I don't care much for Phil Spencer.  Mainly nitpicky things, like his overuse of the word "I" when talking about what the xbox team needs to do.  I also don't think the "battle" timeframe he is talking about is going to be as beneficial to the xbox as he hopes it will be.  However, I do like the fact that he isn't afraid to come out and state the obvious: they want to beat Playstation.  They aren't content with being number two, even if number two still results in a profit turn.

Now personally I want to see xbox stay in second place (Wii U is not going to take second this generation, let's all be realistic here) for a long period.  I think that could force useful innovation and that is good for the entire industry.  I just hope it doesn't lead to them only continuing with the timed exclusives in hopes that it will be enough to make the difference.  Either way though, a good competitive generation will be best for everyone!

"We shipped at the same time and we're in direct competition with the PS4," he said. "I'm not going to duck that. I want to win. I want to win this generation, but I want to win more than I want the other guy to lose. I own a PS4, and it's not like I want it to get dusty or not have games. But I do want to sell a lot of Xbox Ones, and for many people that's a direct competition with the PS4. As the Xbox team, we are the underdog."

"They beat us in June. They beat us in May," Spencer added. "These months are small if you look at the sales. I think the whole month of June is about one week in November. They're winning, and they'll do their PR around it, and that makes sense. The battle is really September, October, November, and December."

source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-on-xbox-one-vs-ps4-we-are-the-underdog-b/1100-6421704/

I love Spencer, he has the exact right mentality for gaming industry. It should never be about the competition loosing, but you winning.

Good luck I guess. Im not sure what you have planned to win those months other than Sunset Overdrive and MCC. PS4 has the hype and I dont know how one can steal that.

Oh my god please stop it. What are they going to say next? The battle is really only globally in the US?

It is good that he wants to win but saying that only those 4 months matter is ridiculous. 

I guess he is just talking about US. Xbox is one down in those months guaranteed because of Destiny. October will be the same. November and December will be the only months they could sell more than PS4, though again that is just the US.

I suspect they'll beat them in Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec as well though

If it means better deals, I'm all for it. More competition is a good thing.

well september, october, november and december they will sell more............ than Wii U in USA. Anywhere else... good luck

Quick note to Mr Spencer…With Destiny dropping in early September, PS4 is going to own that month…And about Oct, Nov, and Dec, do you, Mr Spencer really think your going to outsell the PS4 by enough in those 3 months to make up for the whooping you've taken in the previous 9 months?

The battle is overall, so while those months weight more Sony winning every month has added up to a ~5 million lead right now. Microsoft's best scenario right now is to reduce the rate at which they are falling behind, because if sales trajectories hold true come 2015 the gap could get beyond an event horizon for them.