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Microsoft's VP speaks softly but carries a big RPG stick. What does he have to say about Sakaguchi's next two Xbox 2 RPGs?
by Douglass C. Perry
In an interview with Microsoft corporate VP of worldwide marketing and publishing, Peter Moore (you know, the guy with the Halo 2 date on his bicep?), the smooth-talking Englishman told IGN the first time he met with former Square President Hironobu Sakaguchi was in Hawaii while on vacation.
"We first met in April in 2004 at Sakaguchi-san's house on Maui," said Moore in a phone interview with IGN Xbox today, after Microsoft announced its plans to publish Sakaguchi's two new next-gen RPGs. "I was on vacation and we met at his house in a very pleasurable manner, and over the course of three hours we discussed where we thought next-generation games might go, what they might be. That meeting led to 10 months of meetings, and we recently cemented the idea over a very expensive bottle of sake, which was so good, it shouldn't have even been drunk."
The creation of Mistwalker Studios and the two RPGs sees the former producer, director, and Square USA president, Sakaguchi, returning to his role as a producer and director, areas he had great success in prior to the poorly received Final Fantasy: Spirits Within while at Square. Moore expanded on what Sakaguchi's role is on the games.
"Right now, Sakaguchi-san is outlining the storyline, building the characters, and spending the time to flesh out the games. With RPGs, the early priorities are to develop the worlds, the storyline, and the characters first. The mechanics will come together soon. I suspect Sakaguchi will talk about this soon. We might be able to talk with him at E3. There's a good possibility of that."
Having said that, Microsoft's announcement wasn't exactly filled with hard details. But the announcement's impact is significant and, more importantly, timely, with Microsoft having acknowledged that GDC won't be the showcase for its next-generation announcement. Still, Moore wouldn't place a time or a date on the release of these games.
"The details regarding when the games come out are yet to be determined," Moore explained. "You and I both know that the developers in the RPG genre, more than any other genre, could be creating games for more than 15 years and still argue that they're not done." (Apparently, Moore and Microsoft are still quietly reeling a tad from their work with Peter Molyneux on the four-year development cycle of Fable).
"I'm not comfortable talking about timelines, names, and details yet, but going forward we'll have more. But I can say that the development teams will continue to expand as the game gets under way. The quality and magnitude of such an RPG requires more than 30 guys working in a basement. Those days are over. I'd say there will be in excess of 100 strong on each team as the games are in concurrent development."
Asked whether this is the first step in Microsoft's push to for a new approach to the worldwide market, specifically the Japanese market for Xbox 2, Moore said, "I think this you could say this is the first step for Microsoft as it begins partnering with important Japanese developers and publishers. Japan is the cradle of the game industry and the home of very creative and innovative minds, and it's vital to see the Xbox as a viable competitor in that area. The Japanese market is a very large priority for us for both first-party development and third-party developers and publishers. It's a main priority for me in the next 12-18 months to ensure Japanese developers are our partners. Microsoft is making very serious moves that will have global repercussions over a long period of time; this is an investment that will pay off in the future, and will be a platform-driving set of games for our next-generation system."
Asked if Microsoft has struck a deal to publish Square games in the future, Moore swerved the hardball. "I think this is the first step in our campaign as we begin to partner with more Japanese teams. Square is a tremendous publisher, and anything they do is sure to have a huge impact on whatever system they create games for. We would be delighted to partner with Square, and we have the utmost regard for them. Hopefully we will have more to say about a relationship with them in the future."
Although it seems unusual, especially now at the beginning of spring 2005, until today Microsoft had yet to formally acknowledge the existence of its next-generation platform, the supposed "Xbox 360." This announcement lends more credence to what is clearly the worst kept secret in the videogame world, even though Moore side-stepped saying anything directly about Xbox 360. "What we're acknowledging today is that there will be games for the next-generation of hardware, whenever it will come," Moore explained.
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http://xbox.ign.com/articles/590/590733p1.html
There is Peter Moore's (MS Corporate Worldwide Marketing and Publishing VP) take on Sakaguchi's new Xbox 2 RPGs.
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