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Friday, March 26, 2010
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Nearly 1,000 people filled up three floors at Microsoft Corp.’s New England Research and Development center for a PAX East pre-party put on with the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. But before the festivities started, a few hundred area college students gathered to hear from Microsoft’s voice of games, Larry Hryb, Xbox Live director of programming, who is much better known to the gamer community by his Xbox Live user handle — or gamer tag — Major Nelson.
Hryb, a Connecticut native, returned for a visit to New England to help lead Microsoft’s presence at the gamer show going on this weekend at the Hynes Convention Center, PAX East. He spoke exclusively to Mass High Tech about the future of games at Microsoft, and about PAX East.
Q: How important is social networking in games for Microsoft?
A: When we shipped the regional Xbox in 2001 — this is a year before Xbox Live — the company had the foresight then to include an Ethernet port on the back, so we knew this was where we wanted to go. We knew that connected gamers and where the industry was going was just about that, it was creating this connected experience. When I sign into a console today that doesn’t have Xbox Live — when I sign into a different console — there is something missing. I can’t see what my friends are doing, I can’t compare my achievements. There’s a whole list of things I want to do that I can’t do. So, I think it’s critical. We have 23 million Xbox Live users right now, and there’s a reason — because those gamers want to stay connected.
Q: Will social games drive adoption of the new Windows Phone 7?
A: That’s why we are going to have Xbox Live on the phone. Just think of all the different ways we can leverage the social experience on the phone itself. The ideas are just boundless, because right now you are no longer in front of your console, you are out in the real world. How can I be out on the street and know that ‘Hey, that’s an Xbox Live player there, we should probably get talking’?
Q: What is your take on the games industry in Massachusetts?
A: From where I see it, it looks great. It certainly seems healthy. You’ve got such a vibrant tech community around here. People think of Seattle and think that maybe there are a lot of game developers out there, and certainly there are. But Boston and Seattle are kindred spirits. They are almost brother and sister as it were in terms of the city, of the feel, of the adoption of technology. So there’s a lot of things that are similar, but what Boston has that Seattle doesn’t have is this extraordinary depth and wealth of education. Schools! The quality of schools that are within 60 minutes of Boston is unbelievable! There are certainly great schools in Seattle, but when you look at the schools that you have around here, it’s unbelievable. And those kids, they want to get into the games industry. I believe that Massachusetts is going to become even more and more important in the games industry moving forward.
Q: So, when will the games team join R&D and open an office here?
A: I would love to! Unfortunately that’s a much larger discussion we need to have. I would certainly like to see if we could get some game development going out here. There’s certainly been some interest, so hopefully it’s just a matter of time before the guys and girls at the home office realize that there is definitely tremendous value to being out here.
Q: What is Microsoft hoping to get out of PAX East?
A: PAX East is the chance for us to connect with arguably our biggest fans, the core gamer. These are the guys and girls that were there for us with the original Xbox and when we launched the Xbox 360 moving forward. We just want to connect with the fans. Microsoft and the Xbox team has a tremendous history of connecting with the audience. We talked about the social aspect of it; This is what I do, this is why I am so successful — I have the support of the company to go out and have a dialogue with the audience and that is what we are going to get out of PAX. You know, we are showing Crackdown for the the first time at Penny Arcade. This a show for gamers. Bringing it to Boston is critical, and having Microsoft there is really critical.
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