ChrisSatchell
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Comcast's new Chief Product Officer hails from Xbox, Nike
As Comcast keeps trying to turn around the negative reputation that it (and the rest of the pay-TV industry) has, it has a new Chief Product Officer to help. Enter Chris Satchell, who comes from Nike where he was the Consumer Technology Officer working on products like the FuelBand. According to Satchell, Nike ditched that gadget because sensors proliferated in other devices, and it chose to focus on building systems to track and handle its customers workout data. Other than the distinctive light up bangle, Satchell also previously worked at Microsoft where his work included leading its XNA game development program through the Xbox 360's early days, plus talking smack about Nintendo and Sony on the side.
Microsoft's Satchell disagrees with Moore, says Wii controls don't 'kick ass' [update 1]
Developer Group General Manager Chris Satchell doesn't seem to share the same opinions on the Wii as Peter Moore, apparently, as in a recent interview with CVG he says the Wii has yet to provide any game that really takes advantage of the control scheme. Satchell says "We're yet to see a really good game on Wii that really says 'OK that control kicked ass.'" We'd have to disagree, to tell the truth.Sure, the controls for, say, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess may have tacked on and the game itself may be a port, but we don't think we could go back to playing Zelda without those controls. We think the controls present in that game will be improved as the franchise chugs along. Even if you want to side with Satchell and say there isn't any game that could be looked at as having "kickass controls" on the console right now, we're fairly sure that when a certain game by the name of Super Mario Galaxy comes out, he'll be changing his tune (we played it, it's that good).What say you all?Update: Pesky little 's' missed in headline.
Fancast Xtra: the Microsoft blogger's breakfast
Microsoft has made the blogger's breakfast something of a tradition at GDC. Joystiq's Chris Grant attended last year, and this year I was proud to include myself in the same company. The blogger's breakfast is essentially a question and answer session for (you guessed it) bloggers. In attendance from Microsoft were Shane Kim, managing director of Microsoft Game Studios, and Chris Satchell, general manager of the Microsoft games group. In between bites of eggs and bacon, the two execs were bombarded with questions ranging from user created content and Xbox Live Arcade, to Peter Jackson and episodic content. We captured audio of the event for you all to hear. You can download the MP3 by hitting the "read" link. Subscribers to the Fancast will receive the audio automatically. Download and enjoy, but keep in mind you'll have to tune out the sounds of furious keyboard tapping, clinking plates, and the crinkling plastic of bloggers trying to unwrap delicious maple syrup.
MS: Less than 50% of 360 owners had Xbox 1
In a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Microsoft's general manager of game development, Chris Satchell, speaks at length about the future of the Xbox 360 and its competition. He takes time to leverage the "set top box" ideal (as in, the 360 can do everything but make julienne fries), talks about Games for Windows and the ease of publishing titles for Windows and 360 simultaneously, and of course takes time to sully the competition. Perhaps the most surprising remark in the interview, is that less than half of Xbox 360 owners have an original Xbox. In other words, most 360 owners weren't Xbox fanboys to begin with, which means they're fresh from their PS2s, Gamecubes, and PCs. From a business standpoint, this is obviously a good thing, because it means the 360 is making a broad impact. Finally, Satchell takes a moment to sling a little mud Sony's way. Regarding Sony's online service, Satchell advises Sony to "copy Xbox Live a little more closely," adding, "My honest opinion is that it's pretty much a disaster. They keep saying that they have a free service. Well, if they don't have anything, of course it's free." Yowza. Hit the "read" link for the full interview.[Via Eurogamer. Thanks, Boff]
Microsoft confirms upgraded 360 for research
In an interview with Gamespot, Microsoft's general manager of their game developer group, Chris Satchell, confirmed the rumors and reported leaks concerning a future update to the Xbox 360 hardware. When asked directly about the possibility of an HDMI-enabled Xbox 360 somewhere down the line, Satchell said "If you want to get great HD, I think we've got a good solution for that. In the future it's interesting to see where standards evolve to." He then follows up this statement with "At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing."Rumors of an HDMI-enabled Xbox 360 have been kicking around ever since Microsoft introduced 1080P for the Xbox 360 via component this past September. Since then, everything from the Lost Planet "typo" to leaked shots of modified 360's have set off alarms across the internet. So while it's great to know that Microsoft is looking into every possibility, it's also hard to swallow that they won't be actively pursuing this opportunity in the marketplace .
A very special "hands-on" with Major Nelson
In episode # 191 of his famous podcast, Major Nelson talks to XNA's Chris Satchell and briefly discusses the masturbatory possibilities of the Vision Camera. Yes, you read that right.
