Xbox Boss: Aggressive Console War Talk Is Holding The Industry Back

I think he's exactly right. Look at other industries. Cars for example. You may prefer one make over another, but it's the variety of manufacturers that encourage innovation. No matter which make you choose, you can still drive.

It should be the same with gaming, you may prefer your make, but no matter which one you choose, you can still enjoy gaming.

A part of me hates that Phil is so nice and I wish we would just go out and smash Sony's weak showing and lack of transparency with their fans, but I understand where he's coming from. I respect his maturity and professionalism. Rivalry is a good thing and it should only push each team to do better.

In Phil I trust. 👍🏻

Yes but we didn't start this war, there are people on push Square and nintendo life constantly mocking us
not all people obviously, but lot of people are just mean
But I understand what Phil means, it the right thing to do, I now

I’m sure Phil was criticising PlayStation last week for going exclusive on PS5 and ‘cutting an entire generation out’, saying that Xbox won’t follow suit.

One minute he’s saying that we shouldn’t ignite the “console war” but then his next interview he’s throwing shots at the competition, igniting the fire himself 🤔

The current Playstation fanbase is the most aggressive I've ever seen, especially PushSquare writers/users. Phil is just doing his job, marketing backwards compatibility, Smart Delivery and Velocity Architecture but I have also heard him praising Sony’s commitment to “new things and creative things”, and describing Nintendo’s first-party catalogue as “an amazing asset” (https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/06/sony-did-a-nice-job-with-ps4-says-microsoft-studios-boss) and congratulating Naughty Dog (https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/06/xbox_boss_congratulates_naughty_dog_on_last_of_us_2_success).

I don't know what some people expect from him? He works for Microsoft but he is the friendliest and most respectful man in the industry yet distorted reports depict him as an evil person that assaults Sony. I wish him the best with Series X, Play Anywhere and xCloud.

@Jacko11 don’t confuse stating ones opposing opinions as criticizing.

I can say “I believe cars always look better in black.” That does not mean that I’m saying “all cars that are not black are ugly.” Much less “all cars that are not black simply are garbage.”

Has MS taken a few jabs here and there? Sure, but none that I have seen has been actively “you/they suck.” Hell, openly Phil congratulated Sony on their game reveal presentation, and on the release of TLOU2 and Iron Man VR, a PS exclusive.

I don't really see any digs at the competition from either of the big three to be honest, the whole "console war" rhetoric just exists amongst some of the diehard loyalists on each brand.

Phil's bang on, but thankfully those loyalists are an extremely small part of each fanbase, most just enjoy the games.

@Jacko11 Well he had to make his own business standpoint, it wasn’t necessarily made to demean other platform but only proving oneself to be more pro-consumer than other’s competitive approach. Brainlets from pushsquare would only turn it into a console hardware war.

@BlueOcean although I am barely able to stand the current PS fan hate, it is only natural. They feel they are in a defensive position, the hardware is not out and already their console is objectively slower. They mocked the Xbox for being huge and then Sony showed an even larger console (it did, become amusing, to see some fans deny the size for a bit, before shifting to “no one cares what consoles look like” or “i like it! It’s futuristic!”)

To be perfectly honest, I seen the same attitude in the early days of the XOne from Xbox fan base, and the Wii U from Nintendo fan base.

It’s like, when there is a real perceived threat, the console game fan bases activate toxic hate mode.

@Tharsman "It’s like, when there is a real perceived threat, the console game fan bases activate toxic hate mode".

Right. Microsoft said that only the first bunch of Series X exclusives will run on Xbox One, for a couple of years. Now PushSquare is suggesting that Xbox One will hold Series X for the whole generation. A couple of years might sound like a long time but how long until Horizon Zero Dawn 2 and Uncharted 5 come out? Couldn't Sony's launch games Spider-Man and Astro's Playroom be downgraded in order to run on PS4? Why was power and compact size important in 2013 but not in 2020? And why insisting on Xbox One holding Series X back when they know that PS5 loses the specifications war?

Wait until Digital Foundry compares Series X and PS5 games. Third-party games will be easy to compare but even first party game, I'm curious to see if those 30 FPS games are technically better than a Halo game doomed to last-generation stalemate according to them.

@BlueOcean my personal favorite:
Sony does a better job at supporting older consoles by ... instantly making all post-launch releases next gen exclusives?

Microsoft abandons prev gen because they quickly stop selling it... even if they keep making games for the prev gen?

Oh and you know all the “I buy new consoles to play new games, not games I could play on my ps4” crowd. The thing has one first party launch title. Almost everything else is cross-gen third party games, or not coming out until Christmas 2021. They will be playing Cross gen games and never even notice the hypocrisy.

Anyways to be fair this is sounding a bit too much like what they do. I do wish I had more reasons to buy a PS5 at launch, I really would like to justify to myself getting one. I just can’t buy the thing only for one game. Ironically: if they told me both, TLOU2 and ghost of Tsushima both were PS5 enhanced (basically MS strategy with Halo/Gears and all these launch titles) I would be a lot more likely to buy a PS5 day one.

I think competition is good, It drives both companies to put out the best product on the market.. In the end the fans win.

@Tharsman They keep selling consoles not supporting them just for beating Guinness records, it seems.

If it's so important to quickly leave the current generation behind and get a PS5 with "next-gen" games, they won't find any, it's exactly the same situation as the PS4 launch that I experienced as a launch PS4 owner.

The tribalism amongst video game fans is worse than most other hobbies. It's crazy! While I think overall Phil has done great I definitely don't agree with some of his recent comments. That being said I don't think anything he's said was rude or overly combative. The us vs them mentality amongst the fans is the real problem, not what they execs say

@StrangeBit
I'm a Nintendo fan and I never considered Xbox (environment and fans alike) mocking material even once.
It helps that I also have an Xbox One.

@Tharsman @Z3u5000 I completely agree and see both your points. I just feel like going into this generation Phil just seems to be stoking the fire a little from my perspective. The same way many PS Execs did going into and in some parts throughout the current generation.

And I’ll be upfront I am very much a more active member of the PushSquare side of the Family as a PlayStation centric gamer, but. I do respect the hell out of Phil and how he has carried Xbox from such a catastrophic launch. Tbh I think the console wars are pointless arguments regardless

I have no loyalty to brands. This console gen I have had all three platforms, but I prefer my Xbox One for home play. I complement that with my switch for on the go or on the couch gaming and Nintendo’s fun 1st party exclusive stuff. I eventually got rid of my PS4 because I wasn’t using it nearly as much as my Xbox. Having said all that, I am nervous about Microsoft’s next gen. Recent press releases sound like they are trying to lower expectations, not hype people up for the fall release. Hopefully the July 23rd games demo will impress, but as of right now the Series X hasn’t done a great job differentiating itself form the One X, at least not for a “few years”.

@Tharsman I think Sony are holding a few games back for after the Xbox event, having said that I agree it's then still completely up in the air if they will be launch titles, or not.

Their transparency on enhancements and the like does need a vast improvement, Microsoft are spanking them on that front at the moment.

Right now I am sticking to the "I will get both and neither are out yet to judge" but it is clear who is making all the right moves at the moment.

I detract from the original point perhaps a bit though bad habit - the rhetoric from the diehards unfortunately, will always exist it has done since the NES/Master System days, only got louder with the introduction of the internet and more so now with social media.

@Jaxx420 maybe, but what will they announce? They dropped the big gun already with Dead Souls and Horizon 2. Dead souls release is a mystery and Horizon won’t hit shelves until end 2021 if we lucky.

Anything else they drop at this point would very likely be a new IP that is unlikely to come with hype, or a sequel to some defunct IP that, again, not sure would hype. Resistance: Infinite? 😅

@redd214 You don’t agree with some of his recent because you are fed with that false narrative by the media. Computer graphics has always been highly scalable with parallel processing in GPUs, 1-2 games might be otherwise cuz of smaller limited teams not enough to create different versions but Spiderman standalone 4-6hr DLC is definitely not one of them considering it shares current title’s engine and game assets.

@Tharsman Sadly probably no megaton announcement no, there will be some new IP's but I agree very up in the air as to whether any if at all, will be available at launch.

That's where the opportunity for Microsoft really comes from to gain momentum at launch, so I hope a few of the games at the event are going to be launch titles, besides the confirmed one.

@Jaxx420 I agree with your point of view but Sony has announced Horizon Zero Dawn 2, Demon's Souls and Ratchet & Clank without a release date. Sucker Punch just released Ghost of Tsushima and Naughty Dog just released The Last of Us II. It took Santa Monica five years to make a God of War game for PS4.

I'm not sure that they have something else for launch apart from Spider-Man which is a PS4 semi-sequel. They say "We believe in generations" and that's good and all but the games aren't ready yet. By the time they come, Series X games will be Series X exclusives as well with no Xbox One support.

This is the best chance Microsoft has had since the 360 days but now they have to confirm launch games because, if I remember correctly, the only confirmed launch game is Halo Infinite (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

@BlueOcean You're not wrong Halo: Infinite the only confirmed launch title so far as far as I am aware.

This will be the true test for me - that the titles they are going to show include some cracking launch games. While I know I am getting both I have just put a deposit on a house, so I will likely only be able to get one before the end of the year.

@Jaxx420 Although Halo Infinite is a much more ambitious game than Spider-Man Miles Morales, I hope that at least one more Series X game is confirmed for launch.

@BlueOcean sorry I replied and completely didn't acknowledge your first point I can't multi-task well today.

Agree - I wonder if Ratchet and Clank may be ready for launch though. Certainly won't see anything from Naughty Dog until at least 2022 and Santa Monica/Sucker Punch also take their time, latter just releasing their big hitter.

Sony have stuck by the generations philosophy and in my opinion they are not wrong on that, it's worked for them. But I am keen to see if the philosophy behind Microsoft keeping Xbox One gamers engaged means we will see more first party content from them within those two years than we will see from Sony.

@Jaxx420 No problem, thanks for replying .

I am trying to remember exclusive games for Series X...

Halo Infinite (confirmed for launch)
Grounded (beta on Xbox One)
Hellblade II
Scorn
The Medium
Everwild
Project Mara
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Battletoads

EDIT:
Gears 5 (free remaster)

@Z3u5000 lol relax cowboy. That's not even what I was talking about, but I appreciate your reply

@BlueOcean most of those I would imagine will release within the first two years as well.

Flight Simulator not for me though. Rest I'm curious about.

@Jaxx420 @BlueOcean Technically, some would consider Gears 5 practically a remaster with the proposed upgrades, but neither Gears 5 or Halo will do much to lure back those that complain about The Three IPs, while at the same time, either on their own would be enough for diehard fans of those IPs.

I got to say it’s sounding a lot less realistic, but it will be sad if Hellblade 2 is not a launch title after it was the first glimpse we got of the XSX capabilities.

Scorn and The Medium are not first party, but both are confirmed holiday releases and exclusives. Would be nice if either makes it out by Halloween (and of course, console launch by then too.)

Is it me, or it’s weird more horror games don’t aim to be out by October 1st?

We saw glimpses of Ever Wild since last November, maybe...?

There is a lot MS could announce, with existing or new IPs, but how much can be truly ready for launch day without at least a year or hype buildup?

Random: am I the only one wishing for a “souls like” Battletoads game with visuals that look like the ones they had in Killer Instinct?

Or a Devils May Cry-like beat em up?

@Tharsman @BlueOcean @StrangeBit

Push Square have been so diligent covering the stuff Phil has been saying, what are your bets that they somehow miss this one?

@Tharsman It's that last line, there is the risk, if they stack the launch line-up with next to no type to put some marketing hype behind them do they risk not doing those titles the right service?

@Tharsman Battletoads souls-style would be surreal.

@Richnj If they report this they will be reporting their own hostility. They usually use statements that they can mix up and distort in order to elicit confusion and aggressive reactions. It's their modus operandi.

@Grot That would be 100% their style .

@Jaxx420 @Tharsman If Grounded is in beta on Xbox One it could be a launch game. I have doubts about Everwild because Rare take their sweet time but at the same time I have no idea for how long they have been working on it. Apart from Sea of Thieves updates, they could have been making this new game and be ready for launch.

About Hellblade II, Digital Foundry analysed the launch trailer and they say it's in-game demo/cutscene. If Ninja Theory is making another game, Project Mara, it's likely that Hellblade II is almost ready.

@Grot I think I would add Huwawei to that company list as well, but I think that ignites a whole other debate and would go well off-topic. Lol.

@BlueOcean the original Hellblade launched as an AA game, so likely they were working on it well before the acquisition and could have it ready, hopefully anyway.

@Grot So as I've noted before the exact same thing happened after the PS2. It's like a preemptive strike. The PS3 was a hard sell, and the PS5 is looking like a hard sell (at least in relation to the PS4), and you have Nintendo and MS at their best since the PS3 days. The PS3 obviously being notable because it is the only Sony home console not to sell 100 million units. I mean, it sold a fantastic 80 odd, but you're looking at a community where anything less than domination is considered a failure.

The short of it being that these people have chosen PS, and having PS dominate is justification for their choice ("they are smart consumers because their product always wins"), and there's a fear that the PS5 won't dominate, and that means they are might not be smarter than those xbox or Nintendo peeps, so they lash out.

@Richnj PS5 is the new PS3. No bigger, less powerful and more expensive Xbox One but Microsoft is back on track. No Wii U looking for a home somewhere but Nintendo is making the most of their portability. No smaller, more powerful and cheaper console like PS4 but bigger, less powerful and with no price advantage like PS5 seems. The PS4 days are "Days Gone".

Off topic here but does anyone have any idea if the series x controller will work with the One X and if it would be introduced into the Controller design lab?
I would like to pick one up but keeping with my Colours

@WesEds You can use Xbox One controllers with Series X and Series X controllers with Xbox One. It is expected that Series X controllers will be available on Xbox Design Lab when the new console is released.

@Tharsman @BlueOcean

I find it incredibly ironic that in this specific article that the two of you continue to stoke the flames of console wars. One of you even said: “... when they know that PS5 loses the specifications war?” and also something about the Series X being faster than the PS5 - that had to be due to Teraflops measures, certainly not SSD and I/O speeds, right?

Come on guys - even Phil is trying to tell you that Sony is not the enemy. He’s saying the issue is over zealous fanboys. Read all your own words again. Try to do it objectively. Enjoy gaming!

I don't think Sony sees it that way as they are constantly paying for timed exclusives.

Sorry but I'm not sure if I buy this. You mean to tell me that each company isn't trying to get the biggest slice of the pie?
Okay.

@NorrinRadd exactly my thoughts.
Reading their comments was quite funny in that respect.

I appreciate Sony focusing mostly on their new generation and how to make most of it and I also appreciate the road Microsoft is taking.
I first thought I might buy an XSX as well as the PS5. But with project xCloud and having a strong gaming PC, I don’t think I need to.
So in that regard I am happy. Maybe project xCloud could someday come to PlayStation.
Microsoft basically trying to sell a platform, whereas Sony is trying to push limits with the PS5 in regards to new possibilities for game design (SSD), as well as immersion (DualSense and Tempest Engine). Things developers want/need to realize their ideas.
Some games will for time being be just XSX exclusive because of its SSD capabilities (e.g. The Medium), which are very similar to what PS5 offers. For those I hope I can play them via xCloud. If not, I might buy an XSX after all.

Reading all of these comments is hilarious to me.

Literally, the only thing Sony fans can say (at this time) that PlayStation has over Xbox is.....exclusives. And even that is an opinion, depending on taste.

Xbox will have the better power (by far) & WAY better services to a point where it’s a joke. XCloud coming to Game Pass for free makes PS Now worthless. And Sony is PAYING MICROSOFT for use of their servers to even run PS Now! Can one company own another more than that (without actually out right purchasing them)? 😂

Not to mention backwards compatibility. Xbox owns again. Like I said, it’s a joke at this point.

So when Sony shows off their “big showcase” of games in their last show, with very few 1st party exclusives (showed almost no gameplay btw) that will actually release in the next 2-3 yrs. with none at launch other than a Spider-Man expansion pack that they are trying to sell as a full, new $60 game....😂.....Ponies get defensive.

Why? Because they know what us Xbox fans know. Their one thing they always yammer on about (besides that stupid SSD. Oh and XSX also has an amazing SSD btw) is exclusives....but now they may lose that too.

Because Ponies can talk about exclusives all they want & how Xbox is just a bunch of sequels.....but what have we seen from PS5 yet? Oh yea.....sequels & nothing else from 1st party. Pfft. 🙄

So, to me, all Phil has to say is what he has been saying. I like his confidence & he has been a great leader for Xbox & I hope it continues into the future. 👍🏻

Make love not war.

You should take the console out of the equation as it is about the game’s.
Today I’m play Ghost of Tsushima and tomorrow I’m playing Forza Horizon 4.
Both great games.
See no mention of a console or company.
No war just games and enjoyment.

@NorrinRadd I don't attack anybody and I don't care what consoles people like but I criticise the nonsense I read and will always do. If you cherry-pick and cut a sentence and accuse me, that isn't nice. I can cherry-pick and cut your sentences too. The whole sentence that you purposefully cut to try to make me look bad, "And why insisting on Xbox One holding Series X back when they know that PS5 loses the specifications war?", is a reflection about the incongruous arguments they write. If releasing full power is so important, why is not important that PS5 is less powerful than Series X?

You should stop the real wars on the other site where the flames are instead of being hypocritical here and trying to put the blame on me. I hope to see you on other site fighting for the peace cause 😉.

@tatsumi Read my comment above. I am criticising bad journalism and fanboy arguments. I am fine with people preferring a console but I'm not fine with people lying, distorting and giving hypocritical arguments. I'll criticise it every time I read it. I can't help it 😉.

@Arugula And he knows that. He's in for competition be he's not happy about the hatred and toxicity on the internet because of some very vocal and aggressive posters. Same as Nintendo's Sakurai.

@Arugula You are probably right. I hope things get better soon.

I genuinely look forward to GamePass & xCloud on the PS5.
Open up your games to more platforms & players, why not?

@KelticDevil I agree with most of what you just said. But I also think Ponies and Xbots is what Phil wants people to move away from.

Microsoft have come out swinging this time round on services etc almost the polar opposite of the approach with Xbox One so can only be a good thing. Sony went the opposite with PS4 vs PS3 and paid off really well for them.

Exclusives battle is going to be tight so Sony are going to need to come up with something else. I think PS Now will get overhauled - it needs to.

I remember the good ole console wars
Commodore 64 vs Spectrum 48k.
It’s was smaller and no internet but it existed in the playgrounds and on the streets.

@Dezzy70 NES and Master System was the most aggressive one I think 🤣

@Jaxx420
True, as time went by it got worse
Then once the internet arrived it exploded
And there you go we are here today.

@Jaxx420

I agree. PS Now needs a complete overhaul or it will be a waste of time for Sony. And since they are paying Microsoft $ to run the service, they may as well make it viable.

We’ll see, I guess.

@Dezzy70

My favorite was Nintendo vs Sega. Those were fun times. Lol.

@KelticDevil Exactly.

I want to see a tighter battle so all this works for me. I think the content across both was better during 360 and PS3 days because competition was tighter.

I think MS took a step back a bit towards the back end of this gen software wise so their studios could focus on this upcoming one. So I think they will go toe to toe on exclusives now and could have a battle on again.

I just want a new Fable badly. Love my RPGs and was so dissapointed there wasnt one this gen. Psyched to see what Playground Games do with it with how well crafted Horizon 4's world was.

@Jaxx420

I am super hyped for a new Fable too! I am replaying the first three & the first two are still a blast to play. We’ll see about Fable 3. Lol.

And yes, competition is king. Sony got arrogant with the PS3. Microsoft got arrogant after the 360 generation (screw The Mattrick). We’ll see if Phil’s confidence leads to great things. I think it will. 👍🏻

I'm excited about possible Fable, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark and Viva Piñata. I tried Viva Piñata demo on Windows and thought it was childish but when I got it for Xbox One and played more it became one of my most played games.

@Jaxx420 I agree, Microsoft seems to have all their studios focused on Series X so it has a great start software-wise.

@BlueOcean

I highly doubt we will get a new Viva Piñata. I would love if we did though. It’s one of my most underrated games on the 360.

@KelticDevil Yes, it's underrated, it's fun and original.

As a multiformat gamer, I totally agree with him. I've always said great games are great games regardless of platform, and anyone too narrow minded to see sense are missing out.

Sure, there's always got to be an element of competition in business, but that's good for both sides and, ultimately, the end consumer.