thelastword
Banned
Looking at how things have gone with XBOX for this entire generation, the many pitfalls. I think Mattrick had a much better understanding of what a console was, choosing the right games for the brand and setting a trend of success. The creator of Stunts ensured that the 360 grew from 2007 when he became the one in charge of XBOX and PC gaming at Microsoft. I think he chose great games and made some deals to keep 360 alive, even if the division already had an anchor around the neck called rrod, but he was able to meander through it... I think Mattrick showed then that he had the proper acumen to weather the storm and he did....
Mattrick was never one to continuously make promises and not deliver upon them or make too many bad decisions, he brought some good games and excitement to XBOX, which transcended beyond the core XBOX buyers, something which we can't say about Phil Spencer for the last 7 years....Looking at Mattrick's statement about "we have a console for you, buy a 360", I think people misunderstood what he was saying. That statement was not about arrogance from Mattrick, he was just trying to sell the console and feature set his company was pushing and was just being plain honest and upfront. Moreover, to this day, I think Mattrick had little say in XBOX's TV TV TV approach or their DRM policies, I very much doubt an established game developer like Mattrick would be at the forefront of such features, he had didn't twist DRM to make it sound palatable, he was raw about it, you don't want it, there's an offline console....So i think the person who was really pushing DRM and TV TV TV was given the reigns, that's Phil Spencer, it's why he is so much into services too and I think it was their way of trying to expand XBOX and so their studios and first party games and investments thereinto have suffered....
Don't get me wrong, Phil Spencer was/is not solely responsible for 2013 or TV TV TV and DRM. I think that push comes higher up the food chain at MS, it is how they always pushed XBOX OG or their vision for it eventually. They always envisioned a set top box that would dominate the living room just like Windows, but adoption of the brand never really got to the heights or saw the worldwide adoption that would guarantee that...
Still, I think XBOX as a brand has lost too much air and identity. XBOX OG went from Ninja Gaiden, Doa, Perfect Dark, Sega Games to a multiplayer behemoth in the 360 days ushered by Halo and Gears, to a console pushing too many stylized games, indies and games for lower age demographics.....This is not the traditional XBOX we know.....The messaging under Phil Spencer has been too flip-floppy, too much hype without delivery. It only serves to disappoint till even the most hardcore XBOX fan's and their zeal is eroded away. The last two shows from XBOX has been very flat and underwhelming, especially on top of them always reiterating "the most powerful console" which is sadly not sustained relative to what they show......Mistakes like, no next gen games till 2 years in, a lower end console, cutting off this gen for a while already (first party), the hardware cutoff was just the last nail to say MS is done with current gen owners. Pushing a gamepass service where it's profitability is not quantifiable, since subs can be had for $1-2 on sales/promotions and MS would eventually lower the budget for their games hitting gamepass on day 1 to offset too huge of a loss overall....
There is more about how XBOX has been mismanaged or where they focus on the wrong things and are still not course correcting, even heading to a cliff..... Look at Halo Infinite, it does not look like what you expect from a 12TF hyped box with RDNA 2 and VRS. When was the last time an MS console launched without Forza, games which should have been in development for a while, even Fable is not going to make launch. So of course MS is going to dig into the virtues of BC, because it seems their software houses are just not ready for next gen after all these years and hype from the media recently that XBOX was ahead of the competition relative to readiness for next gen, with all the studio purchase et al.
There's been too many bad decisions and pitfalls. TBF, my XBOX is my PC. It's where I've played all the Forza Motorsports, Horizons, Gears etc.....But MS is failing to even breath in new lifeblood or revitalize these old franchises in any way, so I say we need a man who knew games....Bring back Don Mattrick to the XBOX fold....
Mattrick was never one to continuously make promises and not deliver upon them or make too many bad decisions, he brought some good games and excitement to XBOX, which transcended beyond the core XBOX buyers, something which we can't say about Phil Spencer for the last 7 years....Looking at Mattrick's statement about "we have a console for you, buy a 360", I think people misunderstood what he was saying. That statement was not about arrogance from Mattrick, he was just trying to sell the console and feature set his company was pushing and was just being plain honest and upfront. Moreover, to this day, I think Mattrick had little say in XBOX's TV TV TV approach or their DRM policies, I very much doubt an established game developer like Mattrick would be at the forefront of such features, he had didn't twist DRM to make it sound palatable, he was raw about it, you don't want it, there's an offline console....So i think the person who was really pushing DRM and TV TV TV was given the reigns, that's Phil Spencer, it's why he is so much into services too and I think it was their way of trying to expand XBOX and so their studios and first party games and investments thereinto have suffered....
Don't get me wrong, Phil Spencer was/is not solely responsible for 2013 or TV TV TV and DRM. I think that push comes higher up the food chain at MS, it is how they always pushed XBOX OG or their vision for it eventually. They always envisioned a set top box that would dominate the living room just like Windows, but adoption of the brand never really got to the heights or saw the worldwide adoption that would guarantee that...
Still, I think XBOX as a brand has lost too much air and identity. XBOX OG went from Ninja Gaiden, Doa, Perfect Dark, Sega Games to a multiplayer behemoth in the 360 days ushered by Halo and Gears, to a console pushing too many stylized games, indies and games for lower age demographics.....This is not the traditional XBOX we know.....The messaging under Phil Spencer has been too flip-floppy, too much hype without delivery. It only serves to disappoint till even the most hardcore XBOX fan's and their zeal is eroded away. The last two shows from XBOX has been very flat and underwhelming, especially on top of them always reiterating "the most powerful console" which is sadly not sustained relative to what they show......Mistakes like, no next gen games till 2 years in, a lower end console, cutting off this gen for a while already (first party), the hardware cutoff was just the last nail to say MS is done with current gen owners. Pushing a gamepass service where it's profitability is not quantifiable, since subs can be had for $1-2 on sales/promotions and MS would eventually lower the budget for their games hitting gamepass on day 1 to offset too huge of a loss overall....
There is more about how XBOX has been mismanaged or where they focus on the wrong things and are still not course correcting, even heading to a cliff..... Look at Halo Infinite, it does not look like what you expect from a 12TF hyped box with RDNA 2 and VRS. When was the last time an MS console launched without Forza, games which should have been in development for a while, even Fable is not going to make launch. So of course MS is going to dig into the virtues of BC, because it seems their software houses are just not ready for next gen after all these years and hype from the media recently that XBOX was ahead of the competition relative to readiness for next gen, with all the studio purchase et al.
There's been too many bad decisions and pitfalls. TBF, my XBOX is my PC. It's where I've played all the Forza Motorsports, Horizons, Gears etc.....But MS is failing to even breath in new lifeblood or revitalize these old franchises in any way, so I say we need a man who knew games....Bring back Don Mattrick to the XBOX fold....