Ed Fries was vice president of game publishing at Microsoft and one of the co-creators of the original Xbox. He worked for 14 years for the company from Redmond and left 2004 to pursue other opportunities. He currently works as board member and advisor for various companies and is the CEO of FigurePrint, a company that makes licensed 3D models of World of Warcraft characters.

Fries sat down with Geekwire to talk about various topics, such as VR and the impact smartphones have on PC and console gaming. When asked about the Nintendo Switch, he said that although he thought it was creative, he wasn't sure if it was going to be successful. He claimed things like separate controllers were ideas they had talked about during his time at Microsoft, but those obviously didn't materialize. He enjoys playing Mario and Zelda on the Switch, praising how creative the Joy-Cons can be used to play. In the end, the Switch won him over as a "cool machine". Speaking about Nintendo Labo, he loves the creativeness of it and praises Nintendo for thinking outside the box.

Regarding Sony and Microsoft, he said that they shouldn't try to imitate or be Nintendo as he thinks they wouldn't be very successful at it. Instead, they should find out what they are good at and stick to it.

Fries: When I first saw it, I thought it was creative, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be successful. Some of the ideas we had actually talked about at Xbox, like having controllers you could separate and hold in each hand. I first played Zelda on the Wii U and enjoyed the game, and thought, maybe I don’t need a Switch. Eventually I buckled and got a Switch to play Mario, and I was really surprised how many different and creative ways they use the controllers, how they can be joined onto different supports, or you can separate them and hand them to another player and turn them sideways. It’s something that’s really won me over as a cool machine.

I love how creative Nintendo is. Now they have this Nintendo Labo with the cardboard. When I saw that I thought, good for you Nintendo, I just love how they’re always thinking outside the box. This cardboard thing ties into the whole maker movement, and it’s great to have kids building something physical.

I don’t think the right thing for Microsoft or Sony to do is imitate Nintendo or try to be Nintendo. I don’t think they’ll succeed by being Nintendo. I think they’ve gotta figure out what it is that they do well and continue to do that well.

Check out the source below for the complete interview.

Source

 

[Xzi]

"Don't try to be creative, you're not good at it."

- This guy to MS and Sony

 

[Spectral Blizzard]

5 Years Ago:
Ha!
Good MS is telling Bad MS and Sony to get off Nintendo's asses and do what they're good at? Ha! Yeah right!
Now:

Wow. It actually fucking happened.
Welp, fuck the industry.

 

[Lazyboss]

No thanks, we don't want Sony and Microsoft to follow Nintendo.
If i want Nintendo's way of gaming then i will simply play on Nintendo's console.
If i want serious games with best graphics then i will play on PC > PS4 (i don't care about xbox)

Let each company do what they are really good at without copying ideas.

 

[Beerus]

nintendo for the win baby

 

[Futurdreamz]

Any attempt of even thinking of copying the Switch would be an admission that the graphics race is a waste of time and money. There is no way in hell of getting the Xbox One X's power into a useable portable.

 

[aykay55]

praises Nintendo for thinking outside the box.​

Puns depress me.

 

[Deleted User]

Sony is good at exclusives so stick to it right? What about xbox,what is it good at besides netflex and cable? Id also would like to know his opinion on payed online,why should we pay for somthing that has shit security,yet these company's dont do anything with that money but stuff it in there greedy wallets.

 

[DarthDub]

Kinect and Playstation Move bombed.

 

[Giga_Gaia]

Wait, the creator of the original Xbox is trying to tell Sony and MS what to do? The original Xbox was garbage who failed commercially, pretty sure whatever he has to say is just as worthless.

 

[Foxi4]

Sony is good at exclusives so stick to it right? What about xbox,what is it good at besides netflex and cable? Id also would like to know his opinion on payed online,why should we pay for somthing that has shit security,yet these company's dont do anything with that money but stuff it in there greedy wallets.

Just the snap functionality alone is well-worth it - I love having my favourite websites, podcasts or YT playlists on the side while gaming. That, and the streaming capabilities are far superior to the competition's, including the ability to let viewers "take the wheel" coming soon (or has that been implemented yet?). That, and the XBO is currently the only console with a 4K BluRay drive, making it an ideal media center for the house. I own all of the current gen consoles and each has something unique to offer.

Wait, the creator of the original Xbox is trying to tell Sony and MS what to do? The original Xbox was garbage who failed commercially, pretty sure whatever he has to say is just as worthless.

The original XB was a success - it was Microsoft's first attempt at a home console and it surpassed the GC, a console from Nintendo, an industry veteran. Perhaps not financially, but it put the brand on the map and laid the groundwork for the 360. If not for the groundbreaking Xbox Live service implemented on the OG XB you wouldn't have half of the features you now take for granted.

Kinect and Playstation Move bombed.

Kinect, yes, PSMove? No, it's an integral part of PSVR. I also don't see why you'd mention the PSMove since it was in development long before Nintendo came up with the Wii Remote.

Any attempt of even thinking of copying the Switch would be an admission that the graphics race is a waste of time and money. There is no way in hell of getting the Xbox One X's power into a useable portable.

You wouldn't have to - you don't need 4K 60FPS on a handheld. 1-1.5 TFLOP single precision would be ample horsepower to run all current Xbox titles at 720p-1080p, and that's a perfectly feasible undertaking.

 

[DinohScene]

Just the snap functionality alone is well-worth it - I love having my favourite websites, podcasts or YT playlists on the side while gaming. That, and the streaming capabilities are far superior to the competition's, including the ability to let viewers "take the wheel" coming soon (or has that been implemented yet?). That, and the XBO is currently the only console with a 4K BluRay drive, making it an ideal media center for the house. I own all of the current gen consoles and each has something unique to offer.
The original XB was a success - it was Microsoft's first attempt at a home console and it surpassed the GC, a console from Nintendo, an industry veteran. Perhaps not financially, but it put the brand on the map and laid the groundwork for the 360. If not for the groundbreaking Xbox Live service implemented on the OG XB you wouldn't have half of the features you now take for granted.
Kinect, yes, PSMove? No, it's an integral part of PSVR. I also don't see why you'd mention the PSMove since it was in development long before Nintendo came up with the Wii Remote.

Remember Eyetoy?

 

[Foxi4]

Remember Eyetoy?

Pretty much. The PSMove started off as an EyeToy light and colour-tracking tech demo, the contemporary PSMove uses the exact same tech originally developed for the PS2, plus some gyros.

 

[bi388]

Wait, the creator of the original Xbox is trying to tell Sony and MS what to do? The original Xbox was garbage who failed commercially, pretty sure whatever he has to say is just as worthless.

How can you imply the person who created the system must be at fault for that? In terms of specs and design the Xbox was fine, it came into a market with 2 well established giants in the video game console industry, one of whom made the best selling console of all time that generation. It had a harder time getting exclusives because sony and Nintendo had the big names. And I don't know a lot about it's marketing but id bet that factored in.

 

[Foxi4]

How can you imply the person who created the system must be at fault for that? In terms of specs and design the Xbox was fine, it came into a market with 2 well established giants in the video game console industry, one of whom made the best selling console of all time that generation. It had a harder time getting exclusives because sony and Nintendo had the big names. And I don't know a lot about it's marketing but id bet that factored in.

The OG Xbox's Halo changed the FPS genre forever, and that's just one of many killer titles on the system. It's a perfectly serviceable console to this day, and it did 1080i and 720p before anybody else even considered HD graphics to be relevant on consoles. It may have been bulky, but it packed a punch.

 

[Xzi]

Kinect, yes, PSMove? No, it's an integral part of PSVR. I also don't see why you'd mention the PSMove since it was in development long before Nintendo came up with the Wii Remote.

PSMove being a part of PSVR sucks even more, it limits the impressiveness of the budget HMD. PSMove's tracking is worse than Wii MotionPlus, and even that is a far cry from sub-millimeter tracking in Vivemotes. Of course you only get that precision in a good room setup, but still. If Sony was serious about VR, they'd invest in some better motion controllers.

 

[Foxi4]

PSMove being a part of PSVR sucks even more, it limits the impressiveness of the budget HMD. PSMove's tracking is worse than Wii MotionPlus, and even that is a far cry from sub-millimeter tracking in Vivemotes. Of course you only get that precision in a good room setup, but still. If Sony was serious about VR, they'd invest in some better motion controllers.

That would destroy the whole concept of budget VR, wouldn't it? Tracking is perfectly serviceable as it is.

 

[DeslotlCL]

"Don't try to be creative, you're not good at it."

- This guy to MS and Sony

They dont need to be creative tho. Remember that the original competitor of the ps4 was the wii u in this gen, and guess which creativity ended bombing hard. Also the ps4 is still faaaaaar ahead of the switch in terms of sales, probably heading to 100 millions units sold at the end of this fiscal year, in its 5 years of life and then, bum, ps5 incoming. This gen sony knew what they were doing best, and numbers are the best representation of that.

 

[Xzi]

That would destroy the whole concept of budget VR, wouldn't it? Tracking is perfectly serviceable as it is.

180 degree spotty tracking on the controllers, easily messed up by speed is not good. Nobody has reviewed the Move controllers positively with PSVR after trying the Vive and Oculus controllers. Move is a generation old by console standards (1.5 if you count Pro/1X that way), which means it's decades old by 2018 standards for VR. Affordability is a cop-out, they could've designed much better VR controllers at $100 a set, launch in a discounted bundle.

 

[CMDreamer]

Oh My!!!

"Regarding Sony and Microsoft, he said that they shouldn't try to imitate or be Nintendo as he thinks they wouldn't be very successful at it. Instead, they should find out what they are good at and stick to it."

This guy know those copycats I was talking about before...

And that's precisely the point of it all, they are only good at emulating and refurbishing games. No creativity nor innovative ways of gaming would come from them.

I love my PSP/PS Vita for emulating games from other consoles, because their games suck so hugely... LOL