title: “Level Up” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-29” author: “Randy Smith”
How much of Nintendo’s success was planned, and how much was it a matter of faith? A large part of where we are today, I anticipated with hard work, with great products … Make no mistake, our success has been thought through, planned, and we’ve been fortunate in being able to execute as well as we have.
There were no momentsof crisis? I’ll tell a story. Early in my tenure, I … spent quite a bit of time with one particular [game] publisher, partly for me to learn the business, but also partly to see how they saw Nintendo and to talk about business opportunity. That publisher was Ubisoft, that executive was Laurent Detoc, and that conversation helped sow the seeds for a much better relationship that we have not only with Ubisoft, but with many, many publishers.
title: “Level Up” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “Brett Temple”
CROAL: Microsoft is trying to milk the hard-core user and undercut Sony’s Playstation 3. But the $479 Xbox 360 Elite only plays regular DVD movies. For $20 more, you can get an entry-level PS3 that also plays Blu-Ray movies. The Elite is just not a better value. TAKAHASHI: Consider this: Internet protocol TV may be coming to the Xbox 360 this year. One great feature of IPTV is the digital video recorder. You can use it to find shows and record your favorite shows. That’s where the 120-gigabyte hard drive comes in handy. Now consider the options. Microsoft could team up with a telecom on an IPTV service, offering the Xbox 360 Elite to consumers for about $279 in exchange for a two-year subscription. Think how much pressure that would put on Sony.
Check out the full debate at extra.NEWSWEEK.com.
title: “Level Up” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-23” author: “Willie Fitzpatrick”
How do you define casual games? It’s not going to be platform-specific. The only platform-specific group in the company that will be in Casual is the mobile group, because we’re viewing the category of mobile games as casual.
How would you describe the casual gamer? It’s about consumers who don’t self-identify as core videogamers. So, for sure, that’s kids. I think we can, for the most part, put middle-aged women in that group—the group that goes online to play Pogo and games like that.
How does duration figure into your definition? Very casual gameplayers can spend 40 minutes playing Tetris. You can be on an airplane and play solitaire forever. So [a casual game] is not about necessarily how long you play. I think about it as in a short period of time, you can get a satisfying experience.
title: “Level Up” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “George Thau”
CROAL: With the exception of a few quick bouts of Gears of War and Resistance: Fall of Man, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 simply haven’t forged in me the love of online multiplayer that warms the hearts of so many gamers. But I’m willing to use the Halo 3 multiplayer beta as a springboard to see whether there’s a place for me in this vast connected arena.
TOTILO: When last we debated, I railed against repetition in game sequels. Ready to call me a flip-flopper? I’m here today to tell you that I like that Halo 3 is playing it safe. I like the lack of radical change. The difference between God of War and Halo 3 multiplayer is that one is an adventure of narrative and gameplay. The other is a sport. I crave constant re-invention in the former. I assume perfection and stability is possible in the latter.
title: “Level Up” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-12” author: “Evan Kelley”
title: “Level Up” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-31” author: “Dorothy Nowak”
Croal: Do you actually prefer being second in the marketplace? Moore: Absolutely. I’ve always enjoyed being that feisty second-place guy. When you finally become the market leader, you ask yourself, “OK, how do I keep the adrenaline flowing every day?” And I often wonder whether that has been, in the last six to nine months, part of Sony’s problem.
If you get to No. 1, do you have a plan for it? One of my heroes is Sir Winston Churchill. When victory was declared in Europe, they kicked Churchill’s ass out of there, because they didn’t need a warrior; they needed somebody to rebuild the country. The goal is to make sure that [we] don’t fall into complacency.
