Pre-E3 2005: Xbox 360 The Moore Effect

X2 · 05-13-2005

Pre-E3 2005: Xbox 360 The Moore Effect

VP Peter Moore delivers crucial details for the big-picture gamer.
by Douglass C. Perry

May 12, 2005 - At Microsoft's house last week, we met with five major executives for the most impressive and thorough set of demos we've ever experienced in gaming history. Vice President Of Japanese Goodness and all things English (OK, that's not his real title) Peter Moore spoke to us, showd us games, and outlines the major elements that are crucial for the Xbox 360.

"We have four must-haves for Xbox 360 games," said the subburnt, well-muscled Moore. "First, every game must have 720p minimum, and some developers want to go higher, which is fine by us. Second, every game must have 16x9 with no letterboxing allowed. Third, Every game will support Dolby 5.1 surround sound, and fourth, every game will will be anti-aliased with our built-in 2X anti-aliasing tools."

But that's really just the groundwork for Microsoft. Moore expounded on "Showcases." People will very soon be watching videogame tournaments, he said. You can watch Project Gotham Racer 3 in Spectator mode to simply watch and learn how pro gamers do it. In the future, hundreds of players can watch a tournament or a special battle, or another kind of special event.

Moore explained that episodic content will be a regular thing. Traditional publishing will change with free and paid-for downloadable content, with episodes coming every year or six months from various publishers.

Microsoft, he added, will publish at least three first-party games at launch Gears of War, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Kameo, plus, Perfect Dark Zero, which will have 64-player online capabilities..

"We have 160 Xbox 360 games in development right now, with 4,000 test units in developers hands across the world," Moore explained. "We'll launch 25-30 games until the new year and we're already tracking games into 2006 and 2007. We'll support Xbox 1 until end of year 2006, and there will be 85 Xbox games on the E3 show floor to prove it. But Microsoft's first-party teams will only be working on Xbox 360 games from here on out."

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