By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Machiavellian on 23 July 2014
Edit Thread
BMaker11 said:
Machiavellian said:
BMaker11 said:

I can agree with this...slightly. In the context of "their original vision", yes DRM and Kinect removal were impossible. But when people complained, they didn't say "this stuff is needed for this that and the other", they said "there's no way it can be removed. Period". As if the Xbox wouldn't turn on if Kinect were unplugged, as if the only way to play games would require check-ins and any alteration to that = no game playing.

People keep making this statement but MS as a company did not make this statement.  It was one guy named Larry Hryb who is not in a position of power to make such a statement.  Even when you watch the angry joe interview you can tell it was a knee jerk reaction to the question more than an informed response based on the direction MS was going to have to go.  If Don or Phil would have made those statements then it would have more weight.

Major Nelson is the Director of Programming for Microsoft Studios and Phil Harrison is Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios. I'd say they both hold some major weight. They both made "it is impossible" statements regarding the XBone. These guys aren't random "insiders" or low level employees. They are the higher ups with regard to Xbox. Are VP and Direct of Programming not "positions of power" to you? That's like saying the assistant coach and offensive coordinator have no authority on a football team since they aren't the head coach (Phil Spencer), and they have no clue what's going on with how the team operates.

Only the words of Spencer would be acceptable to you, is the vibe I'm getting. As if Larry and Phil [Harrison] are completely in the dark about Xbox, had no clue which direction Xbox was going, and their statements came completely out of the blue, as is Spencer isn't the one who directly supervises them and lets them know about what direction Xbox is going in.

Do you know what a program director is.  Basically its a marketing position.  Most would consider his postion as a community manager.  Only Larry made a statement that he would soon regret since it was a knee jerk reaction.  I am sure a lot of you have done something like that before or answered a question you did not fully know the correct answer.  Phil statements were right in line with the perception of how MS feels about Kinect and multiple people answered the same way when asked the same question so his words can be considered as a directive on Kinect.  We still do not know the exact commitment that MS has concerning Kinect but we do know its direction is now different.

@Bolded:  No what I am saying is that people F up.  It happens a lot but only people who want to confirm their opinion only take one statement as a communication or stance for a whole company.  Usually when something is a directive from a corporation, you will have confirming statements from all parties.  You will have official statements that have gone through a number of different channels for clarification.  When you only have one person making a statement that is not backed by others within the company then its mostly an opinion.  Sometimes its informed sometimes its not.  Are you telling me that people no matter the postion do not make incorrect statements or make a guess that can be wrong?  THis is my point.  I do not weigh the direction or stance of a company from one employee if not backed by a official statement or stance from the people who actually make the decisions.  I do not have an agenda to torch Sony, Nintendo or MS over tweet comments or one off comments made at trade shows or conferences.  I have no agenda to confirm why I like Sony more than MS or Nintendo.  I really just do not think that way

Maybe I have more experience in this situation.  I worked Tech Support, trade shows, conferences, training classes etc.  I know how it can be when asked questions you do not really know the answer or the corporate stance.  In my early days I use to give my educated guess and got burned a few times because it was wrong.  Now when I do not know the answer I pretty much just tell people I will find out.  Some people get mad with that answer expecting you to know everything but as some people have mentioned policy change a lot especially when competition is tight.