Peter Moore Talks Console Wars
EA Sports' President, Peter Moore, gives his insight about the current console war and how the company will react to it.
After a couple months of silence from the just appointed President of EA Sports, Peter Moore is making a grand debut this week at the Electronic Arts’ Studio Showcase. The press event was held to show off EA’s upcoming GameShow for the PC, which also has the possibility of seeing PS3 and Xbox 360 release, depending on how the PC version fares. Following the event, GameSpot sat down to interview Peter Moore.
Moore made it clear that he’s taking an unbiased approach to EA Sports and the titles they release – despite him previously boasting that Madden NFL 08 would be running at 60 FPS on the Xbox 360, while only 30 FPS on the PlayStation 3 just months prior.
Moore stated, “my new favorite console,” in reference to the PS3, while holding a SixAxis controller. “And now here’s my other favorite console,” in reference to Wii, while holding a Wii remote and nunchuk.
It’s obvious that Peter Moore is looking to have EA Sports create games that take advantage of each platform’s particular strengths. “And I can see with both the Wii and the PS3, areas that we can take advantage of that the Xbox 360 doesn't have. It's the same with the power of the Xbox 360, particularly when I think of Xbox Live and the great work together that EA and Microsoft have done in the past.”
In regards to the current console war being waged, Moore feels that “we’re still in the console skirmishes.” Commenting that we’re still in the single-digit millions (maybe, 10 millions for the Xbox 360), in a race that publishers and console manufacturers expect to hit the hundreds of millions.
The aforementioned 60 FPS and 30 FPS Madden NFL 08 controversy will also be completely rectified – much sooner than you may think. Moore explained that “all of that will be forgotten by the holiday,” because NBA Live 08 for the PS3 will be running at 60 FPS. “I think that we had a little bit of a mea culpa, but we're getting up to speed on the platform. But that's in the past. And beginning with NBA, we're going to see PS3 titles from EA Sports running at 60 frames a second.” He even goes so far to say that soon, “the Madden issue will become ancient history.”
Commenting on the Wii Fit Balance Board, Moore feels that “there are many different ways that I think we can bring the NFL license to life.”
Moore was then challenged with the task of bringing the PlayStation 3 out of third place.
“You could argue that the Xbox 360 has got to get more mass market more quickly, and that the Nintendo Wii has got to be able to get into some deeper experiences with more hardcore consumers. The PS3 has got to, at some point, get its pricing in order. I think all consumers still see, whether we like it or not, that price is still a barrier to purchase. I'm hopeful that, as we've seen from Sony over the past 10 to 15 years, they understand what they need to do to start getting down to the mass market.”
The “very distinctive personality” of the current platforms is something Moore is happy to see. It gives consumers the opportunity to choose what they feel is suitable for them based on the games available, price point, level of connectivity, first-party and third-party exclusives, etc. “I think consumers look at and make a conscious decision to buy one, both, or all three. I am infamous for the "Wii60" concept, and I still believe in that we're going to see a tremendous amount of multiplatform ownership in homes because of that distinctive experience. I hope the PS3 comes to play in that as well.”
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