J Allard has been all over the place
since his GDC keynote. If I read between the lines (a
hobby of mine) I could conclude that he's very aware of the jitters he's caused in the development community. After
all, one unmistakeable message from his speech was that the next-gen will be more expensive as the business reaches out
to the "mainstream."
His sales-focused pitch was striking for its urgency ("The HD Era is happening, whether we're ready for it, or not")
and naked embrace of all things commerce. Hey, nothing wrong with that, as far as I'm concerned. If MS can
provide a platform to help develop a 20 million-seller, more power to them.
Tom's Hardware has a sit-down with the man-with-no-hair and the single letter first name. They dare to take him
on in a couple of cases, which is admirable. Allard doesn't budge, but it was worth a shot. One subject they touch on
is microtransactions. Allard once again indicates that the feature will actually allow players to sell their stuff
online. This time, though, he talks about people selling their own creations, not just in-game elements. That could be
interesting.
