Phil Spencer on DRM reversals, new IP and what next-gen means to Microsoft
- Thread starter The Wolf King
- Start date
I found it odd how Phil says right from the get go that all this new gaming stuff ( tablts, phones, tv's) are not a threat, and then the article writer says it is a generation of Survival for consoles.
The article though just comes off as your typical PR stuff. If MS really wanted to listen to consumers they should have been listening in the months up to the reveal. People were already up in arms over just the Idea of large scale mandatory DRM.
The article though just comes off as your typical PR stuff. If MS really wanted to listen to consumers they should have been listening in the months up to the reveal. People were already up in arms over just the Idea of large scale mandatory DRM.
I still think it wouldn't have been a problem without a huge anti-Xbox campaign from hardcore gamers.
Good read. As far as I can see MS have gone the right route making not only a games console but an entertainment device which is totally unique. I'd go as far as saying they may have actually saved console gaming because I'm sorry but just being a console that just plays games is not going to cut it over the next decade.
This is true, all I have to do is look at my friends list and see who is doing what. At any given time I'd say 2/3 of my friends are doing anything but gaming. As much as people on this forum moan about it not being just a gaming console, we on gaming websites are the minority. I'm happy that's it's going to be an even more useful media box than the 360. As much as I love gaming I use it (360) for other entertainment purposes as much as I game.
I agree with this. PC gaming is much easier to get into these days. It's not like you need to be a huge hardware geek to build a good gaming rig. Not like back in the 90s or early 2000s.
I blame Ballmer and Mattrick for the XB1's DRM, bundled kinect, and architecture issues.
Mattrick is now floating off on a golden parachute to Zygna, and Ballmer was likely kicked out of the CEO seat. Basically the two guys most responsible for XB1's woes are (or will soon be) ex-Microsoft. Guys like Spencer, Hyrb, and Penello are just left with damage control. Too bad they didn't get Allard back to design XB1.
Mattrick is now floating off on a golden parachute to Zygna, and Ballmer was likely kicked out of the CEO seat. Basically the two guys most responsible for XB1's woes are (or will soon be) ex-Microsoft. Guys like Spencer, Hyrb, and Penello are just left with damage control. Too bad they didn't get Allard back to design XB1.
This! Having Orth tweet, Deal with it, and antagonize the customer base before the console was even revealed is what rousted the hornets nest. The TV TV TV reveal after did not help either. They certainly could have stemmed the tide had they only listened earlier.
There was no huge anti-xbox campaign. There was an anti-drm movement. MS revealed their cards, ignored public outcry and reaped the whirlwind. Odd that you leave out MS' culpability here. They had a huge hand in the public's reaction and backlash.
But how much of that was due to the divestment of MS in first party titles, a focus on Kinect, and how much was that because this generation went on too long and people got burnt out? Games sales have certainly declined. Comparing what one is doing on a console at the end of a too long generation to what will draw an audience in at the outset is a specious correlation to make. The hardcore -- those that spend the most and buy their consoles at launch -- want games first and foremost.
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really because when I look at my list when they are not playing they are on HULU, NETFLIX, VUDU, and other service to watch tv on xbox 360.
Yet MS did a research based on what people do online because they have the information on their own network and so they went a step further and try to give more to the people and the people blast them in their face?
I think people these days just dont know what they hell they want anymore.
Yet MS did a research based on what people do online because they have the information on their own network and so they went a step further and try to give more to the people and the people blast them in their face?
I think people these days just dont know what they hell they want anymore.
Or maybe it's different groups of people that want different things out of a console.
It's always strange when someone plays the 'populist' or 'casual appeal' card when by every measurable pre-launch metric, it's not nearly as popular. Unless there's a mass of casuals waiting to stampede out in Wii-like numbers for the XB1 I don't know about?
Pretty much well said. I luv gaming as much as the next guy but all too often I find myself either surfing,hearing music,or editing pictures on my PC and Ipad. Don't think its a crime that Microsoft saw what's been happening since both the 360 and PS3 launched years ago and wanted more of this in their next console. The DRM could have been handled better,but I did like some of their ideas to come out of it. Eh whatever,the point is they got it together when things were at their worst. Launch lineup looks good,dedicated servers will be there,exclusives locked down for the future,things are good. They never have a bad console launch. And I'm all for the multi media stuff they've thrown into the box. so Kinect is the next step to the stuff we'll be enjoying on the box when were not just gaming on it. And if you don't like the Kinect? Put it away and just enjoy the games! Or sell the f***inging thing to someone maybe i dunno. LOL.
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That's like stating something isn't popular to women because the men hanging around at a strip club aren't interested in it. The casual market isn't following this nearly as closely as people who are "hardcore" because, and this is the big leap, they're CASUAL. They're the people that buy the console the second or third holiday after launch or later, and if you think they're going to give two shakes of a dong over all the stuff that's been burning up this forum the past few months, you misunderstand that market.
No. Casuals aren't interested in it either, especially at $500. The surveys are of the general public not gamers. Would be great if you learned what you were talking about before acting condescending. (this is called dunning-kreuger)
If you really think there's an army of casuals waiting to stampede out to buy an Xbox you're going to be disappointed.
I did say it would pick up steam with a price drop and Titanfall.
If you really think there's an army of casuals waiting to stampede out to buy an Xbox you're going to be disappointed.
I did say it would pick up steam with a price drop and Titanfall.
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Which part of: "They're the people that buy the console the second or third holiday after launch or later" leads you to assume I'm talking about "an army of casuals waiting to stampede out to buy an Xbox"? To use your own words, it would be great if you learned what you were talking about before acting condescending. :troll:
And I've been saying it would pick up steam after a price drop and Titanfall. Would that not count as "the second or third holiday after launch"?
true.
but none of the next gen consoles including Wii U are not 'just being a console that just plays games' so i wouldn't go as far as saying MS will save console gaming.
PS3 and 360 were not just that either. What is really different next gen to this gen ? It is just how UI allows you to move from one thing to another. Everything else seems to be the same except for Live TV.
That would count as four months after launch. You seem to be parroting... er, I mean making... the argument that because casual gamers supposedly have no interest at launch that they're pretty much lost for the generation and touting DEM PRELAUNCH METRIX!!111 We have no idea what word of mouth is going to do over the next several years, of course, except of course you seem to act like you know what's going to happen because it fits what you want to happen and that's the level you appear to have set for burden of proof.
You think they're going to drop the price in 4 months? Maybe with a kinect-less bundle, if they're desperate. Casuals aren't going to rush out to buy a $500 console imo.
I never said the pre-launch metrics indicated what would happen for the next 'several years', I specifically said a price drop could change things. Stop trollin.:troll:
looking at just PS4/X1, there aren't much differences in that regard. X1 has some extra stuff but PS4 doesn't have paywall.
Oh, come off it. The four months out was a specific reference to the time frame you've set with regard to Titanfall. I'm saying specifically that your fetish for pre-launch metrics as a way of dismissing what casual market may (or may not!) develop for this console is ignorant at best - and I'm not going to say what I think it really is but I doubt you're ignorant. I know some people feel like there's got to be "WINZ0RS and teh L0Z0rS!!!" for the generation and they have to crown it before either console even launches, and it's their right to participate in that ridiculous folly as much as they choose to. Some of us don't presume to know who's going to win a game based on who looks better at the pre-game shootaround, though.
I don't know why you are responding to him. His subtle agenda is most obvious.
Phil Spencer is a boss. Microsoft is one of the few great companies that actually listens to the consumer. The Xbox One is going to do work.
I'm not sure Titanfall is going to draw in casuals that might be interested in non-gaming features and skype. A price drop might entice them, though. Or both. $500 is a hard sell to casuals imo. Is it wrong to think the metrics mean something at least until price drops and such? I think XB1 will gain traction eventually, but it'll be a slow start.