The Thursday letters page has no sympathy for Xbox boss Phil Spencer, as one reader celebrates Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ reviews.
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Greed with limits
If there’s one good thing that’s come out of all this Microsoft madness, it’s that I have a newfound respect for Nintendo and the Japanese games industry. They’re all still run by greedy, callous businessmen but at least they seem to have some concept of restraint and long-term planning. Watching Microsoft, and most other Western publishers, try and speedrun their way to an industry crash would be funny if it wasn’t so destructive.
What’s the secret of Nintendo’s success? Make great games, consistently. Try and innovate, of course, (within the safety of well-known franchises) and in terms of hardware. But basically just make great games, which Xbox has failed to do for two generations straight.
Although the secret sauce for Nintendo is that they still do so within what are obviously quite small budgets. Half their stuff is still AA and I doubt even something like Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom cost anywhere near as much as other publishers’ triple-A blockbusters.
Japanese publishers haven’t not laid people off because they’re kind and charitable but because their games have sensible budgets and they haven’t got to the point where it’s near impossible to make a profit from them. And the only one that does act like that sometimes is Square Enix and, guess what, they’re the only one that seems to be in any potential trouble.
It’s not like Japanese companies aren’t still in it for the money, but it is possible to run a business and not do it at the expense of your employees and the whole industry. I’d say it’s about time Xbox learnt this lesson, but I don’t get the feeling they’re ever really paying attention. Considering how long they’ve been in gaming now, they’re really pretty rubbish at it.
Casper
The burden of leadership
Good on Mike Ybarra for saying what we were all thinking; that multimillionaire CEO Phil Spencer is the true victim of this whole developer-closure kerfuffle at Xbox.
Here we all are feeling bad just because a few hundred developers will lose their jobs, no doubt due to his and other Microsoft executives’ boneheaded business decisions, while poor old Phil is probably completely traumatised about having to do the actual deed of actually firing them.
So next time you feel a pang of pity about those hardworking people and wondering how they’ll pay their mortgages, spare a though for poor old Phil, the real victim.
You’re no-doubt sitting in your mansion right now crying into your Battletoads T-shirt (he’s a big fan, BTW), but if you’re reading this, Phil, I hope you feel better soon!
ANON
True love
Just been reading about how bad Phil Spencer feels. I’m sure that all his millions will help him wipe away his tears and same goes for Sony. It makes me laugh, they spend billions buying companies, time and time again saying how much they love there developers and how buying a company is good for gaming. Then starts what can only be described as sacking the people that do the hard work.
Maybe Sony and Xbox should take a leaf out of Nintendo’s book. When the Wii U was in trouble and the board was on about letting people go what did Satoru Iwata do? He and the rest of the board took a pay cut. Why anyone would want to work for PlayStation or Xbox is beyond me.
Anon
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Death and rebirth
Are you able to be a little more detailed in your prediction of an ‘inevitable and imminent industry crash’ as I think that’s where the insight is probably needed?
What exactly does that constitute, and when, do you think it will inevitably happen?
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)
GC: We’re not claiming to be Nostradamus but, clearly, the cost of making games is constantly increasing and the number and type of games which publishers consider worth making is constantly shrinking – as we’ve seen this week with Xbox. We’ll answer the question in more detail in this weekend’s newsletter.
Back on the Battlefield
EA are usually ruthlessly sensible about the games they publish, which I can respect to a certain degree, but I am genuinely surprised that their putting so much into making more Battlefield. Those games have had so many chances to make it big and they’ve always fluffed it. I just don’t think that many people are into it anymore or even know what it is.
If you played Battlefield 1942 in your teens then you’ve got to be in your mid-30s by now, and I’m not sure the franchise really resonates with people much younger that. Not my problem, I guess, but all this time later and you’re still trying to beat Call Of Duty at it’s own game? I just don’t see it happening. The moment has passed.
Rodney
A bad year
What an absolute and complete disaster this year has been for Microsoft. I literally couldn’t imagine what else they could get wrong at this point. I hope all those Xbox fans desperate for the Activision Blizzard deal to go through (why? What did you get out of it?) now realise that everything everyone was telling you about what happens after acquisitions was true.
I very much doubt we’ve seen the end of Microsoft’s cuts. Any studio making AA games is in danger, and that definitely includes Double Fine and Ninja Theory. I wouldn’t even say Obsidian was safe – although they’ll probably be told to become a Fallout factory once Avowed is out, and doesn’t do very well.
The problem for Microsoft is that it has no patience. It always thinks it’s found the shortcut to success, with Game Pass being the latest failed gimmick. If it had just sat back and built up its first party studios from the start they’d be in full bloom by now. Arguably, Sony’s didn’t come into their own until the PlayStation 4, so this should’ve been Xbox’s monent – but they’ve just squandered their time on money and now have nothing to show for it.
Their final attempt was just to buy up as much as the games industry as they could, without apparently contemplating the true cost, in terms of investor scepctism and lost jobs. The idea we should have sympathy for poor old Phil Spencer is not just absurd, it’s offensive.
Focus
Failure to connect
That deleted tweet from Xbox’s Sarah Bond is just… wow. She obviously knew about Tango Gameworks and co. at the point she wrote it but didn’t connect the meaning of what she was endorsing with the reality of what was going on.
There’ll probably be no better example of the lack of empathy execs have for their employee and the straight-up stupidity of so many people in the games industry. And that goes for that ex-Blizzard boss too. Pity poor Phil Spencer and the millions he gets paid for running an entire medium into the ground!
Scorpio
Build it and they will come
A good summary from GC about big business ruining the games industry and how Xbox are leading the charge. I can’t argue against any of the points raised. Phil Spencer lost me when he said producing 11/10 games wouldn’t make a difference. Microsoft are so focused on analytics, they’re blind to the obvious. The key to success isn’t rocket science. Build compelling hardware with great games, and customers will follow.
GC previously stated PlayStation are essentially an American company. Because of that, they’ve become a variation of Microsoft, infested by the same corporate greed. Nintendo has retained its Japanese roots and it shows. A company steeped in tradition, there’s something honourable about how Nintendo conduct business. It would be so easy for Nintendo to become enamoured with growth and put their IP everywhere and rake in a boat load of cash. It’s commendable they don’t.
I’m a big boxing fan and watched Japan’s superstar boxer Naoya Inoue fight in Tokyo the other day. The pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet was up against a Mexican fighter. The Mexican was billed as public enemy number one in Japan, because of past digressions. Despite this, the Mexican was applauded to the ring. There wasn’t a peep of disapproval during the Mexican national anthem. And after Inoue dealt out a beating there was nothing but respect for his opponent. This whole spectacle epitomised Japanese culture for me.
So, when Nintendo execs took a pay cut during the Wii U disaster, it isn’t surprising. That’s why I root for Nintendo to do well.
Anon
PS: If GC are unfamiliar with Nayoa Inoue, check out his knock out highlights. He isn’t called the Monster for nothing. He should be in the end boss in a fighting game!
Inbox also-rans
For those that are interested, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes has got pretty good reviews, with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Seems the script isn’t all that, but the direction is a highlight, so considering the director is doing Zelda, and he’s had a lot of practice here with high-quality CGI, that’s pretty encouraging.
Dunstan
Since it seems another GTA 6 trailer is imminent I’ll be very interested to see if debuts at either the Xbox or PlayStation showcases. Whichever it is will be a good show of who is still willing to throw money around to attract other publishers.
Lempton
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