I can already see that we are going to have about 10 threads (Not that it is a bad thing) on the same interview with different topics so for the people curious here is a summary on the 40 minute interview. Or you can listen to the podcast yourself http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/23/podcast-unlocked-episode-167-phil-spencer-interview
Install Times Improvement Timeline is a constant and top priority.
Screenshots two weeks ago found a good solution for them. However in December we will be pausing a little bit on the size of updates for new users.
Universal profile settings is being worked on
White Sunset Overdrive console was a choice over Halo Limited edition console and we dont want too many bundles. The hardware roadmap starts almost a year in advance. Halo MCC started as Halo 2 anniversary and just really grew. I wanted to show new IP. And this is a real first party ip for us. I wanted the white xbox with a new ip. I want another big AAA franchise of exclusives for xbox and i think Sunset can be that for us.
Halo MCC is a big package. We was putting all of our energy on this one package. We would have liked to put a $99 limited edition out but it just wasnt our approach. Let me rewind a little bit. Halo is a reason Xbox is relevant in the industry, and i wanted to do something that exceeded their expectations. And the best way i thought to do that is to just make a clean well made package.
I try to take a long term vision in our business. I look in the past and i think we pulled the crank on stuff like Crackdown too soon. And our customers and fans watch what we do and that can cause trouble. Our long term view, especially with our long term halo fans is important to me.
We actually have a pool on how well MCC can sell. I think its going to do better than our internal expectations. The game has become better, more complete, and bigger than what we were expecting. And that isnt to say we had low expectations. But we go back to Halo anniversary and it did well but isnt Halo MCC and I think Halo MCC will do significantly better.
I love the job of Head Xbox. The team is the part that motivates me most. The year of announce of xbox, the toll it took on some of the team was probably higher tha i anticipated. Some of the people you saw in the halls were visually emotional. So i found the first 6 months of head to be rewarding to watch the team be successful.
We have some other stuff that we are about ready to talk about.
I was at the leadership table when announcing the xbox and making decisions with xbox one. And im going to take responsbility for those deisions good and bad. What i would have done differently is do what ive been doing for the last 6 months. Consumer choice, feedback to fans, make sure games and ecosystem is there. And i like the entertainment options in xbox but I think we get permission on entertainment on gaming platform. But I want this to be the place where we want to play games first. I want games to be the center.
I dont know the tradeoffs on the decisions from the hardware side of xbox. We are different leaders. Its hard for me to say i would have changed anything because i dont know. I can say giving the power to the developers as much as i can is great. And the hardware compared to the RRoD is much better than launch of X360. Im not ashamed of XBO hardware.
Hard drives will be a part of the equation in xbox sets in the future. We want to match the demand for hard drive space.
Inside will be shown when they want to show it. Thats what we do with our teams. We let them make the choices. I think it will be a while before we see inside again.
I apologize for mentioning the Marcus Fenix collection. I shouldnt have done that. I was there with Cliff B, Rod, and Klobb. I dont want to call Gears a reboot. I dont think it needs that but i do know Judement didnt meet expectations from fans. We want to be able to support Gears for the next decade.
We have both internal and external first party being worked on right now. We dont want to just rely on our core games. We want new IP and new characters. Sunset is a good example of that. We want to push the boundary and its got to be a commitment for us
I would love to see Rare do something new that feels like a rare game. Im goind out there in the second week of november to see there pitch. I havent seen it yet but ive heard whispers. I want to give them that time to choose and decide what they want to do. I just dont want Rare to become the kinect sports team.
Mojang was something we wanted to as a xbox team. Minecraft is a big deal and to me its a great game to add to our portfolio. I want to bring it to more screens out there. Us as XBL feels like we can add to that. We can bring it together more. And going screen to screen seemlessly we can work on more. I just think its good for us. Youtube community is incredible. I just see us as a shepherd of the ip. I dont want us to go make it something it isnt but i also think it has room to grow. I dont know if Minecraft 2 makes the most sense. The deal hasnt closed. We arent in there managing the franchise yet. I think we need to meet the needs and desires of the commity before we have permission to go out and do something else.
