An Interview With Peter Moore

[mister_slim]

Computer & Video Games (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/) has an interview (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=119432) with Peter Moore, where he talks about the Xbox 360, Steven Spielberg, Europe, and Japan.

On persuading Sakaguchi to develop for the 360:
Yeah, the big fat cheque, right? I'm not going to put words in Sakaguchi-san's mouth, but he chose to come out of retirement for 360. I sat down with him at his home in Hawaii about a year ago. We had the 360 architecture even back then, so I talked to him about online, about our vision for bringing people together not only through the console but also the PC and how we believe it will all come together in the future. He doesn't need to work. He doesn't need to be doing what he's doing now, which is managing hundreds of developers working on Xbox 360 projects in Tokyo. But he shared the dream. He believes in our vision.
A billion people, huh? That's a very large number.

[UnderHero5]

Yeah, the other day when I watched the press conference, I couldn't help but laugh when they said they were aiming for a billion people. They do realise how large a BILLION is, right?

It's simply impossible. There's no chance in hell that they get that many people to buy their product. It's a VIDEO GAME CONSOLE. What has the PS2 sold in it's lifetime... 120 million tops?... and MS expect to sell a billion 360's?...

I still can't help but laugh at that. Rediculous.

[Tyrant]

PR folks rarely take the pessimestic approach. Besides, he wasn't talking about SELLING 1 billion 360s:

You mentioned at the press conference on Monday that you wanted to reach one billion people. How?

If we're going to grow we need to appeal to different people in different ways. If I can have Steven Spielberg come in - as he just did - and tell me how incredible Xbox 360 is, then why not? Steven Spielberg, on his own, has touched a billion people with his movies. Why can't we?

Does the Spielberg connection mean he's interested in working on Xbox 360 with you?

Well, movies and games are already pretty much tied at the hip, and it's something we want to advance with Xbox 360. As for Steven himself, he was certainly impressed with what he saw.

But most important for us is to stay true to our hardcore, the people who want to be totally immersed in the game experience and get connected to the real 'zen' of gaming. But we also have to make the experience more approachable so that other people who haven't played games in the past will stay up and play. Kameo in particular is a game that my daughter will play, my mum might even play. And then there's the 'non-gaming' experiences in the Arcade, like chess, checkers, and that kind of stuff.

That's how we reach a billion people. We're not going to sell a billion consoles, but we're going to get the whole family back on the couch in front of the TV and reach them that way.

[H.M._Murdock]

Damn, Peter Moore is the most vomit inducing man in the video game industry. What happend to good ol' "The PS2 is a piece of shit" Moore?

[StGeorge]

A) The PS2 *is* a piece of shit. B) He said a billion people, not a billion consoles. It's still an impossible number. C) Dreamcast did the same MTV stunt and look where it got them. Why'd they hire this guy, anyway?

[DriveALW]

It remains the worst thing I've seen on MTV, and that's saying A LOT.

Some chick pulling a 360 out of a bag (literally) a bunch of flashing lights, a few 'celebrity gamers,' and a bunch of .5 second shots of Perfect Dark 0, which basically looked like the first Perfect Dark with a jetpack.

Worse than TRL. Worse than the Real World even! Worse than *Kennedy.*

[Joshinji]

1 out of 6 people to play the XBOX 360...it's just impossible when you think that a lot of of the population of the world lives in poor countries. Not to mention China...it took them how long to get the PS2?

[Tricky Thumb]

Mmm, I love the scent of PR suicide in the evenings.

[Adam Blue]

It remains the worst thing I've seen on MTV, and that's saying A LOT.

Some chick pulling a 360 out of a bag (literally) a bunch of flashing lights, a few 'celebrity gamers,' and a bunch of .5 second shots of Perfect Dark 0, which basically looked like the first Perfect Dark with a jetpack.

Worse than TRL. Worse than the Real World even! Worse than *Kennedy.*

What were you expecting from MTV? Seriously? Hasn't this issue been touched on before? MS is targeting the mainstream where Sony currently reigns.of course it's going to be bad to us. I didn;t even plan on watching it for the obvious reasons.

Can I get a.....DUH.

[GodFather]

"One billion people I say..come on people I've been frozen for thirty years throw me a bone here"

[Savok]

It all sounds a bit red to me.

[Snowmit]

Didn't they say they wanted the INDUSTRY to reach a billion, not Xbox specifically? That's how I remember it.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=9676
BIZ: A lot of people laughed at that 1 billion figure, but you're saying it was not a reference to the Xbox business but the industry as a whole?

PM: That's right. Yeah it's tough [during the conference] because you have to really pick out the words. I think we as an industry should have the goal of touching 1 billion consumers in the next generation and that's as much a message to Sony and Nintendo. Here's what's happened. The last two generations have kind of stagnated with growth and if you look over the years for our industry you see a chart that goes like that [waves hand up but leveling off] and it kind of seems to be hitting a glass ceiling. We're very proud of being bigger than movies or what have you, but at some point we've got to offer game experiences and digital entertainment experiences that really go after a broader audience. And you can't do that if you're a) keeping it behind closed doors at E3, which didn't seem like the right thing to do; and b) having something that is still intimidating and games that are not approachable and a controller that to some people feels like kryptonite sometimes... I'm not saying we have to get back to the Atari days of a joystick with one button, but games that'll be simpler to play.

[Chris_D]

Sounds like he and Nintendo are on the same page...

[Varsity]

If they can get everyone in a household to play on the 360, whereas currently only the kids or young adult play on it, that's a lot closer to 1 billion already. And remember that 1 US billion is less than a European billion. ;)

[Borys]

More power to him.

360 reaching 1 billion people is as retarded as saying that "PS3 is 1% as powerful as human brain". The difference is that nobody from Sony said that (no EA's favourite Sony's"bullshit") - CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/05/23/brain.download/) did.

1:0 for Sony.
They do not even need PR or marketing teams. Media are doing it for them.

[TRiLoGY]

If they can get everyone in a household to play on the 360, whereas currently only the kids or young adult play on it, that's a lot closer to 1 billion already. And remember that 1 US billion is less than a European billion. ;)

Ah, yes.. Our European billion is different..
In the US, one billion is one thousand million (it has 9 zeros and equals 1,000,000,000). In the UK, one billion is one million million (it has 12 zeros and equals 1,000,000,000,000)!

[Furious Wang]

1 billion is a bit of a stretch.

[Ernst_Jager]

Maybe we will get lucky and video games will become the new 'cool' thing and the better you are the hotter the chicks that want you will be. Hey....I can dream too! Though I say more power to them.

[BloodAngel]

I think you guys are taking that 1 Billion thing a bit too literally. I do know that folks in my house who could care less about consoles were jazzed about the non-arcade features of Live. MS is sticking to the everyman box vision.

No they probably won’t get a billion, but I have a feeling there will be a shit load of folks playing. Just like there will no doubt be a shit load of people playing PS3 online, and I still say that a good 70% of gamers will own both systems.

[NACIONAL]

1 out of 6 people to play the XBOX 360...it's just impossible when you think that a lot of of the population of the world lives in poor countries. Not to mention China...it took them how long to get the PS2?

remember.. they don't tend to sell 1 X360 for every 6 people...

it is still a very large number

[mulligan]

Bill Gates: a billion?> puff.. why not make it 2.. yes.. 2 billions.. but.. i migth be going crazy here but... it migth work.... how about...? 1,000,000 TRILLION people... yes yes... muajajaja (thunderclaps) MUAJAJAJJAA

[mister_slim]

Sounds like he and Nintendo are on the same page...
Talking wise. Of course, some attempt at actually attracting non-gamers would be cool. People aren't going to buy a 360 just for Live Arcade or Chat, it probably won't have Blu-Ray or HD-DVD capability, and basically none of the games shown at E3 are going to attract a new audience, much less steal Nintendo's. I guess they're depending on Sakaguchi.