LOS ANGELES, Digital Journal The 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) opened in Los Angeles yesterday, and very quickly a major theme of the event became obvious: It will be a week of huge announcements, as game companies, both large and small, introduce new line-ups. This is when competition from the big three Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony gets fierce.
On Monday before the show began, Microsoft held a press conference and fired the opening salvo; at a star-studded presentation, featuring Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams and boxing legend Mohammed Ali, the company announced that long-time holdouts, Electronic Arts, is finally going to support Xbox Live. That includes EA Sports games such as Madden NFL 2005, NBA Live 2005, and FIFA Soccer 2005; as well as EA Games such as Need for Speed Underground 2, Burnout 3 and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect.
On the heels of this announcement, Digital Journal spoke to Jason Anderson, Group Marketing Manager for Xbox Canada, to get more information on the deal and other new features of Xbox Live.
Digital Journal: What’s creating the big buzz at E3?
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Jason Anderson, Group Marketing Manager for Xbox Canada. Photo courtesy of Microsoft Corporation |
Jason Anderson: The announcements are great this year; great titles Halo II, Doom III, Fable and the EA Sports announcement is obviously huge for Xboxers, letting them finally play their favourite EA titles on Live. Theyre the number one publisher in the world, so that was huge news.
Digital Journal: The EA announcement was probably the biggest. What are some more details of the deal?
Jason Anderson: Its an agreement between Xbox and EA thats going to bring all the great EA franchises on Live; their sports franchises, and other ones as well, like James Bond [GoldenEye: Rogue Agent], and Battlefield [Battlefield: Modern Combat]. Its basically going to bring them on to the Xbox Live service, the same way that lots of other great games are.
Digital Journal: Electronic Arts had been holding out for a while, doing online games for the Sony PlayStation 2, but not Xbox Live. What changed their minds?
Jason Anderson: I think this is just a great example of a partnership between two companies that saw absolute benefit in working together.
Digital Journal: Did the addition of EA Sports games to the Xbox Live line-up have anything to do with Microsoft backing out of its sports games?
Jason Anderson: They were really truly two separate decisions. The EA ones were obviously very excited about and the best hockey game is now going to be on Xbox Live for Canadians, so thats great. But around XSN Sports, thats all about Microsoft Game Studios developing some great games…and then really listening to consumers. Consumers were telling us that they loved the XSN Sports service, the environment, but the games themselves just werent meeting the bar. So what Microsoft Game Studios has agreed to do is take a year off and look to close that gap between some of the better games that are out there.
Digital Journal: So the lines not dead and theres a chance the XSN Sports games will make a comeback?
Jason Anderson: Absolutely. Its very much taking a year off. MGS just realizes that theyve got some work to do to close the gap between some of the other third party sports games that are out there, including ESPN Sports and EA. Those are great sports titles that are still going to be available and MGS is really going to take a year off to deliver better games to consumers.
Digital Journal: Back to the EA Sports games, which ones are you most excited about personally?
Jason Anderson: NHL 2005. Absolutely. Were really excited about the prospect of having the best hockey game in the world on Xbox Live.
Digital Journal: You cant tell that youre Canadian, eh?
Jason Anderson: [Laughing] No, not at all.
Digital Journal: Any talk of special or exclusive features to Xbox Live?
Jason Anderson: Its still early for that. Yesterday was all about the announcement, and now the guys at EA are working hard with the guys at Xbox Live, figuring out functionality and features and things like that. But all of their major titles will be available on the service.
Digital Journal: What will be the first Xbox Live/EA title and when will it be released?
Jason Anderson: The first one will be NCAA Football, and I think it will be released in August, 2004. And the others will follow with the normal launch dates that the EA titles carry.
Digital Journal: Another announcement at the press conference was Xbox Live Arcade. Whats it all about?
Jason Anderson: Xbox Live Arcade is all about allowing consumers to play those games from the past games like Dig Dug accessed through the Xbox Live service. The content itself will actually be digitally downloaded through Xbox Live and consumers can play games from their youth.
Digital Journal: Will it also support more casual games like trivia and card games?
Jason Anderson: Yes, absolutely. Card and parlour games, and the old-school arcade games.
Digital Journal: This is starting to sound a little like the MSN Games Zone. Are you using it as model for Xbox Live?
Jason Anderson: I think what it is, is recognizing the success of the MSN Games Zone, but also recognizing that its all about making sure that we deliver all types of different content, for all different types of gamers. And thats what Xbox Live Arcade is all about: Delivering those more broad appeal titles to people.
Digital Journal: How much will these games cost?
Jason Anderson: In the coming weeks well get firm around what the pricing is going to look like.
Digital Journal: What are the other features of Xbox Live 3.0 that consumers should know about?
Jason Anderson: Xbox Live really is a great showcase of innovation; the ability to more easily build teams and clans and keep track of where your friends are, and what games theyre playing; the ability to play single-player games but still be signed into Xbox Live so you can receive invites and join other games on the fly; and the addition of voice services now you can leave voicemails for your friends. We also announced the addition of video support…so you can talk face to face with other Xbox Live gamers. It will get deployed in Japan and then rest of the world will follow.
Digital Journal: One thing you didnt talk about at the press conference was Xbox 2. Whats the story? Will there be any talk about it at E3?
Jason Anderson: The next generation is certainly in development. It is in R&D. Our focus right now is the current generation weve got lots of great things still to do to leverage what is the most powerful box in the market. Thats really going to manifest itself in breakthrough with off-the-chart titles like Halo II and Doom III. Thats our focus right now.
Digital Journal: So how many years of life are left in the current Xbox?
Jason Anderson: We dont really think of it in that context. Its all about making sure we can continue to deliver great content. As long as we can continue to do that, thats within the life of the current console.
