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IGN interview with Steve Ballmer and Peter Moore

Q: There has been some discussion about the visual difference between the games shown at the Sony conference, and the games shown at the Microsoft conference. What kind of kits are you working from, and were the games we saw working at full capacity?

Peter Moore: The games we showed were working off alpha test kits using a PC graphics ship, not the actual graphics chip from our system. The games are running at about 30% of their actual capability. Our dev kits are still only in the alpha stage, and we have not delivered beta kits yet. The final kits will ship to developers in July.

We had to show real stuff because we're at that point where we're really close. If we had shown conceptual movies like Sony did then people would really be wondering where we're coming from. Since we're this close to launch, we had to use real kits and real gameplay.

interesting
 
So, after two years they're still on alpha kits, beta kits still to come, and final dev systems in July.

So, clearly no ones getting any beta development kits.
 
What is your feeling about the acquisition of Rare and what do you expect from them now and in the future of this new generation?

Steve: The Rare acquisition was a big acquisition. It ranked as one of the top 10 biggest acquisitions at Microsoft and we had to bring it to the board of supervisors for a vote. When we bought Rare we realized their approach would broaden our strategy. We've re-vectored our strategy since the acquisition, but this is part of a strategic bet, and Rare will do more on Xbox 360 than on Xbox. That's for sure. They will be Xbox 360 oriented.

They've worked out well. They're an important part of our start. And we want Rare to get it right, we don't want to rush them. I mean look at Halo when we first showed it. It looked awful. We gave Bungie time, and it worked out. I mean, look at sales of Halo and Halo 2. We want to give Rare the right time to make their games.

Peter: They're great guys, the Stamper brothers. The guys at Rare are geniuses. The two titles they're working on, PDZ and Kameo are deep, thorough, and sophisticated, they're not shallow games. And PDZ is a genre-breaking title.

Steve: How am I feeling about Rare? Our shareholders will be excited when these games are done. No doubt. I'm feeling pretty good right now about Rare. Really good.

Show me fuckers!
 
Sonycowboy, if I remeber correctly dvelopers didn't get final Xbox kit until 2 months before Launch!
 
What is your feeling about the acquisition of Rare and what do you expect from them now and in the future of this new generation?

Steve: The Rare acquisition was a big acquisition. It ranked as one of the top 10 biggest acquisitions at Microsoft and we had to bring it to the board of supervisors for a vote. When we bought Rare we realized their approach would broaden our strategy. We've re-vectored our strategy since the acquisition, but this is part of a strategic bet, and Rare will do more on Xbox 360 than on Xbox. That's for sure. They will be Xbox 360 oriented.

They've worked out well. They're an important part of our start. And we want Rare to get it right, we don't want to rush them. I mean look at Halo when we first showed it. It looked awful. We gave Bungie time, and it worked out. I mean, look at sales of Halo and Halo 2. We want to give Rare the right time to make their games.

Peter: They're great guys, the Stamper brothers. The guys at Rare are geniuses. The two titles they're working on, PDZ and Kameo are deep, thorough, and sophisticated, they're not shallow games. And PDZ is a genre-breaking title.

Steve: How am I feeling about Rare? Our shareholders will be excited when these games are done. No doubt. I'm feeling pretty good right now about Rare. Really good.
Rare will do more. They've worked out well. They're an important part of our start. They're great guys. The guys at Rare are geniuses. The two titles they're working on are deep, thorough, and sophisticated. And PDZ is a genre-breaking title. Our shareholders will be excited. No doubt. I'm feeling pretty good right now about Rare. Really good.

Those guys are brainwashed... Almost 10 good words on Rare for 1 question...
 
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