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Seamus Blackley - Don Mattrick irony didn't Believe Xbox was Possible

JayWood2010

JayWood2010

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,120
I found this tweet to be very interesting, and really the thread as a whole. Seamus Blackley who came up with the idea to have Microsoft develop a console posted about Don Mattrick nearly blocking him from addressing EA Canada because he didnt believe Xbox was possible.



Seamus Blackley continues to throw shade towards Mattick in the thread by agreeing with a reply "Thank god for Phil", and crying out laughing when somebody tweeted "So many Mattrick stories, so little time...". I would personally love to hear more about what he has to say, though I doubt we will get more stories.



Don Mattrick will ultimately go down in game history as the guy who almost killed Xbox. Luckily Phil Spencer has seemingly got Xbox back on track since, and next generation looks a lot more promising.

"We have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity; it's called Xbox 360." - Don Mattrick
 
Theorry

Theorry

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Oct 27, 2017
61,083
CloudyUnacceptableEmperorshrimp-size_restricted.gif
 
i-hate-u

i-hate-u

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Oct 25, 2017
6,374
Sure, he misread the market towards the begining of the X1 gen, but Xbox has never been, and probably will never be, as successful as they have been during the 360 days.

Let's not shit on the man's career.
 
OP
OP
JayWood2010

JayWood2010

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,120
i-hate-u said:
Sure, he misread the market towards the begining of the X1 gen, but Xbox has never been, and probably will never be, as successful as they have been during the 360 days.

Let's not shit on the man's career.
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That is not a small misread. Its a huge blunder, and something that Xbox is still trying to make up for.

He also played a large role in Kinect for X360, which was the beginning of losing trust from core gamers even though it had initial success. He then continued its support with Xbox One shoehorning on to the device for an extra $100.
 
Cess007

Cess007

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Oct 27, 2017
14,143
B.C., Mexico
christocolus

christocolus

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Oct 27, 2017
14,932
Lol. Don did some good things too but ultimately he'll be remembered as the guy who almost killed Xbox. ... Glad we got Phil in there running things now.
 

Pokémon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,683
Can someone tell me how Don Mattrick got in charge of the Xbox division? That's a thing I will never understand.
 
TheRuralJuror

TheRuralJuror

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,504
Guy was a screwup, but he also seems to be a catch all boogeyman for most things related to Xbox, even to this day.
 
i-hate-u

i-hate-u

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,374
JayWood2010 said:
That is not a small misread. Its a huge blunder, and something that Xbox is still trying to make up for.

He also played a large role in Kinect for X360, which was the beginning of losing trust from core gamers even though it had initial success. He then continued its support with Xbox One shoehorning on to the device for an extra $100.
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I want to see an alternate reality of what happens if MS never changes their initial vision, and go head on with Kinect.
 
OP
OP
JayWood2010

JayWood2010

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,120
i-hate-u said:
I want to see an alternate reality of what happens if MS never changes their initial vision, and go head on with Kinect.
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I dont think it would have survived honestly. I think Kinect as a media center device was cool, much like Alexa. Though as a gaming device it was garbage. I have always despised motion controlls whether that be wiimotes, PS Move, or Kinect. They have their place with certain genres (Dance as an example), but it should not have been shoehorned on to the console for an extra $100. It is just not good for core games.
 
Oozer

Oozer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,839
Everyone thought that a Microsoft console was a crazy idea back then. He was very far from alone in being suspicious. The Xbox people had to put in a crazy amount of effort and time (and money) convincing people they were serious and that the machine wouldn't be a blue screen infested mess.
 
Iichter

Iichter

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Oct 29, 2017
1,347
He also dismissed Spencer's call to buy Minecraft way before they eventually did when Spencer got in charge, it's funny when we see how that buy-out is the first movement towards today's Xbox strategy.
 
verygooster

verygooster

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,652
New Jersey
Mattrick was around MS when Peter Moore went to EA so that was around 2007, 2008? Got promoted in 2010 to President of Entertainment Services or whatever.
 

Deleted member 18951

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,531
Don is swimming in Scrooge McDuck money.

mansion.jpg

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There's a saying in Glasgow, if he fell in the Clyde he'd come out with a salmon in his pocket.

That kinda sums him up.
 
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Euron

Euron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,773
i-hate-u said:
Sure, he misread the market towards the begining of the X1 gen, but Xbox has never been, and probably will never be, as successful as they have been during the 360 days.

Let's not shit on the man's career.
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The success of the 360 was due to J Allard's philosophies and leadership. You could see Xbox's drastic shift in 2010 when Mattrick took over. That's when Kinect was center stage. Allard had been gone for a few years already but most of what the 360 was from 2005-2009 was thanks to him.

To the people who think the 360 succeeded the most because of Sony's incompetence with the PS3, I disagree. Xbox Live was incredible early that gen and very ahead of its time. Sony had a barebones service in comparison and lacked a killer app like Halo 3, which (still today) had the best marketing for a game of all time.
 
Tregard

Tregard

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Oct 27, 2017
5,221
I'll always remember when he had Usher perform at a conference so he could make the joke "Let's usher in a new era of Xbox!"
 
i-hate-u

i-hate-u

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Oct 25, 2017
6,374
Euron said:
The success of the 360 was due to J Allard's philosophies and leadership. You could see Xbox's drastic shift in 2010 when Mattrick took over. That's when Kinect was center stage. Allard had been gone for a few years already but most of what the 360 was from 2005-2009 was thanks to him.

To the people who think the 360 succeeded the most because of Sony's incompetence with the PS3, I disagree. Xbox Live was incredible early that gen and very ahead of its time. Sony had a barebones service in comparison and lacked a killer app like Halo 3, which (still today) had the best marketing for a game of all time.
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I thought Don had also a hand in that.

But yes, I agree completely with your second point. MS was much more an innovative outlook on the industry as opposed to Sony who were great at hardware, games, and game procurement, but nothing digital. Sony needed the ass kicking to get in gear and catch up to MS online capabilities.
 
tomofthepops

tomofthepops

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,549
i-hate-u said:
Sure, he misread the market towards the begining of the X1 gen, but Xbox has never been, and probably will never be, as successful as they have been during the 360 days.

Let's not shit on the man's career.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

He drove the 360 in to the ground after the success of the kinect and managed to have one of the worst console launches ever with the one.
 
bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,895
MS seems to have been proven right with gaming going towards digital.

I think where they really screwed up was the PR and the price/power gap with PS4.

Thats why it is good for consumers to have a choice. When Sony screwed up with the PS3 you had another option with the 360. And the opposite happening with the One and PS4.
 
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