Microsoft's Phil Spencer reminds us we're all in this together

"Being a fan of Xbox doesn’t mean you can’t be a fan of something else, or that you have to be an anti-fan of some other brand.

"Being a fan of Xbox doesn’t mean you can’t be a fan of something else, or that you have to be an anti-fan of some other brand. I own a PlayStation 4. I play games on my PlayStation 4. I own and play games on my Wii U, and I learn a ton from what happens on those other platforms." - Phil Spencer, speaking to Geoff Keighley during an interview at SXSW.

Microsoft Studios head honcho Phil Spencer took pains to show support for his competitors at Sony, Nintendo and other major players in the console business during an interview with Geoff Keighley conducted on stage at the South by Southwest conference in Austin last Sunday.

“I don’t know if it’s my favorite part of the industry, but there seems to be this natural faction that gets created around what console you own," said Spencer. "There’s this...I would call it 'unhealthy' dislike of people who own the other console.”

“I think it should be competitive, but the competition is in the marketplace," replied Spencer, when Keighley gently pressed him to address the importance of competition in the console market. "I have a ton of respect for the people at Sony for the franchises they’ve built. Same thing with Nintendo, or my friends at Valve."

"In the end, I think what we all want to do is take this art form of playing games...and make a better form of entertainment. And continue to move entertainment forward. And Jack [Tretton]'s not a barrier to that; he’s been a strong proponent of that."

The interview ranged across a few other topics of varying import, including the challenges of launching the original Kinect and the future of the console market, but Spencer's public demonstration of respect for his company's competitors and his efforts to exhort viewers into supporting the industry as a whole are especially laudable. A significant portion of the interview is now available on YouTube, and we've taken the liberty of embedding it above.