phil-spencer
October 14th, 2009 at 01:15pm
Under Xbox 360
If given the choice of becoming a (presumably) anthropomorphic vegetable, Phil Spencer would opt for an eggplant. Sure, we spoke to the confident head of Microsoft Game Studios about other things — Halo, Project Natal, Fable, Crackdown, the Xbox 360’s successor, blah blah blah — but with that profound scoop out of the way, there’s barely any reason to read this interview.
Mind you, the part where Spencer suggests that alternate forms of input (whether in addition to or in substitute of traditional controllers) might become a common expectation is pretty interesting. You should definitely read that.
Joystiq: We just came out of the Tokyo Game Show panel discussion for Project Natal …
Phil Spencer: The creators panel.
Yes, the creators panel. Hideo Kojima was there; they brainstormed about all these games. How much focus is Microsoft Game Studios placing on Natal development internally in comparison to other projects?
It’s a big focus for us in first party. As a first party, I think it’s our duty, it’s our responsibility to look at the new technologies that we bring to our platform. We did this with Live. We did at launch of 360. When we look at Project Natal as an opportunity for first party to truly innovate on our platform, creating new experiences, new intellectual property, we’re very focused. A large percentage of the studio right now is thinking about Natal as part of what they’re doing.
Continue reading Interview: Microsoft Game Studios’ Phil Spencer
Interview: Microsoft Game Studios’ Phil Spencer originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Interview: Microsoft Game Studios’ Phil Spencer
Tags: alan-wake, crackdown, crackdown-2, fable, halo, halo-3-odst, interview, microsoft-game-studios, odst, phil-spencer, project-natal, tgs, tgs-2009
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Interview: Microsoft Game Studios’ Phil Spencer
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:10pm
Under PSP
Last week, the Tokyo Game Show brought in over 100 posts worth of news, previews, interviews, galleries, and videos. Clearly,
a lot happened. If you’re looking for a comprehensive list of all the goings-on during
TGS 2009, Joystiq has you covered —
and organized!
Click on a platform below to scan the highlights:
(On the far right: that’s “News” and “Culture” on the top and bottom, respectively)
Continue reading TGS 2009: The Recap Post
TGS 2009: The Recap Post originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading TGS 2009: The Recap Post
Tags: 0-day-attack-on-earth, ace-attorney-investigations-miles-edgeworth, ace-combat-xi, alienware, army-of-two-2, army-of-two-the-40th-day, assassins-creed-2, badman-2, bayonetta, capcom, crackdown-2, dantes-inferno, dead-rising-2, dynasty-warriors-online, ea, echoshift, electronic-arts, end-of-eternity, epic-games, fable, final-fantasty-crystal-chronicles, final-fantasty-crystal-chronicles-the-crystal-bearers, final-fantasy-versus-xiii, final-fantasy-xiii, final-fantasy-xiv, forza-motorsport-3, four-warriors-of-light, four-warriors-of-light-final-fantasy-gaiden, gears-of-war-2, ghost-trick, ghosts-n-goblins, ghouls-n-ghosts, gran-turismo-5, gundam, gyromancer, inafune, joy-ride, kojima, konami, last-guardian, left-4-dead-2, little-king-story, littlebigplanet, lost-planet-2, metal-gear-solid-peace-walker, minna-no-sukkiri, ni-no-kuni, ni-no-kuni-the-another-world, nis-america, okamiden, phil-spencer, playstation-room, project-natal, psp-go, recap, resident-evil-5, resident-evil-5-directors-cut, resident-evil-the-darkside-chronicles, resonance-of-fate, sands-of-destruction, sega, silent-hill-shattered-memories, snoopy, sony, space-invaders-extreme, splinter-cell-conviction, square-enix, suda51, super-monkey-ball-step-and-roll, tgs-2009, the-last-guardian, tokyo-game-show, toy-soldiers, tsumuji, ubisoft, valkyria-chronicles-2, valve, wii-hula, xbla, xbox-live-arcade, yoshiro-kimura
By Mister-X
Continue Reading TGS 2009: The Recap Post
September 24th, 2009 at 06:30am
Under Xbox 360
Microsoft Game Studios’ corporate vice president, Phil Spencer, doesn’t seem like the easily startled type. In fact, on the list of things that wouldn’t catch him off guard, the incorporation of Project Natal into a high-profile, Xbox 360-exclusive franchise probably doesn’t sit very high. Perhaps a few spots below lots of people buying a new Halo game.
During a Tokyo Game Show interview (look for the full transcript soon), Spencer told Joystiq that the innovation fostered inside Lionhead Studios made it a good match for Microsoft’s forthcoming motion control system. “You know, Lionhead’s been a real innovation studio for us,” he said. “We have the release of Fable 2 episodic this week, where they’re taking Fable 2 and breaking it up into chunks, allowing people to buy the content at their pace. Fable 2, I thought, was a great release, with the orbs they added with Live, adding new functionality to the franchise. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Natal found its way into future iterations of Fable.”
Whether or not motion functionality will show up in 2010’s Fable 3 is a matter of speculation, though your role as king in that game would certainly lend itself to some interesting … regal maneuvers. Waving your hand to permanently dispense with an annoying peasant? That’s our kind of role playing.
TGS 2009: Microsoft’s Phil Spencer easily envisions Fable, Natal crossover originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading TGS 2009: Microsoft’s Phil Spencer easily envisions Fable, Natal crossover
Tags: fable-2, fable-3, lionhead, lionhead-studios, microsoft-game-studios, natal, phil-spencer, project-natal, rpg, tgs-2009
By Mister-X
Continue Reading TGS 2009: Microsoft’s Phil Spencer easily envisions Fable, Natal crossover
September 14th, 2009 at 11:20pm
Under Xbox 360
In a March 2008 interview with GamersGlobal, renowned designer Peter Molyneux divulged few details on “Dimitri,” an “experimental thing” which he claimed was given life by a mysterious discovery. “And then it moved from that experiment to a moment in time that happened six months ago when a discovery was made, and this discovery has been so exciting that it has lead to Lionhead focusing on it and sculpting a game around that,” he said at the time. “I think that discovery is so significant … This discovery has lead us to start a game and that game will be on the front cover of Nature magazines and Science magazines.”
According to Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer, the discovery was actually “the right platform for an ambitious software idea” — namely Project Natal, Microsoft’s forthcoming motion control system for the Xbox 360. “Peter [Molyneux] and I saw the first [Natal] prototype about 2 years ago,” Spencer recently told Develop. “He focused on what people want to do in this environment, and that’s where a project of Lionhead’s, called Dimitri, become Milo – the team’s previous idea took on a whole new lease of life with Natal.”
Now that we’ve become acquainted with “Dimitri” in his new, boyish form, we can lay the old codeword to rest and attempt to discern the reality within Molyneux’s enthusiastic words. Though we’re undecided on Milo’s future as a Popular Mechanics cover model, we’re fairly confident he’ll wind up on Game Informer sooner or later. Shall we file this under Molyknew or Molyno?
Project Natal: How Dimitri met Milo originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Project Natal: How Dimitri met Milo
Tags: dimitri, microsoft-game-studios, milo, molyneux, natal, peter-molyneux, phil-spencer, project-natal
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Project Natal: How Dimitri met Milo
September 7th, 2009 at 02:00pm
Under Xbox 360
Before Microsoft revealed that Ruffian Games would be developing the upcoming Crackdown sequel, the original game’s developer, Realtime Worlds, expressed some skepticism towards the idea. “I very much doubt that Microsoft would harm an otherwise fruitful existing development relationship by gambling on funding Crackdown 2 with a startup on RTW’s doorstep, for obvious reasons,” RTW’s Colin MacDonald said last year. Things weren’t so cut and dry for self-accused Crackdown fanboy (and Microsoft exec) Phil Spencer, who recently told Develop, “When Billy Thomson, the lead designer of the game [Crackdown 1], left Realtime Worlds, there was an opportunity.”
Apparently, it would seem Mr. Spencer believes Realtime Worlds is simply too busy developing APB to give a Crackdown sequel the attention it deserves. “I wanted to make sure that anything we work on is correctly nurtured … we had to find the right team who really understood what game it is – and that was Billy [Thompson] and the team at Ruffian.” Crackdown 2 will be the first game developed by Ruffian Games since the studio’s inception late last year.
Microsoft explains why Ruffian is the right choice for Crackdown 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Microsoft explains why Ruffian is the right choice for Crackdown 2
Tags: apb, billy-thompson, colin-macdonald, crackdown, crackdown-2, develop, microsoft, phil-spencer, realtime-worlds, ruffian, ruffian-games
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Microsoft explains why Ruffian is the right choice for Crackdown 2
July 16th, 2009 at 12:00pm
Under Xbox 360
Another Microsoft rep is comparing the 2010 launch of the Project Natal peripheral to a new console release. Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, told MCV that Natal will be like a new launch for the Xbox 360.
“When Natal comes out it will feel like a new generation has arrived,” he said, echoing comments made by Shane Kim. “I see it as like the launch of the Xbox 360 back in 2005 – there will be a launch portfolio of games to support it.” Will there also be a massive shortage into the next year?
Spencer denied the rumors of an actual new hardware launch once again, saying that Microsoft intends to make sure the original 360 is a “huge return on investment” for Microsoft, developers, and owners. And if enough Microsoft staffers tell us there won’t be a new console next year, we might even start to believe it.
Spencer: Project Natal will ‘feel like a new generation has arrived’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Spencer: Project Natal will ‘feel like a new generation has arrived’
Tags: microsoft, microsoft-game-studios, phil-spencer, project-natal
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Spencer: Project Natal will ‘feel like a new generation has arrived’
