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Phil Spencer. Post if you're okay.

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
A couple years ago, gaming boards couldn't go two days without a slew of Phil Spencer quotes. Dude was giving daily interviews. Ignoring the fact he was often making completely opposite statements day to day, fans were eating it up.

Phil's face was constantly plastered on Arnold Schwarzenegger's body. Every promise made was celebrated. And Microsoft seemed eager to put him in the spotlight at any and every opportunity.

Now? Radio silence. Dude looks like he aged 30 years in 10 and gained 50 pounds. And the guy is barely a presence lately.

Ever since, "Even if Starfield were an 11 out of 10, people aren't going to sell their PlayStations", "Simply making great games isn't enough to sell consoles" and "Don't worry, it's just four games and do NOT include Indiana Jones or Starfield", he's almost fallen off the radar.

Do you think this is a calculated decision by himself, by higher-ups in Microsoft or am I just mistaken and he's still vocal as ever and I'm just missing it?
Shit was so cringe. They tried desperately to paint him as the next Kazuo Hirai. Forced memes forcing me to cringe right out of my browser, FFS.
 
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Det

Member
It's Phil Spencer's birthday today. Did you get him a cake? adamsapple adamsapple



It's a mix of disgusting and stupid.

Disgusting for making it seem like every video game player is a filthy loser

Dumb because everyone normal sees behavior like this and associates it with the Xbox attuomatically, becoming disgusted with the brand. "xbox fans are disgusting, as is the xbox"
 

Calico345

Gold Member


Sad Gordon Ramsay GIF by Hell's Kitchen
 

Saber

Member
I guess people inside finally start to see him as an annoying pr that never stops talking or thinking himself as a funny guy, even beyond his boundaries (sometimes he talks way too much). I think this old fart will be remembered in history as a man who talks alot and do very little.
 
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EN250

Member
I would hazard a guess that the demographics have changed so much over there he probably thinks 'well, fuck it'
what demographics? dude always talked to and was surrounded by the same 30-40 something loud af xbox fanboys who worship him like the messiah of gaming or something, turns out that was the minority and everyone else sane was done with his bs
 

Sooner

Member
Does anyone have any insight in how much Phil plays games on his Xbox nowadays? Is it like 40hrs a week?
It's always be debatable how much he actually played, and how much it was PR marketing.

If he actually played games as often as his Xbox account indicates, he shouldn't be a CEO of anything.
 

Kumomeme

Member
for sure his fans never calculated this despite this happened for atleast almost for decades and i doubt it would stop or someone finally learn.
 

FeralEcho

Member
He gets alot of shit,and deservedly so for his consolidation plans,gamepass push and all the lies about xbox's future but he has done great things as well let's not forget that... He made a big Backwards Compatibility push that also pushed Sony in the end to do something in that regard which proves why competition is good and why you should dread an industry without competition. He also brought back Age of Empires into the spotlight and gave it a new breath of life.

And regardless of your feelings towards gamepass,he was the one who initiated the subscription services at such a high level in gaming.And everyone else followed suit. I personally don't care for it and think subscriptions are terrible for the quality of gaming overall and I preffer to own my games but you can't deny his overall impact on the industry.

It's more than I can say about a certain individual in a high position that has an Aloy hard-on the size of the Burj Khalifa.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Same. I think Matt Booty will get the role since he’s leading the first-party studios, and they seem to be finally running as intended with a content pipeline at a good cadence. Sarah Bond has been dismal leading hardware and game pass, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s being encouraged to find a new position elsewhere.

When your boss comes in and changes the entire direction of your department years into your current plan, you tend to lose morale and the end result of that is to care less and comment less. Just a guess.

I think Phil did not want to see Xbox games on Playstation.

Matt Booty has been a complete failure. I get the impression that he can't fire Booty because he is tied to him. I think I heard the 3rd party push was Sarah Bond's idea. She's pushing it because she knows Nadella favors it and the revenue that will come from it.

The day that they announce Master Chief will be on PlayStation though will be the day the curtain falls. That's the power of mascots. We've already seen Xbox can't push itself through holiday seasons. It's already lost the casual gamer. Putting Halo on PS5 will lose the core gamers as well.

The next Xbox Direct is interesting because it's likely to involve games coming to PlayStation, something they didn't want to put focus on before the holiday season, but now? There really isn't much reason to delay ripping the bandaid off. Xbox will be desperate from revenue this year and really the only thing that could push it would be GTA6 sales, but you can't count on people buying Xbox for it. So how do you ensure a YoY growth from last year? Especially if CoD moves on from previous generations this year.

The idea that Microsoft can simply come out with a new console and have any trust involved is pretty laughable. It'll be worse than Dreamcast after the Saturn. Is anyone supposed to believe that nextgen games won't hit PS6? They know Sony games won't be on the next xbox. They know Microsoft isn't fighting for big exclusives anymore. I was surprised Phil and co even went to the game awards. One way or another it was going to be a strong night for Sony.

Shouldn't we be worried where Herman Hulst is?

I think Herman Hulst really failed to properly celebrate the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation, but I also think Herman takes a page from Jim Ryan's playbook and doesn't necessarily think he need to do a lot of press or PR. There should have been a PS5 showcase in December showing the latest on at least Marathon, Ghost of Yotei, Wolverine, Venom if the making it, and announcing Intergalactic, rather than announcing it at TGA which would immediately draw in a lot of hate. They could have easily quieted a lot of haters simply by announcing that they're bringing back some old IP, even if they're years out.

He gets alot of shit,and deservedly so for his consolidation plans,gamepass push and all the lies about xbox's future but he has done great things as well let's not forget that... He made a big Backwards Compatibility push that also pushed Sony in the end to do something in that regard which proves why competition is good and why you should dread an industry without competition. He also brought back Age of Empires into the spotlight and gave it a new breath of life.

And regardless of your feelings towards gamepass,he was the one who initiated the subscription services at such a high level in gaming.And everyone else followed suit. I personally don't care for it and think subscriptions are terrible for the quality of gaming overall and I preffer to own my games but you can't deny his overall impact on the industry.

It's more than I can say about a certain individual in a high position that has an Aloy hard-on the size of the Burj Khalifa.

Sony has always had BC with the exception of the PS4. The move to x86 allowed Sony to bring back BC, it wasn't a reaction to Microsoft.

GamePass is the gaming equivalent of movie pass where as PS+ is the gaming equivalent of AMC A-List. One was sustainable and the other wasn't.

His impact on gaming has been bad. He's pushed the most consolidation. He pushed for a subscription model that is value-destructive. He's been a disaster for the industry.

He hasn't launched a single major hit AAA franchise since being CEO.
 

Det

Member
On my list of reasons I hate ms, which I curate daily in a type of meditation, this online presence in console wars is always near the top. It started right from the beginning thanks to Halloween-paper tactics being in the DNA over there. 20 years starting with straight up paid fakes eventually evolving into a borderline cult.

Halloween-paper tactics???
 

jm89

Member
I'm sure he's doing just fine and doesn't care about some users on an online forum :rolleyes:
You'd think that. But Phil and co are the type of execs who follow what is said on social media and forums closely, he even has an account on era.
 
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FeralEcho

Member
Matt Booty has been a complete failure. I get the impression that he can't fire Booty because he is tied to him. I think I heard the 3rd party push was Sarah Bond's idea. She's pushing it because she knows Nadella favors it and the revenue that will come from it.

The day that they announce Master Chief will be on PlayStation though will be the day the curtain falls. That's the power of mascots. We've already seen Xbox can't push itself through holiday seasons. It's already lost the casual gamer. Putting Halo on PS5 will lose the core gamers as well.

The next Xbox Direct is interesting because it's likely to involve games coming to PlayStation, something they didn't want to put focus on before the holiday season, but now? There really isn't much reason to delay ripping the bandaid off. Xbox will be desperate from revenue this year and really the only thing that could push it would be GTA6 sales, but you can't count on people buying Xbox for it. So how do you ensure a YoY growth from last year? Especially if CoD moves on from previous generations this year.

The idea that Microsoft can simply come out with a new console and have any trust involved is pretty laughable. It'll be worse than Dreamcast after the Saturn. Is anyone supposed to believe that nextgen games won't hit PS6? They know Sony games won't be on the next xbox. They know Microsoft isn't fighting for big exclusives anymore. I was surprised Phil and co even went to the game awards. One way or another it was going to be a strong night for Sony.



I think Herman Hulst really failed to properly celebrate the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation, but I also think Herman takes a page from Jim Ryan's playbook and doesn't necessarily think he need to do a lot of press or PR. There should have been a PS5 showcase in December showing the latest on at least Marathon, Ghost of Yotei, Wolverine, Venom if the making it, and announcing Intergalactic, rather than announcing it at TGA which would immediately draw in a lot of hate. They could have easily quieted a lot of haters simply by announcing that they're bringing back some old IP, even if they're years out.



Sony has always had BC with the exception of the PS4. The move to x86 allowed Sony to bring back BC, it wasn't a reaction to Microsoft.

GamePass is the gaming equivalent of movie pass where as PS+ is the gaming equivalent of AMC A-List. One was sustainable and the other wasn't.

His impact on gaming has been bad. He's pushed the most consolidation. He pushed for a subscription model that is value-destructive. He's been a disaster for the industry.

He hasn't launched a single major hit AAA franchise since being CEO.
Sony's focus on PS1 and PS2 classics on PS4 and especially PS5 had been either absolutely non existent or abysmal prior to Xbox's BC initiative.

Let's not act like Sony wasn't compelled by Xbox's success in that field to get back to their heritage. They gave no shit about the classics before that.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Sony's focus on PS1 and PS2 classics on PS4 and especially PS5 had been either absolutely non existent or abysmal prior to Xbox's BC initiative.

Let's not act like Sony wasn't compelled by Xbox's success in that field to get back to their heritage. They gave no shit about the classics before that.

PS1 and PS2 classics existed on both PS3 and PS4...

You have no idea what you're talking about.
 

FeralEcho

Member
PS1 and PS2 classics existed on both PS3 and PS4...

You have no idea what you're talking about.
"FOCUS" I said....Their "FOCUS" had been almost non existent on PS4 and PS5 prior to Xbox's BC program. I never said they didn't have classics,but most of the ones released on PS4 were classics by 3rd parties. Sony themselves gave no shit about their classics on PS4, that's why we had to wait till a couple months ago for them to be half assed to give us the Sly Cooper trilogy or how long did we wait till PSP or PS1 classics were made available on PS4? They waited till PS5 generation to start doing anything about it....so no,YOU are the one who has no idea what he's talking about!
 
"FOCUS" I said....Their "FOCUS" had been almost non existent on PS4 and PS5 prior to Xbox's BC program. I never said they didn't have classics,but most of the ones released on PS4 were classics by 3rd parties. Sony themselves gave no shit about their classics on PS4, that's why we had to wait till a couple months ago for them to be half assed to give us the Sly Cooper trilogy or how long did we wait till PSP or PS1 classics were made available on PS4? They waited till PS5 generation to start doing anything about it....so no,YOU are the one who has no idea what he's talking about!

Their overall BC strategy is poor compared to Microsoft. I played so many older games on xbox because they got enhanced.
 

Crayon

Member
Halloween-paper tactics???

Oh, back in the day some memos got out about how they were supposed to evangelize to get developer support and it was scandalous. Funny it was so long ago but you can trace a through line right till today. Imo it slowed down when balmer was out, though. I'm not sure about that. It makes something like their xbox ambassador program make a lot more sense.
 
Their overall BC strategy is poor compared to Microsoft. I played so many older games on xbox because they got enhanced.
If you look at the timing of when they brought out BC and it was comical. They were getting stomped because they just weren't releasing any games. So to plug a hole they release old games.

Don't get me wrong, BC is good. But it was basically admitting how bad they were at getting exclusives.
 
If you look at the timing of when they brought out BC and it was comical. They were getting stomped because they just weren't releasing any games. So to plug a hole they release old games.

Don't get me wrong, BC is good. But it was basically admitting how bad they were at getting exclusives.

Yeah no doubt that xbox was in a bad spot around the time they announced the BC program, but we got something good out of it and you gotta give credit to Microsoft for that. On console, xbox is by far the best place to play old games. Some of them are 4k 60fps!
 
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