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Riccitello rejoins EA as new CEO
Former Electronic Arts President and COO John Riccitello is returning to the publishing behemoth. On April 2, Riccitello will become the new chief executive officer, while current EA CEO Larry Probst will stay on as executive chairman of the board of directors.Probst held the position of Big Kahuna since 1991. During his time, the company has steadily solidified its position as supreme being in the world of game publishing, made seven more Madden iterations, saw firsthand the awe-inspiring financial powerhouse that is Will Wright's The Sims (and its subsequent sequels / expansion packs) and who at one point abstained from letting EA publish M-rated titles. (The latter position did not last: EA's first M-rated title was Quake III for the PlayStation 2 in 2000.)Riccitello left EA in 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners with, among others, U2 singer Bono. Elevation Partners created a "super developer" through the purchase and merger of Pandemic and BioWare in late 2005.Read [Wall Street Journal; subscription required]
EA's Larry Probst denies PSP gamers original games
Newsweek's N'gai Croal (awesome name) had a chance to talk to Electronic Arts' CEO, Larry Probst. Love them or hate them, EA is a major player in the industry, and their games have the power to move hardware units. Croal asked Probst about making original games for the PSP, something that seems outrageous to the CEO: I'm not so sure that I agree with the premise that we're strategically focused on building original product for the PSP. "That's news to me. It's more likely that we would target platforms like the PS3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii if we had an original in mind. Our strategy on PSP has typically been to take the franchises that we build on other platforms and exploit them on the PSP."Croal points out the success of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories as one reason why publishers should look into making exclusive games for the handheld. However, Probst believes that without more units out there, the chances of original PSP games from EA is slim. Like the rest of the sane world, he notes that Sony should lower the price, and maybe even make a redesigned console, in order to reinvigorate sales.Check out the rest of the interview to see Probst's other PSP thoughts, and why Nintendo matters.See also:Fun = DS, not PSP, says EA execEA makes a lot of money on PSP[Via Joystiq; Image via Games Blog]
