http://360.kombo.com/article.php?artid=16079
At the Luminaries Lunch at GDC today, Blizzard's Rob Pardo confirmed that Blizzard has been in talks with Microsoft about the next Xbox. It would seem that this confirms that Microsoft is working on the successor to Xbox 360, though Blizzard is apparently the only developer that has been approached by either Microsoft or Sony. Some people are concerned that this means that content is not a priority for console-makers in the coming generation.
Acclaim's Dave Perry talked a bit on the subject. "How many designers in the games industry do you think they are rounding up to [talk to], because this is going to make or break them this time around," Perry said. He continued: "I'm not aware that they are putting a big amount of effort into finding out how to make the games. The people who are actually physically going to make the games are all going to get a surprise."
Warren Spector, creator of Deus Ex and boss of Disney's Junction Point Studios, is also concerned that the format holders may be casting too broad a net.
"I get the impression they're focusing on owning the living room," Spector said. "One device that lets you watch movies, television and play games and music and all that stuff. They're so focused on that that I'm not even sure they're thinking about the games that are going to come out. Which is kind of crazy."
Rob Pardo talked a bit about how World of Warcraft never came to consoles because the hardware is not designed to accommodate certain types of games. "There are are so many games like we make at Blizzard that we don't take to consoles because they don't support the input device and you end up with crappy ports. That's why RTS games never do well on consoles," he said. "If I was them, I'd be sitting around trying to figure out what's a cool input device that supports all types of new kinds of games."
Could Mr. Pardo be dropping a hint about what Microsoft is thinking? I'm guessing we won't be finding out anytime soon.
NOT good news IMO
