2019 Xbox E3 Conference Discussion Thread

Grade Microsoft's 2019 Xbox E3 Conference


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His era keeps getting pushed back every E3

I think things are going pretty well but any disappointments going forward are on his watch. No excuses.

Agree with the last part. He owns it now. All of it. Nadella promoted him, gave him tons of money and autonomy. Nobody who’s led Xbox has had close to the resources or advantages Spencer has today. Not Blackley. Not Allard. Spencer deserves credit for getting Xbox into this position that Nadella believes in. He’s got to execute now.

Spencer’s era started in late 2017. It just takes time to see the fruits of a new direction for a major corporation or big division. 3-4 years is when the new identity should be obvious. That aligns with 2020 and the next Xbox. When that launches, no excuses.
 
Gamer 10 years ago: Where have the games gone?
MS: We hear you and will fix it.
Gamers 5 years later after MS has shed several studios: Where are the f***ing games at?
MS 3 years later: Hey look we bought a bunch of AA studios. Yay!
Gamers:Cool! But their games are years away.
MS: Hey look! Age of Empires and a flight sim, Ninja Theory has a game but we are not showing s***all on it.
Gamers: f*** sake! We don't want that.

What does 10 years ago have to do with anything? It’s like holding new draft picks accountable for the results of the players they’re replacing just because they wear the same jersey. Or holding the assistant GM responsible for the draft picks of the GM who’s ideas and philosophies are different.

It’s also disingenuous to say there’s been no results. Year and 1/2 and they’ve gone from 6 to 15 studios. Game Pass went from lackluster product to best value in gaming.
 
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What does 10 years ago have to do with anything? It’s like holding new draft picks accountable for the results of the players they’re replacing just because they wear the same jersey. Or holding the assistant GM responsible for the draft picks of the GM who’s ideas and philosophies are different.
Has everything to do it with it...that is where the discontent started.

Your anology doesn't work either. It is based on a singular person. Just because Man Utd sacked Mourinho and hired Solskjaer doesn't lessen the dissapointment of the last few years.
 
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Has everything to do it with it...that is where the discontent started.

Your anology doesn't work either. It is based on a singular person. Just because Man Utd sacked Mourinho and hired Solskjaer doesn't lessen the dissapointment of the last few years.

You know, if the gaming world were a game itself, MS could always re-hire Mattrick and immediately fire him again for a +10 to their fan enthusiasm rating.
 
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What does 10 years ago have to do with anything? It’s like holding new draft picks accountable for the results of the players they’re replacing just because they wear the same jersey. Or holding the assistant GM responsible for the draft picks of the GM who’s ideas and philosophies are different.

It’s also disingenuous to say there’s been no results. Year and 1/2 and they’ve gone from 6 to 15 studios. Game Pass went from lackluster product to best value in gaming.
 
What does 10 years ago have to do with anything? It’s like holding new draft picks accountable for the results of the players they’re replacing just because they wear the same jersey. Or holding the assistant GM responsible for the draft picks of the GM who’s ideas and philosophies are different.

It’s also disingenuous to say there’s been no results. Year and 1/2 and they’ve gone from 6 to 15 studios. Game Pass went from lackluster product to best value in gaming.
Pretty sure I put the studio buys in my timeline.

There are no results as of yet. We have no games...those are the only results I give a crap about.
 
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Pretty sure I put the studio buys in my timeline.

There are no results as of yet. We have no games...those are the only results I give a crap about.

1. Games aren’t made in a year.
2. Games like Outer Worlds, Wasteland, Psychonauts 2 and Bleeding Edge will be available on Game Pass Day 1 due to the purchases so there’s your short term benefits.
3. Studios, hardware, services and ecosystem improvements are all results.

Has everything to do it with it...that is where the discontent started.

Your anology doesn't work either. It is based on a singular person. Just because Man Utd sacked Mourinho and hired Solskjaer doesn't lessen the dissapointment of the last few years.

Has nothing to do with it. Nobody leading the company today had any say in the consolidation of studios. They’re just wearing the same jersey.

Holding Spencer accountable for Myerson makes no sense. Do you own everything your boss does?
 
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1. Games aren’t made in a year.
2. Games like Outer Worlds, Wasteland, Psychonauts 2 and Bleeding Edge will be available on Game Pass Day 1 due to the purchases so there’s your short term benefits.
3. Studios, hardware, services and ecosystem improvements are all results.



Has nothing to do with it. Nobody leading the company today had any say in the consolidation of studios. They’re just wearing the same jersey.

Holding Spencer accountable for Myerson makes no sense. Do you own everything your boss does?
I'm not holdiing Spencer accountable. Please show where I mention him once?

And still the games are nowhere...games are the problem, still no results. Everything else is just pointless without them.
 
What does 10 years ago have to do with anything? It’s like holding new draft picks accountable for the results of the players they’re replacing just because they wear the same jersey. Or holding the assistant GM responsible for the draft picks of the GM who’s ideas and philosophies are different.

It’s also disingenuous to say there’s been no results. Year and 1/2 and they’ve gone from 6 to 15 studios. Game Pass went from lackluster product to best value in gaming.

Your analogy doesn't work.

The new manager knows the club's history. In Phil's case he was part of the team before he got promoted. Comparing Phil to a new draft or void of any responsibility is ridiculous. He has worked many years for Xbox and he was the manager of Microsoft Game Studios even before 2008. So all this he just came around the corner stuff doesn't make any sense.
 
Your analogy doesn't work.

The new manager knows the club's history. In Phil's case he was part of the team before he got promoted. Comparing Phil to a new draft or void of any responsibility is ridiculous. He has worked many years for Xbox and he was the manager of Microsoft Game Studios even before 2008. So all this he just came around the corner stuff doesn't make any sense.

Only been in the position since late 2017. Completely different job. Weakness today is lack of 1st party exclusives which was a result of lack of 1st party studios which was a result of lack of funding. When funding is the root cause of the problem and you have no say in funding, how do you own the problem just because you’re “on the team”?

Defies logic, reason and science. “No excuses” or “your results are only limited by your belief” is some of the dumbest ish I hear in the corporate world. All the belief, innovation or smarts in the world doesn’t compensate for lack of manpower or money in business.

I manage a technology team. Our SLAs have gotten worse this year because budgets were cut and we now have half the staff we had 2 years ago. We still are positive and do the best with what’s given but those SLAs will ultimately fall on the people in charge of the budgets. Same thing for Xbox. Nobody in that division owns any of the decisions by Myerson or Ballmer.

It’s not making excuses. It’s basic logic and business.
 
. When funding is the root cause of the problem and you have no say in funding, how do you own the problem just because you’re “on the team”?
Hence why I keep saying Microsoft.

But regardless, Spencer is the face of Xbox. So, fair or not, that is where most of the negativity is going to go...no point sending anywhere else. And the problems he inherited are stil problems regardless of how much you want to divert away froj the issues with gamepass and hardware talk.

Until the games start rolling the criticism and discontent will continue. If the diversity in experiences doesn't improve the criticism and discontent will continue. If the game quality is still the same AA quality despite all the hiring then the criticism will continue.
 
It's pretty clear across the forums I visit, the majority was disappointed in this show. Even the poll score on Union here is revealing too considering the fanbase. Loads of cgi, multiplatforms, and games we already knew about. The new stuff they did show was incredibly underwhelming for me.
 
I'm fine with people not liking it, but as I asked pages ago - what are you grading against? The whole thing was a bunch of meh, and I think MS was a lot less meh than most. It isn't like anyone brought much of anything in a down year. MS bringing a new console was the most interesting thing by far for me.

I mean go sit through Ubisoft's entire show and come back :)
 
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Loads of cgi, multiplatforms, and games we already knew about.

If only they could have been as smart as Sony and only showed (not even from the show!) two games, both of which were announced many E3s ago.
 
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You know what, the best part has been seeing many posters here come out and post/react/interact again. Maybe they’re out there in other threads that I don’t visit, but it was cool to see some and then notice a few new and old that I haven’t seen before.
 
I'm fine with people not liking it, but as I asked pages ago - what are you grading against? The whole thing was a bunch of meh, and I think MS was a lot less meh than most. It isn't like anyone brought much of anything in a down year. MS bringing a new console was the most interesting thing by far for me.

I mean go sit through Ubisoft's entire show and come back :)

Grade them against what you expect from a big 3 conference. I don't think they should get a bump because Ubi was a dumpster fire.
 
You know what, the best part has been seeing many posters here come out and post/react/interact again. Maybe they’re out there in other threads that I don’t visit, but it was cool to see some and then notice a few new and old that I haven’t seen before.

Yeah, E3 tends to bring people out.
 
Grade them against what you expect from a big 3 conference. I don't think they should get a bump because Ubi was a dumpster fire.

When one of the big 3 didn't show up? Pretending this is just another year seems wrong. People can say what they like, I just think people fell into the hype machine. I'd have loved to see another big booming exclusive, but MS does not like to drop things early.

E3 just isn't the same. Next year will probably be huge with next gen, but after that? I think we have a lot more "meh" in the future.
 
When one of the big 3 didn't show up? Pretending this is just another year seems wrong. People can say what they like, I just think people fell into the hype machine. I'd have loved to see another big booming exclusive, but MS does not like to drop things early.

E3 just isn't the same. Next year will probably be huge with next gen, but after that? I think we have a lot more "meh" in the future.

Them not announcing early is really just an excuse in the past because they just straight up didn't really have anything to announce period. Based on Halo Infinite I doubt that that is a real stance they have. Not that I blame them here. Its smart to save the big guns for next year which is what I thought they would do all along.

I agree people got themselves overhyped but its not like Microsoft didn't play into that and also they didn't have to do a big conference. They could have done a short Direct type show.
 
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I'm fine with people not liking it, but as I asked pages ago - what are you grading against? The whole thing was a bunch of meh, and I think MS was a lot less meh than most. It isn't like anyone brought much of anything in a down year. MS bringing a new console was the most interesting thing by far for me.

I mean go sit through Ubisoft's entire show and come back :)

I judge them by how I come away from them. I don't judge them by what another company does, that is pretty pointless IMO.
 
When one of the big 3 didn't show up? Pretending this is just another year seems wrong. People can say what they like, I just think people fell into the hype machine. I'd have loved to see another big booming exclusive, but MS does not like to drop things early.

E3 just isn't the same. Next year will probably be huge with next gen, but after that? I think we have a lot more "meh" in the future.
Disagree. You don't need big exclusive reveals to get people excited.

Take FIFa 20, it is getting a bit of stick right now....

- What we got: A meh Volta trailer that showed nothing. A few buzzwords for marketing on core gameplay changes outsid Volta.
- All they had to do: A short Volta gameplay trailer that says, ' play with up to 4 friends and climb the online divisions.' Then tell people the changes coming to career mode and pro clubs. Job done, enjoy the hype.

Funny thing is you cant even join friends in Volta...the only feature it needed and it is absent.
 
I wonder if turn 10 is showing anything behind closed doors, they did before FM5 was ever announced.

Dan Greenwalt was there for sure. Seems kind of odd he was just there for a Lego thing. I was a bit surprised there wasn't at least a Forza tease. I mean is the next game going to be Horizon or Motorsport? You have to figure something will launch on the new console.
 
Dan Greenwalt was there for sure. Seems kind of odd he was just there for a Lego thing. I was a bit surprised there wasn't at least a Forza tease. I mean is the next game going to be Horizon or Motorsport? You have to figure something will launch on the new console.


Hopefully Motorsport, give Horzion time to work on some place fantastic, hopefully japan, or someplace the drive on the correct side of the road like the rest of the world :p
 
I have no doubt he will..over time. Like, 'we're in for a wait. But I also think he puts what he personally likes over what Xbox fans have been asking for over a decade.

That's why Mistwalker is still what it is and Remedy is still not on team Xbox.

How weird is it that he promotes having skowered the world for creative talent, to find master story tellers..giving them creative freedom....but turns his nose up at Remedy and their work. They have the stories, history, Xbox fans, but more importantly: They have TWO franchises ready to go in the type of genre that Xbox is severely lacking.

You got to wonder what happened behind the scenes with Remedy



3:52 is not exactly a ringing endorsement so they might not even want to work with Microsoft
 


So it seems like MS does have plans for a few IP revivals from what Matt Booty said. He also said any of their new studios are free to look at an IP and ask to make something with it.
 
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If only they could have been as smart as Sony and only showed (not even from the show!) two games, both of which were announced many E3s ago.

Sony really has nothing to prove at all this gen. They could have missed every E3 this gen and still won so long as they have the games.