Phil Spencer: “I Don’t Know If Xbox One Can Beat PS4”

Megalith

Megalith

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Well, the PS4 price drop certainly won't help things, but the Xbox One has an arguably good lineup on its slate.

Asked whether Microsoft could beat Sony this gen during a panel at the 2015 GeekWire Summit, Spencer told the audience: "You know, I don't know. You know, the length of the generation... They [Sony] have a huge lead and they have a good product. I love the content, the games line-up that we have.
 
Probably not.... and definitely not in Japan. From what I've heard they tend not to get into anything outside of their own products. But maybe it's because it doesn't have games they like?
 
Megalith said:
Well, the PS4 price drop certainly won't help things, but the Xbox One has an arguably good lineup on its slate.

Asked whether Microsoft could beat Sony this gen during a panel at the 2015 GeekWire Summit, Spencer told the audience: "You know, I don't know. You know, the length of the generation... They [Sony] have a huge lead and they have a good product. I love the content, the games line-up that we have.
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Frankly they don't need to. At this point who has the hardware lead is irrelevant. They both have huge user bases. Continue improving the use experience, releasing quality games and improving online offerings and everything else will fall in place.
 
Obligatorily "Duh."?

I mean really, X1 has gotten A LOT better since it's release (no shit, huh?!) but dat PS4...and those exclusives.

Sony really is doing what they do best. Exclusives. People are right, for the most part, when they call the Xbox brand a Halo/Forza/Gears box because they rely on those so (e.g. too) much.

I'm glad for the X1 but there's still room to grow. Make some different games instead of the same ole' same ole' and/or just buying them (like Tomb Raider...but this is still a "Fuck you Square Enix" thing too, what douchebags!).
 
Every so often companies tend to disconnect from their consumers and Microsoft couldn't have disconnected more so. But consider that the XB1's situation is about to get far worse for these reasons.

#1 PS4 price drop is now equal to the XB1.
#2 PS4 has 783 games vs XB1's 493.
#3 SteamBox is about to get released and shit just got real with Linux.
#4 Doing absolutely nothing to appeal to the Japanese market, which is just stupid.
#5 Despite having more exclusives than PS4, the only one worth a damn is Halo 5, and lately the Halo games have been sucking.
 
umm powerpc architecture was a old apple core that could not do math combined with a 386 math co-processor... I shudder to think of how badly that system would run twenty years later.
 
He should be more worried about losing more third party support then just sony winning the console gen. It almost seems like PC/PS4 are becoming the most attractive platforms for many devs.

Ashbringer said:
#4 Doing absolutely nothing to appeal to the Japanese market, which is just stupid.
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I disagree, it was a waste of time/money to even launch the thing in japan. The entire homeconsole market in japan is struggling as it is and there was no chance of the xbone becoming relevant there.
 
pothb said:
Probably not.... and definitely not in Japan. From what I've heard they tend not to get into anything outside of their own products. But maybe it's because it doesn't have games they like?
Click to expand...

It's the nature of their culture. The next Xbox could be 10x more powerful than any system out there and the size of a matchbook, Microsoft could buy Square and Capcom and have Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter be Xbox exclusives, and the Xbox would still not sell in Japan compared to Japanese only companies.

As far as the rest of the world, Microsoft just made plenty of stupid mistakes this generation. And probably a lot of it has to do with their dominance the previous generation. Yes, I understand the PS3 caught up, but that was near the end of last generation. And that also includes Japan, which is unfair to the west.
 
Ashbringer said:
Every so often companies tend to disconnect from their consumers and Microsoft couldn't have disconnected more so. But consider that the XB1's situation is about to get far worse for these reasons.

#1 PS4 price drop is now equal to the XB1.
#2 PS4 has 783 games vs XB1's 493.
#3 SteamBox is about to get released and shit just got real with Linux.
#4 Doing absolutely nothing to appeal to the Japanese market, which is just stupid.
#5 Despite having more exclusives than PS4, the only one worth a damn is Halo 5, and lately the Halo games have been sucking.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%
 
it's refreshing to hear someone speak honestly...PS4 has won this generation of consoles and instead of trying to spin it differently Phil Spencer has conceded...bravo
 
First company to offer desktop-as-a-service will win the console war. A $350 console that doubles as a PC wins the value and versatility proposition.
 
polonyc2 said:
it's refreshing to hear someone speak honestly...PS4 has won this generation of consoles and instead of trying to spin it differently Phil Spencer has conceded...bravo
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I wonder, what would be the cost of conceding and coming out with a next-gen system a bit early? I'm not talking about in 2 years, but making the Xbox One a 5 year generation instead of a 10 year one. Get a jump on Sony by 3-4 years with something that can easily display much better graphics (maybe 4k @ 30 fps).
 
mi7chy said:
First company to offer desktop-as-a-service will win the console war. A $350 console that doubles as a PC wins the value and versatility proposition.
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Microsoft's going the tablet route for that, and it actually makes sense. The Surface Pros are actually fairly nice tablets (which can double up as a laptop), if you're a person who wants to go that route.
 
Windows 10 for Xbox will be out soon. In addition, streaming Xbox to PC works great and backwards compatibility is an awesome feature coming up. PC to Xbox streaming will show up soon as well, I'm sure.

I think you can count on getting an Xbox one for $300 during the holidays.
 
Nytegard said:
Microsoft's going the tablet route for that, and it actually makes sense. The Surface Pros are actually fairly nice tablets (which can double up as a laptop), if you're a person who wants to go that route.
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Huh? What's that got to do with anything? He's talking about the X1 being used as a PC...where the hell you getting expensive ass tablets from?
 
Mut1ny said:
Huh? What's that got to do with anything? He's talking about the X1 being used as a PC...where the hell you getting expensive ass tablets from?
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I'm saying that it's the approach Microsoft is taking. If anything, it's going to be the phone/tablet which replaces both your PC and console rather than a console replacing anything else.
 
SparkedFire said:
Windows 10 for Xbox will be out soon. In addition, streaming Xbox to PC works great and backwards compatibility is an awesome feature coming up. PC to Xbox streaming will show up soon as well, I'm sure.

I think you can count on getting an Xbox one for $300 during the holidays.
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Can I stream xbone to PC and use a keyboard and mouse with shooter games? Or just use them with the console itself, natively? Then I'll get motivated for xbox1.
 
Ranulfo said:
Can I stream xbone to PC and use a keyboard and mouse with shooter games? Or just use them with the console itself, natively? Then I'll get motivated for xbox1.
Click to expand...

Right now, the best you can do is use something like a XIM4. But as a warning, people talk of those devices as being cheating, and while it certainly has helped, it's just made me a very good player, but not an impossibly good player. It doesn't feel like a true mkb. You're still limited by controller settings.

For example, auto-aim. You'd think with a mouse, auto-aim would be awesome. But more often than not, I end up not being able to move ahead of a character to shoot, and my crosshairs end up consistently behind them no matter how much I move my mouse because of the auto-aim. This also throws me off, because I might want to shoot where I know they'll be, but end up not being able to move the mouse there, and get somewhat disoriented because of that. (For example, an opponent is running around you, and while you want to move right, you end up looking left.)
 
I'm looking forward to the Win10/DX12 update for my kids' XB1...be interesting to see what games emerge that are coded specifically to utilize it and how the performance will stack up.
 
yourgrandma said:
I disagree, it was a waste of time/money to even launch the thing in japan. The entire homeconsole market in japan is struggling as it is and there was no chance of the xbone becoming relevant there.
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The reason Microsoft released XB1 in Japan was to not be the only console not to be released in Japan. You know how stupid Microsoft would look if they didn't? But at the same time Japanese game developers are still important for game development, so it's a good idea to appeal to that market as much as you can.

DejaWiz said:
I'm looking forward to the Win10/DX12 update for my kids' XB1...be interesting to see what games emerge that are coded specifically to utilize it and how the performance will stack up.
Click to expand...

That's a common misconception with the XB1 and DX12. There is no performance boost for switching to DX12 because technically the XB1 wasn't using DX11 either. The API used on XB1 is already better than DX12 and closer to Metal. All Microsoft is doing is making it easier for developers to code for XB1 using a common API that Windows is also using.
 
I would expect that both major consoles will finally begin the transition to digital online delivery since it has multiple benefits:

1. Eliminates or reduces resale/used market (makes developers happy)
2. User lock in since users don't want to lose their libraries to change console (makes MS and Sony happy)
3. No more defective or damaged game media (makes users happy)
4. Lower cost for developers and possibly users
5. Better DRM

I expect them to start making this push at the end of the current generation and if there is a next generation (not guaranteed yet) then I would expect it to be like the Steambox and almost all digital online
 
kbrickley said:
I would expect that both major consoles will finally begin the transition to digital online delivery since it has multiple benefits:

1. Eliminates or reduces resale/used market (makes developers happy)
2. User lock in since users don't want to lose their libraries to change console (makes MS and Sony happy)
3. No more defective or damaged game media (makes users happy)
4. Lower cost for developers and possibly users
5. Better DRM

I expect them to start making this push at the end of the current generation and if there is a next generation (not guaranteed yet) then I would expect it to be like the Steambox and almost all digital online
Click to expand...

ok now explain how a digital system is going to work with the current state of the internet in this country... remember not everyone can see what the fcc defines as broadband 25mb/s hell a lot get 1/10th that speed imagine downloading a game for a week+ just to play it... i am sorry physical media is not going anywhere anytime soon.
 
maxius said:
ok now explain how a digital system is going to work with the current state of the internet in this country... remember not everyone can see what the fcc defines as broadband 25mb/s hell a lot get 1/10th that speed imagine downloading a game for a week+ just to play it... i am sorry physical media is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Click to expand...

I think the internet situation in the USA is an artifact of transition ... mobile phones and land lines started out heavily metered and limited ... they are both unlimited for calls and texts now ... data for mobile is unlikely to do that but land based internet will get higher and higher data tiers and eventually move to unlimited ... I work for a telecom infrastructure manufacturer and we are selling tons of cables and boxes to all the big providers ... they are expanding, but it takes time (especially since some of the expansion is the cabling to and from the data centers and some is the data centers themselves) ... we supply both and both are booming for us and competitors
 
Ashbringer said:
That's a common misconception with the XB1 and DX12. There is no performance boost for switching to DX12 because technically the XB1 wasn't using DX11 either. The API used on XB1 is already better than DX12 and closer to Metal. All Microsoft is doing is making it easier for developers to code for XB1 using a common API that Windows is also using.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that...I thought it was using a Win8 base with DX11. Thanks for shedding some light. :)
 
daglesj said:
New consoles for 2017 please.
Click to expand...

No thank you. I am perfectly content to let them get the most out of what we have before they start going to something entirely new. Also, folks around here often think that $1500 in gaming hardware should be sold in a $400 console and run at 1/10th the power and 1/10th the heat of the $1500 gaming hardware. Oh, and they want it now, not 8 years from now when it will be more possible.
 
Mut1ny said:
Obligatorily "Duh."?

I mean really, X1 has gotten A LOT better since it's release (no shit, huh?!) but dat PS4...and those exclusives.

Sony really is doing what they do best. Exclusives. People are right, for the most part, when they call the Xbox brand a Halo/Forza/Gears box because they rely on those so (e.g. too) much.

I'm glad for the X1 but there's still room to grow. Make some different games instead of the same ole' same ole' and/or just buying them (like Tomb Raider...but this is still a "Fuck you Square Enix" thing too, what douchebags!).
Click to expand...

All 2 exclusives for the PS4 that are any good? ya ok
 
kbrickley said:
I would expect that both major consoles will finally begin the transition to digital online delivery since it has multiple benefits:

1. Eliminates or reduces resale/used market (makes developers happy)
2. User lock in since users don't want to lose their libraries to change console (makes MS and Sony happy)
3. No more defective or damaged game media (makes users happy)
4. Lower cost for developers and possibly users
5. Better DRM

I expect them to start making this push at the end of the current generation and if there is a next generation (not guaranteed yet) then I would expect it to be like the Steambox and almost all digital online
Click to expand...

Retailers will never let the used game market die.

They tried this with the XBox One and they caved to pressure from the retailers (I can picture a meeting between GameStop and Microsoft C Levels in which they threaten to promote the Playstation4). Since the vast majority of a retailer's gaming revenue comes from used games, what motivation would they have to sell consoles anymore if they couldn't also buy and sell used games?
 
XB! may be 2nd place, but by no means is that a failure. They are still makign a ton of cash, right? If not, then maybe they need to ceck their business model.

Either way, I chose PS4 over XB1 because of the games. True, there are nto a lot of games right now fo reither console I want. But the PS4 just had more.

I looked at the lineup for both console, but current and coming soon. The XB1 just had a bunch of shooters and fighters. Honestly didn't see a single game that interested me. Not one. I was actually very surprised.

If I buy a console, I want to play a game. Not some crap FPS or some dumb punch and kick. An actual video game.
And it doesn't seem that MS is interested in producing those.

True, they have Tomb Raider 2 coming soon. THAT interests me. But I can wait a year until it hits PS4. The PS4 just had more interesting games for it.

I bought the first XBOX when it was 300 bucks. Had 2 games for it. Turned it on maybe 5 times.

I bought the Xbox 360 for 299.99 back when the white phat consoles were 300 bucks with no hard drive. I to this day have never found a game I thought was worth a purchase. I rented Tales of Vesperia and a couple of others, and got maybe a month out of it. It has literally sat in my entertainment unit for years getting dusted every month.
I FINALLY put it to good use a few weeks back.
I bought a HDHomerun prime and use it as a Media Center Extender. At least now I don't feel it was a waste of money. (not completely, anyway)

I have to reason to think the XB1 won't be the same as their last 2 offerings. To me anyway.

My ps3, conversely, I own over 75 games. Awesome investment. PS2 100+, and my PS1 Library was 150+ (which sold on ebay for a good penny)

The console seems like it has great features. The DVR capability and TV stuff I'd love to get into. But as a games console? I need games. Not crap gun simulators or insulting punching games. Real games worth my time.
 
SparkedFire said:
Windows 10 for Xbox will be out soon. In addition, streaming Xbox to PC works great and backwards compatibility is an awesome feature coming up. PC to Xbox streaming will show up soon as well, I'm sure.

I think you can count on getting an Xbox one for $300 during the holidays.
Click to expand...

I am using that now. Only down side so far is that it must have needed more space as after the new dashboard installed I noticed it has uninstalled Master Chief Collection. That said the streaming of PC to Xbox or Xbox to PC only allows for you to use the other device as a screen, not actually play pc games on the xbox itself or vise versa.

maxius said:
ok now explain how a digital system is going to work with the current state of the internet in this country... remember not everyone can see what the fcc defines as broadband 25mb/s hell a lot get 1/10th that speed imagine downloading a game for a week+ just to play it... i am sorry physical media is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Click to expand...

First off you don't seem to understand the FCC definition. Just because it was defined as 25Mbps doesn't mean that everyone has to get that. That is just saying that in order to market your service as broadband you have to offer at least 25Mbps. If you market it as high speed internet and offer 6Mbps you are fine as you aren't calling it broadband. That said, even with a 5Mbps I was downloading digital copies of games, would just let it go overnight. Not that big of a deal. That said, I doubt that a LOT get 2.5Mbps. Most probably get around 4 - 5, a lot of other areas are going to have somebody offering higher speeds. Only the extremes are going to be less than 3.

uss enterprise said:
XB! may be 2nd place, but by no means is that a failure. They are still makign a ton of cash, right? If not, then maybe they need to ceck their business model.

Either way, I chose PS4 over XB1 because of the games. True, there are nto a lot of games right now fo reither console I want. But the PS4 just had more.

I looked at the lineup for both console, but current and coming soon. The XB1 just had a bunch of shooters and fighters. Honestly didn't see a single game that interested me. Not one. I was actually very surprised.

If I buy a console, I want to play a game. Not some crap FPS or some dumb punch and kick. An actual video game.
And it doesn't seem that MS is interested in producing those.

True, they have Tomb Raider 2 coming soon. THAT interests me. But I can wait a year until it hits PS4. The PS4 just had more interesting games for it.

I bought the first XBOX when it was 300 bucks. Had 2 games for it. Turned it on maybe 5 times.

I bought the Xbox 360 for 299.99 back when the white phat consoles were 300 bucks with no hard drive. I to this day have never found a game I thought was worth a purchase. I rented Tales of Vesperia and a couple of others, and got maybe a month out of it. It has literally sat in my entertainment unit for years getting dusted every month.
I FINALLY put it to good use a few weeks back.
I bought a HDHomerun prime and use it as a Media Center Extender. At least now I don't feel it was a waste of money. (not completely, anyway)

I have to reason to think the XB1 won't be the same as their last 2 offerings. To me anyway.

My ps3, conversely, I own over 75 games. Awesome investment. PS2 100+, and my PS1 Library was 150+ (which sold on ebay for a good penny)

The console seems like it has great features. The DVR capability and TV stuff I'd love to get into. But as a games console? I need games. Not crap gun simulators or insulting punching games. Real games worth my time.
Click to expand...

Correct it is not a failure, just not the top selling. As for games. Not sure what type of games you are looking for as there is a wide range, and most games are cross platform. There are fighting, racing, sports, fps, rpg, adventure, platforming.
 
ManofGod said:
No thank you. I am perfectly content to let them get the most out of what we have before they start going to something entirely new. Also, folks around here often think that $1500 in gaming hardware should be sold in a $400 console and run at 1/10th the power and 1/10th the heat of the $1500 gaming hardware. Oh, and they want it now, not 8 years from now when it will be more possible.
Click to expand...

The issue is, historically, prior to this gen, consoles did offer nearly $1500 gaming hardware for $400-500. I don't think anyone is suggesting, however, it run at 1/10th the power/heat.

The first Xbox, for example offered what was effectively a $300 CPU (PIII) and a $350 GPU (Geforce 3) at the time -- along with a self-contained system with RAM, HD and PSU. The 360 had a tri-core CPU and a $450 GPU (between a 1800 XT and 1900 XT), and again, integrated system. PS3 had an esoteric/unique CPU and a $400 GPU (7800 GTX). All tech was cutting-edge at the time.

What we got with the Xbox One and PS4 was a middling CPU and an ageing, cut-down Pitcairn GPU that had already been available on PCs for over a year.
 
Ashbringer said:
Every so often companies tend to disconnect from their consumers and Microsoft couldn't have disconnected more so. But consider that the XB1's situation is about to get far worse for these reasons.

#1 PS4 price drop is now equal to the XB1.
#2 PS4 has 783 games vs XB1's 493.
#3 SteamBox is about to get released and shit just got real with Linux.
#4 Doing absolutely nothing to appeal to the Japanese market, which is just stupid.
#5 Despite having more exclusives than PS4, the only one worth a damn is Halo 5, and lately the Halo games have been sucking.
Click to expand...

360 brought over a lot of Japanese series and did better but was still a horrible seller overall. Japanese buy Japanese. Unless Sony released a massively inferior product, PC and.Xbox will never take off.
 
harmattan said:
The issue is, historically, prior to this gen, consoles did offer nearly $1500 gaming hardware for $400-500. I don't think anyone is suggesting, however, it run at 1/10th the power/heat.

The first Xbox, for example offered what was effectively a $300 CPU (PIII) and a $350 GPU (Geforce 3) at the time -- along with a self-contained system with RAM, HD and PSU. The 360 had a tri-core CPU and a $450 GPU (between a 1800 XT and 1900 XT), and again, integrated system. PS3 had an esoteric/unique CPU and a $400 GPU (7800 GTX). All tech was cutting-edge at the time.

What we got with the Xbox One and PS4 was a middling CPU and an ageing, cut-down Pitcairn GPU that had already been available on PCs for over a year.
Click to expand...

I remember when it was even more than that.

The original Playstation in 1994 had graphics so far beyond what the PC could do that there wasn't even any way to do a cost comparison.
 
damicatz said:
I remember when it was even more than that.

The original Playstation in 1994 had graphics so far beyond what the PC could do that there wasn't even any way to do a cost comparison.
Click to expand...
You think so? CPUs had twice the processing power in 1993 and games like Descent, Sega Rally Championship, Need For Speed were on PC back in 1994. What was the PSX doing in 1994 graphically that the PC couldn't?
 
maxius said:
ok now explain how a digital system is going to work with the current state of the internet in this country... remember not everyone can see what the fcc defines as broadband 25mb/s hell a lot get 1/10th that speed imagine downloading a game for a week+ just to play it... i am sorry physical media is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Click to expand...

You can still sell physical media. Just that physical media will then get activated online after install. Just like PC games. You can keep installing with the physical media, but the thing can't be resold, cause you just tied it to your online account for whatever service.
 
ManofGod said:
No thank you. I am perfectly content to let them get the most out of what we have before they start going to something entirely new. Also, folks around here often think that $1500 in gaming hardware should be sold in a $400 console and run at 1/10th the power and 1/10th the heat of the $1500 gaming hardware. Oh, and they want it now, not 8 years from now when it will be more possible.
Click to expand...

No really, please new consoles for end of 2017. Both the One and the PS4 are a major disappointment.

Lets skip over them and pretend they didn't happen.
 
maxius said:
ok now explain how a digital system is going to work with the current state of the internet in this country... remember not everyone can see what the fcc defines as broadband 25mb/s hell a lot get 1/10th that speed imagine downloading a game for a week+ just to play it... i am sorry physical media is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Click to expand...

broadband is a marketing term. The FCC defined that at 25 mb/s to help the cable industry market better against dsl.
 
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