PETER MOORE RESIGNS FROM MICROSOFT, WILL JOIN ELECTRONIC ARTS

In a completely unexpected and shocking turn of events, Peter Moore, corporate vice president of entertainment and devices at Microsoft, has tendered his resignation effective July 30th, 2007. Moore, who has essentially been the face of the Xbox 360 since it’s launch will be joining Electronic Arts as president of the EA Sports line of games.

You know, when I first saw the story break yesterday as a rumor at Kotaku, I could scarcely believe that it was possible. If it weren’t for the fact that I trust Kotaku’s Managing Editor, Brian Crecente, to not post every rumor he hears, I would have just written it off in my mind as wild speculation. By the time I got home, Microsoft and Electronic Arts had confirmed the story, MS had already spoken with most of the major game news outlets and Moore’s new salary had already been uncovered. It’s certainly a case of things happening at a lightning fast pace.

While rumors regarding the situation are certainly flooding the internet, Microsoft has stated that Moore’s decision to move on from the company was due to his desire to return to California. I’m sure the 1.5 million dollar signing bonus, $550,000 annual salary, possible $412,500 in bonuses, $330,000 in moving expenses and option to buy 400,000 shares of EA stock had something to do with it as well. Yeah, that’s a while lot of money.

Microsoft wasted no time in naming current external advisor to Microsoft and former EA Worldwide studios president Don Mattrick as Moore’s replacement. While Moore is due to step down on the 30th, he will be remaining with Microsoft for a few weeks beyond that date in order to assist during the transition period.

You know, I did think it was kind of strange that Moore didn’t really headline this year’s Microsoft E3 press conference, but I just chalked it up to someone in marketing having a “brilliant” idea for the show. I never would have thought that it could be a sign that Moore was on his way out. (Please note that I’m just speculating about that being the reason Moore wasn’t front and center at the E3 press conference)

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to miss Moore. He may have had a bit of a used car salesman vibe about him at times, but the man sure could talk a good game. Anyway, I’ll be in the corner picking up my jaw for the next few hours if anyone needs me.

• Peter Moore to Head EA Sports? – Kotaku
• Peter Moore Resigns, Mattrick Steps In – Kotaku
• EA Confirms Moore’s New Job – Kotaku
• Bach, Mattrick Talk Moore, EA – Kotaku
• Peter Moore’s New EA Salary – Kotaku
• SEC reveals Moore’s multimillion-dollar EA deal – Gamespot

MICROSOFT E3 2007 PRESS CONFERENCE LIVEBLOG

Well, it’s still a few hours away, so as you can imagine, there’s not much to report right now. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether Microsoft will have some surprise up it’s sleeve for tonight’s address. Will the Xbox 360 see a price cut? Will Peter Moore unveil a tattoo of Metal Gear Solid 4? Will anyone actual read this while I’m liveblogging it? All those questions and more should be answered tonight.

In case you’re wondering about the whole “E3Outsider.com” deal… Back when the site went to it’s daily gaming news format last year, I took out the address as a joke of sorts – you see, the old official E3 website was located at http://www.e3insider.com and since I sure as hell wasn’t going to be invited, I thought it would be a great idea to cover the show from an outsiders perspective – hence the name. While that specialized coverage of E3 never really surfaced, it’s still something that’s on the drawing board here at nylatenite.com, and I figured I should at least get some usage out of my domain registration fee.

That said, we’re now in the holding pattern for the start of our show. Here’s to hoping the comment system actually works.

11:21pm – We’re just a few minutes away from the start – according to G4, there’s a rumor that MS will have a special guest during the presentation…

11:34pm – And here we go – a live band from Illinois is playing the Halo theme music

11:38pm – The band has been going on so long, I think Moore must have gotten lost on his way to the conference.

11:39pm – Peter Moore has taken the stage.

11:40pm -According to Moore, every demo shown tonight will be from a game released this year.

11:40pm – The folks from Harmonix have taken the stage with Moore and it looks like they’re going to demo Rock Band with Moore.

11:41pm – Wow, out of tune singing and missed notes – it’s just like Karaoke night at most bars.

11:41pm – Please, make it stop. This isn’t the kind of game that you can really get a feel for by watching others play, and this “exhibition” is just painful. I envy the deaf.

11:43pm – Thankfully, G4 has cut to a commercial. I guess the press conference has been designed with commercials in mind this year since G4 is exclusively carrying the video feed.

11:44pm – Since I’m watching a commercial for it, I’ve got to ask – does anybody use PeoplePC online?

11:45pm – Some bald guy is trying to sell me his hints on becoming a millionaire. I’m thinking if he knew, he sure wouldn’t be hawking a crappy money-making scheme on G4 – am I right?

11:47pm – A trailer for Mass Effect is now showing – and guess what – we missed it during the commercial break. Moore has announced Mass Effect will be available this November.

11:48pm – This year, people will spend more money on games than music according to Moore.

11:49pm – 2/3 of all third party games are on the Xbox 360. Moore also showed some install figures that didn’t look quite right.

11:50pm – Moore is continuing to push the Xbox 360’s catalog of games as compared to the competition.

11:52pm – Madden, Halo & Grand Theft Auto sold 75 million units in 2004 when they released near each other. Moore drives home the point that you can only play all 3 on the 360.

11:53pm – Video montage of games – PGR4, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Half Life 2: The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, Stranglehold, GH3, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey, NBA Live ’08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Tiger Woods PGA 08, Ace Combat6, NHL 08, Assassin’s Creed, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, The Simpsons Game, Splinter Cell: Conviction, NASCAR ’08, Eternal Sonata, BioShock, Madden NFL’08, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans (Crash Bandicoot Game), Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix, Bee Movie, Rock Band & Naruto: Rise of a Ninja.

11:55pm – Microsoft’s Marketing Man Jeff Bell takes the stage and announces Scene it! will be coming to the 360 exclusively.

12:00am – Bell is now talking about Xbox Live and Electronic Arts. I noticed they didn’t mention APF2K8 earlier…

12:00am – Bell just confirmed that EA’s sports games (NCAA Football & Madden) will run at 60fps on the 360 while only running at 30fps on PS3.

12:01am – Reggie Bush is brought out to play Madden NFL’08.

12:02am – Bush vs. Bell at Madden. Wow, compared to last year’s conference, there’s a whole lot of fluff going on.

12:02am – Reggie Bush runs one all the way on a hand off.

12:03am – Back to Bell talking about Live. They predicted last year that they would have 6 million members by now – according to Bell, the number is actually 7 million. No word on if they mean Gold members only or both gold and silver. They now predict 10 million by next year.

12:04am – More than 100 games on Xbox Live Arcade by end of the year. Montage of Xbox Live Arcade games coming soon – Bomberman Live, Sonic The Hedgehog, War World, Sensible World Soccer, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Geono, Wing Commander : Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Track & Field, Spyglass Board Games, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle Fighter 2: Turbo HD, Word Puzzles, Marathon: Durundal, Poker Smash, Switchball, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest & Boku Soduku.

12:08am – Sonic The Hedgehog and Golden Axe will be available today as Xbox Live Arcade games.

12:10am – Xbox Live Marketplace has generated $125 million in sales via downloadable content.

12:11am – Microsoft has signed a deal with Disney where many of their movies will be available immediately on Xbox Live in HD. (Disney, Touchstone, etc)

12:12am – Xbox 360 Elite will go on sale in Europe on 8/24.

12:13am – Shane Kim (Microsoft Game Studios) takes the stage.

12:14am – Kim is talking about Microsoft Game Studios high level of quality. He predicts Forza 2 will break 1 million units by the end of the month.

12:15am – 2 guys from Bizarre Creations have come out to show off PGR4 – and this time, the game includes motorcycles!

12:16am – PGR4 wil feature over 120 cars in addition to the bikes.

12:16am – I hate G4. I really do. They keep cutting away to commercials whenever things get good. They suck.

12:17am – I’ve switched to the smaller feed over at Xbox.com – at least they don’t cut away when the going gets good.

12:18am – PGR4 video ends. Bell is the only one clapping. PGR 4 will be out in September.

12:19am – He’s talking about upcoming games – Fable 2, Halo Wars, Too Human and a new Halo branded game from Peter Jackson (since they aren’t showing them, they won’t be out this year)

12:20am – Here comes footage of Lost Odyssey.

12:21am – Lost Odyssey trailer plays, G4 is still showing commercials. This proves my, “G4 sucks” theory.

12:22am – Trailer ends. no one claps – I guess this is a no clapping area. Upcoming RPG’s – Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect & Blue Dragon.

12:22am – Now on to PC games – Viva Pinata is coming to PC. Kim also confirms Gears of War will be coming to Windows.

12:22am – CliffyB takes the stage – uses Windows Live to connect to a friend.

12:23am – CliffyB has just said Gears PC will have 5 new single player chapters!!!!

12:23am – Gears has a new multiplayer mode (deathmatch?) and new multiplayer maps.

12:24am – Remember the Brumak from the early Gears trailers? (The big creature with the rocket launcher attached to it) – Well, it’s in one of the chapters in the PC version of Gears. I so hope this content comes to the 360 as well…

12:25am – The level they’re fighting the Brumak in looks a little empty – almost like they’re fighting it in a school yard. Maybe they should rename it “The Gooch”

12:26am – Well, at least CliffyB stated that Gears will be available on XP and Vista. None of that Vista only crap.

12:27am – Moore retakes the stage.

12:28am – Sega, Eidos and THQ have signed on for Games for Windows Live.

12:28am – Moore has stated that Epic will be making Games for Windows Live support part of Unreal Engine 3

12:29am – …and naturally, G4 cuts away to a commercial. Back to the internet feed.

12:30am – Games for Windows montage – Gears of War, Universe at War, Blacksite: Area 51, Crysis, BioShock, World in Conflict, Age of Conan, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Lost Planet, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, Juiced 2 & Viva Pinata.

12:32am – Call of Duty 4 trailer is shown. (One we’ve all alreay seen) – oh look, G4 is still in a commercial break.

12:33am – Some folks from Infinity Ward are coming to the stage to show off Call of Duty 4. New gameplay footage!

12:35am – I think they also showed Earth Defense force in that last montage as JG from Gamer’s Lounge just mentioned it in an IM to me. See what you miss when you watch the G4 feed and switch back and forth?

12:36am – The sniper mission being shown in CoD4 seems to be pretty cool, but it doesn’t seem very free-form. One of those “you have to do this, then that, then that other thing” kind of feeling.

12:39am – Then again, I’d assume that’s what being a sniper is really all about.

12:39am – Damn, no one in this place ever claps.

12:40am – Multilplayer Xbox 360 beta for CoD4 coming. Check www.charlieoscardelta.com for more details!

12:41am – Splinter Cell: Conviction mentioned shortly as an Xbox 360 exclusive.

12:41am – Grand Theft Auto IV trailer plays. According to Moore, both GTA4 trailers were made with the Xbox 360 version.

12:42am – Yeah, it’s official. No one in the audience knows how to clap.

12:43am – Moore confirms two exclusive episodes for GTA4 will be on the 360 by Spring ’08.

12:44am – Ace Combat 6 and Eternal Sonata will be 360 exclusives.

12:45am – Moore is about to show a game that WILL NOT be available on the 360 this year – he figures he can break his promise for this one…. it’s Resident Evil 5.

12:46am – Hey, it got applause!

12:46am – Jade Raymond & company come out to show off Assassin’s Creed.

12:47am – Okay, the jump from a very high building into a cart of hay that they just showed looks like crap. Beyond that, it’s looking very good – especially the crowd interactions.

12:50am – Combat looks good, but the multiple enemy fights seem to fall into the “only one or two guys will attack you at a time” trap.

12:52am – Jade Raymond. I’d hit it. I’d hit it like the fist of an angry god.

12:54am – Halo 3 time…

12:54am – Halo 3 video shown. No new game footage, just an “arm ’em up” scene with the USNC marines.

12:56am – New model Xbox 360 – Halo 3 Special Edition console (no specific details) and accessories.

12:57am – Moore seems to be wrapping this up. He’s talking about the strength of the 360 lineup again.

12:58am – Are we going to see a new tattoo?

12:58am – Looks like there won’t be a bombshell announcement – but they are showing a new Halo 3 trailer – with gameplay footage!

12:59am – Of course, on G4 – Adam Sessler interrupts it AND they cut away in the middle to a commercial. Yes, you heard me, they cut away to a commercial DURING the Halo 3 trailer…

1:00am – And that, as they say, is that.

1:10am – Fixed some typos.

E3 OUTSIDER: LIVEBLOGGING THE E3 2007 MICROSOFT PRESS BRIEFING

As usual, Microsoft kicks off E3 with it’s traditional pre-E3 press briefing, and this year I’m going to be liveblogging it for those of you who can’t or don’t want to watch the whole thing.

Because the standard format of this website is not conducive to a rapidly updating format (as you should know from my frequent griping about the subject), I’m going to open up the still unfinished blog based version of the site for one night via E3Outsider.com, so if you’re up to it, head on over around 11:30pm EST and join in the fun – after all, the comment system should work just fine.

On a somewhat sadder note, this will probably be the only live blog of the big three’s press conferences that we’ll be doing. Unfortunately, both Nintendo & Sony will be holding their talks tomorrow morning – a time when I’ll be sitting behind my desk out in the desert of the real. (a place also called my “real” job – you know, the one that pays the bills.) Don’t worry though, I’ll be sure to post anything of interest from those two events just as soon as possible. See? It’s not the end of the world.

I’ve got some last minute details to take care of, so I’ll sign off right now. It’s E3 2007… can you feel the excitement?

• E3Outsider.com – Home of the nylatenite.com liveblog of the Microsoft E3 2007 press conference.
• Microsoft E3 2007 Press Conference  liveblog – E3outsider.com

MICROSOFT EXTENDS 360 WARRANTY TO 3 YEARS FOR RED RING ISSUES

Microsoft has announced that due to the ongoing issues with the Xbox 360’s dreaded Red Ring of Death system failures, the company will be extending the system’s factory warranty to cover the defects that cause the issue to 3 years from the date of purchase.

I can’t begin to mention just how huge of an announcement this is. Microsoft has basically admitted that the failure rate on the Xbox 360 is far higher than they would like and have taken action to make sure that their customer base is treated fairly. To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, Microsoft will be taking a 1.15 billion dollar pre-tax charge to their earnings for the quarter ending June 30th to cover the cost of the extension. (If you’re wondering, this means that the cost of supporting the warranty will not be included in fiscal year 2008, meaning that Robbie Bach’s prediction that the Xbox line would be in the black by 2008 is still a reasonable possibility.)

In an open letter to their customers, Microsoft’s Peter Moore apologized to Xbox 360 owners for any inconveniences they may have experienced due to system failures and promised that the company would be retroactively reimbursing any fees paid by 360 owners for repairs due to the issue.

“As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.” – Peter Moore

It should be noted that the extension (years 2 and 3) only cover issues related to the three red ring failures and does not cover the rest of the system. To clear up any confusion, Microsoft has made a FAQ available that covers many of the questions Xbox 360 owners may have about the updated warranty and have advised that they will continue to update the FAQ over the next few days.

One question that wasn’t covered in the aforementioned FAQ was what affect this would have on the warranty status of those who purchased the Xbox 360’s 2 year extended warranty directly from Microsoft. To get an answer to that issue, I called Microsoft’s customer support help line at 1-800-4MY-XBOX, and after waiting on hold for 1 hour and 15 minutes was advised that the extended warranty will begin once the 3 year warranty period has expired and that all services would be covered during that time.

I found that answer a little strange as one would assume that only the coverage for the Red Ring failures would continue into the 4th and 5th year of the warranty period, but the representative I spoke with assured me that this was indeed the case. While I’m taking that part of the answer with a grain of salt, I am at least confident in believing that those who purchased the extended warranty via Microsoft will have protection from general system failures (Red Ring of Death failures) for 5 years from the date of purchase.

My guess is that since Microsoft also stated that they believe they’ve found a way to fix the problem that this move may essentially be a long-term recall. If the problem is such that they know that most Xbox 360’s will fail within 3 years, this would allow them to repair the problems without the massive negative publicity a true recall would bring. The move should also allow Microsoft some breathing room at E3 in regard to the failure rate, so while it’s certainly a great move for the consumer, I wouldn’t go sending mushy love notes to the company just yet. Still, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy at the moment. Between the rumors of the PlayStation 3 price drop and Microsoft’s warranty extension, it’s been a pretty good day for gamers. For more information on the announcement, warranty procedures and what it all means to you, check out the below links.

• Microsoft Expands Xbox 360 Warranty Coverage – Official press release
• Xbox 360 Expands Warranty – Gamerscore Blog
• Open Letter From Peter Moore – Xbox.com
• Expanded Xbox 360 Warranty Coverage FAQ – Xbox.com

MOORE TO BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY: I’M SORRY!

Still stinging from the can of whoop ass Xbox 360 owners and his own employees opened on him when he declared that no one cared about backwards compatibility on the 360 anymore, Peter Moore made an appearance on Major Nelson’s most recent podcast to clear up… and backtrack on the matter. Moore stated that his comments regarding backwards compatibility were misconstrued and that he assures us that Microsoft does indeed care about playing original Xbox titles on the 360.

“I want to be clear that my comments were not about ‘nobody cares.’ Of course we care, and we’re going to continue to get as close as we can to our stated target of every Xbox game being back compatible to the Xbox 360.” -Peter Moore

The oh-so-contrite Moore also stated that the next long anticipated (and apparently) much desired backwards compatibility update should be hitting Live sometime next week and would add about 20 games to the current list of 360 playable titles. While he didn’t name all the games Microsoft will be adding, he did state that both Doom 3 and Lego Star Wars would be part of that group. I do hope that ESPN NFL2K5 made the list, but since I guess Electronic Arts would probably throw a fit if it did, I don’t think we’ll be seeing that happen anytime soon.

Now lets all remember that Moore has officially stated that they plan on continuing to try and make every Xbox game playable on the 360. Why? This way was can all share a chuckle as we watch and wait months and months for the next update after this one. If we’re lucky, we may even go so far as to get some shits and giggles out of it. Check out the Major’s podcast here.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if this whole thing pissed me off so much because it was an ex-Sega executive who was saying they were going to drop support for something… not that Sega ever did something like that before or anything. You know what I’m saying. 😉

GAMERSCORE BLOG TO MOORE: DROP DEAD

Microsoft’s in-house employee blog, Gamerscore Blog has posted an update on the status of the next backwards compatibility update due to the explosion of comments caused by Peter Moore’s recent comments on the importance, or rather lack thereof, of BC on the 360. According to the post, a large backwards compatibility update is currently in testing and should add “a few dozen titles” to the BC list. In what sounds like a direct response to Mr. Moore’s comments, the posting states;

““We know for a fact that there are lots of people who continue to care about backwards compatibility, including the “Emulation Ninjas” who are working full time on the updates. And those of us posting on this blog. And, of course, many of you.” -Gamerscore Blog

Nice to know at least someone at Microsoft isn’t suffering from delusions. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for NFL2K5, Mercenaries & a few other titles.

MOORE TO BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY: DROP DEAD

While we’re on the subject of corporate stupidity, Microsoft’s VP of Gaming, Peter Moore, just couldn’t let Sony bask in the warm glow of bad press alone. While giving the usual company lines about the future of the Xbox 360, the secret location of J Allard and the wonders of Live Anywhere in an interview with Kikizo Games, Moore essentially dropped the F-bomb on Xbox 360 backwards compatility.

“Nobody is concerned anymore about backwards compatibility. We under promised and over delivered on that. It’s a very complicated thing… very complex work. I’m just stunned that we have hundreds of games that are backwards compatible.

More are coming, but at some point, you just go, there’s enough, let’s move on, or people aren’t as worried about a game being backwards compatible – and I like to think we’ve upheld our end of the bargain in making at least two or maybe three hundred games backwards compat.” – Peter Moore

Now if three hundred games were actually backwards compatible that wouldn’t be that bad of a statement. But the current backwards compatibility list stands at 203 games, of which many do not work properly. I’d hardly call that over-delivering – especially when Microsoft has previously admitted that many of those titles are listed because they just happened to work with an emulator created for another game.

Tell you what Microsoft, you get Ninja Gaiden Black working, let me save in SSX3, add ESPN NFL2K5, Mercenaries and Soul Calibur II to the BC list and then maybe we can start talking about being done with BC. Click here for the Kikizo Games interview.