Business Week profiles J Allard, Microsoft's VP of design and development of its entertainment and devices division. Though the article focuses more on the company's commercial pursuits outside of Windows in addition to console gaming, it offers insight into the "Father of the Xbox" and how Microsoft hopes he can be the "savior of cool" for the world's largest software company. That's a tall order for any fatty company which Allard apparently thrives on.From the profile: "When it became clear that Microsoft had to enter the console business, building from scratch wasn't his superior's first choice. 'I wanted to acquire Nintendo,' recalls Rick Thompson, a vice-president who then ran the hardware business. Allard pushed to do the whole project in-house, and Microsoft ultimately vaulted ahead of Nintendo."
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