.

 

[Portugeezer]

Geoff Keighley would be proud.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

OP, don't believe for a second that anyone here knew a crowd would be financially incentivized to cheer during an interview. Your thread got some bizarre responses.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

OP, don't believe for a second that anyone here knew a crowd would be financially incentivized to cheer during an interview. Your thread got some bizarre responses.

Yeap, It’s always like this. People were saying how strange it was to have folks cheering and applauding Phil’s interview. Some even suggested they were Microsoft employees. And now we have evidence that IGN was giving gifts and asking people to cheer, and suddenly everyone’s like, “Obviously, it’s always been like this, you fool.” But hey, nothing new on the internet.

People seem to like to compare it to a late night live show or sitcom lol.

Must be because Xbox's performance under Phil Spencer's management has been a joke

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Given the way the audience claps at Apple events and even at the Xbox One reveal, I totally believe that they pay people to sound excited for whatever the f is happening on stage.

Apple events are seeded with Apple employees. Hell…I’m convinced half the reactions I get on Gaf are from the millions I pay each year for gold access.

 

[Topher]

Crowds are always coached at events like these. The timing of the applause in that instance is a little awkward, but this is an event filled with Xbox fans so they were probably a little overly enthusiastic anyway just being in the same room with Phil Spencer.

 

[DarkBatman]

That’s fair, I also think it was a fuck-up to shadow drop a game like that instead of building a little bit of hype. I think they saw it as a small catalog filler when it had more potential than that.

Still, a different business model wouldn’t have saved Arkane Austin. Bethesda had no problem closing Human Head studios before the MS acquisition.

You're right, but you also have to look at the whole thing from a different perspective: Would Tango Gameworks have been closed if the acquisition hadn't happened? I'm pretty sure that Bethesda would have kept the expectations of the studio's games at a realistic level and Hi-Fi RUSH's success would have been enough to keep the studio alive.

And that makes me wonder whether MS really went into it with the realistic expectation of keeping all studios alive or just wanted to get Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and other well-known IPs into their possession, whereby all other studios would simply be a pawn if needed. It is no secret that previous games from Tango Softworks were not commercial super successes. But apparently in the Bethseda pre-acquisition world it was enough to stay open.

 

[JackMcGunns]

ADHD crowd maybe? he said "continue to do shows like we just did" followed by applaus... and to be fair, it was the best show they've had, the crowd was probably still pumped over it and I bet that's all they really heard

 

[ahtlas7]

And we’re the stooges being played.

 

[Kamina]

 

[DeepEnigma]

Crowds are always coached at events like these. The timing of the applause in that instance is a little awkward, but this is an event filled with Xbox fans so they were probably a little overly enthusiastic anyway just being in the same room with Phil Spencer.

 

[Mr Moose]

Crowds are always coached at events like these. The timing of the applause in that instance is a little awkward, but this is an event filled with Xbox fans so they were probably a little overly enthusiastic anyway just being in the same room with Phil Spencer.

Phil treats them better than Geoff.
Poor Colt.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Phil treats them better than Geoff.
Poor Colt.

 

[DJ12]

Phil treats them better than Geoff.
Poor Colt.

IDK, seems like Geoff treats him the way he should be treated.

 

[Topher]

Phil treats them better than Geoff.
Poor Colt.

Keighley meets all kinds of weirdos like you Colt

 

[Sephimoth]

I found the whole crowd thing MEGA cringe, especially when hosts were trying to pump the crowd like it was some club.
And the hosts who I usually watch (Game Scoop) just acting odd because of the crowd.

No doubt they will do this format going forward because its a moneymaker.

 

[mckmas8808]

Quite common when it comes to these things sadly, even phil seemed a tad weirded out when they cheered after the closure question.

It was very odd.

 

[solidus12]

Phil treats them better than Geoff.
Poor Colt.

He was expecting to be treated like Xbox treats their shills…

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Phil treats them better than Geoff.
Poor Colt.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

The teams they let go weren’t profitable. plain and simple. Hi-Fi Rush is a indie game at best. I doubt it made much for Microsoft to think it was worth the salaries.