by Jeromy “Doc” Adams

SOURCE: Gamasutra

Few people in the video game industry command the type of respect that former “Xbox Chief” Peter Moore has earned. Taking the 360 from a distant second to a pretty strong first in one generation of hardware is nothing short of incredible. The ramifications of the innovations in community and gameplay that occurred on his watch have rippled throughout the video game market, not just on the 360.

Moore sat down with Gamasutra for an interview that covered Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Japan, and even a reference to a MS Handheld gaming device that, at least, he didn’t deny. “You’ll be waiting a while”.

At the end of this interview, I couldn’t help but wonder why Microsoft would let a man of this caliber escape their ranks. To me, he was the face of Xbox, one that shot straight and was always a step ahead of the other guys. He delivered what he promised. When something went wrong, he fixed it. Say what you will about scratched disks and rings of death, both are totally viable arguments. But at the end of the day, gaming has never seen anyone quite like Peter Moore.

At his level of leadership it seems they could have accommodated almost any situation to keep him at the helm of this program. Perhaps they tried. I would be very interested to know how that all went down.

Do you think Moore’s departure for the arguably greener pastures of Electronic Arts will signal a change or shift in the console wars? Do you think Microsoft is capable of finding and installing someone with Moore’s street cred and dynamic leadership ability?

I spoke with a friend of mine, inside the company, and he seemed pretty down about the whole thing. Not enough to warrant a suicide watch or anything. But still.

It’s no secret that I am a fan of the 360 for a plethora of reasons, and as such I am really interested in “what’s next” for the company, the console, XBL, and gaming.

This article is a must-read.

I’d love to hear what you think of all of this. Please join the discussion on our FORUMS.

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