Xbox Co-Founder:Skeptical About VR,Original Xbox Team Were Gamers & Tried To Keep It All About Games

Ed Fries also comments on current gen consoles and games development.

[christocolus]

I miss Ed fries, Robbie bach and J allard....those were truly great guys.wish MS would hire them back.

Phil is doing an amazing job at the moment but with those guys back it would be like having 3 super Phils running the joint.lol. MS defintly seems to have its focus on games once again and i hope they can keep delivering on that front...at E3 more of their plans for the xbx one will be revealed.

[ZodTheRipper]

Yeah have fun with your "games focus" and the Halo TV stuff vom Spielberg. And if you're extra lucky you'll even get Halo 5: Episode 1 this year:
http://www.inquisitr.com/11...

I honestly don't understand how gamers can still be supporting Microsoft after all they've done and announced in the last few months. Oh and don't forget how they've abandoned the X360 a few years after it's launch ...you guys have some rough times ahead of you if you're looking for the best >gaming< experience.

[christocolus]

Lol..why do you have issues with my choice? I dont get how some of you reason. Ryse, forza, sunset overdrive, quantum break,d4,k8nect sports, dr3, titanfall, project spark, fablelegends are all 1st wave of games and you still doubt their focus...after e3 i hope we have this discussion again and so you know im so excited about the halo tv series and what ever ms has planned. Its all entertainment and the tv stuff aint stopping the games.

So stop bothering about xbx fans supporting ms. It shouldnt really be an issue of yours. We wernt forced to pick the xbx one just like you werent forced to pick your console of choice.im sure your happy with your pick just like we are.

Just Learn to respect the choice of others and allow gamers be gamers.

[sak500]

@christocolus

You can't talk sense with teh sony fanboys. They are as blind as bats when it comes to anything good on other consoles. Let them burn in their own jealousy since they are the ones having nothing to play just like ps3 early 3 years. Half of the console lifetime they spent on n4g dissing 360 same goes in this gen.

[sinspirit]

@christocolus

N4G and just about every gaming news site was filled with 360 fanboys. Also, generalizing a population isn't an argument.

Hmm.. So, you're saying PS3 had a bad first 3 years? InFamous, MGS4, Resistance 1 and 2, Uncharted 1 and 2, LittleBIGPlanet, Demons Souls, Motorstorm 1 and 2, Killzone, Ratchet and Clank's, Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles, Heavenly Sword, etcetera?
Then, what about 360's first three years?
Tom Clancy's GRAW 1, Gears of War 1, Dead Rising 1, Crackdown 1, Forza 3, Halo 3, Mass Effect 1, Lost Odyssey.

PS3: 12 listed, 4 had sequels in that time frame on top of the 12 listed.
360: 8 listed.

You're clearly one of the fanboys that inhabited the sites a couple years ago spouting "PS3 has no games" nonsense.

[MetaReapre]

I actually agree with christocolus, although it wouldn't be how I put it. The xb1 has its fair share of games and even more to come out. So does the ps4. The xb1 isn't a bad console at all, although I do disagree with the esram in it but who knows what they have planned in the future with it.

[vallencer]

I'm pretty sure even Sony has plans to make tv shows for their ps4. Even if they didn't though...Why's it matter?? Game systems are about gaming yes but we are getting into game systems being more then games. I don't know about you but I WANT my system to do more then just "play games". It's like a cell phone. How many people want "just a phone"? Everyone wants a phone that does more then call and text. Why can't game systems be the same?

@sinspirit

If you're going to list things then list complete releases please. You forgot a few. I mean hell you forgot kameo and perfect dark zero. There's also blue dragon and more. By listing it the way you do you come off as a fan boy.

[FriedGoat]

@vallencer

People want their phones to be more because it is useful. The difference between an Xbox one with its "media focus" is that it is not useful. I have devices in my home that do the job 100 times better. I'm not going to sacrifice quality (such as the DTS you lose using the Xbox HDMI in) just for the sake of a cheap media player and a semi decent games console.

Comparing a portable device that can have lots of handy tools when out and about with a console that sits next to your media center is stupid.

But yeah, I suppose it could be great for those of you who sit in an empty room with just a 14 inch television and a mattress on the floor.

[Pogmathoin]

Sin, not very sincere are you? How many 360 games did you leave out? Whos talking fanboy???

[edgeofsins]

@vallencer
@pogmathoin

He didn't list Folklore, Warhawk, or Genji: Days of the Blade, either(PS3 exclusives). Man he's totally a XBox fanboy..

[Azzanation]

@Zod18 The reason why people support MS is because they deliver great games, is it that hard to understand. I support PC because PC offer me great games. If you want to run this world like Hitler and make everybody buy the PS4 go for it, but that doesn't change the fact XBOX has great games.

TV is an added bonus, if its there its great if it isn't then no one would care. Its like buying a car with more features. Its not always about the Horse Power.

@Sinspirit Its not always about the quantity either. Id rather a console with 1 great game then a console filled with 5 bad games.

[NeoTribe]

Sak, you do realise ps4 has more games than xbox1 right? More announced for the future aswell. Your repeating the same mistakes xbots did in the past trying to say said console has no games. Look what happened last gen.... ps3 murdered xbox via games lol. Its fine to try and retaliate against the trolls but atleast dont use there same bs tactics when doing it. Does not make you sound better than the troll your angry at.

[UltimateMaster]

Same thing with motion controls.
They said it would never go off, it wasn't going anywhere, that it was going to fail... now look who has motion control bundled with every consoles...

[LexHazard79]

I agree Chris,

Those guys were good, but right now Phil and this new group are doing some great things! You can tell in some ways that within Xbox not everyone was on the same page! But everyone still has to do their job regardless of final product! Now with Don gone Xbox looking good and there seems to be more freedom to opreate and get things done for Xbox fans!

[reaperofsouls]

unfortunately M$ is run by suits who sole intension is creaming as much money as they can from the consumers. Had they focus on creating the best gaming experience they could then the console would have taken care of itself instead of being blitzed by ps4

[lifeisgamesok]

Phil Spencer is doing a tremendous job with the brand bringing back wanted games and attaining new games

Phil Harrison gave the greenlight for some of the key franchises Playstation owners enjoy

With these two guys that love games I'd say Xbox is in great hands

Ryse, Quantum Break, Halo 5, Gears of War 4, Sunset Overdrive, D4, Fable Legends, Max, Titanfall, Halo 2, Killer Instinct, Crackdown 3, Project Spark, Forza Horizon 2

[djplonker]

Halo halo forza forza fable and gears of war

orginal...

(Project spark and titanfall are not xbox exclusives)

ryse, quantum break , sunset overdrive , d4 are the only new ips so far they need more!

[Mikefizzled]

Microsoft Studios isn't an Xbox exclusive publishing studio...
Phil is in charge of putting their IP on all platforms. I think he thought Project Spark was so good he tried making it as accessible as possible hence the PC, 360 and One release of it.

[fr0sty]

Or he's just trying to maximize profit considering that Xbox One's install base is still pretty small and it would require a huge attach rate to get the kinds of sales that are needed to pay for high budget games.

[DarkLord1003]

So 4 new IPs - it's quite a lot actually

[Ginesis]

@deplonker Uncharted 4, another Killzone, more LBP, Last of Us Complete Edition, Last of Us 2, another Infamous. I could keep going but im going to stop there.

[Lawboy2]

So mlb the show not a ps4 exclusive got it....planetside 2 not a ps4 exclusive got it

[OpieWinston]

@Destrania
No Sony doesn't believe in the PS4 because of their platform exclusives. They've NEVER branched out with exclusives. And by that logic Microsoft is more focused on X1 just because of the amount of AAA games on X1 vs PS4.

PS4 is turning into an Indiestation 4 and really making me regret picking it up for KZ/Infamous alone.

[JustPlay4]

Project spark is coming to PC? Cool, I might get it then

[True_Samurai]

Only a jealous fanboy from the other could disagree with this. I want ms to destroy Sony at e3

@devilchum VR is a hit or miss project. The reason ms is skeptical because they've been working on AR technology instead. if morpheous doesn't go as expected it will be the end of Sony

@flamingweazel you're really gonna tell ms has no first party? IDC if it's 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Exclusives are exclusives. There might be more ps4s sold but Sony takes a loss for each of those consoles while ms makes a profit

[Flamingweazel]

We'll it isnt going to happen and the ps4 will continue to dominate./ MS has no first party.

[fr0sty]

They are skeptical about VR only because Xbox One lacks the horsepower to render VR at the same resolutions as PS4. With VR, you can't go below 60fps per eye or you start to get dizzy. That's 120fps (each eye is 960x1080p, which is half the vertical resolution of 1080p, so technically PS4 would need to render a full 1080p frame at 60fps, but each half of that frame would need to be rendered from a different perspective for each eye, increasing the performance demand even further.), even PS4 will have to dumb down the visuals a bit to hit those numbers. Xbox One will struggle even more, which will make that performance gap even more visible than it is today. So, rather than entertain the thought of Xbox One VR, they dismiss the concept.

Also, Sony is a multinational company that specializes in electronics and owns a massive chunk of both the movie and music industries. They also are very profitable as a life insurance seller in Japan. Their eggs are not all in project morpheus' basket, and they are comfortably outselling the Xbox One even without it. Sony will be just fine no matter what becomes of Morpheus.

We've been doing the AR thing for a while now, PS3 did it, Vita does it, PS4 does it, so I'm a bit skeptical of what AR glasses would achieve from a gaming perspective other than the same "super impose a character on a surface and have them interact with it" stuff we've seen. With VR, you can add it into existing games and put you into the game. AR could only bring the game to you, maybe having characters jump out of your TV and interact, but other than that any games made for it would need to be crafted specifically for that experience. For that reason, it will be at a disadvantage when it comes to software support. It can't be easily added into existing games.

[DarkLord1003]

The irony in your first sentence is just too good to be true

[DigitalRaptor]

" I want ms to destroy Sony at e3 "

1) Not happening

2) Only a fanboy would wish this

3) Both will bring great games, but I think logic pretty much stands that because MS has blown their load of what they have up to the end of 2015, and Sony is keeping their cards close to their chest, they have a better chance of blowing MS out of the water at E3.

4) VR is the ultimate in immersion and it's only drawback is really how well the content is implemented with the tech. Oculus was the convincing factor and it only goes forward from there. AR is something Sony has already explored and it never took off because its drawbacks are obvious.
------

@fr0sty

That's a good assessment.

Kinect can only render 30fps with the camera, so the input delay and performance overheads required just won't cut it like the PlayStation camera can. The PS4 eye can process and render: 30fps, 60fps and 120fps. That's FOUR times the potential for VR on PS4 alone.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

So combine that with significantly stronger console hardware and means VR on PS4 is a strong reality, whilst on Xbone, it's going to be a struggle that's probably not worth the endurance. They are skeptical because the performance might come back to bite them, well unless the cloud comes along to save the day.

[shadowsmoke36]

You know what If it becomes a success you can bet your life microsoft will go and try and supplant it and make it look like they invented it first. From my reports it seems to be doing well for what it is. It very well can mean the end for the xbox being with microsoft so don't slice it only one way. Second wishing for one company to be done with shows just how much a fan boy you really are. I have come to this site many times just a few years ago and it was laid out with 360 fan boys talking smack all day every day and sony fans having to defend constantly now how the tables have turned. I'm no fan boy and I plan on owning both at some point but to make every excuse for microsoft this generation when you bashed the same policies that sony did just last generation shows your a hypocrite. Just a bit of advice any time a company leaves it makes the industry weaker because then they can give you crap and you would clap for it wouldn't you. Ask yourself who was here between the ps2 and ps3 error and who is not now. Company left sony got big headed and made some mistakes on the ps3 price and ram was the 2 biggest. Don't take away the fact they reached 360 numbers in less time which was impressive enough. between ps2 and ps3 sony lost many exclusives and failed to bring out many fan favorites that should have at least made return to ps3 but didn't. Sony by no means were perfect either but they for now seem to have come back to their senses. I know people love to say i just want new IP but let me ask those who want new IP so much eventually things go stale because we have seen all of that before in games at one point but if say they make a new Dark cloud with a totally different story and the likes of a new IP then that should be efficient to buy time and that goes for both sony and microsoft. I'm sure many would fork out money for a LOD game or Jak and Dexter one or even Chrono Cross or whatever it is. There are many games that people would love to see make a return Syphon filter would be another one. And many would love to see a new Crash as well. Yes these are sony games but microsoft has their fair share as well. Be a fan but not a fan boy and enjoy your console you don't need to justify your purchase. For me I don't fully trust microsoft. Many would say yeah an american company that outsource like everyone else anyone who thinks that they made all the ones here in the US are insane. I can bet many of the jobs were overseas but yeah support a us company that does nothing but rob you.

[TheTowelBoy]

I owned a ps2 way back when and it always, ALWAYS killed me I couldn't play KOTOR on it. I'll be honest, it stayed with me even through high school (Im 22 now) but to my amazement years later I played KOTOR and it indeed became one of my all time favorites. They did do an amazing job.

[Qwagy UK]

Original Xbox Team Were Gamers & Tried To Keep It All About Games..... so what happened with the Xbone TiVo then?
VR will be the most immersive gaming experience around, nuff said!

[The_devils_chum]

Are you serious with some of these comments? "People think phil spenserdoing a fabulous job" boy ill bet my left testicle that came from a employee or one of those purchased comments from web cred. What nerve does this xbox guy have on being skeptical about VR while microsoft claims being all about the games. Give me a F#&(+'" break, at least sony made a gaming machine not a over priced DVR with a spy cam with poor gaming architecture. Of course he's skeptical about VR they know its the final nail in the coffin for them, they'll never catch up now. The only thing that can prevent this is sony's finances they scare me. All these people leaving are leading me to believe that sony will be bringing in someone else inaboc their gaming sector and people in the know are leaving. I expect huge news about this within 6 months. But god do these microsoft guys have some nerve, their 1st commercial all about tv.

[LexHazard79]

LMAO.......All about TV, lol...like Sonys E3 opening! Lol......

[sinspirit]

Not sure what you're talking about. I even rewatched the opening of their e3 with PS4 to see if I missed something, and I'm not missing anything about their E3 opening.

[Bigpappy]

How do we know you have a left testicle to begin with? Got a link?

[OpieWinston]

And that's why you've got one bubble. You're narrow minded.

[xhi4]

Can't wait for VR games, AH - going to be like the jump from 2D to 3D games I reckon.

[Flamingweazel]

THis gen off to a slower start? Stopped reading their, PS4 is shattering records and is outpacing any console ever released. Even the retarded xboix one is somehow beating the 360 in sales easily. Did this guy do his research?

[Julion0715]

Why do we have ppl that don't own the system or have any interest in it jus sit on xbox one related news jus to fuck it up for ppl that happily own the system smh

[Bigpappy]

Let me guess? You are new here.

[Julion0715]

Im new to commenting, but I been following news here for a while I know what the sony fans do all day I jus dnt wanna scoop down to their level to me its jus a system its not that serious to argue over the Internet

[shadowsmoke36]

Because that's what you get with fan boys and please reword that because it goes both ways as I have seen both sony and microsoft fan boys do it and more times then any. This site used to run rampant with 360 fan boys talking about how sony going out of business. Now you have sony fan boys doing the exact same thing which I think is pathetic then and the same goes now. See im not a fan boy I call out whatever company that underperforms no matter who it is. The article talks about VR and how many are trying to pull it together for immersion and fun for gamers everywhere. But we will see how long it takes before microsoft starts to do it then talk some nonsense about how good it is after they have gotten their product out. Then the fan boys will start doing as fan boys do on both sides. Oh this is the best thing since sliced bread. GTFOWTBS.

[Goku781]

That statement makes no sense, when this time last year they were all about TV. Stand for something MS or you dont stand for nothing at all.

[ThatIrishGamer]

All about games... Until Kinect and tv domination lol

[Hicken]

They said the ORIGINAL Xbox team. And I can believe that. It's the more recent team that put ads on the dash and made Kinect and TV features the focus of the console.

[CrustifiedDibbs]

psn now has ads too. i guess you missed the the ads for taco bell in the psn newsfeed. im sure you are ok with that though.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ CrustifiedDibbs

That is pretty sh*t, but it's nothing compared to what MS had planned with their always-on, Kinect requirement to even use the console in the first place. http://adage.com/article/sp...

They planned to gather data, use it for personalised dash ads. I'm sorry but no-one that is passionate for games and the future of gaming consoles would agree to let that serve their marketing needs. Sell outs. This is why people dislike the modern MS and show concern for their impact on gaming. Xbox used to be run by passionate gamers, and now it's seemingly ways to build a platform to take advantage of the consumer in the worst possible ways.

[CrustifiedDibbs]

digitalraptor

you said it yourself. they PLANNED on implementing these features. i could be wrong, but those things are yet to be implemented, right? if those plans end up going through, i will change my tune, but until then im not going to harp on what could have been.

as of right now the ads on live or psn arent even an issue to me. i rarely even notice. however, that guy was in a lot of articles last gen about xbox live bitching about ads on the dash. now psn has ads for tacos.... no complaining from him or the legions of fanboys that complained about the same thing just a year ago...

[LexHazard79]

Good one Dibbs, no BS guys, an ad is a ad! Lol.....that was funny..dont act like you didnt see it, lol..Whats new -Taco Bell. A trend thats only gonna continue, sadly!

[rainslacker]

From what I can tell half the people commenting on this thread have no clue who this guy is to begin with.

I'm skeptical about VR too, just because it has a lot to prove.

But when he says that console sales have peaked and aren't growing, it makes no sense since this gen is starting out faster than any gen before, even for the X1 which is breaking old records as well.

Anyhow, anyone wanting to use this guy for quoting to back up their arguments on VR not going to pan out should go back and look at some of his other statements on publishers, Ouya, and even the Xbox One, which he had no part in creating.

I also find it ironic that he is skeptical about VR, but also makes this statement in regards to Xbox's original X1 policies

"The challenges with technology are often not guessing what the future’s going to be and then building it, it’s being in the right place at the right time with that technology"

To me, it seems VR is the thing that people have been talking about for a couple years being the next big thing, mostly thanks to Occulus Rift. If Sony or OR, or any other company happens to be in the right place right now, and VR is what people are craving, they are going to succeed.

[Julion0715]

If you guys dnt have the system why do y'all care so much if it's about tv, games, or unicorn dust? It won't benefit you so either ur scared or dnt have enough to play on ps4 please go so where else with the trolling. Mind you both systems are great you dnt need to come here and act an ass

[sinspirit]

Because, people want more and always will. Clearly, they would like to have another console with its own share of great games and not have to compromise a lot to get that. Also, many were and are XBox 360 players and aren't too excited with XBox One.

[shadowsmoke36]

Same could have been said for those who didn't own the ps3 when this site was run by 360 fan boys. I will be owning both after some adjustments from microsoft and some quality games that are not fps.

[No_Limit]

Have anyone heard anything about regarding TVs on XB1 ever since its initial reveal in May last year? I sure haven't, it is all about system updates, increase gaming performances, DX12, acquiring Gears of War IP from Epic, hyping the launch of Titanfall, ID@Xbox for Indies developers at GDC, and having so many new games to show at E3 that they have to move stuff out just to fit the conference. Until someone prove me wrong, stop with the theory that MS focus is not in game.

[Remy_S]

Now their focus is on games because they got their shit slapped so hard at the reveal and e3 that they had to do a 180 to save face.

[No_Limit]

The reveal was in May, E3 was in Jun where we first heard about games like Quantum break, Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall, the Halo Trailer, and the launch games. Get your facts straight.

Edit:
"We'll see how long it lasts though, as MS has a history of well... I'll let you figure that one out."

History of What? If you are referring to providing games to X360 consoles, they have Fable Anniversary, Titanfall, Project Spark all scheduled to be release this year for a console that is almost 9 year old with 1,119 games (multiplatform: 919; exclusive: 187; console exclusive: 72). http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

That is more than any platform last generation and what is Sony providing for the 80 million PS3 owners this year? The Last Guardian, Agent?

[DigitalRaptor]

They'd be talking all about it, if they hadn't been lambasted by gamers about it.

I'm sure they want to talk more about it, but they fear the backlash. Think of those poor people who worked hard for years to implement a glorified TV guide and link to cable service that's on its way out. I'd be depressed if that work was gone unappreciated - and I'm sure they have a team dedicated to improving that stuff too. They definitely have a lot of TV studios making series already.

I'm glad MS is focusing more on games now, I really am. We'll see how long it lasts though, as MS has a history of well... I'll let you figure that one out.

[ShinMaster]

You can't deny that Microsoft really slowed their support for the 360 after only 3 or 4 years.
Sony had continued support and released major IPs just last year.
And thrid-party devs, especially from Japan, continue to support the PS3 with exclusive games all throughout this year and the next.

[mochachino]

$400 million of a 1 billion dollar exclusive content budget spent on exclusive NFL content...

[sinspirit]

Well, they said $1 billion spent on games or game content. I don't being the exclusive NFL console is part of that but who knows. They consider the power brick an accessory after all..

[D3ATH_DRIV3R_777]

I played XBOX years ago, but went back to PS because they didn't have nothing else interesting to play, and their first party software sucked! they really need to bring some real first party software on to XBOX ONE(not just FPS games) if they want me to drop $500+ dollars on it, 3rd party software i buy on PS4 since they run better on it. I don't care about your disagrees xbots, you know i'm telling the truth.

[Knushwood Butt]

I wonder if this person was skeptical about the power of teh cloud.

[tommygunzII]

Of course they are skeptical. Microsoft can't afford to take risks as a big company controlled by shareholders so they can't believe it is the future. If Microsoft gets into VR it will be because they bought it from someone else, not because they designed it.

Sony has nothing to lose so they can take risks. Microsoft has everything to lose, so they will most likely opt for what they perceive as a sure thing.

[choujij]

Yes, the original Xbox was about the games, and keeping any MS/Windows branding (or anything that could potentially confuse consumers into thinking it was a PC) as far away from it as possible.

How times have changed.