1. Don Mattrick, where are you?
Back when Peter Moore set sail to the land of EA Sports, Don Mattrick was to take over the reigns as Senior Vice President. As the new point man for Interactive Entertainment or what anyone reading this would care about, Xbox, one would think that he would be a force of unrelenting stature at this point in the game. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case.
To call Don Mattrick a ghost to the Xbox community would be putting it lightly. Is he still surveying the landscape getting ready to pounce on all of us like lightning? Probably not. Peter Moore will never be truly replaced in the same way, but a voiceless replacement was not what anyone outside of Microsoft thought they where getting. Not everyone is as flamboyant like Peter Moore, but lets hope Don Mattrick decides to show himself in some way this coming year. After debacles of epic proportion happen, fanboys everywhere are sure to want to know who to throw their wrath at the next time.
As the most important set of occurrences that need to happen for the Xbox this year, lets hope this happens. At this point , a Rock Bandish flub up is the least that could happen to let us know that Don Mattrick is “still alive”.
2. Games, Games, and more games!
This one is rather simplistic and a given. Coming off of a fantastic year of game releases, one thing is for certain. More Please! Ninja Gaiden 2, Lost Odyssey, Alan Wake, Halo Wars, GTA IV, Too Human, Huxley, Fable 2, and Banjo-Threeie to name a few. Some will inevitably be delayed until ‘09, but nothing cures like a downpour of more games. The 360 already has a killer attach rate, so lets hope that continues.
3. Xbox Live pushes the boundaries
The most recent Xbox 360 dashboard update has seen Xbox Live start to turn into more of a traditional social network. Whether or not you agree that this approach is a good thing or not, more flash’s of this are sure to continue in some way. You may remember that Microsoft recently purchased a stake in Facebook. Going out on a limb, an eventual integration of Facebook and Xbox Live should not be out of the question.
A whole lot more of unforeseen happenings are sure to take place throughout this year. Lets just hope that not matter what happens, the community of Xbox gamers continues to grow. Not everyone knows how to behave themselves, but that shouldn’t stop any of the fun for the rest of us.
-William “thewilleffect” Bell-
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January 3, 2008
#1
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I agree with you concerning Don’s absence. Jeff Bell is connecting with the community more than Don to put it in perspective. However, I feel like he hasn’t gotten a real chance. Peter Moore makes headlines at events like E3 and X06. Although X07 wasn’t as hyped because the games came out (I don’t even know if they had one), and Peter was still on Stage at E3 07. I think we will know how he stacks up to Moore at E3 08.
Nice read Will
January 3, 2008
#2
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Really can’t wait for Lost Odyssey
I’ll be intrigued to see what MS do with their stake in Facebook but I’m guessing they may well integrate Xbox Live with it.
I’m hopeful for more good arcade games too, feels a bit of a wasted opportunity at times. So hopefully some bigger hits, both old classics and original games, appear.