Head of Xbox Phil Spencer appeared on Gamertag Radio to take part in the show's 1,000th episode, and discussed the thinking behind the Seriex X reveal, as well as the company's hopes for a stronger Xbox presence in the Japanese market."The response has been great, but to be completely honest with you...it could have been a disaster”, he said, talking about Microsoft's surprise reveal of the Xbox Series X at last year's Game Awards. Nor was he a fan of the idea at first, it seems, when it was proposed to him. "The decision was actually really pushed forward by one of our marketing leads," he said, "and she’s awesome, and she just stood up in a room and she said, 'we should go do something bold, something we’ve never done before... let’s face it, we’re not in the market position we wanted to be in in this last generation- I don’t think we’re going to get to disrupt and grow our business just doing what we’ve always done'". It seems Microsoft are keeping that in mind as they move towards the launch of the Xbox Series X. "We’re trying to think about things in a different way," Spencer says; "we’re definitely not going to be meek. We’re going to be bold in what we’re trying to go do.”Spencer also had a lot to say about his hopes for a stronger and more established presence for the Xbox overall, but especially in Japan. “When I got into this job, the thing I was seeing were third parties skipping Xbox One and not even shipping on that platform," he said. "There'll still be examples of that and every one of them causes me pain, but the number one thing I wanted to do when I started in this role was to get back on the ground a couple times a year playing with the studio heads, playing their games, and... making them know I had a commitment to their global success." He mentions that he was pleased with the number of Japanese published games they had at E3, adding, "I’ve been really proud of the way that we built a partnership with almost all the publishers there". Spencer elaborates on Xbox's successful partnerships in Japan, saying the biggest feedback he gets from his time over there is from the studio heads; "they say, 'the people on our studio love working with you guys. They just wish they saw more Xboxes in the stores around here'. You want to be working on a game and have the platform that it's going to be on, be seen in your home country. You want your friends to be able to play it".Spencer seems keen to focus on building that Xbox presence in Japan, saying, "our market in Japan for Xbox is important to us." Sony and Nintendo are obviously well established over there, and Spencer notes this, adding, "I don’t know that we’re winning in Japan any time soon, but the position that we have in Japan today from a platform isn’t acceptable to me". To ensure they start out in a stronger position in Japan as soon as the Xbox Series X launches, Spencer says they're "going to do a much better job with this next upcoming launch", they're not going to wait for ten months before they launch in Japan as they did with the Xbox One, and they're planning on a big push to publicise their Game Pass and xCloud services. Spencer also seems hopeful for more first party content being developed in Japan. "I think the Japanese market is specifically important because of the creative community there, because of the gamer community there, and I want us, I want Xbox, to mean more there than it does today".Overall, he seems enthusiastic about the potential of the Xbox Series X, and the wider possibilities of a more established Xbox presence in Japan. "It takes time," he said. "I’m still gonna see some things get announced that aren’t on our platform and I cringe every time that happens, but relative to four or five years ago, I feel good about our progress," he adds, concluding that Microsoft want "to continue to increase the relevance and importance of Xbox to people.”(Thanks, VGC