Phil Spencer hopped onto Twitter last night and waded through a ton of incoming tweets, answering all sorts of questions as best he could. Understandably, a fair few tweets focuses on E3 and Microsoft’s upcoming catalogue of games and, while he didn’t really go into specifics, there were some interesting little tidbits that did emerge.
On the somewhat more obvious side of things, he confirmed that the E3 presentation would focus on the so-called “hardcore game” as well as featuring both new IP and existing IP. He did dodge a cheeky little question that referred back to a Halo 2 presentation from almost a decade ago, by saying that he was not allowed to talk about anything related to 343 Industries.
@ShankinsHD @neverfear I have strict orders from @PlutonForEver that I can’t talk about anything related to a 343i IP…
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) May 5, 2014
Elsewhere, he also discussed how they would be announcing new partnerships and studios they will be working with, but also about his philosophy when it comes to returning to and revamping an old IP, something he feels they have neglected of late, while using Killer Instinct as an example.
@GGhalid Great question. I think about reboot first and then sequel but it’s sometimes just perspective. I see KI as a reboot, some don’t.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) May 5, 2014
He also put the dampener on a Cortana hosted show (cross that off your E3 Bingo list), stated that fans of Japanese games wouldn’t have to wait until Tokyo Game Show for a fix, and concluded that May “should be a good month for news.”
@Steverulez Yea, you’ll get a couple of things before. May should be a good month for news. Took me a month to get plans set.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) May 5, 2014
Finally, if you’re expecting new hardware out of Microsoft, then you can strike an Xbox Portable off your wishlist, because that’s seemingly not too high in their plans.
@xrCore I don’t think we’ll do a dedicated handheld gaming device, rather just focus on WP, tablets, maybe with controller support someday.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) May 5, 2014
Source: Phil Spencer Twitter, via DualShockers
TheShepanator
I’m not surprised microsoft are wary of putting out a dedicated handheld gaming device. The handheld market already seems saturated with only 2 competitors!