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Phil Harrison: Microsoft making $1B bet on Xbox One games

LiquidMetal14 said:
I want AW2 as well. They should and could spend some of that rumored 400m on that NFL deal and divert more funds to Remedy for another Alan Wake but at least Remedy is making a new IP so you can't really complain too much.
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As Sam Lake said, Alan Wake sells was at a steady slow pace over the years and now have done over 3 million, but at launch it didn't do as they thought (I still think releasing next to RDR was silly and the main reason why) but it's a rich IP and not forgotten. But because of this and time Microsoft didn't feel confident then and allowed Remedy to create a new IP for the next XBOX with full funding and and backing. Phill Spencer is a cool dude and they have a great relationship with Remedy. I am happy to see a new IP from them and excited about it and I am more happy waiting for Alan Wake 2 after a few years, but the main thing to consider is that Remedy is a small team and can't work on multiple big titles, it is one of their core philosophies that's what makes them who they are. Alan Wake 2 will come for sure, it's just a matter of when and Remedy's very keen on it.
 
shandy706 said:
Obviously it's going to have great games. Don't tell that to the "games are what matter crowd"..lol

I think the big part is this...but I'm sure it WILL BE ignored.

"Harrison: Just like today, if you have a game disc that you buy from the store, you can play that game. The game is now installed to the hard drive. Any user who is associated with that Xbox One can play that game. I can give that game disc to my son and he can go and take it to another machine inside the house and play it on that machine. Just like today, only one of us can play it at any one time.

The difference, though — the benefit of Xbox One is that that data can roam with me. I can go to my friend’s house. I can log in as myself into his machine. I can then play that game on his machine, and while I’m logged in, he can play it as well.

GamesBeat: Do you bring your disc with you, or could you use his disc?

Harrison: Doesn’t matter, yeah. If I bring my disc with me and I leave the bits on his hard drive, but he wants to play the game, he can buy the game — just like today. But in this instance, the bits were already on his hard drive, so it’s an instant switch-out. We will have a solution — and we’re not talking about the details today but just to take the angst out of this — that allows a user to trade that game back in and to give up the right to play that game."
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So the used game hate is bullshit on GAF? Lol
 
Just like today, if you have a game disc that you buy from the store, you can play that game. The game is now installed to the hard drive. Any user who is associated with that Xbox One can play that game. I can give that game disc to my son and he can go and take it to another machine inside the house and play it on that machine. Just like today, only one of us can play it at any one time.
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Well, there goes one of my fears with the Xboney.
 
Raide said:
Buy the new game and Remedy pretty much get a free pass to make AW2. I love me some AW but I always want o see them do something else and then pour all of that awesome gameplay ideas and tech usage into a truly amazing AW2 game.
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makes no sense. if quantum break is a sucess, im sure ms is going to continue with it.
 
ZombieFred said:
As Sam Lake said, Alan Wake sells was at a steady slow pace over the years and now have done over 3 million, but at launch it didn't do as they thought (I still think releasing next to RDR was silly and the main reason why) but it's a rich IP and not forgotten. But because of this and time Microsoft didn't feel confident then and allowed Remedy to create a new IP for the next XBOX with full funding and and backing. Phill Spencer is a cool dude and they have a great relationship with Remedy. I am happy to see a new IP from them and excited about it and I am more happy waiting for Alan Wake 2 after a few years, but the main thing to consider is that Remedy is a small team and can't work on multiple big titles, it is one of their core philosophies that's what makes them who they are. Alan Wake 2 will come for sure, it's just a matter of when and Remedy's very keen on it.
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I love it that he mentions Sam Lake by name. Also it's "only possible with the Xbox One" so it might actually sell Great out the gate.
 
I wonder how many are retail games and Live Arcade games, live has to launch with something.
 
fertygo said:
?

From that word, you can assume there's somekind of process that only allow your game played by certain profile.
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Yes, by me giving the person my account details or allowing my account to reside on another system. Why does it have to be so unnecessarily complicated.
 
ZombieFred said:
As Sam Lake said, Alan Wake sells was at a steady slow pace over the years and now have done over 3 million, but at launch it didn't do as they thought (I still think releasing next to RDR was silly and the main reason why) but it's a rich IP and not forgotten. But because of this and time Microsoft didn't feel confident then and allowed Remedy to create a new IP for the next XBOX with full funding and and backing. Phill Spencer is a cool dude and they have a great relationship with Remedy. I am happy to see a new IP from them and excited about it and I am more happy waiting for Alan Wake 2 after a few years, but the main thing to consider is that Remedy is a small team and can't work on multiple big titles, it is one of their core philosophies that's what makes them who they are. Alan Wake 2 will come for sure, it's just a matter of when and Remedy's very keen on it.
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I admire the optimism. I shall leech off of it as I no longer possess such an ability.
 
No matter what good news comes out of Microsoft people bash them. They could give the Xbox One out for free and people would still bitch and Sony can do no wrong.
 
Neo+Gaf=Nerd_Fap said:
They could give the Xbox One out for free
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No, that would be good news and I'd try it out for free. Let's not get to defensive.

We're formulating opinions based on what we currently know. Sony would be getting a lot of flack if they did the same thing but luckily they've handled the PS4 much better than MSFT has the Xbone.
 
Hix said:
What's your problem again?
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I thought I'd made that pretty clear, but if you need to hear it again:
Why should I care and where was this commitment a few years ago?

Simple as that. I don't know why I should care about unknown, unproven studios. They have no pedigree. THQ put a lot of money behind Homefront, was that automatically a great game?

MS has a poor history of first party management and of late hasn't even been committed to it. Now all of a sudden they claim to care and throw out a big number to "prove" their claim.

The proof I want to see is good games. Until then that is the real fluff in this discussion. When Sony announces a new game from Evolution, GG, Sucker Punch, etc. I know what I'm getting. I know nothing about Black Tusk's capabilities.

I could have if MS's commitment to gamers was something that existed just a year or two ago and they opened the studio during the X360's long life. They chose not to, so why give them the benefit of the doubt now?
 
On Used Games said:
GamesBeat: There’s been a lot of chatter on particular controversial subjects leading up to this. People want to know about used games, about backward compatibility, and about the constant connection. What are some of the facts on those? Can you play used games on the Xbox One? Do you have to pay a fee?

Harrison: Just like today, if you have a game disc that you buy from the store, you can play that game. The game is now installed to the hard drive. Any user who is associated with that Xbox One can play that game. I can give that game disc to my son and he can go and take it to another machine inside the house and play it on that machine. Just like today, only one of us can play it at any one time.

The difference, though — the benefit of Xbox One is that that data can roam with me. I can go to my friend’s house. I can log in as myself into his machine. I can then play that game on his machine, and while I’m logged in, he can play it as well.

GamesBeat: Do you bring your disc with you, or could you use his disc?

Harrison: Doesn’t matter, yeah. If I bring my disc with me and I leave the bits on his hard drive, but he wants to play the game, he can buy the game — just like today. But in this instance, the bits were already on his hard drive, so it’s an instant switch-out. We will have a solution — and we’re not talking about the details today but just to take the angst out of this — that allows a user to trade that game back in and to give up the right to play that game.
Click to expand...

Perhaps my reading comprehension seems to fail, but the only advantage is that I do not have to physically take the disc with me to friend, but as a tradeoff I have to memorize my ultra secure cryptical pass, ask my friend to leave the room while I enter it on their console, we then can play it on my account and his console. When I leave I have to delete the account on their console (they could have shady friends I could not know of), or leave it on it if I want to "lend" it to him and trust him to behave and not let shady people give access it, but in that case I will not be able to play the game myself (as before since I do not have the disc) and I presume not be able to log in myself and play other games since my account would be used by my friend.

Or in short: Instead of one disc per game I now have a single disc with all my games and personal information on it, but with the advantage it cannot be stolen from me on the way to friends.

Enlighten me, is my reading comprehension that far off?
 
I think it's cute people still believe dollar figures that video game execs spout off, despite them being all man-children who have no idea what they're doing.

There is zero chance Microsoft is making an investment this big. Zero.
 
Did anybody get clarification on what that 1 billion timeframe is? Is that Microsoft devoting 1 billion over the course of the lifetime of the Xbone, or is that 1 billion for launch window titles? I'm guessing it's the former.
 
LevelNth said:
I think it's cute people still believe dollar figures that video game execs spout off, despite them being all man-children who have no idea what they're doing.

There is zero chance Microsoft is making an investment this big. Zero.
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The point I was trying to make earlier is that other console makers including Sony and Nintendo could easily be spending around the same ball park when you consider their breadth of studios. The main difference is the Sony and Nintendo aren't just saying, "hey look how many hundreds of millions we're spending on games" but are actually showing games.

Throwing numbers around is nice but I'm getting more annoyed by all these numbers Microsoft is throwing around with Xbone. In the meantime, we have a cloudy view on their online and used games stance as well as seeing a strong focus on something other than games at their unveil.

We know they will have games at E3 but guess who else will have games, Sony and Nintendo. Both those companies have been putting the gamer and games in the forefront since their unveils unlike MSFT's grab at something else.

In short, I know the MSFT can spend but let's see the games.
 
Crimson_Gold said:
The truth of this statement should truly horrify people. Seriously. This is a media hub 1st, and a console second. I can't wait to see the remaining content deals for the XBone
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Games typically cost $30-$50m to develop or at least that seems to be the average budget. Comparing it to them bidding on the NFL rights is silly.
 
LevelNth said:
I think it's cute people still believe dollar figures that video game execs spout off, despite them being all man-children who have no idea what they're doing.

There is zero chance Microsoft is making an investment this big. Zero.
Click to expand...

lol here comes the denial.

Got some evidence to back up your baseless speculation and ridiculous insults about a company that made $21 billion in operating income last year?

andycapps said:
Did anybody get clarification on what that 1 billion timeframe is? Is that Microsoft devoting 1 billion over the course of the lifetime of the Xbone, or is that 1 billion for launch window titles? I'm guessing it's the former.
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Several new studios opened and 15 internally developed games planned for the coming year. I'd say it's an immediate investment.
 
LiquidMetal14 said:
The point I was trying to make earlier is that other console makers including Sony and Nintendo could easily be spending around the same ball park when you consider their breadth of studios. The main difference is the Sony and Nintendo aren't just saying, "hey look how many hundreds of millions we're spending on games" but are actually showing games.

Throwing numbers around is nice but I'm getting more annoyed by all these numbers Microsoft is throwing around with Xbone. In the meantime, we have a cloudy view on their online and used games stance as well as seeing a strong focus on something other than games at their unveil.

We know they will have games at E3 but guess who else will have games, Sony and Nintendo. Both those companies have been putting the gamer and games in the forefront since their unveils unlike MSFT's grab at something else.
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So the basic thing you’re saying "Don't believe their bullshit"? I have no idea why you would be pushing so hard on this, seems like wasting yours and everybody's time.
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Games typically cost $30-$50m to develop or at least that seems to be the average budget. Comparing it to them bidding on the NFL rights is silly.
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It is more about the focus in my opion. Games may notcost as much as content deals, but you would have to wonder what that additional $400 million could have done for the console, the Live infrastructure, etc. I am not against content. I am certain Sony will have media capabilities as well. I would just prefer to see my console be a console first and a media hub second.
 
arit said:
Perhaps my reading comprehension seems to fail, but the only advantage is that I do not have to physically take the disc with me to friend, but as a tradeoff I have to memorize my ultra secure cryptical pass, ask my friend to leave the room while I enter it on their console, we then can play it on my account and his console. When I leave I have to delete the account on their console (they could have shady friends I could not know of), or leave it on it if I want to "lend" it to him and trust him to behave and not let shady people give access it, but in that case I will not be able to play the game myself (as before since I do not have the disc) and I presume not be able to log in myself and play other games since my account would be used by my friend.

Or in short: Instead of one disc per game I now have a single disc with all my games and personal information on it, but with the advantage it cannot be stolen from me on the way to friends.

Enlighten me, is my reading comprehension that far off?
Click to expand...

what you talking about? you find it difficult to remember your own live password? maybe you shouldn't have set up such a complex one in the first place
 
This thread is proof of why Microsoft should ignore what we say completely.

No matter what they do, they'll be hated here. Leading into the reveal, Microsoft would constantly be panned for not investing in first party development. Post reveal, they come out and say they're spending 1 billion in it, they still get panned.

So which would you guys like? You want them to invest in first party development, but not invest in it too?
 
I wonder if he's including the Halo TV series in "Games", since it's Halo and can be thought of as marketing for Halo games.
 
We're going to hear a lot of Microsoft damage control spin these next few months prefaced with "this will work just like today" followed by an explanation of something that doesn't work just like today spun in a way that sounds super-duper convenient and awesome (when it's actually terrible and anti-consumer).

We should make a drinking game out of all of the "just like todays".
Or collect the best ones and make a megapost from all of them sometime in the fall.
This is going to be a clear deflection "tell" from Microsoft's talking heads.
 
Crimson_Gold said:
The truth of this statement should truly horrify people. Seriously. This is a media hub 1st, and a console second. I can't wait to see the remaining content deals for the XBone
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how spending more than double what they gave the NFL on games means that it's a media hub first.
 
TheOddOne said:
So the basic thing you’re saying "Don't believe their bullshit"? I have no idea why you would be pushing so hard on this, seems like wasting yours and everybody's time.
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Don't put words in my mouth. I said what I said and meant it.

When I see their games at E3, I will not be as harsh but the situation is what it is and my opinion is formulated based on the current standings.
 
Crimson_Gold said:
It is more about the focus in my opion. Games may notcost as much as content deals, but you would have to wonder what that additional $400 million could have done for the console, the Live infrastructure, etc. I am not against content. I am certain Sony will have media capabilities as well. I would just prefer to see my console be a console first and a media hub second.
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Ah, okay. Fair point, but I do feel a $1 billion investment in games does show a focus on games as well as media content.
 
Summary of this thread

a2b13a_zpsc2373699.gif
 
Phonomezer said:
What's your point? A billion dollars is a billion dollars.
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A billion dollars doesn't translate to good games. They have to impress me at E3.

They've thrown money at their box for the past several years, and it has only made me hate the thing more. They need policy changes and games that impress.
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Ah, okay. Fair point, but I do feel a $1 billion investment in games does show a focus on games as well as media content.
Click to expand...

MS is going to have games. It'd be utterly foolish to think anything different. I just think the philosophy behind this console and the philosophy behind the 360 when it launched, are utterly different. Time will tell though.
 
Crimson_Gold said:
The truth of this statement should truly horrify people. Seriously. This is a media hub 1st, and a console second. I can't wait to see the remaining content deals for the XBone
Click to expand...
The funny thing is I still can't figure out what exactly is the NFL deal meant to bring to consumers at all. Well apart from the "best way to experience the content".
 
Drek said:
Seriously? Given what Rare did on Nintendo consoles you think Viva Pinata is enough? How about the massive talent exodus Rare has seen since the purchase?


Who were literally handed the Halo IP on a silver platter and a $100M budget. Released the worst Halo game to date. Why should I care about them?

And want proof that it's the worst Halo to date? Worst Metacritic score and while it's predecessors sold at or near full MSRP for years after release you could get Halo 4 at $40 or below less than a year after release. It's now down to $28 on Amazon. I don't think Halo:CE ever got that cheap on the OG Xbox.


A middling over promise/under deliver studio who has made progressively worse games the longer they've been with Microsoft, and who have seen major creative exodus. Yep, that's a success story if I ever saw one.


Square Enix invested a ton of money in Final Fantasy XIII, that didn't make it any less shit. THQ bet the farm on uDraw and Homefront. What did that get them? This is a talent driven industry, as much as the executives at MS, EA, etc. try to convince people otherwise. Money can't make up for a lack of talent, or simply bad chemistry within a studio. We have no idea who the people making games for MS even are, let alone if these new found studios have the chemistry to make something worthwhile.


A commitment to games and the gamer would have been funding legitimate first party development throughout the life of your previous console. Not shutting down every studio that doesn't have a multi-million franchise to milk and not replacing them with anything new.

Microsoft sat on their hands with Crackdown and killed a potentially strong new franchise. They let Bizarre walk away and collapse instead of keeping PGR alive. They shut down FASA and have since let Weisman take all his IPs with him. How is any of that a commitment to games and gamers?

This is nothing more than PR with a big number attached to make it look impressive.
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WOW! Who pissed in your cheerios this morning?
 
Hix said:
Several new studios opened and 15 internally developed games planned for the coming year. I'd say it's an immediate investment.
Click to expand...

So if you're saying it's launch window investment, Microsoft would be committing around 5 billion for investment in this gen if they want to keep the level of first party development up.

The money is nice, hopefully they don't gut all their studios again at the first sign of trouble. And hopefully Harrison doesn't cancel many games mid-development like he's done in the past.
 
LiquidMetal14 said:
Don't put words in my mouth. I said what I said and meant it.

When I see their games at E3, I will not be as harsh but the situation is what it is and my opinion is formulated based on the current standings.
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I didn't, I summarised the overall point. There is nothing wrong with that stance, but at the same time pushing so hard to make it seem like it isn't a deal is kind of useless.
 
Now I'm scared every game at E3 will use Kinect to some extent. Please no. I don't want it to detect subtle movements while I'm sitting on my ass holding a controller and casually move around.
 
This makes me more interested in what they've got to show for E3, but I still won't be holding my breath.

The news about how their trading/lending system works is welcome, but they really should've let it be known sooner, given all the concerns people had. It's still not adequate, either. My friend still can't borrow my game... They need me to be there and signed in to their system. It's also still going to kill the used game market with regards to Gamestop/GAME etc... If people still have to pay the RRP when they get the game home, why would they buy it from a store in the first place? They might as well buy it from digital download.
 
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