Yeah pretty much. And ultimately most of the hard questions are fairly console fanboyish. Like ‘Sony has all these exclusives what has Xbox got?’. To which Phil can reel off a whole list of games he’s excited for on Xbox and talk about gamepass. The answer is absolutely right but it satisfies nobody really…
The fundamental problem is Phil is a great gaming boss and when he engages in conversation he does so as an adult. It’s impossible to drag him into the nonsense you see online. Because his answers will be way above that sort of stuff. I’d be fascinated to get Phil in an off the record chat because I bet he says some fascinating stuff, but in an interview it’s always going to be different.
I think he’s answered that numerous times in the past.
Phil will talk about how it’s not about the number of boxes you sell and how to reach as many gamers as possible. That’s exactly why they’re pushing GamePass and why xCloud will form a big part of it and why selling x million Series X consoles isn’t everything.
Great question there Dango. Great question. At Xbox what we believe in is giving gamers on our platform value and choice. We recognise that in the current climate not everyone will be able to go out and buy a new console. But that is ok because…you know…you can play on the console you still have or on an android device with xcloud, or on PC. Its up to you. Of course we are making consoles so we want to sell them but, when you look at the overall package on offer - the console is a part of that, a big part of that, but you know, we’ve got different ways people can play and that is, I think a positive thing. People can buy a new console maybe down the line if the pandemic clears up or maybe they choose to invest in a PC and play our games that way. What we’re offering here is a great roster of games and a variety of ways to play them, with gamepass which we believe is the best value in gaming right now. We’re always looking for ways to continue to add choice and value to our customers.
Hold on a minute… are you actually Phil Spencer himsefl?
Haha, it reads like something Phil would say, or has said in the past. And ultimately, proves why asking “difficult” questions isn’t easy, you can ask Phil what he thought about Sony selling more PS4s than Microsoft have sold Xbox One’s and he’d answer a very similar way.
Asking difficult questions doesn’t mean you get more information.
I did ask Phil about a Giant Bomb interview with Jeff - I believe they will try to find a way to make it happen. I inferred he enjoys the Giant Bomb couch too. So fingers crossed.
(I did volunteer the XboxEra Podcast crew of course!)
Yeah he seems to enjoy the interviews, he’s done them year after year for a little while now and is one of the things I look forward to about E3 the most (outside of the press conferences).
It would be great to still do something like this.
It will be great when you guys eventually get Phil on which I’m sure will happen at some point in the future.
But yes that’s the point I’m trying to make - most of the difficult questions are in essence close to fanboys ranting about this and that. And the answers are actually quite easy - and unless the interviewer is prepared to aggressively push in the manner of an angry social media user which I’m guessing just isn’t happening in these sorts of professional circles Phil will easily have a very reasonable and considered answer to those questions.
When you boil it down MS is creating a gaming ecosystem with value and product choice. If people don’t like that Phil’s ultimate answer is ‘can’t please everyone’. Its only when the whole thing is viewed through the eyes of internet console wars that you get to the ‘OMG Sony has bought 8 games what are Xbox going to do for us we deserve something’ type of mentality that when you boil it down and apply to it virtually any other product or industry is just silly.
That whole episode of Animal Talking was a delight. I laughed hard when Phil had trouble moving to the other seat on the couch and Gary called him out on it. Also, I think I’m gonna buy Lisa Loeb’s children’s album for my niece.
Just gonna say that Im proud of Phil doing the right thing, as always.
Consumers will always benefit from the risk he takes. Halo Infinite needs work, he knows it, and rather than have the team crunch just to get it done by launch he delayed it indefinitely until 2021 and Im sure thats a relief to everyone at Xbox.
