Phil Spencer Goes Down Under

[ProspectorPete]

New interview:

He should come work for Sony though, he does have some great ideas. In a fight with Phil Harrison, Spencer would have won. That's probably what actually happened at Microsoft. During a meeting, when Bill Gates said: "Listen Phil-" and both responded, like always, Gates eventually said:
"This is not gonna work, we can only have one Phil, everybody get out, Phils are staying though. I'll lock the door and nobody comes out unless either one of you is dead."
As a matter of fact, after Microsoft, Phil Harrison was never heard from again right?

 

[Cyan]

New interview:

He should come work for Sony though, he does have some great ideas. In a fight with Phil Harrison, Spencer would have won. That's probably what actually happened at Microsoft. During a meeting, when Bill Gates said: "Listen Phil-" and both responded, like always, Gates eventually said:
"This is not gonna work, we can only have one Phil, everybody get out, Phils are staying though. I'll lock the door and nobody comes out unless either one of you is dead."
As a matter of fact, after Microsoft, Phil Harrison was never heard from again right?

Some very interesting tidbits from the interview. Scorpio is becoming more tangible.

Phil Spencer said that Netflix and other video streaming services have resulted in a lot of content that might not make it as a traditional film or show. He hopes that over time developers look at Xbox Game Pass and maybe release games—in an episodic format—specially for Xbox Game Pass. Spencer also hopes that an Xbox Game Pass-like feature comes to Windows 10 eventually.
• Spencer said that moving Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing to Sunday was due to the fact that he wanted more coverage for the news and that he likes opening E3.
• Spencer hinted that Project Scorpio may be revealed early because they don’t have time to show everything at E3 2017.
• Spencer reconfirmed that Project Scorpio is ahead of schedule. The upcoming console also has a lot of interest from Japanese developers. Apart from that, Project Scorpio’s design will feel like a premium piece of hardware.
• Project Scorpio will make it easier for developers to target 1080p displays and it will be easier for developers in general to code for the device.
• Spencer wants virtual reality to be perfected on Windows 10 before Microsoft brings it to consoles so it doesn’t feel gimmicky and experimental.
• Spencer said he’s watching to see if there’s space for a Nintendo Switch-like portable Xbox console.
• Spencer said that getting rid of certain first-party studios and cancelling projects is getting back to the core of where first-party games stand. They’re now in a position to grow and create more studios which focus on mature and interesting projects. Spencer said that he was investing in first-party studios and games because they’re now in a position to do so because they got rid of projects that weren’t working for them. This frees up resources to invest in more meaningful games.
• Spencer said that Project Scorpio games show a demonstrable difference between them and any console people are playing right now, including PlayStation 4 Pro.
• Halo 5 engagement is going up even after all these years. Spencer realizes people wanted to play as Master Chief and 343 Industries is listening to the feedback. Hopefully they’ll implement these changes in Halo 6.

 

[Cyan]

Phil Spencer has said that Scorpio games are going to run on Xbox One, and Windows 10. So no traditional launch and no traditional approach in regards to Scorpio.

http://www.gamepur.com/news/26034-p...-demonstrable-difference-games-currently.html

I do think it's a little different than a traditional console launch, where you have to launch, say, five games on day one. I told the team I don’t want to do that because it's a part of the family of the same systems, every game on it will be playable on Xbox One, Xbox One S, Scorpio, and frankly on Windows 10 as well. So it's a little bit different, but I know content has to be the thing that we use to demonstrate the capability of the box.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

He can't be speaking literally. Otherwise this is in stark contrast to the notion of Scorpio playing VR. XB1 isn't going to be playing the same VR games as Scorpio.

 

[ProspectorPete]

PS4 played VR just fine. Lower it A little bit and it would run on Xbox One as well.. hell, mobile phones with 1/10th the power of Xbox One run VR simple games or more intense video or educational software.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The quality difference between X1 and Scorpio VR will be extreme, making it a hassle for devs. On PS4, Pro just runs the same VR experience with no significant enhancements, but that won't be good enough for Scorpio. I don't think any devs are going to want to optimise PS4 VR games down to XB1 (with an initial VR install base of zero) as well as up them for Scorpio. Not with some suitable incentives anyway. OVR and Vive have the parent companies paying devs for exclusivity which is presently, according to some VR devs, required to make the developments worthwhile.

 

[bunge]

I think this just means "Scorpio VR" will be considered a separate platform so they can do it without the legacy anchor of XBox One.

 

[iroboto]

Originally I felt VR was becoming this check box item for the platforms, but the recent release of RE7 etc, is making me think twice about it. I think VR could be relevant soon.

 

[mpg1]

I'm not sure how relevant VR will become...but I think if nothing else it could be the one area where Microsoft could leverage as a "if you want it you gotta upgrade to Scoprio" type thing.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Originally I felt VR was becoming this check box item for the platforms, but the recent release of RE7 etc, is making me think twice about it. I think VR could be relevant soon.

I don't know about 'relevant' but many people have been enjoying VR for a while now. Isn't the point?

 

[iroboto]

I don't know about 'relevant' but many people have been enjoying VR for a while now. Isn't the point?

fair enough, poor choice of words.

Looking for that VR killer, everyone must play style game.

 

[ProspectorPete]

At this point I have given up on trying to explain the appeal of VR to non-VR people. The biggest drawback IMO is that if you play any other game afterwards, even Horizon, that game will really feel dated. I did Batman Arkham Knight for fun after Arkham VR and man is that game ugly and completely flat, feels far away even with my surround setup! After a few days of no gaming though, I put in Arkham Knight again and I marvel at the graphics and the atmosphere.

 

[Jay]

unlike traditional gaming, vr has some specific considerations where I think that making Scorpio the base requirement would be wise.
they did say it was only coming to Scorpio, but recently, they've talked like it's also coming to x1.
during gdc ms mixed reality presentation. Believe it's in the press statement about the dev kits and next year for media/games for x1 & Scorpio.

maybe they'll let the x1 support it, but don't mandate all Scorpio vr games need to run on x1.
trouble is may cause mix messaging for a while.