Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Shares His Thoughts On The Nintendo Switch

I watched this episode of Unlocked. If anyone has yet to see what kind of guy Phil Spencer is, I suggest you take the time to watch a bit, maybe skip 10 min into it to get past the introductions.

I firmly believe he is the coolest dude in all of video gaming. He doesn't BS- he talks just like an every day guy would talk.

guess we know what the next xbox will be then ^_^

i joke but you never know

The devil's spawn. Am I joking?

HAH!

More like he is sharing his thoughts on when and how to steal it and make his version worse...

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I hope you're not.

@JaxonH The exact opposite of Reggie. That man sounds like a sales pitch everytime he speaks...

Great guy

@BinaryFragger
In this episode, he says Nintendo invited him over to play Switch before release.

He means; if it sells good hey we copy it Xbox Hybrid, if it doesnt hey Xbox two anouncement lol.

Just kidding, even if they would do that i would buy it too.

I always own two consoles. Now its only the switch, and maybe, just maybe the scorpio.
Sold the PS4 it was collecting dust.

After the failure that was Zune and the multi Billion dollar disaster that was there go at mobile phones I see no way MS tries to get into handheld gaming. Ever. They are barely hanging on in home gaming as it is. MS is a slow moving behemoth, Android and Apple update every year, MS isn't built for that.

At the moment they are trying to compete in VR and Google Glass with HoloLens and their own VR headset, I think that's where they will focus, not anything handheld.

Hm....
Something fishy ....

@BinaryFragger your comment should've been at the top.

@rjejr
Actually, watch the vid. He talks about VR and hololens but he makes it pretty clear that it's an early technology and he doesn't really see it as front and center on Scorpio (yet) but rather perfect for Windows. Hololens he kind of laughed about saying it's $3000 so obviously won't be competing any time soon.

He also makes it clear he believes the mobile market is now dominated by phones and iPads; with their Windows 10 play anywhere I could totally see them chasing a gaming phone or gaming tablet like an iPad that runs windows 10 games and syncs up with an Xbox controller. Not exactly the handheld some here would be looking for but it's advancing in the mobile space nonetheless.

Also makes it abundantly clear that Scorpio is not going to sell that much. Yeah. Says " The majority of units sold will be the S- the percentage of gamers who want a premium console are in the vast minority". He's pretty much confirming it's going to be like PS4 Pro, not a replacement for the One like some think. He seems to understand that that is a small market

@FullbringIchigo Sony will to lol

@BinaryFragger its sad really.I'm a gamer from the 80s and I have love for all games.

@JaxonH He's one of the most straightforward business executives I've ever seen and the coolest console head to date-- and people are being smarmy know-it-alls fueled by fanboyism. It's pathetic.

@FullbringIchigo That's Sony's job.

@JaxonH Nah he just wants to stay on Nintendo's good side, in case they ever stop making consoles and just make games haha.

Xbox Witch confirmed.

Kinect oswitch?

@BinaryFragger Being last place in the console market in terms of being taken seriously by gaming culture in general* for the past four generations at least, we're a pretty cynical and defensive bunch. While I'm glad that Spencer seems to be open-minded, I don't really blame anyone else for thinking he has sinister intentions; if anything, it's a way to cope with our fear of the Switch being the fifth failure in a row.

(*Meaning not sales numbers. The Wii sold well, but gaming culture still hated it.)

@Switch81tch The trash talk, sadly, has fallen on fans to keep up.

@BinaryFragger
Same as sports. When I found out Jordan and Barkley were friends? or Brady and Manning like to golf together? RIDICULOUS!! lol or maybe I just need to chill while I watch sports.

I like Phil Spencer. He's done an amazing job at cleaning up the mess Don Matrick made of the Xbox devision. Shame the Xbox One is such a terrible console compared to PS4. Underpowered with very few exclusives worth getting (pretty much only Halo and Sunset Overdrive) and saddled with a cluttered, unresponsive UI. It's by far my least used system.

Since MS is trying to mix W10 and Xbox together anyway, how about making a gaming focused palmtop UMPC?
Basically like the GPD Win, but more powerful.

I may not own an XBOne yet, but I have nothing but respect for Phil Spencer! If the financial situation allows, I might get an XBOne next year, after I get a Switch.

For the time being at least, Nintendo would appear to have this portion of the gaming sector all to itself.
Not entirely true; Vita looks like it has some appeal to it. I'm still on the fence about getting one myself, though.

Good ol Phil Spencer, he always has my respect.

Good grief. He actually says something positive about Nintendo and people tear him apart. He's a great guy and is actually respectable.

@JaxonH Not much of a video watcher unless it's Alex, I like the bloopers at the end.

I thought about a gaming controller for Surface but that isn't the same as a Vita or 3DS type device. Even Switch isn't a portable, it's a tribrid. I think MS wants to focus on WinX, going big and powerful, and a portable is the opposite of that. Having a X1S controller working on a laptop isn't the same as a self contained portable gaming device. I just dont' see MS going there. Even Sony doesn't seem to be going there anymore and they had success w/ PSP. I keep waiting for a Vita 2 to drop, thought it would be at E3 last year. Their biggest problem was the memory cards. Make a Vita 2 w/ micro SD cards and wireless or wired TV out, give it Netflix - my PSTV doesn't have Netflix - I think it could still sell. But that's Sony, not MS.

I like Phil Spencer. He always has come off as an engaging, sincere personality and willing to give praise to competitors when it's due.

@BaffleBlend Western gaming culture will never like any Nintendo console overall. Western gaming culture values compute performance over functionality in all hardware (at least non-Apple hardware), and greatly dislikes colorful "wholesome", or one could say "joyful" or "wistful" type entertainment and escapism, favoring counter-cultural rejectionist revenge fantasies in entertainment instead. It's not just games, you can see it in film, television, and even music. That's where the West is in the art world. Nintendo goes very far out of their way to provide the former and promote it.

There's a culture barrier that is not going to be torn down any time soon. Nintendo's image in the west is unlikely to change. Sony abandoned their cultural values and embraced the wests both because they were not dominating their home market anyway, Nintendo was, and because their corporate structure demands export first. Nintendo has a comfortable lock on the home market so they can afford to stick to those ideals.

Doesn't mean Switch won't be popular, sell well, and be seen better than the Wii that was anathema very directly to gaming culture with it's almost 1950's Rockwell approach to describing the family, Switch should fare much much better. But in terms of perception in "gaming culture", that's a genuine culture gap that isn't going to close because of Switch. Strangely, as the rejectionism of edgy revenge fantasy art has become the mainstream, it's really not counter-cultural at all anymore, and the Nintendo fans really represent the counter-culture. Which is inherently going to be the minority.

Oh geeze, I sound like a culture columnist....I need a bar of soap....

@rjejr A few years back Yoshida said at an E3 interview after no Vita content was present at all that "there's just no market for dedicated handhelds anyomore" (or something like that.) I don't honestly believe they're planning Vita 2. Maybe post-switch they have a kick in the rear to bring tabled schematics back up on the drawing board, but I don't think they've been active on that front for a while so it would be slow to come to fruition.

Xbox, not a chance they do real mobile. They don't have the money, and they'd have a very hard time convincing corporate management it's worth yet another cash dump in a failing, half bankrupt department. They're sick of spending money on XBox as it is (why do you think they're so nice to Nintendo over at XBox. It's the "Please buy us if we're up for auction" cries for help. if that doesn't work they can go with "Until you decide to buy us, we'll execute one Kremling every 6 hours.") the only way mobile XBox will happen is if they can convince management it can synergize with core offerings. That means Surface, WinX, and cloud services. WinX isn't going mobile gaming any time soon. Surface costs a fortune and isn't suited to the gaming market, and cloud services would make for an awful platform at present on that scale. (inb4 Thanos tells us how great PSNow and Shield are are doing streaming games... )

Even if they do it, products designed around "corporate synergy" as it's primary design goal usually end up as awful as they sound, and perform worse.

@NEStalgia Well I suppose it wouldn't be a Vita 2 per se, just seemed easier to say on a Nintneod site, but I think Sony is too invested in streaming to not have a portable - PSNow, PSVue, PS4 remote play, movies and TV shows on PSN. I'd say Vita was near perfect but I really think they shot themselves in the foot w/ those memory card prices and ZERO built in memory - and people think Switch has it bad, Vita had ZERO on early models.

So less likely a Vita 2, more likely a PSP3 if you think of PSPgo as PSP2. Who knows, maybe they can just call it PSP again, but PS Pocket instead of PS Portable? A pocket size device w/ PS Now, PS Vue, Netflix et al, gaming, streaming PS4, all w/ TV out, that would be a device worth owning for probably enough people to make it worth while. I think they could even adapt the DS4 controller, just make the touchpad a touchscreen. I still expect it to happen, Sony likes doing stuff - Wonderbook, Move, VR, 3D Display - they won't stop innovating. And Vita still sells in Japan.

@rjejr A portable streaming console? Why not just give Nintendo a check...it'll be cheaper. Do we remember Sony's last attempt at an AT&T locked cell equipped console? It was called Vita. I mean, $1000 phone bills are fun and stuff...but I think I'll grab a Switch. Yeah, I know, "but where you're near WiFi!" Ever try random WiFi at McDonalds? I'll pass! Steaming consoles are limited to set-top boxes for a good long while (sketchy as they still are there...) The streaming investment is doubling down on set top boxes and a sidestep away from portability. Not until AT&T & Verizon remove their heads from their posteriors. It might take a while considering they've been stuck there since the 1920s. Maybe by 2134 it'll all be utopian.

But yeah the memory killed it, but that was far from the only thing. The lack of any retail software outside the first 18 months had a lot to do with it, along with no developers wanting to touch it (even worse than WiiU (too powerful requiring too high dev costs for what was a small handheld market.)

I think Sony tries to not thing about the PSPgo. It didn't exist. It never existed. Product Not Found.

You actually WANT a game streaming pocket device? You'd actually buy the bit bucket for that? I don't know what service you have, but please wait until I can contact your carrier and register as an Authorized Reseller. I want in on a piece of this action! Heck, I'll even discount you heavily....1% of THAT kind of money is still something I could retire on. You can pay in gold bullion, that's fine, I know a guy But it's Sony. You KNOW it will be AT&T exclusive, right? That's like $10 per GB, and that's on their big bucket cheap plans. For a heavily used streaming console assume you need at least 200GB/mo. So....$2k a month?

Maybe the pachinko addicts in Japan will have the Yen for it. Time to invest in Docomo.

Has Nintendo ever praised another company? Just wondering

It seems that everyone loves what Nintendo has done, but do they love it enough to support it? Obviously not Microsoft but you know. As far as Phil goes, I think he legitimately likes Nintendo consoles, and probably has a Switch for himself

@NEStalgia WiFi is ubiquitous enough now, it doens't need built in cell reception, no deal w/ ATT, people who want cell access just use their phone as a HotSpot. But where people would use a PSP most today - home, work, school, Starbucks, friends or relatives house - WiFi is fast enough.

I do think Vita was a bit too early for HD game development on a handheld, but now that Switch has a 720p screen all of those indie games are being made at 720p anyway. The biggest hurdle for Sony is probably streaming rights on a handheld that can output to a TV. PSTV doesn't have Netflix and I don't know why. If you follow Apple at all they've had an Apple TV coming out the past 5 years or so but they can never work it out w/ the networks.

So yeah, Sony, I think, will make another handheld device. Not a phone, a tablet. Nintndo will keep portable going w/ their next Switch iteration SwitchBoy for kids.

Imagine this but change GBA to SwitchBoy. Maybe Switch Advance. And no dock, just USB-C out for TV out at 720p.

It's only just beginning.

@3MonthBeef ...The frick is wrong with you people? Is it impossible to fathom that he simply enjoys videogames?

@rjejr @rjejr WiFi isn't everywhere. If WiFi were everywhere cell companies wouldn't be getting away with the prices they do for data. You're not getting into your corporate network with a game machine. Retail stores either have "not quite free wifi that requires an account" or choppy wifi... maybe in an urban core there's lots of WiFi. Elsewhere you hop from shopping center to shopping center to get to some restauraunt you have to go inside to use. (Or you can be a total jerk and use it outside in some cases...) They're all private networks, there's no such thing as public wifi outside the major metros. And whoever starts streaming over the starbucks wifi is "that guy." That's the same mistake in thinking that Mattrick made 3 years ago. "I live in one of the 5 most connected cities, so everywhere is just like here". It's not that there's not "a lot" of places with WiFi in normal places, but the experience of "take out yoru device, go to one shopping center, have to buy a drink to log into a private network, which you may or may not have for "free" that may or may not (read "is") very bandwidth constrained, then truck on to some other shopping center to do the same....it's not user friendly. It's like carphones in the 80s. It SOUNDS good, but it never is actually available the times you really wanted it to be available. It's a fun convenience for your phone, but not enough to buy a whole device dependent on it. Even WIRED internet still sucks a lot of places. Wireless is 10-30 years away from real usability like you describe.

Don't get me wrong. I WANT that universal WiFi future. In fact I want to get rid of wired internet entirely and go ENTIRELY wireless. It's gross that in 2017 we treat internet like it's a 19th century water pipe while our tech is all mobile. But the politics of phone duopolies mean we're stuck with it for a depressingly long while.

When smooth latency free streaming with cheap or unlimited bandwidth becomes a reality, I'll be happy to buy in. For the long forseeable future, if that's the best that Sony's got is a PSPhereweGOagain, there's still only one console that plays "anywhere, anytime, with anyone", the other would play "in select locations, during off-peak hours, with other in-network account holders."

I do hope Sony makes one. Not that I think it will be good. I think the Switch series (safe to say it's a series?) has nailed the whole hybrid idea and will build on it. But Nintendo gets lazy and arrogant when they're not under pressure, so someone needs to keep the pressure on them or we all lose.

And yeah I can see the SwitchBoy happening. They need a cheap device to play pokemon on. It'll happen!

There will be secondary sales, too (that they didn't intend and will thus short inventory on), Tamagotchi Skyrim!

What a lad

I traded in my Xbox one for a switch. Found myself just playing call of duty and titanfall on it, occasionally trying a Rare game.. Noticed all of the better exclusives are coming out on the ps4. Unless Scorpio changes things around and gets meaningful support, I don't feel like spending $400+ on it will be necessary.. And I'm still waiting on my switch to be delivered.. I guess my pro controller and console were in seperate UPS trucks :/

@JaxonH Sshhhhh! Quiet! The NDF is heavy around these parts! Can't be talking good about "not Nintendo" all willy nilly like that!

@gatorboi352
I uh... did I say Phil? I meant Reggie

@agqwestern https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/11/nintendo_of_america_wishes_xbox_a_happy_15th_birthday

with xblox play anywhere, the portable xbox is likely a surface pro.

@rjejr Yeah fully agree. Too high a cost of entry and $ony now washing out of handheld isn't give others much hope to get on it. I am not sure the market is growing as they sold 150mil DS and 80mil PSP but only will get aout held thay on 3DS and Vita tanked at 13mil or so. I think N is hoping to merge their own base and then could get Switch to that 80mil type number. Sony fans didn't care enough to buy Vita even though it had good convergence features with ps3/ps4 including cross play/buy and MS fans have shown Zero interest in portable. The hybrid and portable market are N's alone to dominate now and thats why I think Switch is going to sell well.

they're neighbors in the seattle tech hood so yeah, they're buds. maybe microsoft will allow an xbox game streaming over wi-fi app on the switch.

I just really wish they would have the Internet connection. I mean come on, gaming consoles have Internet connection these days.

I don't own an xbox and never have, but Phil Spencer's strategy of being nice to his rivals is a refreshing change from how things used to be.

Phil Spencer is a great guy and he is saving the Xbox brand. To the people on Nintendo Life talking poop, Sony is the company that always steals and is copying Nintendo.

@InternetBowser I don't see your point, If Xbox made a high quality handheld how would that damage there image? I'm an adult and I don't care if I play my 3DS in public, it's better than playing a poopy iPhone game.

@Meaty-cheeky No profanity please...

@Gold_Ranger Yeah I'm sure he's clamoring to steal a 900p gimmick that can't even do online right