Peter Moore on 'teh console warZ' [good read]

[zero2dash]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6178276.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newscallout&tag=newscallout;callout

Specifically this was supposed to be an EA related interview but Gamespot sure did turn it into a 'console warZ thoughts' interview quickly.

A few of the better quotes from Mr. Moore:

GS: So, now that you no longer work at Microsoft, I can ask this question: What's your personal take on the console wars?

PM: Well, I think it's still early days. We're heading to an incredibly interesting holiday. And I'll stand by my statement that [EA Sports] has got the greatest lineup of games the industry has coming into this holiday. It began with the shipping of NCAA Football and it's continued more recently with Madden and Tiger.

As for console wars--I think we're still in the console skirmishes. We're in the single-digit millions, and in the case of 360, maybe in the 10 millions. But in a platform cycle that I think everybody's expectations is in the hundreds of millions, it's still early.

GS: The official explanation was that that the EA Sports developers hadn't had enough time with the PS3 dev kit. Do you foresee this problem going away with Madden 09?

PM: Well, I see it going away with NBA Live 08. I think that we had a little bit of a mea culpa, but we're getting up to speed on the platform. But that's in the past. And beginning with NBA, we're going to see PS3 titles from EA Sports running at 60 frames a second. So all of that'll be forgotten by the holiday.

GS: Do you think this is an example of the pitfalls of multiplatform development, how is EA Sports kind of overcoming that?

PM: You'll see it running at 60 frames on PS3. Once the consumer gets that in their hands, the Madden issue will become ancient history. I think you look at any development cycle, and when you've had the hardware as long as the studios have for 360 in relation to what they had for PS3, you've got this normal chronology of getting your hands on the hardware a year later. It's a little bit of a hangover from that. But that's behind us now. By the time we get to November and NBA Live ships--all gone.

GS: Okay, going back to the three-way console war. If you were running Sony, what would you do to pull the PlayStation 3 out of third place?

PM: Well, I think all three platforms still have a lot of work to do ahead of them. You could argue that the Xbox 360 has got to get more mass market more quickly, and that the Nintendo Wii has got to be able to get into some deeper experiences with more hardcore consumers. The PS3 has got to, at some point, get its pricing in order. I think all consumers still see, whether we like it or not, that price is still a barrier to purchase. I'm hopeful that, as we've seen from Sony over the past 10 to 15 years, they understand what they need to do to start getting down to the mass market. And I'm hopeful and optimistic that they will execute against that in the not too distant future.

GS: Do you see the Wii as pulling ahead in the long term?

PM: Well, the one thing I will say is that I'm happy to see the three platforms really develop a point of view of who their consumer is, what their positioning is. And I think that allows the consumer to make a conscious decision. What would be the worst is if all three consoles were identical in price point and experience. I think very quickly, then, one if not both the number two and number three [consoles] would fall off.

But what I'm happy to see is the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, and the Sony PlayStation 3 have a very distinctive personality, very distinctive proposition to the consumer. It's going to be up to the consumer on whether that's the games they have, the price point they have, the level of connectivity, the first-party exclusives, the third-party exclusives, all of those things. I think consumers look at and make a conscious decision to buy one, both, or all three. I am infamous for the "Wii60" concept, and I still believe in that we're going to see a tremendous amount of multiplatform ownership in homes because of that distinctive experience. I hope the PS3 comes to play in that as well.

I also think that we're about to enter a very interesting and a very dynamic part of the industry, where the battle lines are being drawn with a tremendous lineup of games. It's going to be a phenomenally interesting holiday even though, unfortunately, Grand Theft Auto IV has backed out. All three platforms, as I just mentioned, offer different propositions to the consumer whether it's price, whether it's connectivity, whether it's the experience of the Wii remote, in particular. It's our job at EA to be able to tailor our game experiences to whatever that consumer wants. So, I think it's going to be a fascinating holiday, and I think it's going to be a great holiday for the industry.

I really like Peter Moore. He has a grasp on the faults within the industry IMO...industry wide, not just specific to one platform or another.

I liked him when he was with Sega during the Dreamcast days, I liked him at Microsoft, and he'll be an asset to EA. I have some optimism with EA turning around and looking a little better in the eyes of the hardcore gamer who generally (myself included) sees EA as 95% of what's wrong with the industry and 5% of what's right...I think Peter Moore can turn that around for them, at least the overall consensus of what people think about EA.

 

[ChrisK018]

Shouldn't all of EA's games for the holidays done and ready to roll? Is that what he means by "interesting?" --as in-- how everything will pan out?

I have not bought an EA game in a decade.

 

[MRU]

I have not bought an EA game in a decade.

A man of good taste

 

[steamboat26]

He hit the nail on the head with what each console needs to do to sell better.
But i would say in addition to his statements that the 360 should just have the premium and elite models, and sort out all the three red light problems with cooler chips and that extra heatsink. Sony needs some killer apps besides Resistance and soon. And the wii needs to get its act together in the online department.

 

[MRU]

^ I'm wondering if the new premiums with HDMI and 65nm technology run cooler ? Might have to update my remaining core.

 

[steamboat26]

^ I'm wondering if the new premiums with HDMI and 65nm technology run cooler ? Might have to update my remaining core.

According to wikipedia, all 360s still use 90 nm chips. They added a heatsink, which fixed a lot of problems, but i didn't think they had added the 65 nm chips yet

 

[0098386]

Whilst EA are pretty crap as it stands, that SSX Blur is quite a fun game. Could be oh-so improved and the controls refining. Hopefully it stands as a corner stone to where EA went good again?

 

[MRU]

According to wikipedia, all 360s still use 90 nm chips. They added a heatsink, which fixed a lot of problems, but i didn't think they had added the 65 nm chips yet

Some seem to report that some new models appear to have 'falcon' technology others are reporting otherwise.

So it's all a bit ambiguous at the moment. Will wait till after xmas. Besides new ipod & iphone to pay for yet

 

[zero2dash]

MRU -
the 65nm 360s will only have a 65nm cpu at first but still have the 90nm gpu.

*this is key because the gpu is the failing component due to heat*

While the 65nm cpu will lessen the overall heat in the system, the gpu will still have the same problems and more than likely eventually overheat, causing an RoD.

No word as to when ATi will roll out the 65nm gpu chips...sometime next year/TBD is all I've seen reported.

 

[MRU]

MRU -.....
No word as to when ATi will roll out the 65nm gpu chips...sometime next year/TBD is all I've seen reported.

Fair enough then. If that's the case I can't seen any point waiting. Especially with the ubiquitous 3 year warranty anyway.

 

[TBi]

Especially with the ubiquitous 3 year warranty anyway.

I wonder if there is some clause that this only applies to consoles already sold at the time of the announcment, and not newer systems like the falcon.

 

[SpankyPenzaanz]

I wonder if there is some clause that this only applies to consoles already sold at the time of the announcment, and not newer systems like the falcon.

The updated terms just states 3 years for three red lights from date of purchase so it seems that new purchases since announcement are included as well.