Phil Spencer would “Love to See Mario on Xbox”

In an interview with AusGamers, Microsoft Head of Xbox Phil Spencer mused on the idea of Nintendo’s juggernaut plumber making his way to the Xbox in the future.

It’s an idea that only a few years back would have been laughed out of the office, but now with Nintendo stretching out to mobile platforms, and most importantly working with Microsoft previously for Minecraft, it’s one that isn’t as unthinkable.

Spencer extolled the virtues of Ninendo and expressed a desire to have their games on the Xbox:

“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.”

It’s an interesting thought, and certainly Nintendo is dipping its toes into the hardware waters with its foray into the mobile market; however, the impending release of the Switch might mean that Nintendo will need that strong IP to be exclusive more than ever.

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