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Greg Canessa leaves Microsoft for PopCap
Group manager for Xbox Live Arcade, Greg Canessa, is moving on to greener pastures. Specifically, Canessa is leaving Microsoft to join PopCap, purveyors of fine casual games (including the recently released Heavy Weapon on XBLA). Canessa notes a shift in game demographics, saying that games are becoming more culturally accepted and that more people are playing them on more devices. Casual, "broad appeal" games, according to Canessa, make up an important part of this expanding demographic. Canessa plans to help PopCap expand its audience by bringing its titles to more platforms (we'd love to see some of their games hit the DS), and of course we'll see more of them on Live Arcade. Canessa even goes so far as to say PopCap could become the "next Blizzard or EA" (does that mean Heavy Weapon 2 will sell 2.4 million copies in one day?). When asked about his departure from Microsoft, Canessa says that Live Arcade is now a well established business model and has become a success. He now looks forward to working in game development itself and enjoying the versatility that a smaller company provides.We wish Greg Canessa nothing but the best.[Via Joystiq. Thanks, XBLArcade]
Joystiq interviews Greg Canessa of XBLA
Today, I sat down with Greg Canessa, the group manager for Xbox Live Arcade, and we spoke about the service as a whole and what was in store for this successful extension of the Xbox 360. We touched on everything from what effect Nintendo's Virtual Console might have to the fact that Texas Hold 'Em poker will not be free -- despite previous statements that it would.
GDC: A quick chat with XBLA's Greg Canessa
I met Xbox Live Arcade's Greg Canessa outside a casual gaming session this afternoon. We didn't talk long, but did manage to hit some of the larger points. Competition from Sony? They don't know what Sony has planned, so they don't know what to expect. You and all of us both. XNA and Xbox Live Arcade titles? The new programming tools have Arcade clearly in their sites. They want to attract game designers and increase the number and quality of original offerings for the Arcade service. They'll continue to manage the service and hand pick the available games. The glut of low quality cell-phone games? "Crappy." Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war? Downloadable content is the future. Greg was a really amiable guy, genuinely passionate about his role in one of the most exciting spaces in gaming today. Of course I told him (again) how much we love Geometry Wars (though I'm sure he's heard this more times than he cares to count). I also pointed out that the insert in his GDC badge adverting Real as the largest distributor of casual games right above his name and title struck me as humorous. He agreed (note its absence). I'd like to thank Greg for chatting; if I see him again I'll try and get him to spill the beans on Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting. No bad blood about that "trash talk" post, right Greg?
XBLA chief trash talks Sony and Nintendo's offerings
Greg Canessa, the Xbox Live Arcade group manager, has plenty to be proud of in the Arcade service. We're awfully fond of Geometry Wars, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting will be huge, and we expect plenty more in the coming months and years. Hopefully Canessa isn't too proud...When asked about Nintendo's forthcoming Virtual Console service, opening up the entire back catalog of Nintendo titles to Revolution gamers, Canessa poo-pooed it saying, "A lot of those Nintendo games, you know, aren't gonna hold up." And this differs from XBLA hits like Joust how? There are hundreds of classic Nintendo games that will hold up fine; don't count on Super Metroid disappointing anybody.Canessa may join Sony in underestimating Nintendo's hugely popular properties... but not before he slams them too. Confronted with Sony's pie-in-the-sky ambitious online plans, Canessa responds, "If Sony is trying to come at us, you know... 'good luck.' It's going to be really hard for them. It's just a huge engineering challenge, and beyond the engineering challenge, it takes a long time to build a community." We can't help but agree with Canessa on this point, but he should take a cue from Peter Moore: "You never underestimate the power of your competition." Moore understands that, no matter how great XBLA is, Sony will have no problem selling PS3s. [Thanks, m3mnoch]
