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We speak with the cocreator of the Xbox to get the reasons for his recently announced resignation, some of the current issues revolving around the Xbox, and what his plans are for the future.Seamus Blackley, the cocreator and technical director of the Xbox platform, has left Microsoft to start a new venture. Blackley, who helped design the hardware and many of the development tools for the Xbox, was a visible figure in the early days of the Xbox life cycle as he was on hand to present some of the earliest games to the press. His resignation comes just before E3 and after a series of Microsoft Xbox price-cut announcements, leaving many to speculate about the reasons for his resignation. We had a chance to speak with Seamus Blackley to get the reasons for his sudden resignation, his thoughts on the current state of the Xbox, and even a few details on his upcoming project. GameSpot: What were the reasons for your resignation? Seamus Blackley: I\'m completely blown away by the amount of attention it\'s received. I thought I\'d slip out the door and go make some games, but I guess that was pretty naïve. I\'m just a gamer--the reason I was doing all the press and talking to all the developers, and the reason we made the Xbox, is that I\'m a gamer and a game developer. It\'s been really frustrating for me to be talking about other people\'s games and to work with these great game developers worldwide, see what they\'re doing, and not be making games--it\'s been hard. [The resignation] is something I\'ve wanted to do for a while. GS: Do you think that announcing your resignation so close to E3 gives the wrong message to current and prospective Xbox owners? SB: It\'s never really a good time to leave from that standpoint. My decision was a long process. The perspective that I\'ve had visiting every developer and publisher and seeing all the stuff they\'re doing is that it\'s really cool. It\'s frustrating that more innovative titles don\'t get done because publishers won\'t take more creative risks and developers sometimes fail to execute on really cool [ideas]. I was talking about that with some industry veterans a few months ago in the context of trying to get exclusive titles for console launches. Everybody had the same trouble [Microsoft] did--[Sony] had a lot of trouble getting exclusive content for the PS2, and [Nintendo] had some trouble. With the current publishing model, it\'s hard for publishers to take big risks and to support new technology or new types of ideas. It\'s safer to do sequels. So I was thinking that I could make a new property that would change some of that and come out with some really cool products. I went back to Microsoft and started talking to publishers, developers, and potential partners for this [project], and the enthusiasm was totally incredible and shocking. Especially after the GDC (Game Developers Conference), it got to a point where they said, "Listen, Seamus, we have to make a decision. Are you going to come do this with us?" To some extent, our hand was forced because we had to announce a company before E3. That\'s why the timing is the way it is, and I guess I\'m an idiot for thinking people wouldn\'t try to come up with conspiracy theories about it. Our PR people will tell you that I really didn\'t think it was that big of a deal, but I was wrong--I owe people dinners.GS: Along those lines, did you find that it was difficult to encourage publishers and developers to create more original content for the Xbox? SB: Everyone wants original games--[fans] want them and developers want to make them. It\'s just a question of taking a risk on it. We\'re going to announce everything about the new company in two and a half weeks, so we can\'t reveal that much about it right now because of the process involved. But I think we\'ve really found an exciting way for people to make riskier--and I don\'t mean innovation for innovation\'s sake, but really cool new stuff. [As far as the Xbox is concerned], I have put everything in my life into the Xbox. I broke up with my girlfriend, and my yard looks like the amazon--I\'ve poured my soul into it since I was selling [the idea of a console] at Microsoft. There was no way I was going to leave it if I thought something was wrong; There was no way that I would take off if there was something that I really needed to do. There are speed bumps for every console. I\'m sure a few months from now that Sony will have some trouble, maybe GameCube will have a bad E3 and all the pundits will be saying they\'re screwed. In reality, the momentum that carries you through is the developer momentum, and just a few weeks ago I was getting yelled at by the head of a giant Japanese publisher because the only proposals his [staff] bring are for Xbox games. That enthusiasm is the thing I really wanted to create with the Xbox, and to make it a palette for those guys to create new products. Everybody\'s saying, "Well what about these short term difficulties…", and my answer is that it\'s a long-term business. You have to build up a portfolio of titles and developers, build an audience, and that\'s happening. GS: Did you feel you were able to accomplish the things you wanted to do at Microsoft, or did you feel restricted? SB: I felt totally empowered by Microsoft. It was a really hard decision to leave because working on the Xbox team was like being a Green Beret. There was so much skepticism, but the US launch was the most successful launch in the history of the game industry. We sold 25% more units than the PS2 did in the first four months. We had a higher attach rate than anyone thought we would have and the products won all sorts of awards. Halo sold one-million units faster than any other title has--it\'s great, and I\'m really proud of all that creative work. Obviously, I\'m not a business guy, but from a developer standpoint, I feel totally empowered, and in a lot of ways, it\'s inspired me to go make games now.GS: Was there anything you would have done differently in your time at Microsoft? SB: The first thing I did was design the program and the hardware. Then we made the development kits, and then I ran all the developer support and technology stuff worldwide to Japan and Europe--I was really proud of all that. Then after E3 last year, I told Robbie Bach that I knew we made all of these bad mistakes and that I was really pissed off about all of it. He said, "Fine, the design and technology group is in great shape, why don\'t you go to PR," so basically he told me to shut up and go fix that particular problem. That was probably even more frustrating because all I was doing was talking about games, but it needed to be done. The one regret I\'d say I have is that we should\'ve talked to gamers sooner. I had a philosophy where we would talk to all the developers only because it\'s a hard concept to get. It\'s taking PC stuff and making a console--everyone was going to think that it was a cheap PC. I think we should\'ve told [gamers] earlier what our ideas were because we could\'ve used the fans in some of our earlier efforts and not just gone with developers. GS: What\'s your reaction to the current state of the Xbox in Japan and Europe? SB: For me, it\'s all about the technology and the creative stuff, and that was really successful with the Japanese developers and all of that. The challenge in Japan is the same as everywhere else--it\'s getting the right content. The Xbox is easily the most successful consumer electronic launch of a non-Japanese product in Japanese history. One of the things that happens is that people don\'t get the content, and it\'s a little disappointing when that happens, but it\'s a challenge. GS: Do you think online gaming is the path to creating more original content for the consoles? SB: I don\'t know. Online is a feature; it\'s not something that automatically causes innovation, and that was one of the mistakes of the Internet era. It\'s something where if you have a great game that takes advantage of it--it\'s awesome, but if you don\'t, then it doesn\'t matter if it\'s online or not. I think the smart thing that the Xbox team is doing is that they\'re basing their online plans around content, around great games--games that you can do only online. But you\'ve got to build a fan base because most console gamers haven\'t experienced online gaming. Broadband gaming is so amazingly cool, but you have to prove it with really good games.I think the Xbox philosophy of leading with the games is right on. GS: What kind of philosophy are you going to bring to this new project? SB: You know the frustration of game developers and gamers. I think when people hear our idea, they\'re going to say, "Yeah, why didn\'t I think of that?" or "Why hasn\'t someone done this before?" It\'s going to let people create some really cool and really creative products, but in a fun way. If you\'re in a bad mood, you can\'t create a good game. For me, starting out in playing jazz piano, moving on to physics, going to Looking Glass, and then Microsoft, it\'s all one big spectrum--it\'s all about getting games to the next level. I don\'t mean that in a trite way because we all know how powerful games can be, and I want a wider audience to feel that. GS: Is there anything you want to say to current Xbox owners who may misinterpret your resignation? SB: We made an excellent console, and we got every developer on the planet incredibly psyched about it, including me. Part of the reason why it\'s so good is that it was made by real game developers, and it\'s good enough that it\'s caused me to have a deep need to go back and make games. I also need them to buy lots of copies of my Xbox games. GS: Thanks for your time, Seamus.
Originally posted by Chrono he forgot to mention that the ps2 outsold the xbox 2 to 1 the whole holiday season.. but that would be tell the truth
Seamus: [As far as the Xbox is concerned], I have put everything in my life into the Xbox. I broke up with my girlfriend, and my yard looks like the amazon--I\'ve poured my soul into it since I was selling [the idea of a console] at Microsoft.
Originally posted by seven You do start to wonder, when you hear that there are people (Seamus) who ditched their girlfriend because of Xbox... Makes you wonder if they ever had a life... or what the girlfriend looked like. Very scary thought... *shudder*
Originally posted by QuDDus Why would he have to mention that?? Ps2 outsold both xbox and gamecube the holiday season. I see no point for such a sassy remark.
and you? do you have a life? maybe you neither have a girlfriend...
