Wildchicken: Xbox 360

Flying the Coop

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 03:10:36 GMT

Today I announced my pending departure from Microsoft, so I will no longer be an Xbox 360 or Zune insider, but someone who can experience it from the outside. I've had an amazing run there for almost 9 years: Xbox 360, Zune, Crimson Skies, The Beast, MechWarrior 4, and SQL Server 2000 & 7.0. I'm proud of the work I've done, but I look forward to what the team does moving forward. I get to be a consumer of Xbox 360 and Zune now!

It's extremely exciting for me to move to a new chapter in my professional life, but it's also sad to have to say goodbye to some great people. I will miss many of them, but I'm sure we'll be crossing paths again. The world is amazingly small when it comes to professional circles.

So what's next? I can't say. But once I can, I'll be posting it right here!

All for now...

Xbox 360 2007 Spring Update - It's the Small Things that Count

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 02:15:30 GMT

I'm out of the country so it's hard to make a real post on this, but the details of the upcoming Spring update have been released. I'm really excited about some of these, especially the "small" improvements like the Achievement notification, joinable presence icon, and the name of the game in the tray. Those things, in particular, were ones that a small group of people were very passionate about and did whatever they needed to make it happen. These were also something that we felt was very important to our customers. What do you think?

That's all for now until I'm back, at which point I'll spend a little more time talking about the user experience additions/improvements that's coming this Spring.

I Want It, and I Want It NOW!

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:58:04 GMT

I need to explain something to some people. There is apparently a misconception that something like an Xbox 360 update takes something like 3 days for us to design, develop, and test. Okay, maybe a week, tops.

Even though I would love to live in a world where something that complex can happen that quickly, that's not how it works. If any of you have ever been involved in large-scale product development, you know this. There are an amazing number of people with massive amounts of information producing work across dozens of disciplines, and sometimes it's a wonder how things even get done when they do.

I've gotten a bunch of comments that we didn't listen when we asked for feedback now that the fall update has come out. I asked for feedback back in September, and we released the update at the end of October. By the time that feedback started pouring in, what we planned on releasing in the fall update was already mostly done - we started shortly after we released the spring update. And now that we've released the fall update, many people have jumped on to the design and planning phase for 2007. I asked for feedback to help us with our planning for 2007 and beyond. So we're not ignoring feedback, but knowing a little more about the process should help frame expectations a little better. However, I understand that at the end of the day, the end user generally doesn't care. But then if you're here reading this, you might actually be curious or at least open to getting some insight.

If anything, we have proved that we are not only able but willing to invest in making the user experience of the Xbox 360 best in class. We will do this by adding new functionality (i.e. Video Marketplace, HD-DVD, etc.) as well as improving existing ones (i.e. Xbox Live Arcade enumeration, etc.). It's a constant struggle between the two.

Thanks for your feedback - regardless of whether you think we listen, we do. It just makes it easier when it's thoughtful, rational, and judiciously uses CAPS and ad hominem attacks. ;-)

Movies and TV Shows on Xbox Live

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 04:01:41 GMT

This is the big thing that we have been working on but haven't talked about - until now. Starting November 22, you can download movies and TV shows to your Xbox 360 console via Xbox Live! Check out the official news release on Xbox.com. Here's the story on Yahoo and New York Times (you might need to register for free to read that one).

I've heard some disappointment with the Fall update, saying that they expected more. Well, here's more. You'll be able to download both standard and high def videos, and let me tell you, they look and sound amazing.

So, quick recap for the latter half of 2006 for Xbox 360: movies and TV shows available on Xbox Live, new Fall update, HD-DVD accessory, wireless headset, force-feedback wheel, video camera. Did I miss something? However you want your entertainment, Xbox 360's got it. You excited yet?

This is going to be one hell of a holiday season.

Fall Update Problems

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 07:30:56 GMT

So here's the official word on the reports of problems with the fall update from Major Nelson, and this one from Gamerscore Blog. In short, we're doing everything we can to make sure that the issue is resolved for those people who are having problems. Once we started getting reports, this became the single highest priority for the Xbox organization.

If you're one of the few people who ran into this, I'm sorry. It sucks, and I'd be pissed, too.

We'll fix it.

Edit:

Those of you who were stuck in the endless update loop should have had the problem fixed if you try connecting to Xbox Live again. If you are still seeing an error message, please contact your local Xbox support number which you can find here. Thanks for your patience.

Fall 2006 Update Announced

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:10:43 GMT

We've officially announced the details of the fall update on xbox.com. Elle's written an article as well talking about some of the changes. Starting 2:00AM October 31, 2006 members will start receiving the update when they connect to Xbox Live.

I love how zippy Arcade is now. Wireless headset rocks. I can't say that 1080p support makes my life any better since I am using 720p on my setup at home, but it addresses some of the PS3 FUD and for those wealthy few who have bought a 1080p display, I'm sure this is a welcome improvement. Personally I'm quite happy with 720p, thank you very much. I'll upgrade to 1080p when that format is actually commonplace and completely standardized, as well as when front projectors that support it are more affordable. I know that watching Ray on HD-DVD this weekend was awesome.

When you get the update, I'd love to hear feedback on some of the user experience changes that we're introducing. Again, good or bad.

And no, there is no multi voice chat or a web browser. Yes, we heard you.

Personally I would love to have multi voice chat. I'm tepid on the browser. Just because the competition says they're doing it shouldn't be the only reason for us to do it as well. Without a mouse, keyboard, and high resolution displays browsing the internets is painful. Again, these are my personal views on this and not necessarily those of others at Microsoft...

Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:27:48 GMT

More goodness from X06. Major Nelson has a picture of him playing Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360. Woohoo! And IGN reports the story as well.

Unfortunately this also means I'll be shelling out too much money on new guitar peripherals since my PS2 guitars are likely not going to be compatible with my 360. Game + 2 guitars is gonna be steep, but I'm sure a lot of people, including me, will be more than happy to fork it over for some guitar goodness. It's amazing to see games that depend on peripherals do well, but if you've even played Guitar Hero you can understand why. That game became a system-seller, and deservedly so.

And on 360, I should expect Guitar duels over Xbox Live, new downloadable content on Marketplace, and the ability to see that I am not worthy compared to the rest of you. I can't wait to see what achievements they dole out.

No release date yet though - here's to hoping it's coming sooner rather than later. If 2006, then Guitar Hero II and Gears of War are going to be taking up a lot of my gaming time leading up to the holidays.

Edit: Added link to IGN.

Halo RTS Coming to Xbox 360

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:19:10 GMT

As many of you probably already know, X06 happened in Barcelona and quite a number of things were announced. I'm not going to recap all of it as I'm sure there are too many of those out there. But just in case you haven't heard, coming sometime soon-ish to an Xbox 360 near you - Halo Wars! Take the basic ingredients from the Halo universe, put 'em together in a way only Ensemble Studios can, and what do you get? One hell of a compelling Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game, that's what.

Some of you may know that Halo was originally conceived as an RTS game way back when. In a way this is the game coming back around to its original roots. As a long-time fan of RTS games and a onetime avid Halo & Halo 2 player, I'm extremely excited. Many people believe that RTS games belong only on the PC, and if you look at the past 10-15 years that isn't unreasonable to think. Most of the console RTS games have been horrible ports of PC games, and it's no wonder that none of them have really gained much critical acclaim. The problems of designing a control scheme and UI along with the limitations of TV resolution have made this a long-standing problem in console game development. Recently, however, Battle for Middle Earth II has broken new ground and has given consoles a worthwhile RTS. I've spent some time with that game myself and I think its execution is really good. But we come full circle. Arguably the first RTS was created for a console - Herzog Zwei for the Sega Genesis. And yes, it was awesome. So awesome. If you have any interest whatsoever in RTS games, you owe it to yourself to try this game out.

I was in high school when this game came out, and I remember playing this awesome 2-player split screen game with my friend Nick until the wee hours of the morning. A few years ago I went to Ebay and found myself a copy of this game and it has held up amazingly well. Now that Nick works up here on the Xbox team as well, maybe we should relive those geeky high school days. On second thought, maybe not.

Xbox 360 User Experience Feedback

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 00:49:16 GMT

Until I figure out how to put a permanent article for getting feedback on the Xbox 360 UX, I'm going to start by putting this blog entry in specifically for that. Feel free to leave comments, issues, suggestions, etc. Know that I or someone from the UX team will be reviewing them, if not necessarily commenting.

When we finally announce the details for the Fall update, I'll also discuss some of the more salient UX additions and improvements that we will have delivered.

Edit: I've added a "Headlines" list to the left with permalinks to this and other entries of interest. Maybe I'll find a better name for the list in the future, but for now it's probably fine. I'll update this list as necessary on an ongoing basis.

Xbox 360 Accessories - Concept Drawings

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 03:30:44 GMT

We're coming out with some great accessories for the Xbox 360, and here's some exclusive concept drawings of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, Xbox Live Vision Camera, and Xbox 360 Wireless Headset. It's really cool to see these things go from pure concept to real product - I've learned a ton over the past few years and it's awesome to have the opportunity to play in the hardware/software space. You can thank John, our Xbox industrial designer-at-large for these pictures, and you can only see them here!

The Monkey

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:52:54 GMT

About a year ago we were trying to finalize the gamer pictures for launch - it was a fun but hectic experience. You can see the dozen that we shipped on every single Xbox 360 console whenever you try and create a new profile. One of the more popular ones is the Monkey - I still see a few of these on my Friends list after almost 10 months after launch. I decided to ping Jake, one of our talented designers, who was responsible for this and I asked him for some of the sketches that led to that final illustration. Enjoy.

Xbox 360 Tips

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 22:58:25 GMT

I added a new list - Xbox 360 Tips - where I'm going to try and describe some tips & tricks for getting the most out of your Xbox 360, find some interesting behaviors, or simply have more fun with it. It's down below the blog text. I'll try and update this on a regular basis until I run out!