EXCLUSIVE: THE X-FACTOR, DAY TWO: PETER MOORE
Microsoft's corporate vice president of retail sales and marketing on Xbox Live, XNA, product placement and spot fees in the future of online gaming
17:56 Microsoft Game Studios head Shane Kim well and truly fried on the griddle yesterday, today our attentions focus on Peter Moore, current corporate vice president of retail sales and marketing for Microsoft, ex-President of Sega of America, true Brit (despite the accent) and a man deeply passionate about driving the global success of the Xbox brand.
Interview conducted by Johnny Minkley.
How would you rate the success of Live in Europe against that in the US?
Moore: The biggest challenge we're facing in Europe that we're not facing in North America is Live, Xbox Live - and that's broadband, particularly in southern Europe.
Broadband adoption rates in some countries are in the small single digits and we need to improve that. We have also seen in the last 12 months that, in a lot of countries, when I think certainly of Northern Europe with British Telecom etc., that Xbox Live is actually a driving force.
The interesting dynamic we're seeing in Europe is that Xbox Live is actually a reason for somebody to go out and get broadband. The other issue of course is credit cards, the ability to pay online.
It's pretty standard in North America that people either have or can get access to a credit card. That's not the case at all in Europe, and we're looking at innovative ways to allow people to transact online without necessarily [using] a credit card. And that's an issue for the growth in Europe right now.
What are your thoughts on introducing micro payments, on top of the subscription model?
Moore: Yeah, micro payments on top of the subscription model are something that we're working actively on. The subscription model needs to stay in place because the service needs to be paid for, but micro payments are something that I think will be the future for both us and more importantly our publishing partners.
I envisage a world where, if I'm in a game and I want to buy a weapon and it's going to help me in a game, I'll probably pay a Euro for that weapon.
If I'm playing a football game and there's a market place there to buy a player that'll make my team better, I'll probably buy that player for a Euro or 50 pence or whatever.
That's kind of future thinking but already, when you look at PC online gaming, people have been paying for avatars, paying for weaponry in games like EverQuest, Asheron's Call and Ultima Online. There are market places that surround those games. We need in the future in the console world to also create those market places but we don't yet have the billing infrastructure. Believe me, micro payments - very complex billing.
When we spoke at GDC you said you were on the verge of going on a Japanese developer tour to promote XNA - how did it go?
Moore: It went great. I met with maybe six to eight publishers - the usual suspects, if you will. We talked about the future of where we're going.
Many of them had been at GDC and all of them saw the video tape [of XNA]. The interesting thing about Japan right now, and I've seen it over the years, is this opening of the eyes of 'we must globalise our businesses'.
When you talk to the guys I have a lot of respect for - the Konamis, the Segas, the Namcos the Capcoms - they realise that the declining state of the Japanese domestic business is going to force them to really aggressively look at the outside world. Even more so now.
Those guys have always done well in the US and Europe, but they need to re-think their content, their strategy, because their own market can't support Japanese-centric development.
In all of those cases Xbox is a core part of their strategic planning. We'll continue to make announcements in the future about our partnerships in Japan, but one thing I can tell you was I was very excited coming back from that - nothing but great news.
Did they give you an insight into how they felt about working with XNA compared to what Sony's offering them for next-gen?
Moore: Yeah, because Sony really isn't a tool company. Sony provides some tool support but no company in the world provides tool support on the magnitude that Microsoft does.
It's what we do; we build platforms and people come and build applications on our platforms... Our job is to build a platform and our job is to facilitate gaming whatever or productivity applications on top of that platform whether it's Windows or Xbox, and it's our job to make that easy.
We have a huge tools group in Redmond [Microsoft HQ]. It's an incredible asset to the company. You talk to any publisher about the support they get from Microsoft - It's first class. I'm very enthused.
For a developer working with Xbox as opposed to Sony hardware, what do you see as the fundamental differences?
Moore: Any developer's going to tell you that they'd rather develop for Xbox than PS2. Xbox uses a PC-based architecture that's built to be easy to develop for. PS2 uses dual-processor technology that is a pain.
We built the development architecture specifically to be easy to develop for. You ask anyone that develops games and they'll tell you that Xbox as a platform is more powerful, you can do a lot more with it. Why do you think Doom 3 is only on Xbox [on console]? It's impossible to put that game on PS2. Half-Life 2 is the same.
And then there's Xbox Live - I can't think of anybody that isn't doing that [creating Live-enabled games]. They're all doing it, and they're all doing it because... It's simple - it sells more games. Live games sell more than if they were [only] offline, it's as simple as that.
And now they [publishers] start looking at other business opportunities - premium downloads, things like that. I mean, that's the future. Not only selling your game at retail but then building a sustainable relationship with the consumer through that game through premium downloads. We've seen some phenomenal results, right now for free, but that's the way these things go. We test the market place and then you start testing pricing.
How do you feel about product placement in games as a means of driving revenue?
Moore: It's a fine line, because you're a creative medium. We're very wary of product placement unless it serves a creative function as this is an art form.
So how about interactive prodcut placement - for instance the energy drink Red Bull in Worms 3D, which serves as a power-up?
Moore: If it's relevant to the gaming experience... I always remember in Shenmue for the Dreamcast, you went to the Coca Cola vending machine and you could spend your money on Coca Cola. I mean, that's legitimate because that's what you see in the world, Coca Cola machines. I'm fine with that.
It's something that appeard to be helping out small developers particularly, as an extra means of raising cash.
Moore: Yeah, sure. What I think will happen more likely is that I think through Xbox Live... What's happening in America right now, is that the networks are losing the 18 to 34 year old male - they don't watch television. What are they doing? They're playing games and they're playing online. We look out our data servers and we're saying, 'OK, when are people playing games?' 8pm to 10pm - prime time.
And the networks in the US are freaking out. Because that is the sexiest consumer of all. He's got the most money, he's more likely to spend it, he drives the household, and he's not watching TV, he's playing games.
What's happening now is the consumer product companies are coming to us and asking 'How do we find our consumer?' because you've got him. So I think there'll be sponsorship opportunities. Think of a virtual World Cup sponsored by Coca Cola that you play online that Coca Cola says: 'We're going to throw one million Euro as a prize'.
And you're going to play FIFA from EA, and the winner is going to get from Coca Cola a million Euro. That I think has some merit because they are now funding an experience for me. In the same way, on the boards around the soccer field, you can put the adverts.
That's relevant because that's what I see in a real soccer game, but you start force-feeding me commercials... I don't want anything to do with that.
src: CVG
Microsoft's corporate vice president of retail sales and marketing on Xbox Live, XNA, product placement and spot fees in the future of online gaming
17:56 Microsoft Game Studios head Shane Kim well and truly fried on the griddle yesterday, today our attentions focus on Peter Moore, current corporate vice president of retail sales and marketing for Microsoft, ex-President of Sega of America, true Brit (despite the accent) and a man deeply passionate about driving the global success of the Xbox brand.
Interview conducted by Johnny Minkley.
How would you rate the success of Live in Europe against that in the US?
Moore: The biggest challenge we're facing in Europe that we're not facing in North America is Live, Xbox Live - and that's broadband, particularly in southern Europe.
Broadband adoption rates in some countries are in the small single digits and we need to improve that. We have also seen in the last 12 months that, in a lot of countries, when I think certainly of Northern Europe with British Telecom etc., that Xbox Live is actually a driving force.
The interesting dynamic we're seeing in Europe is that Xbox Live is actually a reason for somebody to go out and get broadband. The other issue of course is credit cards, the ability to pay online.
It's pretty standard in North America that people either have or can get access to a credit card. That's not the case at all in Europe, and we're looking at innovative ways to allow people to transact online without necessarily [using] a credit card. And that's an issue for the growth in Europe right now.
What are your thoughts on introducing micro payments, on top of the subscription model?
Moore: Yeah, micro payments on top of the subscription model are something that we're working actively on. The subscription model needs to stay in place because the service needs to be paid for, but micro payments are something that I think will be the future for both us and more importantly our publishing partners.
I envisage a world where, if I'm in a game and I want to buy a weapon and it's going to help me in a game, I'll probably pay a Euro for that weapon.
If I'm playing a football game and there's a market place there to buy a player that'll make my team better, I'll probably buy that player for a Euro or 50 pence or whatever.
That's kind of future thinking but already, when you look at PC online gaming, people have been paying for avatars, paying for weaponry in games like EverQuest, Asheron's Call and Ultima Online. There are market places that surround those games. We need in the future in the console world to also create those market places but we don't yet have the billing infrastructure. Believe me, micro payments - very complex billing.
When we spoke at GDC you said you were on the verge of going on a Japanese developer tour to promote XNA - how did it go?
Moore: It went great. I met with maybe six to eight publishers - the usual suspects, if you will. We talked about the future of where we're going.
Many of them had been at GDC and all of them saw the video tape [of XNA]. The interesting thing about Japan right now, and I've seen it over the years, is this opening of the eyes of 'we must globalise our businesses'.
When you talk to the guys I have a lot of respect for - the Konamis, the Segas, the Namcos the Capcoms - they realise that the declining state of the Japanese domestic business is going to force them to really aggressively look at the outside world. Even more so now.
Those guys have always done well in the US and Europe, but they need to re-think their content, their strategy, because their own market can't support Japanese-centric development.
In all of those cases Xbox is a core part of their strategic planning. We'll continue to make announcements in the future about our partnerships in Japan, but one thing I can tell you was I was very excited coming back from that - nothing but great news.
Did they give you an insight into how they felt about working with XNA compared to what Sony's offering them for next-gen?
Moore: Yeah, because Sony really isn't a tool company. Sony provides some tool support but no company in the world provides tool support on the magnitude that Microsoft does.
It's what we do; we build platforms and people come and build applications on our platforms... Our job is to build a platform and our job is to facilitate gaming whatever or productivity applications on top of that platform whether it's Windows or Xbox, and it's our job to make that easy.
We have a huge tools group in Redmond [Microsoft HQ]. It's an incredible asset to the company. You talk to any publisher about the support they get from Microsoft - It's first class. I'm very enthused.
For a developer working with Xbox as opposed to Sony hardware, what do you see as the fundamental differences?
Moore: Any developer's going to tell you that they'd rather develop for Xbox than PS2. Xbox uses a PC-based architecture that's built to be easy to develop for. PS2 uses dual-processor technology that is a pain.
We built the development architecture specifically to be easy to develop for. You ask anyone that develops games and they'll tell you that Xbox as a platform is more powerful, you can do a lot more with it. Why do you think Doom 3 is only on Xbox [on console]? It's impossible to put that game on PS2. Half-Life 2 is the same.
And then there's Xbox Live - I can't think of anybody that isn't doing that [creating Live-enabled games]. They're all doing it, and they're all doing it because... It's simple - it sells more games. Live games sell more than if they were [only] offline, it's as simple as that.
And now they [publishers] start looking at other business opportunities - premium downloads, things like that. I mean, that's the future. Not only selling your game at retail but then building a sustainable relationship with the consumer through that game through premium downloads. We've seen some phenomenal results, right now for free, but that's the way these things go. We test the market place and then you start testing pricing.
How do you feel about product placement in games as a means of driving revenue?
Moore: It's a fine line, because you're a creative medium. We're very wary of product placement unless it serves a creative function as this is an art form.
So how about interactive prodcut placement - for instance the energy drink Red Bull in Worms 3D, which serves as a power-up?
Moore: If it's relevant to the gaming experience... I always remember in Shenmue for the Dreamcast, you went to the Coca Cola vending machine and you could spend your money on Coca Cola. I mean, that's legitimate because that's what you see in the world, Coca Cola machines. I'm fine with that.
It's something that appeard to be helping out small developers particularly, as an extra means of raising cash.
Moore: Yeah, sure. What I think will happen more likely is that I think through Xbox Live... What's happening in America right now, is that the networks are losing the 18 to 34 year old male - they don't watch television. What are they doing? They're playing games and they're playing online. We look out our data servers and we're saying, 'OK, when are people playing games?' 8pm to 10pm - prime time.
And the networks in the US are freaking out. Because that is the sexiest consumer of all. He's got the most money, he's more likely to spend it, he drives the household, and he's not watching TV, he's playing games.
What's happening now is the consumer product companies are coming to us and asking 'How do we find our consumer?' because you've got him. So I think there'll be sponsorship opportunities. Think of a virtual World Cup sponsored by Coca Cola that you play online that Coca Cola says: 'We're going to throw one million Euro as a prize'.
And you're going to play FIFA from EA, and the winner is going to get from Coca Cola a million Euro. That I think has some merit because they are now funding an experience for me. In the same way, on the boards around the soccer field, you can put the adverts.
That's relevant because that's what I see in a real soccer game, but you start force-feeding me commercials... I don't want anything to do with that.
src: CVG
