Microsoft’s Phil Spencer highly praises Nintendo again, says he’d “love to see Mario on Xbox”
Each time Xbox boss Phil Spencer is asked about Nintendo, he offers nothing but praise for the company. That was no different when AusGamers recently sent a question his way about the big N.
Spencer actually started out by mentioning how he’d “love to see Mario on Xbox.” He also believes “Nintendo has the strongest first-party of anybody”. Spencer later added, “they’ve been incredibly important for the games industry, they do a great job with younger audiences, and if we ever had a chance to work with them in the future, I would absolutely do it.”
When asked if seeing Nintendo franchises on Xbox was something the team could look at seriously, Spencer fully stated:
“I’d love to see Mario on Xbox. As someone who’s been in this industry and played games forever, I’ll still say it: Nintendo has the strongest first-party of anybody. They’re just fantastic and the memories that they have instilled in so many of us, who’ve played their games and had those delightful experiences, having those on Xbox would be great. Obviously we have Minecraft on Nintendo and when that opportunity came up to work with them on Minecraft, you know, some people might look at it and say ‘why would you even do that?’, but with Nintendo, it’s been a great partnership on Minecraft. In fact they put Mario in Minecraft on Wii U with the mash-up skin pack. And continuing to work with them on that and building a stronger relationship… I mean if that paid dividends down the road that lead to something else, that would be fantastic. I know I get questions all the time on would I ever like to see Banjo in Super Smash Bros. and I’m, like, “yes, I would do that in a second”. And certain people think I’m saying that as some sort of PR answer and I’m, like, why wouldn’t you?
Anyway, I’m a big Nintendo fan and I think they’ve been incredibly important for the games industry, they do a great job with younger audiences, and if we ever had a chance to work with them in the future, I would absolutely do it.”
