I wanted to start a separate thread just for the Phil Spencer portion of the Day 02 live stream, because I honestly think it's one of the best live interviews I've ever seen in games journalism. We all know how good Jeff can be at this, and of course Brad is going to bring the technical know-how, but I was blown away by the combination of their excellent questions and Phil's frank and extensive responses. There are a lot of things about Microsoft's current strategy that I feel I better understand now, thanks to this interview.

I didn't necessarily need a reminder of why I'm a premium member, but this sure as hell did it. Great job, gentlemen.

Phil Spencer is such a breath of fresh air after Don Mattrick. He's comes across as very genuine, passionate and human.

plan on watching it as soon as it is made available.

@el_dude_a_reno: First segment of this video http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/giant-bomb-live-at-e3-2016-day-02/2300-11375/

Phil Spencer is great. He's really given Xbox a direction and a clarity of vision in the couple of years since Don Mattrick's departure.

I agree entirely. Phil is always a great guest at the E3 shows, but having him alone allowed Jeff and Brad to get into some really focused and in-depth discussion. It's really satisfying and encouraging to see the head of XBox talk about games with this much passion and honesty.

He talks about the competition, XBox/MS of the past, the industry as a whole, his own personal experiences with games, and his vision for the future. It doesn't feel like he's talking like a marketing loudspeaker, but instead like a person who's been doing what he loves for 3 decades.

Yeah, I've said this before, but i really like the influence Phil has on the Xbox team.

Made your link an actual link.

What surprises me is he joined Microsoft in 1988, how old are these damn people? They sure do not look it.

It was a fascinating interview and I really appreciate that Jeff set it up w/Phil alone. Maybe at Phil's request? But it was great because of how open and honest Phil is. He really is a breath of fresh air. Kudos to him, and to Jeff and Brad as well. Great content.

Never been on the xbox train, but kind of excited with the new direction that that ship is taking. I might not get an xbox, but now there is a big chance i'll slip into their eco system through windows at one point or another. That reminds me, I still need to check out KI.

I have my doubts about Microsoft's new direction for the Xbox, but I will say that Phil is an amazing person to be at the head of it. Big ups to Jeff for really knocking the interview out of the park, and same for Spencer for providing good, genuine answers throughout.

I think that was the segment that Peter Stormare was originally booked to be on. I imagine they set it up that way knowing there was a good chance Stormare would have to cancel and they'd get Phil alone for a while.

A fantastic shirt.

Xbox really needed someone like Spencer. Not only did he fix most of the problems Mattrick created but also steered that division into the right track. Plus he's a nice guy.

Great segment indeed.

Even though I don't have an Xbox One and likely won't ever buy one, I've always loved Phil Spencer on the E3 Live shows. He comes across as incredibly genuine and often talks very frankly about their competitors, which is a huge breath of fresh air in a world where PR usually tries to act like no other companies or products exist.

Phil Spencer is just amazing, he really has turned Xbox around after what Don Mattrick did, its a shame they got off to such a rough start, but I think everything they are doing is in the right direction. Being able to play Xbox/PC I think is huge and will really be a selling point going forward.

I agree that this was amazing. Spencer is great. I love his attitude and ideas he's getting to put in now. I am on PC and would love to be buying these Xbox games and now that I will be able to is a big plus. Plus play with friends there. Excited for Forza Horizon 3.

I respect him also repping Quantum Break. Hoping to get to it soon and see how I like it. Hopefully the PC version is all set when I get to it.

He has me thinking about Scorpio later when that comes out and a console would otherwise be a hard sell.

He has to be the best at this ever as far as just being a good speaker and being really open. Some have bashed it, but just the move of showing that the S is only a revision really and the Scorpio is coming later is really friendly to consumers. I hate getting stuck in positions where I don't know if I should buy something and what else is just around the corner. Plus nice to give developers time as well to make their adjustments.

Both the times I have watched him on GB he's been super frank and honest. I love that he doesnt use catch phrases and is into constructive criticism as well. This is the first gen that I haven't owned a console yet and just stuck with PC, but that press conference really made me want to look at getting a Scorpio when it comes out. He's doing a great job there.

Yup! Really great interview. They're doing some interesting things.

It's kind of boring that everyone in this thread is basically saying the same thing, but I can't help but agree. I don't remember the last time I've watched a straight 45 minute interview and remained more than interested for the duration.

I just re-watched the Mattrick v. Kieghly interview... What a hot mess that man created for the company. Phil Spencer, by comparison, has time and again proven first-hand knowledge of their games and industry. I'm a lapsed XBox owner, now PC Gamer, but I can't help but feel very respectful of that man.

Yup. Great all around. Only on GB!

Indeed. Spencer certainly still has points he wants to hit in an interview like any corporate executive, but his openness to admitting past mistakes ("I lived through Games For Windows Live..." holy shit lol) and willingness to acknowledge competitors success, whether it's Sony or the reality that most people view Steam as PC gaming, is super refreshing. And after last year he knows Giant Bomb wont be an entirely softball interview, so big props to him just for coming back and facing tough but fair questions. ....All while willingly sitting in front of a giant "WEED3", can't help but like and respect the guy more and more over the years he's been coming on these shows even when I disagree with something MS has done. Cliche to say, but he seems like the right guy for the job to clean up and rebuild the image of Microsoft's gaming stuff.

And speaking of questions, yeah Jeff did a REALLY great job and Brad added a few very important questions to the mix. I've seen several news stories on different gaming sites today citing this GB interview as the interview that offered the most insight and clarity into Microsoft's strategy going forward. It's crazy (and awesome) to me that this website can have a great in depth interview like this start the night.... and then end it on the amazing shitshow trainwreck segment it did last night lol... god bless this ridiculous website!

Great interview that really makes me proud to be an Xbox One owner even though I have a PC.

The one thing I haven't seen asked is if this whole Play Anywhere thing works for physical copies. My guess is "no" since you would own two copies of the game and that it would apply to digital games. Still I would like to see a confirmation and also because I preordered a physical copy of Gears 4. I still like to collect disks.

I really liked how Phil said he announced the Scorpio now pretty much so consumers know that in a year there is a better Xbox coming out. He knows that may hurt the sales for the Xbox:One/S but he did it to be as transparent to gamers as possible.

Sharp contrast with the way Sony handled the situation by taking a jab at MS about the Scorpio even though we know they have Neo coming out soon too. Honestly, they should have also announced to the mass media that right now may not be the time to jump on the PS4 train since Neo will be coming out soon.

That's the picture on his Wikipedia page, at least for now.

It was indeed really, really good and insightful, for all the reasons mentioned already.

@zombie2011: I have to agree about how they are handling Neo, especially since I believe it is coming out sooner?

I really, really like Phil Spencer. He consistently manages to be candid, personable, informative, and tactful, which is no easy task. Most executives are wildly out-of-touch buzzword/cliche machines that may as well be reading straight from a press release, but Spencer is as comfortable shooting the shit with GB as he is in presenting in a boardroom to suits and beancounters. It's rarefied stuff, and I can't help but to be impressed with him every time.

Spencer makes me proud to be an Xbox One owner. A ton of people cling to MS wounds of old and presume some nefarious ploy and/or the worst possible outcome whenever any bit of Xbox news drops (often talking in circles in the process), but as long as Phil is at the helm, I'm confident that the Xbox brand will be just fine. The Xbox One is so much better than it typically gets credit for, and Spencer's willingness to address user feedback is largely the reason why. The guy rules.

Kudos to Jeff and Brad as well. They continue to not throw softballs (while not being dicks about it), and Phil is damn near batting 1.000 in his responses. I thought it came across very well that his strategy is simply to offer gamers a variety of platform options, not a move to some kind of planned obsolescence cell phone model, which was a conclusion many people prematurely (and erroneously) jumped to. As it turns out, they're not fragmenting the userbase at all, they're simply adding to the console space by creating both a smaller and a more powerful model as the market requested.

Spencer did a terrific job clarifying both the One S and Scorpio by detailing what those consoles will and will not do and who they are and are not for. It's weird to hear him basically tell people without 4k TVs not to buy the Scorpio and to come out and say that the One S will not really offer better performance than the Xbox One, and it certainly cost them sales in doing so, but anyone still pushing the "evil/greedy MS" b.s. need look no further than these two statements which go out of the way to be consumer-friendly at the expense of sales. They could have obfuscated and moved some more units, but chose instead to be 100% upfront with everyone.

This interview is a must-watch for Xbox One owners, prospective owners, and non-owners alike. Great stuff all-around.

You know, I think it's the perfect summary of GB - one of the most respectable interviews I've seen at E3... framed by "TAXES TAXES TAXES WEED3" and a crude drawing of Kratos.

Impressive interview all round though - Spencer gives the answers you want, but never expect to hear (e.g. You shouldn't really upgrade to the S), and freely talks about the competition (including recognising PS4 has sold more), and Jeff/Brad asking great questions. As much as I like what Sony are doing from a games point of view, they really could learn a thing or two from the current Xbox team (especially to stop taking cheap shots at the competition).

These interviews with Phil and Giant Bomb are always great. It really sheds a great light about his vision for Xbox and how he truly is just a realistic, awesome dude. Xbox is in great hands with Phil in charge.

Indeed it was a great interview. Jeff once again asking the right questions.

Agreed all around, great interview! I was wondering if they were going to bring this up at the beginning or at the end, especially at the end when some friendly jabs at the review scores were brought up:

Just funny how much steam it caught that they could all look back and have a good laugh at.