Shane Kim Interview

[fitbabits]

GameDaily BIZ (http://biz.gamedaily.com) has posted an exclusive interview with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, in which he predictably discusses the relative success of the Xbox 360 and the supposed pressures that Sony are facing with their much-vaunted PS3.

You can read the full interview here (http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/interview/?id=12952).

GameDaily BIZ: First of all, what are your thoughts on this year's E3 and how the show's been going for Microsoft and Microsoft Game Studios?

Shane Kim: I think it's been a great show for us. It's been a great show for our platforms, for Windows Vista, for Xbox 360 as well as what we're doing in the casual gaming space. And we had Bill Gates come down and lay out the vision for Live Anywhere, which I think is going to be great for customers and something that Microsoft is uniquely positioned to deliver on.

..........

So we're really happy and Sony's pricing has obviously been a major story as well, and I think that's helping us because people are realizing that Xbox 360 is providing a superior option for customers.

BIZ: I was wondering what you thought about Sony's PS3 controller not having any vibration because (Sony says) of the addition of motion-sensing.

SK: I think it's terrible for the industry, personally. I mean, I don't know how you can remove rumble. It's a general purpose technology, a general purpose capability that's utilized in almost every game. To add motion-sensing technology seems like an attempt to copy what Nintendo is doing with the Wii controller, in a standard controller. And we had that motion technology inside a Freestyle Pro controller about 8 years ago and we found that as a general purpose controller it wasn't that great. It worked in one or two games, Motocross Madness for example, but it wasn't great as a general purpose controller.
All in all, an interesting interview.

Thanks to CaptStu for the head's-up!

[TrackZero]

Ah, another day, another PR salvo. All is right with the world.

[bapenguin]

There is some good info in here. with the rising cost of development... not supporting Xbox 360 is just too extreme. So I think you're going to see most third parties publishing their content for both platforms, which means it's up to the first party, Microsoft Game Studios, to deliver the exclusive content that's really going to differentiate the platforms.

He makes a good point, 3rd party exclusives are going to be very rare anymore.

[absolut taco]

Ah, another day, another PR salvo. All is right with the world.
More like, another day, another MS Manager fesses up to a mistake (sidewinder). I like this trend! Hopefully J Allard will come out next and say "360 core was a mistake".

[Montolio]

There is some good info in here.

He makes a good point, 3rd party exclusives are going to be very rare anymore.I'm just glad the Playstation will finally have decent graphics so I don't have to deal with their sorry ass textures, models, etc. anymore on multiplatform releases. I hated that developed for the lowest common denominator crap.

[rjcc]

More like, another day, another MS Manager fesses up to a mistake (sidewinder). I like this trend! Hopefully J Allard will come out next and say "360 core was a mistake".

Peter moore said the same previously, I think if you look around theres even a bill gates quotable saying "yeah, we had one like that years ago, but gamers didn't like it very much" or something to that effect.

[danhoo]

An aside: for me, the rumble thing isn't really a big deal outside of driving games. Plus, my poor borderline-carpal-tunnel wrists can't take long extended sessions of rumble.

[absolut taco]

Plus, my poor borderline-carpal-tunnel wrists can't take long extended sessions of rumble.
Hence, the "no rumble" option. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's more satisfying to squeeze a gun trigger when there is a little feedback.

[DaedalusFolly]

I like this trend! Hopefully J Allard will come out next and say "360 core was a mistake".

Hopefully he will then admit his makeover into some kind of faux-hipster was a mistake.

[UglyPimp]

I think anyone denouncing the rumble feature of controllers as not necessary is correct in that's it doesn't ruin your experience. But do people honestly believe rumble doesn't help in the experience? It's not the be all end all factor, but it's certainly something the PS3 shouold have.

I would never want a controller without a rumble feature, and I'm sure 99% of the posters claiming rumble isn't that big of a deal would buy a rumble controller in a heartbeat if it was available for the PS3.

[bapenguin]

eh...for some people Rumble is cool, for others they despise it.

To each his own. I think though for the most part the majority of gamers like rumble.

[Khash]

You have to look at it from Sony's point of view. It was gonna cost them something like 90million just for the rights to put the rumble in. Do you really think they would have been able to make that money back if they included it? I don't think 90million+ worth of revenue could have been generated simply off of rumble.

[Montolio]

You have to look at it from Sony's point of view. It was gonna cost them something like 90million just for the rights to put the rumble in. Do you really think they would have been able to make that money back if they included it? I don't think 90million+ worth of revenue could have been generated simply off of rumble.It's too hard to feel sorry for something as successful as the PS2. If Sony screws this up for their customers then they only have themselves to blame y'know. I don't believe they couldn't find some middle ground. I wouldn't want a controller without rumble.

[RMan]

I always thought rumble was a nice feature, but certainly no more than that. Saying removing it is 'terrible for the industry' is just crazy, it's not nearly that important. The motion sensing ability is far more useful, and I’m sure they know it.

[DaedalusFolly]

I don't think 90million+ worth of revenue could have been generated simply off of rumble.

I always hear that as the reasoning, buying the rights or whatever from Immersion. Surely there are alternate ways to make a small handheld device vibrate.

Does every pager/cell phone manufacturer pay Immersion money? Nintendo doesnt, see if they'll sell their tech for cheaper :D

[Mr.Condescension]

I always thought rumble was a nice feature, but certainly no more than that. Saying removing it is 'terrible for the industry' is just crazy, it's not nearly that important. The motion sensing ability is far more useful, and I’m sure they know it.

I always kind of despised rumble in most games, especially fighters like Tekken that require very precise rapid inputs. I did on the other hand like it for the Resident Evil and MGS series'. I think I'll deal with it, though.

I think Microsoft's argument that motion sensing wasn't popular 8 years ago, therefore it won't be popular now doesn't hold much water. Was the motion sensing not popular then because few games actually used it, since it wasn't a standard controller? That's one of the main arguments for the wii controller not being effective as a stand-alone peripheral. Once it's standard on the system people can actually start using it in their games without feeling like they're wasting time on a very small amount of users who both bought the game and the optional peripheral.

[Mr. Crowley]

Jeez, if you don't like rumble in your games just turn it 'OFF'. How hard is that?

[RMan]

Was the motion sensing not popular then because few games actually used it, since it wasn't a standard controller?
Yea, could be a bad implementation, but even if it was a perfect implementation, I doubt that there was even one game that was designed specifically for it. With the controller peripherals, they do all kinds of weird sticks and what not because some consumers will buy them, they never really throw their weight into them. Comparing that to a standard controller isn’t remotely the same, but the argument is designed for people that make snap judgments, not those that understand how things work and think about it. In the end it’s designed to promote the idea that they thought of it first and it didn’t work (of course if the fate of controllers hinged on early/poor implementations, most of what we use now wouldn’t exist).

[oldjadedgamer]

Jeez, if you don't like rumble in your games just turn it 'OFF'. How hard is that?

Again, it comes down to choice. It's better to have the option of both rumble or no rumble then nothing at all.

[Dracula-X]

If I had to choose, I'd rather have the rumble. I don't care for the bullshit excuse about rumble interfering with the motion sensitive bits. Sony could have easily included both rumble and motion, just simply not have them work at the same time, through the API or hardware. A game needs rumble? Activate rumble. Game needs motion? Activate motion.

Easy eh? Genius am I.

They didn't want to cough up the cash to Immersion is what that's about :)

[Mr.Condescension]

Again, it comes down to choice. It's better to have the option of both rumble or no rumble then nothing at all.

I definitely agree that having rumble available as an option is better than being entirely replaced. No arguments there. I was just agreeing with some of the other posters that commented they didn't really care about rumble.

[Mr.Condescension]

If I had to choose, I'd rather have the rumble.

That may be true today, but it could be shortsighted as well. We have no idea what developers will do with the motion sensing in the future now that they have it is built into the standard controller (so everyone will have it by default). In 2 years you might choose motion sensing over rumble...how can you really know?

[Dracula-X]

That may be true today, but it could be shortsighted as well. We have no idea what developers will do with the motion sensing in the future now that they have it is built into the standard controller (so everyone will have it by default). In 2 years you might choose motion sensing over rumble...how can you really know?
Sure, I have no doubt the motion sensing would be put to good use - I'm sure we'll see some games where it will come into play nicely.

But I don't think motion should come at the expense of rumble, a feature I don't see fading away from games anytime soon. They could co-exist if Sony truly wanted is what I was mainly getting at.

[RMan]

I'm wondering if removing rumble helps the controller's battery life. I'm not suggesting that was a real concern or a worthwhile tradeoff, but it does seem like with the wireless controllers not having the rumble might improve that (the fact that I haven't seen it mentioned though may mean it's insignificant).