X03: THE PETER MOORE INTERVIEW
"Our first E3 was an unmitigated disaster." X03 and the Xbox supremo is as revealing and controversial as ever
18:55 Microsoft's X03 conference in the south of France, and Peter Moore, corporate vice president of retail sales and marketing for Europe and Japan, was on hand to share his thoughts on Xbox past, present and future.
Equally as brutal about Microsoft's own early failings as he is about the failings of rivals, the former President of Sega of America explains why we shouldn't expect a handheld Xbox anytime soon, why Microsoft will eventually succeed in Japan (including the revelation of several key appointments), and how his company is working tirelessly to make Xbox Live a more straightforward proposition for all.
Interview by Johnny Minkley
As you made very clear at last night's conference, Xbox has now moved into a clear second place in the hardware race in Europe, striding past Nintendo. What are your thoughts on your nearest rival?
Moore: I think we have a good relationship with third-parties. The type of content that the consumer wants out of an interactive experience, the digital entertainment lifestyle I spoke about last night [at the X03 conference], I think that when you look at that as a case study, as somebody surely will, one could argue that the consumer has moved on from Nintendo's typical offerings.
I think Nintendo has a very important place in videogames, it always announces things like introducing videogames to five million five-year-olds every year. Which is fine - Sony and ourselves will fight for them when they're 12 and we'll take it from there thank you very much.
I think the content line-up, the pricing strategy, the marketing strategy that we've undertook, as well as having our finger on the pulse of the consumer, being able to bring some of the strengths that Microsoft can bring to this industry, it doesn't surprise me, though I think it surprised Nintendo greatly.
You can see the difficulty it's having, particularly in the UK; bottom line is everyone always says it's a two console business. Unless you can clearly differentiate, or you're willing to spend billions of dollars in losses, it's a two console experience for the consumer, and right now Nintendo seems to be the third console, which is not a great position to be in..
I'll be interested to see what Nintendo has at the Tokyo Games Show. Even though it doesn't show first-party stuff, it'll be interesting - Eidos recently announced it was pulling all GameCube development. We're not surprised, but I think Nintendo is surprised - it's kind of slipped away from them pretty quickly over the last couple of years. I don't think they really anticipated how well we would do in the business.
I look at the numbers on a weekly basis and this is gonna be a very challenging Christmas for Nintendo, particularly at a time when it normally shines. The content offerings are not there, third-parties aren't there to bolster it...
The three platforms are PC, PS2 and Xbox, and GameCube is struggling a little bit. I hope Nintendo continues to stay the course but I hope it readjusts who it is and doesn't try to chase after segments in which I don't think it can be successful in.
Nintendo has a piece of every gamers' heart, but how does it sustain that going forward with today's market?
Xbox is undeniably a success in Europe but in Japan things are a little different. You're responsibiltiy is split between Europe and Japan, so how are you going to turn things around in the latter territory?
Moore: We're going to have some announcements coming up - one of the things we need to do is strengthen the executive staff there, which we're doing. There's a new head of marketing in Japan called Mike Fisher, a bilingual guy who I used to work with, he's already fully functioning out there, and there will be a new general manager announced out there next week, too.
But we're an American company, we've gone into videogames, we've taken on Sony and Nintendo and we're a year behind when they ship - it's not exactly the ideal business conditions to get going in.
When we did ship we had this urban myth of a DVD scratch issue in the market place which also knocked us for six in that territory. Bottom line, we're in Japan for the long run - Japan is very important to the future of Xbox.
We have phenomenal relationships with Japanese publishers and developers, and I think it's important that they see us being a powerful force. We think that Nintendo will probably readjust its positioning going forward, and I think opportunities will then arise for us in Japan.
We're not selling the consoles that we hoped we'd be selling; one of the few bright spots is the Xbox Live catch-rate which is actually pretty strong. I led a press conference in Tokyo about two weeks ago - our goal is to build a relationship with online gamers, because that's the point of difference over Sony and Nintendo that we can win at.
Our customer satisfaction levels with Xbox Live are through the roof - they love it. It's a small hardcore that we want to turn to our advantage going forward. It's a decade-long strategy in Japan. Look at other American companies out there and it's taken a long time to establish themselves in Japan. We have the power, the will, the resources, and the intestinal fortitude to keep going.
The actual complexity of setting up Live is perhaps more than some people would expect - are there plans to simplify the setting up process in the future?
Moore: Yes. Right now I think we're fortunate that the people signing up at the moment are fairly canny when it comes to setting up the service. What videogames are all about are just popping the videogame disc in the machine and playing, that's what it's all about.
But you have to understand that Live only launched in March - we haven't even seen seven months of the service yet in Europe. We have to take care of the technical issues, then we have to sit down with the retailers and explain to them how we're going to sell the service.
We've worked on the dashboard to make it better, we've made the user interface easier to use for the less technically minded consumer, but we realise going forward that this thing has got to be out of the box, plug and play - and that's not easy to do yet.
Some of the things are beyond our control but I think that more and more, you'll see the Live service simplified, with less cables. Some aspects of the Live service are beyond our control, but we're going to be doing what we can. We recognise that the system eventually needs to be plug and play.
So can we expect to see this reflected in the kind of games that are released for online play?
Moore: Certainly, the scene right now is you've got Halo 2 which will be the epitome of the more hardcore games that are suited for the traditional online player, which is kind of the legacy of the PC, the shooters, RPGs maybe, things of that nature.
It has to go forward, we've got to find ways of bringing new demographics into gaming; women, and the new content will be the dictator of that. I look at offline games that have been successful for the Xbox in the last few months, things like Finding Nemo, Disney Extreme Skating, which may sound - I was gonna say Goofy, but that sounds like a pun. [laughs]
But it's such a fun game. SpongeBob Squarepants means nothing to you guys but it's phenomenal in the US. It's that Nickelodeon-type content that we need to broaden our appeal. In Japan we need to work on the massively multiplayer RPGs. Look at The Sims - things that are more inclusive than intimidating.
Stuff that you can dabble with, without being intimidated the way you would with Half-Life or Doom or Counter-Strike.
In terms of X03 itself, X0 is an event that's established itself as a big deal in the European videogame industry, and there's a general feeling that X03 has been underwhelming because of a lack of announcements, lots of stuff being regurgitated from E3, and people were disappointed by that...
Moore: Well, I don't think this necessarily needs to be the venue for big announcements. I think this is the venue to show where we're at in the industry, to show great content; it's indicative of where we are in the industry right now.
I don't think Sony feels it has to make huge announcements when it bring its products together, and I think it's indicative that now we're a player, we're in the industry, and what you saw last night, if we'd told you to expect that a year ago, the breadth and quality of the content, the third-parties that are involved, I think you'd have been blown away.
But now you're disappointed because there's no big announcement - last year's Rare announcement was just fortuitous timing that happened to tie-in with X02. In preparation for the show we said: we have no huge announcement, no huge exclusive, but then we looked at the breadth of what we did have, and we said it's not a big deal - we don't need to justify our place in the industry any more.
I look back at the first E3 Xbox had and it was an unmitigated disaster.
But that was a wake-up call. When I look at that E3 2001, and then I look at last night, it's two different experiences. In two short years, Xbox has established itself as the number two player in the market place, with the exception maybe of Japan - it's my job to fix that eventually. For now, it's a question of building on our success.
In terms of major announcements then, everything is E3 focused as far as Microsoft is concerned?
Moore: I think that for better or worse, E3 is still the focal point of the industry on a global basis. It's difficult to wait to make announcements in September in an industry that is driven by its Christmas period.
Retailers expect to see our plans for the year at E3, they don't want to have to wait, they have business plans. There are publishers who have games that are well under way, and are eager to tease the audience at E3, so it's a challenge to keep stuff back 'til the X0 events.
But again, we didn't feel that we needed the big announcement that gives you guys the big headlines. The announcement here was great games, solid portfolio, Xbox Live continues to grow, six more countries go online - it's the maturing of a company in this industry that's very confident of it's place. We're here to stay.
So will you be talking about the next-generation of Xbox hardware at next year's E3?
Moore: We're driven by the industry as whole. Holding things back for the X0 event is a little bit of a challenge - we're not here to talk about Christmas because you've seen what's coming, we're here to give you a glimpse of what's coming in the following year.
So, moving forward, do you see it as a battle with Sony for first place in the console market?
Moore: The challenge of this generation, coming so late into the marketplace, I don't think anyone believes in this market that we can outsell the PS2, that's not viable. What I will tell you is that they won't beat us to a market again, next time around.
Our plans for the next generation call for us to be at the starting blocks at the same time as our competitors, and I think it will be a very different race next time out. We will be ready to compete.
It's difficult to expect Xbox to challenge PS2 when the starting gun had gone off a year and a half before and it was already on the third lap.
PSP, now it's begun to take shape, opens up a range of new possibilities for Sony? Is this an area Microsoft is looking at seriously?
Moore: We never say never, but right now all our resources are focused on continuing the success of Xbox, particularly in the European market, and getting ready to plan for the launch of the next generation. I'll be interested to see how N-Gage and PSP perform. Right now we are totally focused on the Xbox.
But surely you must be tempted by the possibilities offered by PSP. You spoke extensively about 'convergence' at the conference; surely PSP is the logical extension of this?
The question is, do we as a company need to develop our own hardware or do we facilitate the experience with other devices?
We know a thing a two about software. We are present with our software in many, many devices - we've just announced our deal with Motorola for mobile phones.
And when you see the things we're doing with Live alerts and Live now, and tying in your PDA and phone- mobile gaming is a great thing, but if we can't make a difference there, then I don't think we'll get into the hardware, but I think we can always make a difference with our software. Always.
Steve Colton
"Our first E3 was an unmitigated disaster." X03 and the Xbox supremo is as revealing and controversial as ever
18:55 Microsoft's X03 conference in the south of France, and Peter Moore, corporate vice president of retail sales and marketing for Europe and Japan, was on hand to share his thoughts on Xbox past, present and future.
Equally as brutal about Microsoft's own early failings as he is about the failings of rivals, the former President of Sega of America explains why we shouldn't expect a handheld Xbox anytime soon, why Microsoft will eventually succeed in Japan (including the revelation of several key appointments), and how his company is working tirelessly to make Xbox Live a more straightforward proposition for all.
Interview by Johnny Minkley
As you made very clear at last night's conference, Xbox has now moved into a clear second place in the hardware race in Europe, striding past Nintendo. What are your thoughts on your nearest rival?
Moore: I think we have a good relationship with third-parties. The type of content that the consumer wants out of an interactive experience, the digital entertainment lifestyle I spoke about last night [at the X03 conference], I think that when you look at that as a case study, as somebody surely will, one could argue that the consumer has moved on from Nintendo's typical offerings.
I think Nintendo has a very important place in videogames, it always announces things like introducing videogames to five million five-year-olds every year. Which is fine - Sony and ourselves will fight for them when they're 12 and we'll take it from there thank you very much.
I think the content line-up, the pricing strategy, the marketing strategy that we've undertook, as well as having our finger on the pulse of the consumer, being able to bring some of the strengths that Microsoft can bring to this industry, it doesn't surprise me, though I think it surprised Nintendo greatly.
You can see the difficulty it's having, particularly in the UK; bottom line is everyone always says it's a two console business. Unless you can clearly differentiate, or you're willing to spend billions of dollars in losses, it's a two console experience for the consumer, and right now Nintendo seems to be the third console, which is not a great position to be in..
I'll be interested to see what Nintendo has at the Tokyo Games Show. Even though it doesn't show first-party stuff, it'll be interesting - Eidos recently announced it was pulling all GameCube development. We're not surprised, but I think Nintendo is surprised - it's kind of slipped away from them pretty quickly over the last couple of years. I don't think they really anticipated how well we would do in the business.
I look at the numbers on a weekly basis and this is gonna be a very challenging Christmas for Nintendo, particularly at a time when it normally shines. The content offerings are not there, third-parties aren't there to bolster it...
The three platforms are PC, PS2 and Xbox, and GameCube is struggling a little bit. I hope Nintendo continues to stay the course but I hope it readjusts who it is and doesn't try to chase after segments in which I don't think it can be successful in.
Nintendo has a piece of every gamers' heart, but how does it sustain that going forward with today's market?
Xbox is undeniably a success in Europe but in Japan things are a little different. You're responsibiltiy is split between Europe and Japan, so how are you going to turn things around in the latter territory?
Moore: We're going to have some announcements coming up - one of the things we need to do is strengthen the executive staff there, which we're doing. There's a new head of marketing in Japan called Mike Fisher, a bilingual guy who I used to work with, he's already fully functioning out there, and there will be a new general manager announced out there next week, too.
But we're an American company, we've gone into videogames, we've taken on Sony and Nintendo and we're a year behind when they ship - it's not exactly the ideal business conditions to get going in.
When we did ship we had this urban myth of a DVD scratch issue in the market place which also knocked us for six in that territory. Bottom line, we're in Japan for the long run - Japan is very important to the future of Xbox.
We have phenomenal relationships with Japanese publishers and developers, and I think it's important that they see us being a powerful force. We think that Nintendo will probably readjust its positioning going forward, and I think opportunities will then arise for us in Japan.
We're not selling the consoles that we hoped we'd be selling; one of the few bright spots is the Xbox Live catch-rate which is actually pretty strong. I led a press conference in Tokyo about two weeks ago - our goal is to build a relationship with online gamers, because that's the point of difference over Sony and Nintendo that we can win at.
Our customer satisfaction levels with Xbox Live are through the roof - they love it. It's a small hardcore that we want to turn to our advantage going forward. It's a decade-long strategy in Japan. Look at other American companies out there and it's taken a long time to establish themselves in Japan. We have the power, the will, the resources, and the intestinal fortitude to keep going.
The actual complexity of setting up Live is perhaps more than some people would expect - are there plans to simplify the setting up process in the future?
Moore: Yes. Right now I think we're fortunate that the people signing up at the moment are fairly canny when it comes to setting up the service. What videogames are all about are just popping the videogame disc in the machine and playing, that's what it's all about.
But you have to understand that Live only launched in March - we haven't even seen seven months of the service yet in Europe. We have to take care of the technical issues, then we have to sit down with the retailers and explain to them how we're going to sell the service.
We've worked on the dashboard to make it better, we've made the user interface easier to use for the less technically minded consumer, but we realise going forward that this thing has got to be out of the box, plug and play - and that's not easy to do yet.
Some of the things are beyond our control but I think that more and more, you'll see the Live service simplified, with less cables. Some aspects of the Live service are beyond our control, but we're going to be doing what we can. We recognise that the system eventually needs to be plug and play.
So can we expect to see this reflected in the kind of games that are released for online play?
Moore: Certainly, the scene right now is you've got Halo 2 which will be the epitome of the more hardcore games that are suited for the traditional online player, which is kind of the legacy of the PC, the shooters, RPGs maybe, things of that nature.
It has to go forward, we've got to find ways of bringing new demographics into gaming; women, and the new content will be the dictator of that. I look at offline games that have been successful for the Xbox in the last few months, things like Finding Nemo, Disney Extreme Skating, which may sound - I was gonna say Goofy, but that sounds like a pun. [laughs]
But it's such a fun game. SpongeBob Squarepants means nothing to you guys but it's phenomenal in the US. It's that Nickelodeon-type content that we need to broaden our appeal. In Japan we need to work on the massively multiplayer RPGs. Look at The Sims - things that are more inclusive than intimidating.
Stuff that you can dabble with, without being intimidated the way you would with Half-Life or Doom or Counter-Strike.
In terms of X03 itself, X0 is an event that's established itself as a big deal in the European videogame industry, and there's a general feeling that X03 has been underwhelming because of a lack of announcements, lots of stuff being regurgitated from E3, and people were disappointed by that...
Moore: Well, I don't think this necessarily needs to be the venue for big announcements. I think this is the venue to show where we're at in the industry, to show great content; it's indicative of where we are in the industry right now.
I don't think Sony feels it has to make huge announcements when it bring its products together, and I think it's indicative that now we're a player, we're in the industry, and what you saw last night, if we'd told you to expect that a year ago, the breadth and quality of the content, the third-parties that are involved, I think you'd have been blown away.
But now you're disappointed because there's no big announcement - last year's Rare announcement was just fortuitous timing that happened to tie-in with X02. In preparation for the show we said: we have no huge announcement, no huge exclusive, but then we looked at the breadth of what we did have, and we said it's not a big deal - we don't need to justify our place in the industry any more.
I look back at the first E3 Xbox had and it was an unmitigated disaster.
But that was a wake-up call. When I look at that E3 2001, and then I look at last night, it's two different experiences. In two short years, Xbox has established itself as the number two player in the market place, with the exception maybe of Japan - it's my job to fix that eventually. For now, it's a question of building on our success.
In terms of major announcements then, everything is E3 focused as far as Microsoft is concerned?
Moore: I think that for better or worse, E3 is still the focal point of the industry on a global basis. It's difficult to wait to make announcements in September in an industry that is driven by its Christmas period.
Retailers expect to see our plans for the year at E3, they don't want to have to wait, they have business plans. There are publishers who have games that are well under way, and are eager to tease the audience at E3, so it's a challenge to keep stuff back 'til the X0 events.
But again, we didn't feel that we needed the big announcement that gives you guys the big headlines. The announcement here was great games, solid portfolio, Xbox Live continues to grow, six more countries go online - it's the maturing of a company in this industry that's very confident of it's place. We're here to stay.
So will you be talking about the next-generation of Xbox hardware at next year's E3?
Moore: We're driven by the industry as whole. Holding things back for the X0 event is a little bit of a challenge - we're not here to talk about Christmas because you've seen what's coming, we're here to give you a glimpse of what's coming in the following year.
So, moving forward, do you see it as a battle with Sony for first place in the console market?
Moore: The challenge of this generation, coming so late into the marketplace, I don't think anyone believes in this market that we can outsell the PS2, that's not viable. What I will tell you is that they won't beat us to a market again, next time around.
Our plans for the next generation call for us to be at the starting blocks at the same time as our competitors, and I think it will be a very different race next time out. We will be ready to compete.
It's difficult to expect Xbox to challenge PS2 when the starting gun had gone off a year and a half before and it was already on the third lap.
PSP, now it's begun to take shape, opens up a range of new possibilities for Sony? Is this an area Microsoft is looking at seriously?
Moore: We never say never, but right now all our resources are focused on continuing the success of Xbox, particularly in the European market, and getting ready to plan for the launch of the next generation. I'll be interested to see how N-Gage and PSP perform. Right now we are totally focused on the Xbox.
But surely you must be tempted by the possibilities offered by PSP. You spoke extensively about 'convergence' at the conference; surely PSP is the logical extension of this?
The question is, do we as a company need to develop our own hardware or do we facilitate the experience with other devices?
We know a thing a two about software. We are present with our software in many, many devices - we've just announced our deal with Motorola for mobile phones.
And when you see the things we're doing with Live alerts and Live now, and tying in your PDA and phone- mobile gaming is a great thing, but if we can't make a difference there, then I don't think we'll get into the hardware, but I think we can always make a difference with our software. Always.
Steve Colton
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. Dazu fällt mir nur noch das ein