Xbox co-founder Ed Fries, the man who helped build the brand from the very beginning and helping it transition into the mainstream success it is today, has more than a few things to say about the current state of the industry. This is especially so when it comes to the success of the Xbox One, which hasn’t been able to touch the success of the PS4 thus far.

In an AMA session on Yabbly, Fries was asked how the console could be a better deal for consumers over the PS4. He stated that, “They need better exclusive games than PS4. They need to be more open to indie developers. They need to adopt free to play gaming more aggressively. They need to continue to move Xbox Live forward as the leading online service. They need to show people why they included the new Kinect on every machine by demonstrating a compelling use for it.”

As for whether Microsoft will sell the Xbox division – as indicated in recent months’ rumours – if it didn’t garner enough profit, Fries said, “I think it would be foolish for Microsoft to sell off Xbox. It’s the biggest, most successful new brand they have created in the last 15 years. They should learn from the success of Xbox and create more things like it, not sell it off.”

As for the current generation and who will eventually end up the victor, Fries stated that, “I think Microsoft made some mistakes early on and has given Sony a chance to win back some of the share they lost (in the US) during the last console generation. How things go from here on forward really depends on which team executes the best both on delivering great games and on improving the user experience through better system software on the console.”

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with Fries or find a few points where your thinking may differ? Let us know in the comments below.

Former Microsoft VP Ed Fries, who worked to create the Xbox platform from the very beginning, recently made remarks about virtual reality struggling to find success in the gaming industry. Current Xbox division boss Phil Spencer, who is in charge of the Xbox One, Microsoft Games Studios and Xbox Live, took to Twitter to talk about his stance on the same.

Regarding Fries’ stance on VR, Spencer tweeted that, “I don’t believe VR is a fad. More exclusives makes sense. F2P will be on XBOX One, works better as IB grows. Ed’s smart.”

As for indie games developed from the ID@Xbox program and set to premiere on the Xbox One, Spencer said that, “We showed and announced a bunch at GDC. As the program gets going you’ll see a steady flow of ID games.”

What are your thoughts on the matter, especially regarding VR in gaming? Let us know in the comments.

Speaking to the [a] list daily, Fries stated that, “I was impressed. I was concerned that they wouldn’t change, and I was impressed that they did change, and changed quickly. They clearly are responsive to feedback, and I think that’s great.”

“We all make products for customers, and it’s important that we listen to our customers when they have things to say to us. It’s a lot more true than it was in the old days. If you think about games, we used to spend three years making games and stick them in a box, and people liked them or they didn’t like them.

“Now it’s much more direct feedback from customers. We test things a lot, see what’s working and what isn’t working and the launch is the beginning of the process. I’m talking more about free-to-play games now – you’re basically developing it with your customers. We have a much more interactive relationship with our customers.

“If people aren’t happy they let you know, and they can cause trouble for you. I think it’s important for companies to be customer-focused and be known as companies that listen.”

Be as it may, some have criticized Microsoft for turning their back on what would essentially be Steam for consoles.

ED Fries, a former Xbox exec has revealed to Develop that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs was mad about Microsoft buying out Bungie and had made an angry phone call to Microsoft’s chief Steve Balmer back in 2000, when Bungie was bought out.

“As soon as we announced we bought Bungie, Steve Jobs called,” Fries said.

“He was mad at [Microsoft CEO Steve] Ballmer and phoned him up and was angry because we’d just bought the premier Mac game developer and made them an Xbox developer.”

Fries was tasked with pacifying Jobs

“So, during the day, I got an email from Steve Ballmer asking me to phone Steve Jobs and calm him down about the whole thing,” he said.

“Anyway, we did this deal with Apple where we’d port some PC games to the Macintosh and help Peter Tamte create this company to do it, and I had to go to a Mac developer conference and get on stage and talk about this whole new partnership. It was a pretty strange time.”

Looks like, Jobs doesn’t take too kindly to someone else having a bite of his “Apples”.