Video preview of our release this year

Nice trailer showing off our new TV and Search functionality for this Holiday:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/xbox/VideoGallery.aspx?contentID=100511_newTV

Oli.

Press Previews

One of the many fun parts of my job is seeing what the press has to say about the features I work on, both before they're released (press tours, show floors, etc.) and after, with more formal reviews.


It's awesome to see a lot of sites, such as Joystiq here, excited for our new Dashboard, and, selfishly, I'm very happy since they explicitly called out what I'm Program Manager for:

The most exciting part about the new Dashboard update -- aside from the Live TV stuff, which Farrell wasn't budging on -- is the implementation of Bing

Not that I especially needed any assurance that we're working on is something that's going to be hugely beneficial to end users, but still. It's important to get outside feedback so that we don't go off and build something without thinking of the big picture, all our users, people's perceptions, usage patterns, and so on. This is also one of the main reasons we have internal and public Betas - to solicit honest feedback, find bugs, and address issues before rolling out to the world.


We've still got a little ways to go, but it's going to be a good holiday for Xbox owners :)


Oli.

I am alive

Been a while!

Here's a quick re-cap of recent-ish events:  

 - I'm engaged to an awesome girl, getting married next summer
 - I'm still working on Xbox, I now own our Bing voice search functionality
 - My hair is a lot longer now
 - I spend some of the summer time fishing
 - I still love videogames
 - I left my band after we put out our debut album, and I wish them all the best
 - Robert Muldoon is still my hero
 - I had to get a US gamertag since I'm in the states and my old one was British, I now use "MessyOZ"

Oh yeah! I went to PAX this weekend and had a blast, I'll post my thoughts in a bit.

Oli.

Updates...

As I suspected I've been pretty bad at keeping this up to date! Things have been crazy this year at Xbox with E3, Kinect, and the release of the new Xbox dashboard at the end of this year. As a result I've been working to get stuff shipped and haven't had much time to blog.

During the inevitable downtime of the holidays I'll write something more substantial, I promise :)

In the meantime I'm going to go carve a pumpkin.

Oli.

Seattle game stores (the problem with Gamestop)

I live in Seattle - Capitol Hill to be exact. Up until recently if I wanted to buy a videogame I'd wander downtown and choose between a Gamestop, or another Gamestop, each a block apart.

Now I don't mind Gamestop, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who hates them, but here's what I don't like:

- Every time I go in some over-eager employee asks me if I'd like to pre order 24 different games
- The employees insinuate that unless I pre-order a game I likely won't get a copy on the day of release
- They sell some used games at just $5 off the brand-new price
- They're killing all other gaming publications by shoving Game Informer down your throat every time you buy something

All that said it's awfully handy for trading in games. They give you reasonable credit and often extra bonuses for trading in 3 or 5, or 10 games etc. Afterall it's in their best interest since they make total profit on second-hand games sold. In essence the developers and publishers get screwed on re-sale.

So how do I get my games on the day of release guaranteed? Why I use Amazon of course. There are very few companies I enjoy giving money to but Amazon is one of them. They have great service, very good prices, and give me my games on the day of release, sealed and often with a pre-order bonus too. Amazon has really come along way since the late nineties and it's now easier than ever to order with them and find what you need. I have Amazon Prime (you pay a small flat fee each year) so I get free release date delivery, free 2 day delivery, and $4 next day delivery. Incredible. I realize I probably spend too much money but that's my own fault. At no stage does Amazon rip you off, demand a pre-order, charge over MSRP, or mess up your delivery.

Urgh, I just read the above paragraph and realized sound like a Yelp reviewer. Forgive me.

Back to traditional retail land though... I was in Hollywood Video the other day on Broadway (again, in Capitol Hill) and they now have a games cabinet (I know, sounds really impressive doesn't it? A cabinet!). It's full of new games for all consoles as well as some older titles and they sell them at highly competitive prices; a few of the older PS3 games - Lair, for example - were 10 bucks cheaper there than Gamestop. Definitely great for an impulse buy and closer than downtown. The disadvantage however is that you can't have any witty banter about games usually since the staff aren't gamers. Then again, at least you can buy a game, rent a movie, and buy a giant box of Red Vines all in one place...

Oli.

Game Night

Videogames get a pretty bad rap for being "antisocial". After all, the majority of the time you're sitting on your couch shooting computer controlled characters with the lights off (gotsta stop that screen glare). When you do go online against other humans you're still on your couch indoors shooting other people represented by avatars. Also, conversation isn't usually at its most high-brow. Discussions I’ve had over Xbox Live tend to center around why I stole someone’s "bubble shield", which "noob biscuit" has the flag, and why I don't sound like everybody else and could potentially be Swedish (English accent you see). Awesome.

So last night I arranged for a bunch of friends to come over - also avid gamers - and play some system link and split screen Xbox, all in the same apartment. And it was awesome. Being able to heckle, chat, and laugh while you're next to each other really makes multiplayer a hell of a lot more fun. It reminded me of the days before online play on consoles like the N64, SNES, etc. You'd sit down in a small room looking at a tiny tube TV and trying to focus on your even smaller quadrant of the screen. You’d shout and accuse people of only killing you because they were looking at your screen. We all did it and we all denied it. Now with the advent of big HD displays - of which I’m lucky enough to have 2 - this isn't much of a problem.

Last night we ended up playing:

- Call of Duty World at War
- Call of Duty 4
- Halo 3

I personally had the most fun playing World at War since I love WW2 games; it’s fast paced, easy to pick up, and the level designs are great for small groups of people (well, the maps flagged as small to medium). I actually feel bad for neglecting this game since about a month after its release. I completed it in co-op alongside a friend and then stopped playing it, ignoring all the map packs that came out since. I’ve actually just gone and re-bought it and next game night we’ll be able to play on 2 screens, 4 vs 4. Treyarch gets a bad rap for not being Infinity Ward but the bottom line is they know how to pull off a good top-tier WW2 shooter. I mean come on, guard dogs as a perk? Genius.

What was best about last night was that it felt like a good progression from the game nights of my youth. We weren’t a bunch of adolescent dudes in school pining for the school hotty. We were a bunch of dudes with good jobs, drinking beer, eating pizza, talking about our girlfriends and occasionally about work – all while shooting each other on screen. It was a great way to spend a Monday night. A good start to the week that doesn’t infringe on a typical “night out” evening such as Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. And that’s how you stay normal and keep a great social life while still being a gamer. Next Monday game night is on for sure.

Oli.

New look and feel

Hello there, I figured it was time to update my theme so that my blog doesn't look like it was created in the mid-nineties. Mission accomplished. Stay tuned.

Oli.