Microsoft's John Schappert to deliver GDC keynote
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jan 15th 2008 at 5:00PM }
In a keynote entitled "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community," Microsoft will either discuss the implications of chasing Sound Blaster owners from their homes... or the "Xbox 360 platform's next step in democratizing game development," which is what it says here in the press release. The same informative block of text notes that Microsoft's keynote at this year's Game Developers Conference -- its first since 2005 -- will be delivered by John Schappert, otherwise known as "Corporate Vice President of LIVE, Software and Services for the Interactive Entertainment Business" since leaving EA in August 2007.Schappert's schpeech will delve into the Xbox 360's schtrategy for 2008, touching on topics such as online gaming, digital distribution and support of smaller developers. Top developers are also part of the talk, with some of their plans for the Xbox 360 expected to be unfurled and plastered across colorful pie charts. Joystiq will provide a full report during the keynote on February 22nd, taking special care to describe a future wide open. We suspect it'll be obnoxiously bright and smell vaguely of gasoline.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tanya_Valdez @ Jan 15th 2008 5:20PM
Xbox360 strategy for 2008:
Release HD DVD bundled
Cancel it
Tell everyone HDMI is not needed
Fit HDMI when we can get supplies
Tell everyone that HDD is not required
commence the HDD required logo program
Tell everyone HD DVD is not required for games
relaunch bundled HD DVD drive
Cancel drive, launch Blu-ray add-on
Cancel it
lauch Xbox 720 with motion sensor
Launch $10Billion repair program for rushed Xbox720
Sack scapegoat.
Relauch Xbox720 with DVD drive
Relaunch Xbox720 with Blu-ray drive
And so on...
Serioiusly, did they EVER have a plan?
Jm @ Jan 15th 2008 5:23PM
i think not
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 15th 2008 5:28PM
Why are you using a false nickname...?
Impostor.
copa @ Jan 15th 2008 5:31PM
Well, as you mention, they can't plan hardware for crap.
However, their online strategy has been carried out very, very well. (See PSN for what happens when no planning is put into online).
So, the idea of 'democratizing game development' poses an interesting test for Microsoft.
On the on hand, this plays to their strengths. Mictosoft is far, far more experienced than Sony or Nintendo in delivering and supporting general-purpose development environments.
On the other hand, Microsoft's Achilles Heel has been their Pavlovian tendency to clamp down, close off, and exert complete control over what content can be distributed over XBox Live.
If they want to realize their "YouTube for Games" strategy, someone high up at Microsoft is going to have to loosen their sphincter and be willing to open up their network, allowing creative games to flow from the colons of developers across the world. Wait.. what?
Christopher Grant @ Jan 15th 2008 5:37PM
tanya/jack/fernandoimposter: banned
Mr.ESC @ Jan 15th 2008 5:49PM
Well they had a plan but it didn't include the HD-DVD, Blu-ray, Rushed consoles or RROD issues. Their actual plan is the same one they had been using since the original XBOX was launched.
"Microsoft Plan for the Xbox:
1-Form Microsoft Gaming Studios
2-Buy Rare
3-????
4-Profit."
*If any mishap occurs add tons of money to it until is resolved or people learn to live with it.
(*Also called the Microsoft Windows strategy)
Tiptup300 @ Jan 15th 2008 6:11PM
XNA Arcade sounds better to me. Dont know what your talking about...
Marty @ Jan 15th 2008 6:38PM
@tanya_valdez - I'm not sure about Microsoft's plans, but you sure didn't have any when you wrote that stupid list
RazorD @ Jan 15th 2008 5:23PM
Sounds to me like we'll see the XNA Marketplace launch :)
Mr Khan @ Jan 15th 2008 5:45PM
they'd sooner implement this on Windows than they would on 360. Consoles are seen as a more DRM-secured environment, and they could put this out on a Games for Windows-style marketplace instead
As Copa said, i feel they will be hesitant to open the doors too freely on proper 360 development
Mr.ESC @ Jan 15th 2008 5:51PM
For the love of Peter Moore just make the Video Marketplace avalible worldwide.
Paul @ Jan 15th 2008 6:23PM
so does microsoft normally reveal anything cool, new, groundbreaking, etc at the GDC or is it just stuff like "market strategies"?
further @ Jan 15th 2008 7:34PM
Too bad the xbox 360 is anything but open:
-Proprietary hard drives ($100 CAD for 20GB ?!?)
-Proprietary wireless interface (no 3rd party controllers/accessories)
-DRMed xbox arcade titles which don't work if you get RROD and need to replace your xbox (unless signed on to live)
Why does this device get so much praise, while ps3 (a much more open platform) gets bashed at every opportunity?
Knight Marquise @ Jan 15th 2008 7:45PM
To answer your question, I would have to say Sony Arrogance. At least in my case. I'm an old school gamer, who always buys several of each console, every generation. (big family). This will be the first gen I boycot a console, and it was the arrogance that did it for me.
further @ Jan 15th 2008 8:15PM
Knight Marquise,
And overpriced hardrives/accessories isn't arrogant? How about charging people for gamer pics and themes? Or saying that they have NO COMPETITION in the online gaming space even though PC online gaming has been around forever and PSN is catching up as well. But the most arrogant thing must be Bill Gates recently saying that the 360 will be the most reliable console when after over 2 years they have not been able to solve the RROD problem, there have even been user reports of the new 65nm falcon 360s getting the RROD.
As bad and arrogant Sony is, Microsoft is 100 times worse. The 360 has many excellent games and had a superb 2007 lineup, but it would be bad for gamers to have sony completely fail. Competition is advantageous to the consumer, and Microsoft is one of the most anticompetitive companies to have ever existed. Just look at the OS market to see what we have to look forward to if MS wins.
Knight Marquise @ Jan 16th 2008 11:23AM
Furthor & Figboy,
Hmmm, looks like I struck a note with a couple of people who obviously prefer Sony's console.
I never realized my opinion needed to be substantiated, as it was simply my opinion of why Sony gets hit pretty hard this gen. Regardless, I'll play along.
Furthor:
The honest part of your comments, i.e. overpriced accessories isn't arrogance. It's a business model, and one that revolves around choice while trying to keep the cost of entry at a reasonable price point. You don't have to like it, but historically, it is always more expensive to add options then to buy the "all-in-one" products, because that choice comes with a price. Consumers can accept it or reject it. I don't find that arrogant. Then again, I'm a business oriented individual, and the concept isn't rare, new, or even ingenious. It's been around a very long time.
The rest of your comment seems to loose all coherence, and dive into Sony Fanboyism, IMHO. Such as MS claim of no competition. It is true how they presented that, and that is in the console online gaming space. A little fact you left out. Bill Gates recent comment. As a business owner myself, I hardly find that arrogant, I find that the be responsible, and that should be any business's ambition.
As for the RROD, I've commented on this before, feel free to look through my profile. I have purchased 7 360's as of last December. My house has 360's that include a launch box and a "launch" Elite. I've not had the RROD problems, fortunately. My experience has been steller, although I do believe MS has a hardware issue, I don't believe it is as bad as reading the fanboy blogs would have one to believe, nor have I heard of the new "falcons" having RROD. Of course, I don't spend much time on PS3 fanboy nor the Sony Defence Force, and I also don't lend any credence to anecdotal evidence.
Yes, I believe Sony has been far more arrogant coming into this generation, and rather then waste a substantial amount of bandwidth quoting and linking, just google Ken Kutagari and or sony arrogance. You'll find enough quotes of arrogance to last you a long time. I will mention one, though.
I do own my own company. I make a very comfortable living, and feel that I have been blessed far more then I deserve. I thank God for those blessings every day. Money, at this stage in my life, is not an issue. Never the less, when a company comes out and explains that a product of theirs is so great, that they're going to blow all pricepoints out of the water, and when the question of consumer affordability comes up, their answer is people will want to work a second job to afford it. That, to me, was the height of arrogance. It's not that it effected me personally, because my finances are so that it doesn't. But there was a time in my life when it would have, and I can't begin to describe how offended that statement made me.
Your last paragraph is most telling. You obviously don't like Microsoft, and that's fine. I do like MS products, and I also like Sony Products. God knows I've spent more on their HDTV's and Monitors between my own residence and office, then Game Systems...and I buy ALOT of game systems. I do not wish Sony to fail, as I did not wish for Nintendo to fail last gen. I am a capitalist and do believe competition is good, and with good competition, the consumer wins.
Figboy...I'm 41. Yes, I'm an oldschool gamer. My dad purchased pong, the Atari 400, 800, TRS80, (computers), Atari 2600 and the Magnovox Odyssey. After that I begin purchasing my own systems, the Atari 5200, then Intellivision, Colecovision, Nintendo's, Segas, etc.
Basially, my comments to further should really explain my position in regards to your post as well. The only thing I'll take exception to is your excusal (my opinion) of Sonys arrogance by stating it's every large companys PR departments job to put their companys product in the best light. That much is true. However, it is also true that those PR departments should know the difference between differentiating their product with the competitions WITHOUT alienating and/or downright insulting the consumer. On a side note, I do believe Sony's PR/Advertising company/department should have been let go along time ago or new people brought in, as it is that aspect that has hurt Sony the most, in my opinion.
Bottom line gentlemen. Play and enjoy the system(s) you want. I do.
Figboy @ Jan 15th 2008 8:16PM
Knight Marquise - you claim that you're an old school gamer. my question is this:
do you *REMEMBER how arrogant and full of themselves *NINTENDO was throughout the late 80's and early 90's.
and have you noticed that cocky swagger in their step *NOWADAYS, since the Wii is such hot shit right now?
*ALL successful company CEOs, etc are full of themselves at some point.
Sony was indeed arrogant, as was Microsoft (when they were the only console out and were selling 360's like crazy), so was Nintendo.
personally, i don't *CARE what PR people say, as it's their job to talk up a product beyond reasonable measures, so i ignore the BS that comes out of their mouths at every opportunity.
as long as the product they are promoting *DELIVERS, i don't see what company arrogance has to do with it.
Sony makes good HDTVs, so i have no problem with buying thier TVs (though, in an ironic twist, i own a Samsung; Sony TVs are good, yes, but too expensive. lol).
the Playstation 3 has reliabe hardware,
a solid online system for being a year old (ie, i never have problems logging on and joining friends in games when i get the urge to play online, and i can download demos, trailers, wallpapers and themes no problems).
there's a solid library of multi-platform, and yes *EXCLUSIVE games on the console (people shouldn't judge games like Heavenly Sword, Folklore, Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, Unreal, Resistance, and Warhawk based off of reviewers, and should play more than just the demos of those games before making up their minds).
it's an *EXCELLENT DVD upscaler and Blu Ray player (for those consumers that have HDTVs; roughly 40% of American households have HDTVs now, up from about 15%-20% at the start of last year). the bonus being that Blu Ray is winning/has won the format war, so it's no longer a risky endeavor to buy a PS3 like it was at the start of last year.
it's compatible with USB peripherals like external hard drives, mouse, keyboards, cameras, headsets, etc. you can swap out the internal HDD for *ANY 2.5" SATA laptop hard drive, instead of being forced to buy expensive proprietary equipment.
i've often surfed the net on my PS3 (and in some an interesting twist, i happen to be writing this response *ON my Playstation 3, using a mouse and keyboard), and overall, i'm enjoying the machine for what *IT IS, not for what Sony PR and their arrogance *SAY IT IS.
i own an X Box 360 too (i bought it off my roommate for $150), and i enjoy that system too. however, i *HATE Microsoft with a passion, but what does that have to do with enjoying a gaming console (well, until my 360 Red Rings, which is nearly a foregone conclusion these days)?
Dan @ Jan 16th 2008 2:19AM
Call me a total geek, but I'm very interested in what he has to say. I think a lot of what MS (and the others) say about the current generation gives us important clues about what's going to happen in the next generation of consoles.
morganfell @ Jan 16th 2008 3:38AM
Wait, I thought they were going to open things up from launch. Remember how they told us we would be able to make our own Tshirts and sell them on Live's virtual store?
Open the 360 up? Look, no one is playing with XNA now. So they are going to announce (not allow, just announce) that the games no one makes will be available on Live. Whoopty frickin doo!