Interview: Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, Talking Xbox Series X – Unlocked 437

Live from Phil's living room, IGN talks about Xbox and more.

[NewMonday]

Phil is actually a great guy focused on his platform, It's McCaffery who keeps baiting him into PS5 talk. the same for some hardcore XB fans who only want to force compare asymmetrical systems.

the XBSX is a great SUV.
the PS5 is a great sedan.

they are differently built.

[ThinkThink]

I like this analogy. Can both sides just agree that both systems will be awesome?

[NewMonday]

I'v been hard on Xbox last generation like most gamers, but can admit they cleaned up their act and they do the best job they can. while the the same time Sony are still on form, and Nintendo also refocused on their strength.

I can't understand the need to declare a winner even before the next generation starts.

[darthv72]

Yeah that analogy is better than mine (the cheetah and lion) that I used a few times. I agree that both (all three in fact) are going to go about their ways the best they can. And we all win because of it.

[LOGICWINS]

That's the consensus for most people. I'd happily get both if I had the time to enjoy both.

[SyntheticForm]

Agreed.

Both companies are putting out great hardware and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on both. I love new hardware - specifically consoles. There's something about em.

Even my new car can't compete with these things really.

[SyntheticForm]

@darth

They're both lions though - they're just different lions. Both consoles are very significant improvements. The SSDs and CPUs are great.

[medman]

@thinkthink
I agree! I'm planning to buy both of them, hopefully they both release in 2020.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

They use the same architecture. A more valid analogy is a Honda Pilot vs an V6 Acura MDX. They share the same drivetrain. One has a quick V4 smooth ride...the other is more luxurious with a faster V6.

[Zeref]

Nah, XBX is just superior in every way except raw SSD speeds.
Stop trying to make up excuses for the PS5s lack of power.
Xbox is faster and more powerful. There is no sugarcoating anything.

There is no secret sauce that magically makes the PS5 on par with the Series X. The Series X has just as many optimization features if not more than the PS5, like VRS, which is a huge deal that could result in 20-30 percent better framerates. is not even mentioned for the PS5 and Series X has a unique decompression method called "BCpack" that is far superior to Kraken, that could actually make up for the raw SSD speeds,
PS5 is just the weaker console. There is no damage controlling this.

Xbox just out-engineered Sony, plain and simple.

I am not saying the PS5 is a bad console. It's just weaker. Sony will still come out with their great single player games that make owning it worth it over Xbox. I just need yall to get that through your thick skulls. They're not "just built different", Series X is just more powerful and that's it.

[Visceral89]

Opinions vary

[Spicyram]

"I just need yall to get that through your thick skulls."

When someone uses the word 'Yall' then proceeds to call others stupid - i see TREMENDOUS irony in that.

"which is a huge deal that could result in 20-30 percent better framerates"...."Xbox just out-engineered Sony, plain and simple."...."Series X has a unique decompression method called "BCpack" that is far superior to Kraken"

Basically, jumping to conclusions (we literally have very few details on BCpack) calling other people stupid while they are trying to have a civil conversation, who knows you could be correct, but calling other people stupid when we dont have all the info and jumping to conclusions makes YOU look stupid.

We havent even seen prices yet, yet Microsoft out-engineered Sony? What if the ps5 is 50-100$ dollars cheaper and performs nearly on par with the series x? "Out-engineered" - anyone can throw the most expensive and most modern tech into a box. There is still the issue of price. the real win will come with "bang for your buck" - you really need to relax and refrain from calling people stupid

[TheBrit]

@spicyram I guess our skulls could be normal and some are just 'thinner' ??.

[Feedog6]

Well said. Everyone keeps making excuses for Sony instead of keeping it real. XsX is the better console not taking anything away from ps5.

[FyBy]

1)Even technicaly advanced people dont know, how XSX and PS5 can be compared. XSX has more teraflops by smaller percentage amount than it was between Pro ans XOX. And even there it wasnt a deal breaker(for Pro). I think also much bigger percentage difference between XO and PS4 wasnt a deal breaker(for XO). It doesnt simply matter too much. Anyway, XSX looks like maybe 15% faster in terms of TFs. So we will see, how this huuuuge difference will be used.

2)Out engineered? You know business plan of MS? Do you know how much will premium model cost? Do you think it will be same amount as a base model of PS (PS5)? I can too build much more pwoerful computer. But at what cost? Do you think Sony out engineered ms with PS3? It was more powerful. No, because PS3 was more expensive and even then Sony had no profit on selling it. So stop this BS about how some company out engineered other. If you look into history, most "most powerful" consoles struggled. Making something bigger with bigger numbers doeasnt always mean someone out engineered someone else.

[medman]

@zeref
If we say the xbox is more powerful, fine. The xbox certainly appears to have a fairly significant advantage on paper. To say it's "superior" is questionable at this early stage. We need to see gameplay. You can outrun a 2000 horsepower car in a grocery getter if all that cars power can't be put to the ground effectively, and all it does is spin tires in every gear losing traction, going nowhere. It remains to be seen how developers, both first and third party, will make use of both systems.

I'm looking forward to both systems and will buy both, but we're putting the cart before the horse when gameplay for the systems hasn't even been revealed yet.

[timotim]

And the best part is he said we should be hearing majority about the games from now, leading up til launch. I think this is what most gamers will see as the deciding factor. I want to know what will be there on launch but also what's coming in the first 6 months.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

If you've got an current gen xbox your covered mate - they'll support you for another 2 yrs! How's that for pro-consumer.

I'm looking forward to seeing the PS5 exclusives, so I know what to buy on launch day with my brand new console.

[timotim]

More insecurity I see. Why come into a Phil Spencer interview article to downplay Xbox and talk up PS5?

Yes, pro consumerism. I do have a current Xbox, in fact I have two of them. I'm glad my 1X and 1S will play all games...I plan on keeping my consoles around for other rooms in the house so it'll be great and compliment my shiny new SX well.

[i3eyond the Circle]

There’s an entire market of people that will upgrade because that’s what we do and an entire market of people who can’t at the time.

We created this demographic that there’s going to be people who won’t upgrade because Xbox
Is supporting their older platforms for 2 years.. when in reality people who buy in the first 2 years are people who would most likely buy in the first 2 years anyway...

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Just offering some solid advice - and I only spoke the truth. Also highlighting there is no deciding factor - no one needs to buy an xsx for 2 yrs!

A slight segue to speak of my intentions, this is a place where opinions are welcome is it not?

[timotim]

LOL...thanks for the advice...I'm still getting an SX though haha. If thats the case, there was no reason to ever get a PS4 Pro, going your logic. But, gamers did so because they wanted something even better than base PS4.

Gamers want the best...faster load times, better graphics and effects, sound, performance and frames...SX will give gamers a superior experience...better than anything that ever been in a console...why wouldn't I want that?

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

i3eyond - Just can't see the rush to upgrade to xsx. I can see why some will, like you said it's what some people do.

If someone has a xonex - and xsx boxes say xboxones, xboxonex, xboxsx supported - can you see why some wouldn't be in a rush to upgrade?

[DJStotty]

@oldboy

Why are current gen xbox owners only getting covered for another 2 years?

I'm curious, OH WAIT, is it the out of context comment about 1st party games over the next 1, 2 years will play up and down the family of devices?

In case you missed the memo, xbox have done away with console exclusives, as they actually announced a few E3's back. They want an ecosystem, whereas you buy a game once, and it will play on any Microsoft device you own.

That is exactly what we are seeing now.

"no one needs to buy an xsx for 2 yrs!" I see, as opposed to being forced to upgrade to play new games?

Who is the Pro-consumer?

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

That's brilliant mate - PS4Pro was never sold as a new generation of consoles.

Don't twist things for the sake of it haha

[timotim]

Huh. Now just wait a second...if your going to open a can of worms be ready to deal with the reality. New generation or not, PS4 Pro played the same games as base PS4...right or wrong??? Pro just played them better...right or wrong??? The principles are the same right...its two consoles that play the same games, but one is superior...so if you didn't have a problem with upgrading to the Pro, why do you seem to have a problem now with those wanting to upgrade to an SX??? I didn't twist a damn thing...its the same difference! Why not keep that same energy?

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

If Sony released a new console - not an iteration of a current gen console - I'd expect it to be supported day 1 with exclusives only playable on the new console.

It is not 'the same difference' - don't you understand what a console generation entails?

They have a beginning and an end. How hard is this to follow?

Either way Sony AND Nintendo will still outsell the xbox family of consoles.

[DJStotty]

Oldboy

Think you need to get with the times, it is not Sega vs Nintendo anymore.

And even then Nintendo did backwards compatibility, it is nothing new, and most people will not buy a new console, just to play an exclusive.

[timotim]

You're hiding behind semantics boy. I'm talking about the principles, which does not change when you're talking existing gen vs new gen. Nor was I talking about console sales at all. I'm talking about how you're completely comfortable with supporting the idea of a PS4 Pro when Sony does a superior console that plays the same games, yet now, want to come off as if its forbidden or a terrible idea when Microsoft does it. At no point did you condemn the Pro for its principles that the console stood for. You have no problem playing cross-gen games on PS5 because you understand that most 3rd party games will be...and when Sony puts LoU2 and Ghost, among others on PS5, you won't have a problem there either. You'll say yeah, but they will also have exclusives at launch...could very well be the case, but none of them will be doing things from a design standpoint that couldn't already be done on current gen, outside of visuals...something all of XGS games will take advantage of on SX.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

timotim - ok mate I've tried to be nice. YOU'RE the one talking semantics, you silly drip.

THIS IS A NEW CONSOLE GENERATION, THIS IS NOT A MID-GEN UPGRADE. 3RD PARTIES HAVE HAD CROSS-GEN TITLES SINCE PS3/4.

Yes I'm completely, unequivocally, happy to buy a mid-gen upgrade if it's going to improve my gaming experience.

I'M ALSO HAPPY IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SONY WILL RELEASE A NEW CONSOLE IN THE FUTURE AND SUPPORT THAT CONSOLE WITH EXCLUSIVES FROM THE WORLDCLASS 1S PARTY STUDIOS.

That's the point of it all numptie, straight you guys and gals on team xbox are pieces of work.

Never in all of console gaming history has the manufacturer not supported that console with exclusives on launch day. And especially for 2 yrs after the launch.

AGAIN - you see that as a good thing, I SEE THAT AS A REASON NOT TO UPGRADE.

[timotim]

🤔🤔🤔….. nope....still upgrading to a SX.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Man, this guy is the greatest!

[Automatic79]

Love the lazer focus Xbox team has. Not worried about competition focusing on Xbox and only Xbox. Shift from hardware to games talk now. Expect steady stream of games content.

[alb1899]

I just don't know how a gamer doesn't like Spencer.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Maybe because he lies with a straight face, and keeps doing it. He's a grub.

[rlow1]

That's the best you can come up with? Lol

[FloydianAndroid]

Are you a rock troll or more of an ice troll?

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

DogsBower - Really? Beyond all the rhetoric of empty promises, the overblown and BS claims that were perpetuated for most of the gen - Power Of The Cloud being the most obvious - was and is an absolute lie.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

What did he lie about? Before you say Cloud Flight Simulator is full blown cloud tech. So what did he lie about?

[waverider]

dont tell them truth. they cant handle. after the worst gen ever, they still think he is genious. lost all marketshare, sales are dead in the water and for the second time straight thinks that teraflops will make gamers jump ship and buy the console. after the X and series X, im gonna wait for..... the triple X,

[DJStotty]

@oldboy

As a Sony fanboy, i can get why you think he lies.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Angelic - DJ - don't you remember how hard ms pushed 'The Power Of The Cloud' - you also must know who was front and centre in that charade.

You guys really are gluttons for punishment, Phil lies to your face on multiple occasions and you give him a free pass.

He's a salesman without integrity, a spineless company man - wish you guys could see through him.

But alas you need some hope I guess.

[the worst]

Phil is full of it...
Delivering nothing last gen..
Jedi mine trick to think old games are new again...
All i can say is ""GOT EM""

[timotim]

Nothing???

Play Anywhere
2 generations of BC catalog
Added Windows 10 to the Xbox ecosystem
Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass for PC
Microsoft Rewards Quests
"Buy as Gift" to send to another
First party games and Xbox Live on Steam

Nothing??? Like you're saying completely nothing. And no one thinks that old games are new games...but when there BC teams can add HDR and increase loading times and up resolutions to native 4K when the game was 360/480p, then it does give our old games more legs...that should be celebrated, no?

[Visceral89]

Weird, you didn't mention one game

[timotim]

Why would Phil Spencer get credit for games??? Wouldn't that be for the studios that make them instead? Spencer is in charge of the platform, the brand, and the direction it takes. We know he has acquired 8 or so studios though that all make solid games. Thats like crediting Jim Ryan for God of War...makes no sense...

[DJStotty]

@visceral

Hellblade 2, there you go

[Feedog6]

Dont waste your time arguing with butthurt Sony fans. XsX day one for me.

[DJStotty]

Me too,

My card is ready

[DJStotty]

As a gamer, games of any generation, never get old.

I still play games on Mega Drive, SNES to this day, i play 360 games on my xbox one, and also new games that are released.

A gamer does not just buy a game, play it, then sell it. Gamers collect, be that consoles, games throughout all the generations.

[rlow1]

Good interview, way to go Xbox team

[Excited2play]

Good interview. Next gen has me very excited. Both consoles are gonna rock out with their FLOPS out.

[Jay767]

triple party developers isn’t going show off the full power of the series x or ps5, most of theses third party games will look identical or almost identical on both consoles. next gen won’t be like this gen both ps5 and Xbox series x have enough power to do 4K 60 fps uncompromise on most games. what will be the difference maker is the exclusive games that are built to utilize a console full power.