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Ross Erickson leaves MS for Sierra Online
XBLA's Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager and longtime friend of Xbox 360 Fanboy, Ross Erickson, is leaving his position at Microsoft. As the Portfolio Manager, it was Erickson's job to find good candidates for Xbox Live Arcade and decide which ones were right for the service. In an email to X3F (that's us), Erickson noted that he has enjoyed his time with Microsoft, working since the very beginnings of Xbox Live Arcade. He notes that it has been "gratifying to see the success of Live Arcade and the acceptance of this new space as a viable channel for game developers (both small and large) [to] get their creativity in front of consumers."Erickson has accepted the position of Vice President of Content Acquisition for Sierra Online, a branch of Vivendi Universal Games. 360 Fanboy readers will recognize Sierra Online for their Xbox Live Arcade title, Assault Heroes and the upcoming 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures. Erickson assures us that Live Arcade has been left in capable hands and that there are many great things to come for Live Arcade.We would be remiss if we didn't mention that Greg Canessa, former Group Manager of Xbox Live Arcade recently left Microsoft for PopCap. Erickson assures us that his departure does not signal a shakeup of Live Arcade.Finally, Erickson leaves us with this note: "remember, I've yet to play my most favorite game of all on XBLA ...." Hmm ... what game might that be?We wish Ross luck in his new endeavor.See also:Joystiq interviews XBLA's Ross Erickson
Katamari not rolling onto XBLA after all
More Xbox Live Arcade news today, as Live Arcade Portfolio Manager, Ross Erickson, quashes the rumor that Namco's Katamari Damacy would make an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade. The rumor originated from an issue of EGM, stating that a new Katamari would hit Wii, PS3, and Xbox Live Arcade. Erickson decried the rumor in the XBLArcade* forums, calling it "total crap." Some doubt the quote's authenticity, but XBLArcade's Tomacco confirms his identity -- and he's been known to comment here as well. Sorry, 360 loving Katamari fans, looks like you're stuck with the PS2 version and an unhealthy obsession with cosplay.[Via Joystiq]*XBLArcade is one of the fine sites on our blogroll. You've seen our new blogroll, right? It's in the middle of the page under the Blogsmith logo. Check it out, scour those sites, send us tips. The circle of life continues.
Eternity's Child unconfirmed, but possible
Yesterday, we reported on the development of Eternity's Child, a 2D side-scroller with a unique aesthetic. The games official website claims that the game is headed to Xbox Live Arcade "this year" and its creator, Luc Bernard, told GTR's Godfree that it was on its way to becoming official. We decided to hit up Worldwide Xbox Live Arcade Games Portfolio Manager, Ross Erickson, and get his response. Erickson told us that he "can't comment on that right now." Those familiar with PR speak will instantly focus on the last two words in that statement: "right now." Typically, false rumors are flatly denied, whereas "no comment" could go either way. We know that Ross likes good games, and we wouldn't be surprised if Eternity's Child hits the arcade so long as it passes muster.
Microsoft: Lode Runner in a "safe place"
After we ran this week's "That should be on XBLA" we got a comment from Ross Erickson, portfolio manager for Xbox Live Arcade. To wit:"Rest assured, Lode Runner is now in a VERY SAFE place.... :-)"We decided to hit up Ross' inbox and get a little clarification. Long story short is this: Doug Smith, creator of Lode Runner, has indeed recovered and sold the rights to another company -- a VERY SAFE company (please, not EA). This is significant because many older IPs can get lost in the fray. The fact that Lode Runner has a definite owner bodes well for its future on XBLA (and in general). We know that Mr. Erickson has a soft spot for the game so, here's hoping Microsoft will throw us a bone. A hole digging, robot evading bone.
Joystiq interviews XBLA's Ross Erickson
Hate your job? You're about to hate it a whole lot more. We discovered why Ross Erickson, as the Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for Xbox Live Arcade, has one of the greatest jobs on the planet. We chatted for a couple (untranscribed) minutes about his time at the Salt Lake Games Group (his boss was actually Tex Murphy) before getting into questions about the merits of the portfolio strategy, the value of the indie game scene, his game collection and, of course, what he actually does for a living.Your title is Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager, which is a big way of saying what? It's a big way of saying finding and picking and identifying the games we want to put on Arcade and then working with all the publishers and developers around the world. Both on an inbound basis, when those guys are interested in getting a title on Arcade, original ideas come through me first and I vet out the ideas and justify the choices and sort of pick out which ones fit in the portfolio best, which ones magnify the goals and objectives of Arcade, and also really assess the risks of working with said developers to determine if this is great in the idea stage or is this something that can make it all the way to the finish line and be a real productive game and a game that people are going to love.The other side of it is going outbound, which is to go and find the kinds of games that we're looking for, evangelize the goals and ideals of the platform both on a 360 macro level and on the Arcade level, the kinds of features and things that we want and the kind the kind of game experiences we want to get into the hands of customers at various stages in the lifecycle of the whole console. Clearly right now we're in the early adopter stage still, the first twelve months of people really enthusiastic about the console, primarily male, hardcore gamers. But they have significant others and spouses and wives and girlfriends and whatever in their lives as well and many of them are having kids and Arcade's sort of becoming this thing where, as an entire portfolio, we sort of want it to look like there's eventually something there. There's many choices in Arcade and there's something there for everybody in the Xbox household.
Small Arms, where's the big press?
Someone recently pointed out that Microsoft has done a piss poor job of promoting Small Arms, and a few other Live Arcade games as well. As such, I decided to put up this video. Looks pretty fun, right? So, why haven't we heard more about it from the boys in Redmond? It's an interesting question. Live Arcade is an innovative service, and it has the potential to outshine even the biggest 360 games. The Arcade Wednesdays promotion is a start, but I'd say Live Arcade definitely needs its own PR branch and its own spin doctor specialist like Major Nelson (perhaps Ross Erickson). What do you think?
Lumines fiasco redux
Some of you may have noticed a comment from Live Arcade's Ross Erickson on Wednesday's Lumines story. The original post claimed that -- according to Tetsuya Mizuguchi, mind you -- an extra pack would have to be purchased from Marketplace to access online play in Lumines Live. I contacted Mr. Erickson to get to the bottom of this. I asked whether or not he could confirm that Live play will be included with Lumines at no extra cost. I received a one word reply: "Confirmed." There you have it folks. Crisis averted. I would have preferred a less terse reply, but I'll take what I can get. So, knowing that Live play is included, will you buy Lumines if it costs fifteen bucks?
