Yoshida: Microsoft is very, very smart

Speaking to Games Industry International, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida talked about the competition between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. He also stated, regarding the many changes Microsoft has made to its policies with the console, that, We know theyre very smart people. Its great that they were able to quickly realise that some of the things they were doing were not popular, and were able to make really quick decisions to change some of those things even things that their engineering group must have spent a lot of time preparing before the launch.

It must have been a very tough time for them. That shows how smart they are, and it shows their dedication to making Xbox One successful. We never took them lightly. Especially in the States, we are the challenger were trying to compete with them. Some of the messaging that they stumbled on just gave us more chances to compete with them in the States.

Other markets are very different in Europe, we have a larger market share and in Japan, we have a much longer history of being here. Being consistent and persistent helps; the legacy and peoples associations with the brand, their memories of having a great time before.

GamingBolt

SOURCE

Okay, first off Yoshida, you have all my respect from now until the end of time, based on this comment and the one you made about the 3DS yesterday. You are the most level headed person in the gaming industry at the moment, it seems.

Secondly, it seems Yoshida appreciates Microsoft's quick response to negative feedback so soon before launch as well: something most cows on this board have had trouble recognizing as a good thing (lol180!). He also recognizes that the Xbox One is a legitimate threat to the PS4.

They also know how to hide it very, very well.

Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Allicrombie

MS has been working hard to enforce digital slavery since forever, so I don't see how a slap on the wrist makes them smart.

Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Allicrombie

What do you mean no? You basically just agreed with him, but with an added hint of mad cow disease.

I fail to see how the actions they've taken after initially killing off interest in their product can be considered "smart", more like just "essential", also it's not like they reassured or convinced people they would benefit from the changes, i would consider that smart, they've just backtrack as if to say "ok, well we thought we might be able to get away with this and this, but too many people complained".

There are also still a significant number of issues like the whole focus on cloud and why Kinect is mandatory that haven't remotely been justified or explained, i wouldn't say they've gained back half or the fanbase they've driven away since E3, and i think after the last generation Sony are rather flattering and overestimating the threat that MS pose this time around (at least publically). It won't even be close. 

Yeap, they're smart, Sony's smart, Nintendo's smart, Valve's smart - these guys are all top tier. 

Cool to see Yoshida-san so respectful of his competitors. This is actually something that can give a bit of an edge in business. 

:lol: Gamingbolt. 

Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Allicrombie

Microsoft is still going to get destroyed because their console is $500.PurpleMan5000

[QUOTE="PurpleMan5000"]Microsoft is still going to get destroyed because their console is $500.danten81

He's definitely got a point. I'm liking the more humble Sony. It suits them way more :P

.

Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Allicrombie

Pretty much.

Of course they are smart and like most smart people they can't seem to relate to normal people all that well sometimes and do things that are pretty dumb.

Hopefully, like really smart people they learn from their mistakes.

The most hilarious thing about this is they recovered from their stupidity a lot faster than Sony did last gen and yet everyone accuses them of backpedaling.

They should have went ahead with their plans.

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.RR360DD

What do you mean no? You basically just agreed with him, but with an added hint of mad cow disease.

Of course they are smart and like most smart people they can't seem to relate to normal people all that well sometimes and do things that are pretty dumb.

Hopefully, like really smart people they learn from their mistakes.

The most hilarious thing about this is they recovered from their stupidity a lot faster than Sony did last gen and yet everyone accuses them of backpedaling.

They should have went ahead with their plans.

heretrix

Sony really trying to generate dat good PR before launch.

Now for them to actually put what they say into practice.

After reading that. all i could think of was..

[QUOTE="heretrix"]

Of course they are smart and like most smart people they can't seem to relate to normal people all that well sometimes and do things that are pretty dumb.

Hopefully, like really smart people they learn from their mistakes.

The most hilarious thing about this is they recovered from their stupidity a lot faster than Sony did last gen and yet everyone accuses them of backpedaling.

They should have went ahead with their plans.

Capitan_Kid

And yet those same policies exist on the PC platform right now and people don't seem to have much of an issue of it. Like it or not it's pretty much where this is all going anyway.

Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Allicrombie

Considering most companies are severely handicapped by their own pride, MS changing policies that fast was smart. I can't imagine Nintendo or Sony having the guts to step up and u turn on a stupid policy, and both those companies have pushed on with decisions so bad, they've had a profound effect on their product for a gen.

Nintendo more so, they won't stop to listen to anyone, ever. Sony made some almost company crippling decisions with the PS3 that cost them a lot. And the Vita is pretty redundant because they refuse to look at what makes the competition successful.

yoshida can either toe the line and kiss some ass or his email can dissappear.

:P

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.RR360DD

What do you mean no? You basically just agreed with him, but with an added hint of mad cow disease.

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.HalcyonScarlet

Considering most companies are severely handicapped by their own pride, MS changing policies that fast was smart. I can't imagine Nintendo or Sony having the guts to step up and u turn on a stupid policy, and both those companies have pushed on with decisions so bad, they've had a profound effect on their product for a gen.

Nintendo more so, they won't stop to listen to anyone, ever. Sony made some almost company crippling decisions with the PS3 that cost them a lot. And the Vita is pretty redundant because they refuse to look at what makes the competition successful.

[QUOTE="HalcyonScarlet"]

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.X_CAPCOM_X

Considering most companies are severely handicapped by their own pride, MS changing policies that fast was smart. I can't imagine Nintendo or Sony having the guts to step up and u turn on a stupid policy, and both those companies have pushed on with decisions so bad, they've had a profound effect on their product for a gen.

Nintendo more so, they won't stop to listen to anyone, ever. Sony made some almost company crippling decisions with the PS3 that cost them a lot. And the Vita is pretty redundant because they refuse to look at what makes the competition successful.

The launch is one small battle of a larger war. The only real negative for the X1 now is the price and MS has the resources to drop that if they need to.

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Capitan_Kid

It was pretty obviously they were going to flip on that when Sony didn't follow through and do the same policies. :lol:

The only thing they still haven't done is purchase one of the BIG publishers like EA, Activision, Take-Two or Ubisoft. They only need two of these companies and maybe one strong Asian developer (Sega, Capcom, Atlus, etc) and they would pretty much own the U.S. market. If they ever partnered with Nintendo and made one epic game console it would be over as well. Microsoft never thinks BIG, yet they seem to waste a lot of money on things they don't need to.

I doubt SteamBox will make much of a dent in the console market. They will pull a few PC gamers over, but that's about it.

[QUOTE="Capitan_Kid"][QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.blackace

It was pretty obviously they were going to flip on that when Sony didn't follow through and do the same policies. :lol:

The only thing they still haven't done is purchase one of the BIG publishers like EA, Activision, Take-Two or Ubisoft. They only need two of these companies and maybe one strong Asian developer (Sega, Capcom, Atlus, etc) and they would pretty much own the U.S. market. If they ever partnered with Nintendo and made one epic game console it would be over as well. Microsoft never thinks BIG, yet they seem to waste a lot of money on things they don't need to.

I doubt SteamBox will make much of a dent in the console market. They will pull a few PC gamers over, but that's about it.

[QUOTE="RR360DD"]

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.princeofshapeir

What do you mean no? You basically just agreed with him, but with an added hint of mad cow disease.

Um no, they just realized that all their dumb policies were about to cost them millions of dollars, so they flip flopped faster than Chris Christie at an all you can eat buffet.Allicrombie

Truth, Honest or Good PR or not.
Most of the people in this thread are still going to hate, which ever way you put it.

Would be nice if Microsoft turned around and said "hey, your smart too Sony"
That would leave most of you dumbfounded lol.

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"]

[QUOTE="RR360DD"]

What do you mean no? You basically just agreed with him, but with an added hint of mad cow disease.

WilliamRLBaker

Well the gaming devision of MS isn't that 'smart' though. After all the flip flopping MS did, the Xbone will be known as the Xbone 180 Suppaman100

No, it won't.

You can talk about 'draconian DRM' and everything negative about what Microsoft tried to do initially, but it will definitely be the way things will go in the future for any surviving platforms. They had a PR, not a policy, bungle. I think their main problems were unlike Steam there was no 'offline mode', and they didn't feel comfortable stating that the price of digital only games would decline far more rapidly than their physical counterparts. donalbane

I heard that to be "offline" you had to sign into your Steam account while online. If that's the case it's similar to MS 24hr check in policy.

After reading that. all i could think of was..

darkangel115

:lol:

You can talk about 'draconian DRM' and everything negative about what Microsoft tried to do initially, but it will definitely be the way things will go in the future for any surviving platforms. They had a PR, not a policy, bungle. I think their main problems were unlike Steam there was no 'offline mode', and they didn't feel comfortable stating that the price of digital only games would decline far more rapidly than their physical counterparts. donalbane

Microsoft is still going to get destroyed because their console is $500.PurpleMan5000

[QUOTE="WilliamRLBaker"][QUOTE="princeofshapeir"] He's saying they were motivated to change their DRM and used games policy after people started moving towards Sony and PS4, not just because of public outcry like Yoshida claimed.princeofshapeir

They also know how to hide it very, very well.

KungfuKitten

[QUOTE="PurpleMan5000"]Microsoft is still going to get destroyed because their console is $500.Thunder7151

If they were smart they would have reversed every anti-consumer policy after the reactions people had to Adam Orth. Instead they stuck with it through E3 and by the time the abysmal preorder numbers came in that forced them to change everything it was too late.