Phil Spencer on Xbox One at E3: "It's only going to get better"

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Phil Spencer on Xbox One at E3: "It's only going to get better"

Head of Xbox on ID@Xbox, E3, new IP and beyond

Posted on Thursday 1-May-2014 9:59 AM BST   By Aoife Wilson, Staff Writer for OXM

 

Speaking to CNN's Fortune, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer dropped further hints on the big plans Microsoft has for this year's E3, and pledged his ongoing support for all Xbox exclusive games, from the indie titles coming out of the ID@Xbox program to the blockbuster behemoths like Titanfall.

 

"My hope is that Titanfall has affirmed one of the most fundamental principles of game development I believe in: A great game can come in all forms, shapes, and sizes," he said. "There's no set formula or checklist you need to hit. When you assemble a team with a passionate vision and arm them with the platform and tools they need, they can do amazing things. Titanfall's early success has proven that, and I think that's very inspiring.

 

 

"This E3 is important for us to show gamers our future plans for exclusives and third-party support," Spencer continued. "Right now I think we have a strong lineup of in-development exclusives, including games like Sunset Overdrive, Project Spark, Quantum Break, and Halo, in addition to some exciting titles you will hear more about at E3. It's going to be great at E3 to be able to share the games coming exclusively to Xbox One, and it's only going to get better."

 

When asked what role he thought indie games played in the current games market, Spencer replied: "I love all kinds of games -- independent games, blockbuster franchises, new IP -- a good game is a good game, and we want as many as possible on our platforms. Independent developers are a vital part of that equation, and their games can range from niche fan bases to AAA titles on par with blockbuster first-party games.

 

"Independent creators are in a unique situation where they're able to really experiment and map to their own priorities and timelines. In a way, they challenge the rest of the industry to stay on their toes and continue to think outside of the box in creative and compelling ways. As a program, ID@Xbox was designed with these developers in mind, and I personally can't wait to see what's to come." We can't either Phil - here's hoping this E3 is a big one.

 

http://www.totalxbox.com/75826/phil-spencer-on-xbox-one-at-e3-its-only-going-to-get-better/

[George P Global Moderator]

This was posted on twitter not that long ago.

 

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[spenser.d]

If they can deliver, it should be a pretty excellent E3.

Then again, just about anything would be excellent compared to how last year went :p

[George P Global Moderator]

Phils been hinting at a exclusives for E3, the only question is how many of them besides the ones we already know about.    I also expect to hear about some Gold related features and or policy changes, maybe a price cut to.

[DaddyRazzy]

If they can deliver, it should be a pretty excellent E3.

Then again, just about anything would be excellent compared to how last year went :p

 

didn't it go well?

[Blackhearted]

Phils been hinting at a exclusives for E3, the only question is how many of them besides the ones we already know about.    I also expect to hear about some Gold related features and or policy changes, maybe a price cut to.

 

That's the biggest thing i want to hear from them.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

didn't it go well?

 

The conference was pretty good until the price announcement.

 

It was what happened before E3 and the nonsense behind the scenes that hurt them though.

[spenser.d]

The conference was pretty good until the price announcement.

 

It was what happened before E3 and the nonsense behind the scenes that hurt them though.

Right, I suppose all that stuff happened before E3 technically...kinda overshadowed it.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I love watching everyone at E3, one of my favourite times of the year, but the hype that goes into is crazy. More so from fans online lol.

This year I'm going to try my best to avoid rumours, leaks and general hype and just watch the conferences as they come. It is a shame a lot of stuff does leak as well. MS have been shafted quite a bit by E3 leaks in the past.

[Lenny Bruce]

I definitely want to see what MS has in store after last E3. I'm just going to act like that didn't happen.

 

 

 

[JonnyLH]

Hype E3 this much and you have to kill it. Don't let me down Spencer.

[Showan]

Microsoft can have a good E3 and it would still kinda look bad (They look lifeless on stage).  They just suck at presentations like this.  They look so soul'less up there.

 

They need someone with a good speaking voice, and a face that people don't want to punch.  A face that makes you bring it warm fresh muffins...

 

That's why Ubisoft hired out Aisha Tyler.  Because they sucked as presenters.

 

Microsoft has to stay away from the "This is too scripted" and have some fun up there.  These are video games they are showing.

 

Not the latest cure for a deadly disease. 

[Skiver Veteran]

Yep, right now there is just too much talk. I want more  AAA and indie games and I want them soon because I'm getting quite bored quite quickly of my XB :(

[George P Global Moderator]

Are they really hyping?  There's no numbers as of yet, last year we heard about 15 exclusives or w/e the number was but so far right now we just have them saying that they're once again going to talk about exclusive games.    

[123456789A]

Microsoft can have a good E3 and it would still kinda look bad (They look lifeless on stage).  They just suck at presentations like this.  They look so soul'less up there.

 

Steve Ballmer was fresh and full of life.

 

But his water cooling system tends to malfunction.

[gohpep]

Steve Ballmer was fresh and full of life.

 

But his water cooling system tends to malfunction.

It's a bit leaky.

[McKay]

Ive lost faith in E3. They showcase amazing games, but now they have a trend of being downscaled by the time they hit release. 

 

Watchdogs still looks like a visually impressive game, but it looks like garbage compared to it's initial reveal, if it looked like it does now on the initial reveal, nobody would be saying "those graphics are crap", but because they do compared to the initial reveal, people are saying "Watchdogs graphics are crap". 

 

I'd prefer not to be built up with hype any more.

[neoadorable]

Maybe Phil can explain to me why my Kinect stopped working out of the blue? "Kinect unplugged".

 

Of course looking forward to E3 and am sure the X1 will get a lot better, but honestly my suspicions regarding the hardware quality are starting to be...palpable.

[GotBored]

Maybe Phil can explain to me why my Kinect stopped working out of the blue? "Kinect unplugged".

 

Of course looking forward to E3 and am sure the X1 will get a lot better, but honestly my suspicions regarding the hardware quality are starting to be...palpable.

 

It is still covered under warranty so your still covered.

 

-- On topic.

 

Hopefully E3 event is full of new game reveals, I also had a little 'lol when I saw the Microsoft twitter post that said 'We're bringing more than hype' (lol, that is good to know)

[blerk]

Phils been hinting at a exclusives for E3, the only question is how many of them besides the ones we already know about.    I also expect to hear about some Gold related features and or policy changes, maybe a price cut to.

As I doubt that they will have a price cut, I hope to see more value added, especially for the international customers.

[George P Global Moderator]

As I doubt that they will have a price cut, I hope to see more value added, especially for the international customers.

 

Outside of adding new gamer related features for Gold members and so on I don't know what they can do on their end for international customers.  Expanding the markets for Xbox Music and Video is one thing but that's it, other media related apps and stuff for specific markets have to come from their respective copyright holders.    There's just not many "global" media streaming type services out there, someone's always left out.  So far the only service I can get in my market is Spotify.    More gamer related features are more welcome though, those wouldn't be limited due to messy red tape.  I still expect a price cut to be possible, $50 across the board or a bit more, they could also introduce a new $499 SKU with a bigger internal hdd, or leave that for next year.   With how fast MS is now moving with everything (even Xbox) we could be surprised to get changes we'd normally get years into the life of the system sooner.

[trooper11]

MS just won't get much respect even after a strong E3 as long as the past remains the focus.

 

I'm not sure how they change that and maybe they just lose those people forever.

 

If they do put on a strong E3, at least younger gamers and some of older core crowd will be excited by that. MS just has to stay aggressive updating the system, getting new games, and bringing down the price.

[George P Global Moderator]

MS just won't get much respect even after a strong E3 as long as the past remains the focus.

 

I'm not sure how they change that and maybe they just lose those people forever.

 

If they do put on a strong E3, at least younger gamers and some of older core crowd will be excited by that. MS just has to stay aggressive updating the system, getting new games, and bringing down the price.

 

What do you mean by past exactly?  I think quite a few if not all fans would be happy if they decided to bring back more games from their old/past IP collection.  KI might just be the first, they could have plans for more of the old titles to be "rebooted" and I think lots of people would really like that to happen.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

What do you mean by past exactly?  I think quite a few if not all fans would be happy if they decided to bring back more games from their old/past IP collection.  KI might just be the first, they could have plans for more of the old titles to be "rebooted" and I think lots of people would really like that to happen.

 

I think he means their reveal/E3 2013 past, not IP back catalogue.

[George P Global Moderator]

There wasn't much wrong with last years E3 in my mind unless you want to nitpick and call out the price as an issue.  As long as this one is all about games, which it sounds like it will be, and a good number of exclusives/new stuff then there's nothing to worry about.