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Phil Spencer is our guy

Deleted member 18161

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,805
He reminds me of Mr Iwata in a lot of ways.

He genuinely seems to care for the videogame industry while at the same time caring about customers.

He's also essentially removed MS from the console wars with Sony in that MS is now concentrating on getting Game Pass (thus their games) on as many devices as possible while also offering a range of hardware to play them on as a supplement in the way Iwata escaped a graphics arms race with Sony and MS by releasing the Wii (and DS).
 
Unaha-Closp

Unaha-Closp

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,727
Scotland
Of the company spokespeople who come out and tell us their plans and announce things we can buy - he's fine. I sometimes drift off when he is talking but that could be a me thing rather than a him thing.
 
TrashHeap64

TrashHeap64

Member
Dec 7, 2017
1,677
Austin, TX
I have no interest in the Xbox One but I do love Phil. He's doing so many good things for the brand. He seems like he's actually passionate about the brand and gaming as a whole
 
deftones r cool

deftones r cool

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,050
Phil's strategy for Xbox makes me feel confident in his brand. I support his passion for GamePass and console cross play. Phil's decision to steer the Xbox brand towards RPGs rather than Virtual Reality scores Xbox big points in my book. It's because of these things which make me feel assured in purchasing a Series X this year. I'm in good hands.
 
Bioshocker

Bioshocker

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,201
Sweden
I'm sure he's genuine. He acknowledges Microsoft's mistakes and gives credit where it's due. Not a bad word about the competition (to be honest I sometimes miss the war between Sega, Sony and Nintendo because it was entertaining, but I realize the industry is probably better off without it). And not least, he plays games himself.
 
MysticGon

MysticGon

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 31, 2017
7,285
_Aaron_ said:
ilZ6O2K.png
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Omg

But yeah I like him. Seems genuine. Reminds me of Reggie a little...
 
Gnorman

Gnorman

Banned
Jan 14, 2018
2,945
Well he doesn't have a face that's easy to hate like Reggie and he doesn't look like he needs a good wash like Gabe, so there is that I suppose.

The cults around certain gaming personalities is weird and creepy though.
 
Governergrimm

Governergrimm

Member
Jun 25, 2019
6,550
Cranster said:
He's done alot to lead the Xbox brand back in shape after the Don Mattrick days.
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Imagine if Xbox one had launched with the current direction MS has. Phil makes some gaffs sometimes but it's nice that he does what he says and doesn't Dodge tough questions. He's eaten crow when he needed to. I know it's for the brand but current Xbox is better than late cycle Xbox 360.
 
SONofZARDOZ

SONofZARDOZ

Member
Nov 26, 2019
32
I don't think MS could have a better person leading their gaming division.

Others have noted it plenty but I am glad that he understands (and admits publicly) that Xbox has shortcomings and areas where they need to improve. That and the way he speaks about gaming as a whole/showing respect for competitors is much better than the old war days. He's started the slow turn and has Xbox headed in a great direction so I'm pretty excited for the future.
 
Governergrimm

Governergrimm

Member
Jun 25, 2019
6,550
HellofaMouse said:
not a fan of his robotic e3 speeches, but not much he can do about that i guess, public speaking is a skill.

id rather watch his giantbomb interviews anyway. also, how many sony or nintendo execs uve seen get on that couch every year.
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His giant bomb E3 interviews are the after party for me. The man gets bodied by Jeff and takes it in stride.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,577
Reckheim said:
He seems like a very nice person.

some of you guys idolize him a bit too much tho, he is still trying to sell you a product/service.
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Well most of us are trying to buy a product. We're forming an opinion based on how attractive he's making that product/service, not whether or not we want to invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner. If the dude came out tomorrow and said he's going to fund Ninja Gaiden 4 and green light Banjo 3, you can bet I'll become a fan knowing full well I have to buy those products.
 
Santar

Santar

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,997
Norway
He's doing a very good job at charming a lot of people that's for sure.
I do think people are taking most of what he says too much at face value though. His job is to make money for Microsoft. Just because Phil says this and that is a great deal and good for gaming doesn't make it so.
Just because he's charming doesn't mean everything he says is for the betterment of the industry.
He's basically behaving like a politician or a used cars salesman, trying his darnest to make his product and company look as great as possible, just more charismatic than a lot of the other first party "personalities".
It's a bit frustrating seeing so many people eat up everything he says and put him on this pedestal though.
 
JohnnyMoses

JohnnyMoses

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,660
Jawmuncher said:
Phil Spencer has done more for gaming than Miyamoto
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I had grown tired of gaming and had all my systems and games in my car, and was headed down to GameStop to trade everything in. I was done with gaming forever. The weight of all my gaming stuff threw off the balance of my car and as I took a turn, it rolled off the road and into a river. I thought it was the end. Just went I lost all hope, I felt a hand grab me and pull me to safety. It was Phil Spencer. I haven't thought about quitting gaming again since.
 
KillingJoke

KillingJoke

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,672
He's not an asshole and he gets what gamers want unlike all previous XBOX executives. That's really all i can say.
 
LavaBadger

LavaBadger

Member
Nov 14, 2017
4,988
He's a corporate executive whose major concern is generating value for his company.

That these goals currently align with what people who enjoy video games want from the Xbox brand is positive.

Feeling anything more than that is bizarre.
 
Krooner

Krooner

Member
Oct 27, 2017
669
Jaypah said:
Oh that sounds interesting! Sneaky, sneaky time🤫 . What's the latest example?
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Well we won't know that until the end of year report thing in April I don't suppose. They only release one shareholder statement/thing a year I think.

But, the things that he says are in opposition with what the shareholders are being told the remit of the department is. It's all GaaS and service based/recurrent spending models, if he wasn't on board with that he wouldn't have the job. To be fair he probably is telling us as much, "player choice" and "options" have become corporate-speak for these kinds of things. I mean, what does "options" even mean within a closed ecosystem? We have Sony, PC and Nintendo shaped options already. It's jargon.

I'm sure he's a nice dude and all, but then I'm sure Kotick is if you get him down the pub. I'm more inclined to believe what the shareholders are told than whatever lip-service the public face is paying. Not to say the others (companies) aren't as bad, but I find Spencer's false bonhomie and fan service t-shirts, particularly grating.
 
ByWatterson

ByWatterson

▲ Legend ▲
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,302
My opinion on Spencer is that he seems nice and all, but that under his leadership, Microsoft went an entire generation without producing a single essential title.
 
Izzard

Izzard

Banned
Sep 21, 2018
4,606
If he was our guy it'd be free to play online. He's Microsoft's guy, as pleasant as he is.
 
d3ckard

d3ckard

Member
Dec 7, 2017
212
I like him for staying away from war rhetoric, focusing on games and generally keeping classy at all times. Even if this is a pr pose, I'd like more execs to pose like that.
 
SayWord

SayWord

Banned
Dec 4, 2019
250
Idiolizing a company executive is very strange indeed.

But hey I guess its to be expected when Phil is the closest thing Xbox has to an "exclusive". Haha im just kidding =P he is doing a great job it looks like from what I hear as I don't really follow anything Xbox.
 
Shambala

Shambala

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,537
Guys a company shill like all suits for each company lol can we stop with this kind of nonsense 😂. They are all pr machines.
 
Fiery Phoenix

Fiery Phoenix

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,838
pswii60 said:
Phil does have a genuine unrelenting passion for the industry and he is a genuinely nice chap.

But of course he's also got a very important job to do, and you don't get to be on the board of the most valuable company in the world by being Mr Nice Guy all the time. I'm sure he ruffles feathers every day, he certainly seems to have ruffled Ybarra's feathers!

But if he does manage the huge turnaround for their first party lineup that he promised would be on a similar level to their hardware and services turnaround, then that would be great news for the entire industry. Will be very interesting to see if he (and Booty) can deliver on that front next gen.
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I'm very curious about the bolded.
 
iksenpets

iksenpets

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,490
Dallas, TX
He seems like he has a smart plan for where Microsoft should be in the gaming space, and some predecessors who really, really didn't. "Our guy" is a creepy level of corporate idolization I can't get behind though. He's not doing because he just loves the gamer. He's doing it because it's the optimal way to make money in Microsoft's current market position. That's not to say he can't be a genuinely nice dude or whatever, but he's not making business decisions as a favor to anyone. He gives you what you want because you're a person with money in your pocket. Which, nothing wrong with that. Everyone ends up happy. But again, niceness and everyone's happiness is secondary to his job running a business.
 
StudioTan

StudioTan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,836
Phil seems like a good guy and I like listening to him talk about games.

I run my own business and have thousands of customers. Although I have some staff to help with customer service I personally interact with my customers all the time and they love that they can communicate with me and I listen to their feedback and use it to improve the products they buy.

I want to sell my products to these people, and new people who aren't customers, but they also want to buy stuff from me because they like what I make. Being nice and open and honest to my customers doesn't make me a shill, or a fake person, or a corporate suit, or more interested in PR than my customers. It's a perfectly healthy business relationship that benefits both parties.

You can run a business to make money and still care about the product you're making and about your customers.
 
Mentalist

Mentalist

Member
Mar 14, 2019
18,007
He's made decisions that put more Microsoft games on PC. Where I am willing to pay money for them.

Also, Microsoft brought back Age of Empires.

All good decisions, so he's creating a win-win situation for Microsoft and myself as consumer- so yeah, I'm feeling he's all right.
 
Charpunk

Charpunk

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,628
ByWatterson said:
My opinion on Spencer is that he seems nice and all, but that under his leadership, Microsoft went an entire generation without producing a single essential title.
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He took over in 2014 and had a huge trash fire to put out. He had someone blocking his decisions for a few years, and was given a lot more authority and resources in 2017 when he was promoted and reported directly to the head of Microsoft. Things take time.
 

ColonelForbin

Member
Oct 28, 2017
601
sir_crocodile said:
I don't really spend time thinking about him
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Worthy contribution to the topic.
On topic. Xbox is in such a better shape now then at the start of the generation. Being underpowered, Kinect bs, and just a sea of uncertainty where the brand was going. Soooo much better now. You could argue he should get gaming exec of the generation for the turnaround.
 
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