Well, yesterday was quite a day. It started off on a very positive Microsoft note as they invited some of us blogger types for a breakfast filled with eggs and important Xbox 360 questions. You can see the whole video above and watch the heated food eating. Here's what else happened yesterday:
• Phil Harrison quite possibly turned the Sony ship around with a keynote that led to a standing applause at one point.
• Walking the show floor is nothing like walking the show floor at E3. Less booth babes, more information.
• Calling all Cars for the PlayStation Network is fun as hell. I pretty much pwned Niero in a game -- I believe the final score was something like 26-3.
• The GameSpy party was kinda nice last night. Chobot says hi to all of Destructoid.
• Finally, sleep is good. Today, look out for Miyamoto live blogging in about 2 hours. And I'll also be getting some quality Sony time that I may not be able to share with y'all until tomorrow.
Microsoft blogger breakfast notes:
• Crecente looks like a pirate.
• XNA for Vista is coming in April. They said you can do it now, but you have to go through a lot of trouble to make it work.
• Shane Kim says Microsoft doesn't really focus on what the competition is doing. Microsoft has their own plans that have been in the works.
• Paying for PC online is worth doing. Kim says Microsoft is banking on the success of Xbox Live to carry over into the PC space.
• Microsoft says the 6 million Xbox Live subscribers number included Silver and Gold and is as close to a realistic number as they could get -- they are aware some people have multiple accounts.
• Lag on Xbox Live: They are aware and share latency tools with developers to work that into the game's code. They said they leave it up to the dev to create a game with good code that doesn't lag. Basically saying, if they want our help, we're more than willing to give it.
• Shane Kim says he still believes that Viva Pinata is just as important as Gears of War.
• XNA and XBLA help mitigate risks for Microsoft.
• A focus on sequels is not good for the industry.
• Peter Jackson is working on episodic content for Microsoft. Wanted a film guy that could tell a great story.
• Microsoft provides guidelines and results for microtransactions, but will always leave it up to the individual publisher to decide on pricing and overall content. They say the publisher has to be held accountable for that. Shane Kim says he is not a fan of standardizing microtransactions.
• Reason for Halo 3 beta in Crackdown: They needed to make sure they had enough people in the Halo 3 beta and the timing of Crackdown being released worked out well for them. The beta is still on schedule for this spring and development is on track.
• Peter Jackson is working on two interactive series'. First is set in the Halo universe. Shane Kim says there is no good episodic content out there and it's a tricky space to work in -- difficult to really pull off well.
• They bashed the PS3 a bit saying there have been a lot of promises that weren't met.
Calling All Cars does sound fun as hell. Not really sold on the Home thing. I'm sure there'll be lots of people who love the hell out of it, but it's just not my thing.
I think a lot of the bloggers wanted to hear the XBL response to Sony's Home. They didn't get one. It was more like a "Stay the course" speech from Bush.
Then they asked about user created XNA games. They said the SDKs have been downloaded a lot and it'll take time. Bloggers seemed impatient.
Disappointment with XBL arcade. Games released weekly, most aren't that great, prices too. Microsoft "agrees" sort of...
Good notes. I had no idea they were talking about Peter Jackson. Not that it makes a huge difference. He converted old stories (LotR, King Kong) into new movies and he did a good job. Why does that necessarily make him a good story maker/teller?
Also, if you ask me, I think that they're going to have a hard time convincing PC gamers without 360s to pay for Live.
The guy didn't seem too impressed with your Resistance example. Perhaps he was surprised that you'd bring up Sony at all. I'm surprised no one really brought up Home.
Cant wait for Calling all Cars. If microsoft does release a new version of the 360 with a larger hard drive and HDMI I will be piiiised as I am sure most 360 owners will be it would be like them giving the current owners of the 360 a big middle finger in their face.
That's the thing dvddesign. I don't have a 360 or PS3 and I'm trying to weigh the options while I amass the fortune required to acquire one. When I can afford one, I REALLY don't want to find out 3 months later that a new one is being released with HDMI and a 120 GB HDD that runs cooler and quieter. It would be like buying an Apple before Steve Jobs does "one more thing."
I wish someone with some insider info could give me a nudge either way. *wink wink
As far as Peter Jackson being a good story teller, he did get nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Heavenly Creatures (and I still think either that or Red should have beaten Pulp Fiction that year). :)
1up is taking pleasure in the fact that you all were turned away from front row seats, implying that you all arent considered "real" press. dun dun duuuuun.
I am so glad I've waited to get a 360 so far. I'm going to wait until the next upgrade before I throw any money at the 360 or PS3. Virtual console is keeping me content for the time being. If only I could beat the second playthrough on SG&G...
Im only about 15 minutes in but Rob, Ron (and Crecente too) are rocking this thing. One scruffy looking guy at the start tried to hit 'em with a cheap shot, but everyone else is just sitting there gaping.
Yeah, so I just got to the end and I just wanted to say nice Job Summa, you asked the most questions of anybody and they even made sense. Really interesting insight from a fan perspective and just a good idea from Microsoft to connect so directly with the blogging community.
Yeah, I guess you guys could see how I usually go about interviewing people and getting answers. That's why I wanted to put this video up, to show you that I'm trying to get the answers to questions you guys have.
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