Microsoft Hiring “Super Creator” To Develop The Next Xbox Hardware; Aims to Improve Game Dev Tools

by Giuseppe Nelva (8 hours ago) 157  @abriael

Microsoft just launched the Xbox One a few months ago, but the company is already looking at the future, as revealed by a new career opportunity ad posted by Redmond’s company, seeking an Industrial Designer.

The Xbox Industrial Design studio is building a world class in house team. We love entertainment. We live for building transformative entertainment experiences that resonate with consumers. We are looking for passionate designers who want to help us create next generation entertainment hardware for Microsoft.

Primary Responsibilities

This is a design position within the Xbox industrial design studio. You will be joining a team that drives vision and product development for Xbox hardware programs. The right candidate will be a “hands on” individual contributor that will bring thought leadership, inspirational creative output, and passion to the Xbox entertainment space. In essence, this position requires nothing less than a “super creator”.

As an industrial designer you will collaborate with design team and bring inventive ideas which will have large impact across the Xbox Entertainment Business.

We expect a spontaneous and innovative creative process that takes advantage of consumer insight harvesting, inspiration way-finding, 3d sketching, prototyping, thoughtful consideration of business needs, and understanding of technical considerations. Above all the candidate should have a portfolio that demonstrates the ability to design soulful product experiences that delight consumers.

The ad also lists “intrinsic passion for seamless hardware/software experiences” and “proven track record delivering award winning design” as requirements.

We shouldn’t really be surprised about Microsoft already starting to plan for the next generation. Hardware designers are never really idle, and at least preliminary research normally starts as soon as the previous generation of hardware is shipped; often ever earlier than that. You can pretty much bet your monthly wage that Sony and Nintendo are doing the same as I’m writing.

And before someone reaches that conclusion, this doesn’t in any way mean that Microsoft is planning to replace the Xbox One any time soon.

In addition to that, a second ad, seeking a Senior Software Development Engineer, clearly identifies the aim to improve the current game development tools used by first and third parties to create their titles on Xbox platforms.

The Xbox Platform Developer Experience team is hiring! We own the core development tools for the Xbox console platform, and we serve as a driving advocate for the end-to-end developer customer experience across the program. We are looking for an exceptional SDE to help us take game development tools to the next level.

Game developers, from AAA studios to Indie shops, have unique and exacting needs. Just think about the factors involved: Game titles are only growing in cost and complexity with each new generation. These days the projects will involve scores of engineers and hundreds of artists. They have budgets and production values that rival Hollywood blockbusters. They have 10’s of gigabytes of content, code tuned to get the utmost from our platform, and holiday release dates that won’t move.

The Xbox ecosystem only thrives if these partners succeed. Our goal is to help them make better games, faster.

Of course, career opportunities are just the tip of the iceberg, and they don’t equate to official announcements, so we might want to wait for clearer signals to start talking too loudly about the Xbox Two. As a matter of fact in this case “next generation” might even mean a future redesign of the Xbox One.

Yet, this is a clear indication that Microsoft’s Xbox division is looking towards the future and getting ready for what will come next.

Source:http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/07/10/microsoft-already-hiring-to-develop-the-next-xbox-aims-to-improve-game-development-tools/

Great new if you ask me. Probably Spencer's work.

But I thought that XOne will last at least 10 years?! It is the ultimate home entertainment center after all...

lol they're looking for a superhuman.

tough times

Next gen will have Xbox have the best specs at the most competitive price.........and PS fans will be stuck between their loyalties and their 2 generation-long culture of being prideful of having the best specs :P

I can wait. Console wars never end.

i came in thinking we were going to get a name,.. MS's cerny. instead i got a wanted ad. the way this is written i feel like it is as much a PR piece as and actual listing for new hires.

It's good that they're planning their next console early this time. But going public with talk like this will give the impression that they weren't happy with the Xbox One current specs, and that they're planning to throw another console earlier than usual and first than Sony.

that was suppose to happen this gen.  remember how MS has billions to throw away in charity of it's fans?  

Um... this is a job ad. It's a sales pitch to hire someone. It means nothing.

Really? I love it 

Sony Already Thinking about PS5

The dust hasn't settled from the successful launch of the PS4 , but already the word PS5 is being tossed around by PlayStation Software Product Development Head Scott Rohde.
According to Rhodes Sony is already mulling over plans for the Playstation 5.

"We tend to start thinking about the development of the next system, surprisingly only a few years into the life cycle of the current gen," Rohde noted. The reasoning isn't just commerce, but also that creating a new console is the work of hundreds, if not thousands of people all over the world. "

Of course right now the PS5 is just a tick on the calender and a pipe dream. For now Sony will be concentrating on fine tuning the PS4 and making it the ultimate gaming machine that it is promising to be.

Nintendo Has Clear Ida of Next Console Beyond WiiU

It seems Nintendo is already looking to the future, as the hardware manufacturer revealed that it has a "clear idea" of what the Wii U's successor will look like.

In an investor Q&A, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata stated that while the company is still focused on satisfying Wii U owners, it has already been thinking up ideas for its next home console.

Iwata said: "Once we launch a new platform, we naturally start to prepare for the next one. As it takes several years to develop a single platform, if you ask us whether we are preparing for our next system, then the correct response will be that we are always developing new hardware."

He continued: "I of course believe that launching new hardware will not produce good results unless we first make sure that those who have already purchased our platforms are satisfied.

"We will continue to work hard to ensure that consumers who already own our platforms are satisfied, and make sure that people will continue to see great value in our software, but I would like to say that we are preparing for our next hardware system, and in fact, we already have a clear idea to some extent about the direction our next hardware is going to take."

Iwata also spoke of how he believes that the Wii U's sales will eventually get stronger, and that though the company projects the console will only sell 3.6 million units this year, he thinks that it will eventually garner more attention as it progresses further into its life cycle. 

"We do not believe that this year's estimate of 3.6m units of Wii U hardware will be the peak of its lifecycle," Iwata said. "We would like to work hard to make sure that we give sufficient momentum to the system so that we can expect good results in and after the next fiscal year, too,"