Microsoft's Phil Spencer Says Minecraft Partnership With Nintendo Has Been "Great"

Cool

Are there any sales estimates on how well it's done on eShop? I'm guessing not...

Give us Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie on N64VC plz?

Still no Miitomo on my Windows Phone.
Quite the relationship!

I can't get over how much I like the mix of Mario and Minecraft.

I guess it makes total sense with the original Mario games being created out of pixel art and Minecraft basically being 3D pixels, and it really does work for me.

Give us rare replay next plz.

It really works both ways, Nintendo should reconsider the N64 version of Goldeneye, either that they could loan out an I.P they're not making use uf.

@A01 I remember Sony of America was pretty nasty towards Nintendo shortly after the Wii U launched, tweeting sarcastically about another Mario game being released, then plugging the PS3 at the end. Their attitude toward Nintendo is like Sega from the 16-bit console wars, where Microsoft is more like Sega today, albeit with a lot less of their games on a Nintendo system.

remember when the nintendo conspiracy theorists said MS sabotaged Wii U release deliberately.

MS just like EA like money. if there is money to be made publishers will support nintendo hardware.

Mojang need to hurry up and announce when the physical release is hitting Europe.

I wouldn't be surprised if NoE tie the physical release in with a Wii U Hardware pack.

@Damienmcferran is the update due on the 17th of may or June? ??????

Well if Nintendo bombs their next console release they would make a good purchase for Microsoft for their IP...of course if Nintendo wants to continue to be independent I think they should consider taking the company private to get the shareholders off their backs.

@dethmart
You mean @Damo. That's how his nickname here on NL goes by.

If Microsoft is that cool with Nintendo using their IP then I think now is the time to also let Nintendo use two other Microsoft own IPs too such as Banjo-Kazooie and Conker. Just think of the possibility Microsoft, Nintendo and Rare or Retro Studio develop the games then you come and rake the revenues, in the end everyone wins.

I'm not a Minecraft gamer but, I respect the fan base. And it is really cool to see partnerships as this going on. Maybe more for both party's in the future?

Psst... Microsoft, Rare Replay could sell really well on Nintendo NX, especially if it had Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing included.

@retro_player_22 Have to disagree there, the Rare we knew and loved back in the 90s is now Playtonic. At best your idea would allow VC releases of which NoA wouldn't release anyway as we all know how pathetic NA VC has been over the years.

Phil Spencer's got a good head on his shoulders. A lot of people like to demonize Microsoft for the stuff that guy before him said, but Phil's fixed most of that IMO. Were I in the market for a current-gen console right now, I'd be getting the Xbox One for sure. (Well, after the Wii U of course.)

Nice too see the big boys getting on.

@Nashew As a fan and owner of all the current consoles the PS4 is a much more interesting proposition compared the the Xbox One. It is basically a way to sell more Windows 10 these days...
They might have a better guy leading Xbox these days but you can tell they aren't pushing the platform as much as Sony pushes PS4.

And despite changing their attitude I got burned so bad by having Xbox 360 as my main console last gen... I still wish I focused on PS3.

@AlexSora89 cheers for that

@AyeHaley The PS4 doesn't have enough exclusive games I'm actually interested in playing. In fact, the only one I'm half-interested in is Ratchet and Clank. Whereas, the Xbox One has exclusives like Rare Replay or Ori and the Blind Forest going for it.

However, I'm not about to get into an internet debate about which one is better because they both have their pros and cons. I just know which one I personally prefer and I doubt that opinion will be swayed by anything.

@SuperCharlie78 To be fair, there's basically nothing good on WP. I really enjoyed the OS, but the lack of many good official apps killed my experience.

@SuperCharlie78 I have felt your pain. I am sorry. It can feel overwhelming to be invested in several unpopular platforms, namely Windows Phone and Wii U. Brings back flashbacks of PS2 stomping the Dreamcast. Anyway, happy gaming!

Still holding out for any chance of Minecraft on the 3DS! I hope they don't wait until the NX is released!

So Microsoft has developed a Mario game for a Nintendo platform. Did Nintendo just win the console war or did Microsoft???

LOL Props to Phil Spencer? Even though he's done and said plenty of wrong. Rumorlife does it again.

@dethmart

Confirmed: The X in NX stands for Xbox

This relationship is unique to Minecraft. Microsoft views Minecraft as an ongoing platform rather than a simple game franchise. It is used as a way to pull people in. It is continually ported to everything with a major code base shift to make that possible.

In other words, exclusives like Halo aren't going to pop up on NX unless Microsoft drops the XBox completely.

I imagine he sees Nintendo as a beacon in the sense that they are in a dangerous area he wants to steer his business well away from.

I like that they're working together so well.
I don't think we'll see Nintendo games on the XB1, but when MS finally ditches its console business and realizes (which they are already doing) that the PC market is stronger, I'd love to see Nintendo and MS cooperate more tightly to bring (a few select) Nintendo games to PC. That would be really awesome!

@TheFlyingGerbil: I think he rather meant Nintendo is an inspiration, with its innovation but also with its unique IP.
Remember, there wouldn't be no Kinect or Playstation Move without the Wii.

@shani I guess my joke referring to the mess Nintendo have made of this generation fell a bit flat, lol. i definitely see Nintendo as market steering on the innovation front, and several key Sony, ms and publisher figures acknowledge their debt to Nintendo but even when they were selling 100m Wii you get the feeling MS and Sony only competed against each other and saw Nintendo as a separate issue entirely.

@TheFlyingGerbil:

"MS and Sony only competed against each other and saw Nintendo as a separate issue entirely." I think that's exactly the case and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The target groups are just different.

If there such pals how come Minecraft story mode hasn't even done the second season yet???

@Nashew Xbox One is the way to go! I liked it so much I bought 2.

The PS4 is the first Sony Gaming device I do not own. There just isn't anything there and Plus SUCKS so bad.

I hated the 360 and said I would never buy another Microsoft console. I love the Xbox One, I love the Windows 10 intergration. Games with Gold is AWESOME and EA Access is one of the best things ever.

The way Nintendo is going, the NX might be the first Nintendo device I don't buy Day One.

@Notoriousdrp More like Mojang.
Microsoft is just celebrating the fact that they bought Minecraft and that it's still turning out profit for them; it's not like Microsoft is putting one of their OWN games on a Nintendo system, just one they bought out.XD

@TheFlyingGerbil I find it funny you'd say that, considering the fact that Sony, despite having a prototype for a wand controller first, didn't seriously get into motion controls at all until Nintendo's Wii proved that it could turn a profit and become popular.XD

Cool.

Phil Spencer kisses up to Sony and Nintendo quite a bit these days. I'll give him this, the guy is a master at PR as tacky as I think all the lets play nice stuff is. Just focus on your own damn product. I like how the people at Sony and Nintendo never say congratulations or anything else nice to the competition.

Phil Spencer does seem like a class act and is a credit to Micorsosft.

Microsoft HAS to get Minecraft on as many different systems as possible. With the extortionate amount of money they paid to aquire tne game, they have no other choice.

By the time Xbox ONE launched, Minecraft had sold around 90,000 copies on the 360. At 10 pounds per copy, that is 900,000 U.K. pounds. How on Earth did they ever think that they were going to sell enough copies, to recoup the 2.1 billion they paid is beyond me.

Worst still is, tbe Console Division had to BORROW tne money from the other 2 thirds of Microsoft.

Sure, there is a massive fan base out there (not my kind of game). But Microsoft's Console Division will be waiting a very long time before it even comes close to making back their outlay, never mind a profit.

I think we've got a hug here. Positive news. Would be cool if Minecraft is on Nintendo's future consoles too.

Banjo Kazooie 3D please

@dizzy_boy It's not just Nintendo. Sony own the rights to Bond films, someone else owns the license to make Bond games, the locations probably require licenses, the music, the actors definitely require licenses....A true GoldenEye 007 release or remake is a real mine field to work through! A Diddy Kong Racing remake with Banjo, Conker and the Rare cast now would be alot easier.

@akaDv8R You need to think outside of the box. Microsoft bought Minecraft as a massive multiplatform IP. There's merchandising and long term profits to be made.

@Daemonite I know that already, it's just wishful thinking.

@liveswired Very LONG term profits maybe. The other 2 thirds of the Microsost Corpotation cannot keep bailing the Console Division out, it just isn't good business practice.

Maybe this is one of the reasons that Microsoft has hinted that the Xbox ONE will be their last console.

@Grumblevolcano Would be great if Microsoft and Nintendo allow Retro Studio to give those IPs a try, if I remember correctly the reason why those games were good to begin with was that the Rare team was supervised by Shigeru Miyamoto on some of those projects. The new Rare only sucks cause the Nintendo support wasn't there cause when it comes to creating a good platformer especially a 3D one, Ninty is where it's at.