John-Schappert
Latest
GDC08: Microsoft blogger breakfast audio
While the brunt of important info revealed during Microsoft's blogger breakfast has been uncovered already, those with an inside baseball interest in game journalism may be interested to hear the event in its entirety. Thrill as you listen to the sounds of bloggers munching delicious bacon. Gasp as Microsoft employees deflect questions with ninja-like PR skills. Ponder the distinct lack of Jeff Bell. It's raw and mostly unedited (our recorder stopped for about 5 minutes at one point), so please pardon the occasional clinking of plates and the hum of the air conditioner as you listen to the press jaw with Microsoft's John Schappert, Aaron Greenberg, and Chris Satchell. Just consider those things bonus atmosphere.
GDC08: Mysterious shroud hides XNA secret
An enigma awaits GDC attendees who waltz into the Moscone Center's North Hall, the current home of Microsoft's XNA display. Placed amongst the various screens and demo stations running independent, XNA-powered Xbox 360 games is a sheet bathed in purple lights and mystery. "Coming Soon! Wednesday February 20 11:30AM" declares a nearby sign.If the sign is to be believed (it seemed friendly enough), something is set to be unveiled at the conclusion of John Schappert's keynote, "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community." If that's what lies beneath the sheet, it's fair to say that a future wide open is a lot smaller than we imagined it to be. Maybe you have a better idea*?%Poll-9947%* Full disclosure: We could make out what appeared to be some widescreen displays. Will they display a new independent game or some new XNA features?
Former EA Chicago studio head heads to Xbox division
The Electronic Arts and Microsoft executive shuffle isn't over. Former EA Chicago studio head Kudo Tsunoda is the latest to move from the venerable game maker to Microsoft's Xbox division, according to GameTap. Tsunoda joins Xbox division head Don Mattrick and VP of Live John Schappert as recent EA expatriates. In July 2007, Mattrick swapped companies with Peter Moore, taking his job when Moore became head of EA Sports.EA shut down the Chicago studio in November last year. Tsunoda's position will be General Manager and will report to Mattrick. Sources tell GameTap that his first task will be project lead for "an upcoming Gears of War title." There's another Gears of War game? We're shocked. Shocked!
Microsoft's John Schappert to deliver GDC keynote
In a keynote entitled "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community," Microsoft will either discuss the implications of chasing Sound Blaster owners from their homes... or the "Xbox 360 platform's next step in democratizing game development," which is what it says here in the press release. The same informative block of text notes that Microsoft's keynote at this year's Game Developers Conference -- its first since 2005 -- will be delivered by John Schappert, otherwise known as "Corporate Vice President of LIVE, Software and Services for the Interactive Entertainment Business" since leaving EA in August 2007.Schappert's schpeech will delve into the Xbox 360's schtrategy for 2008, touching on topics such as online gaming, digital distribution and support of smaller developers. Top developers are also part of the talk, with some of their plans for the Xbox 360 expected to be unfurled and plastered across colorful pie charts. Joystiq will provide a full report during the keynote on February 22nd, taking special care to describe a future wide open. We suspect it'll be obnoxiously bright and smell vaguely of gasoline.
